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Energy for Living Things

Interactive passage with audio narration, comprehension questions, and printable PDF.

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Format: Interactive (Online), Printable (PDF)
Grades: 456
Subjects: scienceelareading
Standards: 5-LS1-15-PS3-1
Languages: English, Spanish

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What's included

Reading passage

Reading comprehension

Audio narration

With word word highlighting

Comprehension quiz

Auto-graded

Writing activity

Open-ended response

Glossary & flashcards

Vocabulary practice

Differentiated version

Adapted for varied levels

Spanish translation

Bilingual support

About this reader

This comprehensive 400-word reading passage aligns with NGSS standards 5-LS1-1 and 5-PS3-1, introducing fifth-grade students to the fundamental concept that all living things require energy to survive. Students explore how organisms obtain energy from food and use it for essential life processes including growth, movement, maintaining body temperature, and repairing tissues. The passage uses age-appropriate language and relatable examples to build foundational understanding of energy transfer in biological systems. Audio-integrated features support diverse learners, while differentiated versions ensure accessibility for all reading levels. Accompanying activities include multiple-choice comprehension questions, writing prompts, and graphic organizers that reinforce key vocabulary such as energy, nutrients, cells, and metabolism. This resource provides teachers with a complete instructional package for introducing energy concepts in living systems, preparing students for hands-on investigations and deeper exploration of how organisms transform food into usable energy for survival.

Written by Workybooks TeamPublished by Workybooks

Sample passage and quiz content

CONTENT PREVIEW

food-energy — When you eat an apple, a sandwich, or vegetables, your body breaks down the food into tiny parts called nutrients.

All living things need energy to survive. Energy is the ability to do work or cause change. Without energy, plants, animals, and people cannot grow, move, or stay alive. This energy is essential because it powers everything that happens inside living bodies.

Living things get their energy from food. When you eat an apple, a sandwich, or vegetables, your body breaks down the food into tiny parts called nutrients. Nutrients are substances in food that provide energy and help the body grow and repair itself. Your body uses these nutrients to create the energy it needs for all its activities.

Every part of your body needs energy to work properly. Your heart needs energy to pump blood throughout your body. Your muscles need energy to help you run, jump, and play. Even when you are sitting still or sleeping, your body uses energy to breathe, keep warm, and repair damaged cells. Cells are the smallest living parts that make up all living things. Think of energy like fuel for a car—without fuel, the car cannot run, and without energy, your body cannot function.

Different living things get their energy in different ways. Plants make their own food using sunlight, water, and air in a process that produces the nutrients they need. Animals, including humans, must eat other living things to get energy. A rabbit eats plants, a hawk eats rabbits, and each one gets the energy it needs to survive from its food.

The amount of energy a living thing needs depends on what it does. Active animals that run and hunt need more energy than animals that move slowly. Growing children need more energy than adults because their bodies are building new cells and tissues. Your body is constantly using energy, which is why you need to eat food every day. Without a steady supply of energy from food, living things cannot carry out the basic life functions they need to survive. Life functions are the essential activities that all living things must do, such as growing, moving, and responding to their environment.

Interesting Fact: Your brain uses about 20% of all the energy your body gets from food, even though it only makes up about 2% of your body weight!

What is energy?

The ability to do workA type of foodA kind of cellA body part

What are nutrients?

Parts of cellsSubstances in food providing energyTypes of plantsBody organs

Where do animals get their energy?

From sunlight onlyFrom eating other living thingsFrom air and waterFrom sleeping

Why do growing children need energy?

To play gamesTo watch televisionTo build new cells and tissuesTo go to school

How does your body use energy?

Only when you runOnly when you eatAll the time for many functionsOnly during the day

What happens without a steady energy supply?

Living things grow fasterLiving things cannot do life functionsLiving things sleep moreLiving things become stronger