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The Bean Plant — Reading Comprehension

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2-LS2-1

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This reading passage, 'The Mystery of the Green Bean Plant', is designed for second-grade students to understand cause and effect relationships in science, aligning with NGSS 2-LS2-1. It describes a simple experiment with two bean plants to clearly demonstrate how specific actions (causes), like providing or withholding sunlight and water, lead to observable patterns (effects) in plant growth. The passage reinforces reading comprehension while teaching fundamental scientific inquiry skills and the concept that events have direct causes that result in visible changes.

CONTENT PREVIEW

Leo had a tiny bean seed. He planted it in a pot with some soil and put it on his kitchen table. Every day, he watched it. A little green sprout poked through the dirt! "Wow!" he thought. "It's growing!"

His older sister, Maya, saw him looking at the sprout. "What do you think made it grow, Leo?" she asked.

Leo thought for a moment. "The soil?" he guessed. "And maybe the water I gave it!"

Maya smiled. "Those are good ideas. But how could we be sure that the plant really needs water? Or that it really needs sunlight? What if it could grow without them?"

Leo's eyes widened. "We could try it!" he said, remembering what his teacher said about being a scientist. "We need to test just one thing at a time to see what happens."

So, they decided to get two more small bean plants, just like Leo's first one.

Plant 1 (Leo's original): This plant would get sunlight from the window and regular water. This would be their comparison plant – what a healthy plant usually looks like.
Plant 2: This plant would get sunlight from the window, but no water. They would watch it closely to see what happened without water.
Plant 3: This plant would get water, but no sunlight. They would put it inside a closed box, away from any light.

"Every morning," Maya explained, "we'll check all three plants. We'll draw what we see in our science notebooks. Are the leaves green? Are they wilting? Is the plant getting taller? By comparing them, we'll solve the mystery of what the bean plant needs to grow!"

Leo couldn't wait to be a plant detective and uncover the secrets of healthy plant growth.

What did Leo plant at the beginning of the story?

A sunflower seedA bean seedA rose bushA tree sapling

Where did Leo put his first plant?

On the windowsillOn his kitchen tableIn the gardenIn a dark box

Who helped Leo think about what plants need?

His teacherHis momHis sister, MayaHis friend

What did Plant 2 get in the experiment?

No sunlightSunlight and waterSunlight, no waterOnly water

Why did they test only one thing at a time?

To make it easyTo save seedsTo know the reasonTo grow fast

What is the main purpose of this story?