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How Food Helps Animals Heal and Repair — Reading Comprehension

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5-LS1-1
5-PS3-1

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This 400-word informational reading passage teaches fifth-grade students how animals use energy from food to heal and repair their bodies. Aligned with NGSS standards 5-LS1-1 and 5-PS3-1, the passage explains that the body is constantly repairing itself through processes like healing cuts, mending broken bones, replacing worn-out cells, and fighting off sickness. Students learn that all body repair requires energy from food, just as building or fixing something requires fuel. The passage uses age-appropriate language and concrete examples to help students understand this fundamental concept about energy transfer in living systems. Audio-integrated features support diverse learners by providing text-to-speech capabilities. The passage includes bold vocabulary terms with immediate definitions, real-world examples relevant to fifth graders, and an interesting fact about cell replacement. Supplementary activities include comprehension questions, writing prompts, and graphic organizers that reinforce understanding of how food energy supports body repair processes in animals.

CONTENT PREVIEW

Energy is the ability to do work or cause change. Animals get energy from the food they eat. This energy does more than help animals run, jump, and play. It also powers something happening inside their bodies all the time: repair work.

Every animal body is constantly fixing itself. When you get a cut, your body works to close the wound and grow new skin. When a bone breaks, special cells build new bone material to make it strong again. Even when you are not injured, your body is busy replacing old, worn-out cells with fresh new ones. All of this repair work requires energy, just like building or fixing something requires fuel.

The food animals eat contains nutrients, which are substances the body needs to function and grow. When food is digested, or broken down in the stomach and intestines, these nutrients are released. The body then uses these nutrients and the energy they provide to make repairs. For example, proteins from foods like meat, beans, and eggs help build new cells and repair damaged tissue. Without enough food energy, the body cannot make these repairs effectively.

Body repair happens in many ways. When you scrape your knee, blood cells rush to the area to stop bleeding and fight germs. Then, new skin cells grow to cover the wound. If you break a bone, special bone cells called osteoblasts work to build new bone tissue, making the bone whole again. This process can take weeks or months and requires steady energy from food. Your body also replaces millions of cells every single day. Red blood cells, which carry oxygen throughout your body, only live for about four months before they need to be replaced. Skin cells are replaced about every two to four weeks.

Fighting off sickness also requires energy. When germs enter your body, your immune system (the body's defense system) creates special cells to attack and destroy them. Making these defender cells and keeping them working takes a lot of energy from food. This is why doctors often tell sick people to eat well and rest—the body needs fuel to fight the illness and repair any damage the germs caused.

Without food, animals cannot heal injuries, replace worn-out parts, or fight off disease. Food provides the energy and building materials that keep animal bodies healthy and working properly throughout their entire lives.

Interesting Fact: Your body replaces about 330 billion cells every single day, which means you get a mostly new body approximately every seven to ten years!

What do animals get from food?

Energy to repair their bodiesWater to stay coolAir to breatheLight to see

What are nutrients?

Types of animalsSubstances the body needsParts of bonesKinds of energy

How long do red blood cells live?

About one weekAbout one monthAbout four monthsAbout one year

Why do sick people need food?

To grow taller quicklyTo fight illness and repair damageTo sleep better at nightTo remember things better

What happens when food is digested?

It turns into waterIt disappears completelyNutrients are released for body useIt becomes energy immediately

What do osteoblasts do in the body?

Carry oxygen to cellsFight off germs and sicknessBuild new bone tissueDigest food in the stomach

The body replaces cells even when healthy.

TrueFalse

What does immune system mean?

System that digests foodBody's defense against germsSystem that builds bonesWay the body moves

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• Reading comprehension practice
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• Literacy skill development

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• Reading practice at home
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🏠 Homeschoolers

• Reading curriculum support
• Independent reading practice
• Progress monitoring

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How Food Helps Animals Heal and Repair — Reading Comprehension

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