How a seed wakes up: reading passage for Grade 1, page 1 preview

Reading passage · Science

How a seed wakes up · Grade 1

An original passage about parts of a plant with 5 questions that check details, inference and vocabulary.

Grade 1 · ages 6 to 7
Medium
15 to 20 minutes
1 page
Free

Goes with the game Label Lab.

The answer key is a separate page for grown-ups. Sign in to download it.

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The passage and its 5 questions

Directions: Read the passage carefully. Then answer the questions in full sentences.

Mina pushed a dry bean seed into a cup of soil and gave it a drink of water. The seed looked like a small, hard pebble. Was anything happening inside?
Yes! The seed soaked up the water and grew fat. Its thin coat split open. First, a tiny root poked out and grew down into the soil. A root grows down even if the seed is planted upside down.
Next, a pale shoot pushed up toward the light. Soon two green leaves opened like little hands. The seed had packed its own lunch inside, so the baby plant had food until its leaves could use sunlight.
1. What came out of the seed first?
2. Why did the baby plant not need sunlight at first?
3. What does the word 'shoot' mean in paragraph 3?
4. Copy the sentence that tells what happened to the seed's coat.
5. How is this like something in your own life?

What your child practices

Your child practices the science skill “Living and non-living things”: tell living things from non-living things by what they need and do, even when a non-living thing moves.

Grades and ages: Grade 1, ages 6 to 7
Time: About 15 to 20 minutes
Subject: Science
Level: Medium for Grade 1
Answer key: Yes, for grown-ups who sign in
Printing: 1 page, US Letter or A4, low-ink option
Updated: October 15, 2026

How to use it

Read the passage once just for the story or the facts, then again with the questions in mind. Encourage underlining the words in the text that back up each answer. It is pitched at the expected level for Grade 1, for practice after the skill has been taught.

An answer key comes with it as a separate page that grown-ups download after signing in.

Tip for grown-ups: Ask your child to point to the sentence that answers each question before writing it.

Done on paper? A grown-up can record it on the child's page in PlayOwl; downloading alone doesn't count as finished.