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How to Grow a Bean Plant in a Jar — Reading Comprehension — Answers

Answer sheet with model answers and success criteria for the Year 4 reading comprehension comprehension exercise.

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Year 4 · English · Reading Comprehension

How to Grow a Bean Plant in a Jar — Reading Comprehension — Answers

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Part A — Find the answers

Look back at the procedure to find each answer.

1.How many dried beans do you need?[1 mark]

Answer: Three.

2.Where should you put the jar?[1 mark]
  1. Ain the fridge
  2. Bin a dark cupboard
  3. Con a sunny windowsill
  4. Doutside in the rain

Answer: on a sunny windowsill

Step 4 says to put the jar on a sunny windowsill.

3.Where exactly should you slide the beans?[1 mark]

Answer: Between the paper towel and the glass, about halfway down the jar.

4.What should you see after three to five days?[1 mark]

Answer: A small white root pushing out of each bean.

5.When should you move the bean to a pot of soil?[1 mark]
  1. Astraight away
  2. Bwhen the root appears
  3. Cwhen the shoot has two leaves
  4. Dafter one day

Answer: when the shoot has two leaves

Step 7 says to move it 'when the shoot has two leaves'.

6.What does the safety note tell you to do after touching the beans?[1 mark]

Answer: Wash your hands.

Part B — Think about it

The procedure does not tell you these answers directly. Use clues and what you know.

7.Why should the paper towel be damp but not swimming in water?[2 marks]

Answer: The seed needs water to start growing, but too much water could make it rot or stop it getting air.

8.Why should the beans be pressed against the glass?[2 marks]

Answer: So you can see the roots and shoots growing. Normally this happens hidden under the soil.

9.Why do you think the beans should not be touching each other?[2 marks]

Answer: So each bean has its own space to grow roots and shoots without getting tangled with the others.

10.Which step would you most likely forget, and what might happen if you did?[2 marks]

Answer: Step 5, checking every day. If the paper towel dried out, the bean would have no water and would stop growing.

Part C — Words in the procedure

11.Something that is damp is...[1 mark]
  1. Acompletely dry
  2. Ba little bit wet
  3. Cdripping wet
  4. Dfrozen

Answer: a little bit wet

Damp means slightly wet.

12.A shoot is...[1 mark]
  1. Aa type of seed
  2. Bthe new green stem that grows up from a seed
  3. Ca kind of water
  4. Dthe glass jar

Answer: the new green stem that grows up from a seed

The text says 'a green shoot will grow upwards'.

13.What does space them out mean in step 3?[1 mark]

Answer: Put gaps between the beans so they are not close together.

Part D — Your turn

14.Write a procedure for something simple you know how to do, such as making a paper plane or feeding a pet. Include a You will need list and at least four numbered steps.[4 marks]

Model answer: How to feed a goldfish. You will need: fish food, a goldfish in a tank. 1. Open the fish food container. 2. Take a small pinch of flakes between your fingers. 3. Sprinkle the flakes on top of the water. 4. Watch the fish eat. Do not add more food, even if the fish looks hungry. 5. Close the container and put it away.

Success criteria:

  • A title that starts with 'How to'
  • A list of what you need
  • At least four numbered steps in the correct order
  • Each step starts with an action word (open, pour, fold)
  • Includes a tip or warning
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Marking tips

  • Give credit for correct method even when the final answer slips — the working shows where the thinking went right.
  • For open-ended tasks, use the success criteria as a checklist rather than looking for one "right" answer.
  • Celebrate what went well first, then pick one thing to work on next.

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