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Why Do Leaves Change Color?: reading passage and questions

A free printable nonfiction reading passage, written at a grade 2 reading level (Peabody level 7, where 3rd grade readers start; 180 words) with 6 comprehension questions and an answer key. No sign-up.

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Name: ____________________Date: ____________

Why Do Leaves Change Color?

In summer, a maple leaf is green. In fall, it turns yellow, orange, or red. Where do those colors come from?

The green comes from stuff called chlorophyll. A leaf uses it to catch sunlight and make sugar.

All summer, the tree keeps making green. So much green hides everything else.

In fall, the days get shorter and cooler. The tree makes less green. The green fades away.

Yellow and orange were in the leaf all along. The green was hiding them.

Reds are different. Many leaves make a new red stuff in the fall.

Reds depend on the weather. Sunny days and cool nights make the best ones.

Not every tree makes red. Some, like hickories and ash trees, go yellow. Maples and sweetgums often make red.

Before the leaf falls, the tree pulls its food back. It saves the food for winter.

Then the leaf drops. A yellow leaf did not really turn. It just lost its green.

So why do leaves change color? The tree stops making green. Then the yellow shows, and some leaves add red.

Questions

1. What makes a leaf green?
  1. Sugar
  2. Rain
  3. Chlorophyll
2. When do yellow and orange show?
  1. When the green fades
  2. When it rains
  3. When it is hot
3. When are many reds made?
  1. In summer
  2. In fall
  3. All year
4. What happens to a yellow leaf in fall?
  1. It paints itself
  2. It loses its green
  3. It turns blue
5. What does "fade" mean?
  1. Get brighter
  2. Lose color
  3. Grow big
6. What helps make the best reds?
  1. Rain all week
  2. Hot nights
  3. Sunny days and cool nights

Words to know

  • chlorophyll: leaf's green stuff
  • fade: lose color
  • maple: kind of tree
  • sugar: sweet food

Answer key: Why Do Leaves Change Color?

  1. C. Chlorophyll
  2. A. When the green fades
  3. B. In fall
  4. B. It loses its green
  5. B. Lose color
  6. C. Sunny days and cool nights

The story in pictures

  1. Part One · The Green Goes
  2. Part Two · Reds and the Fall
For teachers: standards and questions with an answer key

Common Core standards

  • RI.2.1 · Grade 2 · Key details and evidence in an information text. Asks and answers why and what questions about key details: where the green comes from and what hides the other colors.
  • RI.2.8 · Grade 2 · The reasons and evidence behind the author’s points. Asks the child to say what reasons the author gives for a point, such as why yellow shows in fall.

All the Common Core reading standards, and the pages that work toward each

Right there (The answer is stated in the book.)

  1. Where does the green in a leaf come from?
    Show answerFrom stuff called chlorophyll. The book says: “The green comes from stuff called chlorophyll.”
  2. What does a leaf use chlorophyll to do?
    Show answerCatch sunlight and make sugar. The book says: “A leaf uses it to catch sunlight and make sugar.”

Think and search (Put clues from the book together.)

  1. The book says the green was hiding the yellow. What reason does it give?
    Show answerIn fall the tree makes less green, so the green fades and the yellow that was in the leaf all along can show. The book says: “Yellow and orange were in the leaf all along. The green was hiding them.”
  2. Why do some trees go yellow while maples often go red?
    Show answerNot every tree makes the new red stuff. Hickories and ash trees go yellow, and maples and sweetgums often make red. The book says: “Not every tree makes red.”

On my own (Use the book to think further.)

  1. What would you look for outside to find the best red leaves?
    Show answerAnswers will vary. A good answer: look after sunny days and cool nights, and look at maples or sweetgums. The book says: “Sunny days and cool nights make the best ones.”

Written and checked by hand against the book. Standards codes are the Common Core’s own; the lines are ours.

For the teacher: how this passage is levelled

“Why Do Leaves Change Color?” is a reading level 7 story. Every Peabody story at this level is written and checked to keep sentences to 10 words or fewer, to aim at an average of 6 words a sentence, and to show 12 to 30 words on a screen. At most 8% of its words may be off the familiar-word list. Children in 3rd grade start at this level.

This passage180 words, 11 screens, 6 multiple-choice questions with an answer key, and 4 vocabulary words with kid-sized meanings
Longest sentence at this level10 words
Words on a screen12 to 30
Skills practised at this levelphonics (sounding words out), sight words, spelling

Reading level 7: the limits, a real sample and the free games. Peabody is a learning app, not an assessment: use the questions to talk about the story, not to grade a child.

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