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How Sun Powers Life

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 engaging 400-word reading passage for Grade 5 students explores how the sun powers life on Earth, aligned with NGSS standards 5-LS1-1 and 5-PS3-1. Students discover that almost all energy used by living things can be traced back to the sun. The passage explains photosynthesis in simple terms, showing how plants capture solar energy and convert it into food. It then traces energy flow through food chains, demonstrating how animals obtain energy by eating plants or other animals. The content includes relatable examples such as breakfast foods and everyday activities, helping students understand that the energy in their bodies originally came from sunlight. Audio-integrated features support diverse learners, while the simplified differentiated version ensures accessibility for students at different reading levels. The passage includes bolded vocabulary terms with immediate definitions, real-world connections, and an interesting fact about the amount of solar energy reaching Earth. Complementary activities include multiple-choice questions testing recall and comprehension, writing prompts requiring application of concepts, and graphic organizers that help students visualize energy flow through ecosystems.

Written by Workybooks TeamPublished by Workybooks

Sample passage and quiz content

CONTENT PREVIEW

The overall process of photosynthesis At09kg, Wattcle, Nefronus At09kg: original Wattcle: vector graphics Nefronus: redoing the vector graphics, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The sun is the main source of energy for nearly all living things on Earth. Understanding how energy from the sun supports life helps explain why plants and animals need each other to survive.

Energy is the ability to do work or cause change. Plants capture energy from sunlight through a process called photosynthesis. During photosynthesis, plants use sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide from the air to make their own food in the form of sugar. This sugar stores the sun's energy inside the plant. When you eat a carrot or an apple, you are eating stored sunlight energy.

Animals cannot make their own food like plants can. Instead, animals get energy by eating plants or by eating other animals that ate plants. A rabbit eats grass and gets the energy that the grass captured from the sun. When a fox eats the rabbit, the fox gets some of that same energy. This transfer of energy from the sun to plants to animals is called a food chain.

Think of energy like money being passed from person to person. The sun is like a bank that gives out money. Plants are the first customers who receive the money. When animals eat plants, they get some of that money. When other animals eat those animals, they get a smaller amount. At each step, some energy is used up for living, growing, and moving, just like people spend money on things they need.

Even the food you eat for breakfast contains energy from the sun. Cereal comes from wheat or corn plants that used photosynthesis. Milk comes from cows that ate grass. Eggs come from chickens that ate grain. The energy that helps you run, think, and play originally came from sunlight that plants captured days, weeks, or months ago.

Without the sun, plants could not make food. Without plants, animals would have no source of energy. This is why the sun is so important to life on Earth. Every time you move your body or your heart beats, you are using energy that can be traced back to the sun.

Interesting Fact: The sun sends enough energy to Earth in just one hour to power all of human activity for an entire year, but we currently capture only a tiny fraction of it!

What is the main energy source for life?

The sunThe moonThe oceanThe wind

What do plants make during photosynthesis?

Water and airSugar that stores energySoil and rocksCarbon dioxide gas

How do animals get their energy?

By making their own foodBy absorbing sunlight directlyBy eating plants or other animalsBy drinking water only

Why does a fox get energy?

It makes food from sunlightIt eats rabbits that ate plantsIt absorbs energy from airIt creates its own energy

What happens to energy at each step?

It increases in amountIt stays exactly the sameSome is used for living and movingIt disappears completely

Where does breakfast cereal energy originally come from?

The factory that makes itThe store that sells itSunlight captured by wheat or corn plantsThe milk added to it