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11 Use and Reuse LE V EL 2 – RE A DING WORK SHEE T: Science PAGE 1 OF 2

READING
Read about accidental inventions. How can an accident turn out so well?

Lucky Accidents
Many things are invented after years of research and
experiments, but some things are invented completely
by accident. Many accidental inventions are related to
food and cooking.
The microwave oven: In 1946, engineer Percy Spencer
was working on radar technology when he accidentally
invented an appliance that is in most kitchens today: the
microwave oven. You’ve probably heard that Spencer
had a chocolate bar in his pocket, and it melted when
he used his new machine. According to Spencer’s
grandson, the food in Spencer’s pocket was not
chocolate. It was a peanut cluster, and this is important
because chocolate melts at a very low temperature, but
peanut clusters do not. Spencer was very surprised that
the bar melted, and he did another experiment with an
egg. The egg exploded in his face! Finally, he tried his
machine with popcorn, and the popcorn popped. That all of the meals that were served at the inn, and one
was the beginning of microwave cooking. day she decided to make some chocolate cookies.
She discovered that she didn’t have the type of
Ice-cream cones: It seems that the first ice-cream cones
chocolate she needed for the cookies, so she broke
were used at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis. The
a chocolate bar into small pieces and put them into
weather was very hot, and there were many ice-cream
the cookie dough. She thought they would melt and
vendors. Next to one of the ice-cream sellers there was a
create chocolate dough when she baked the cookies.
waffle stand. Unfortunately, because of the hot weather,
However, the pieces of chocolate did not melt, and
most people did not want to eat waffles. The ice-cream
the result was cookies with small pieces of chocolate in
seller had so many customers that he ran out of paper
them. People loved them, and a new cookie recipe was
dishes to serve the ice cream on. The waffle vendor rolled
invented. Today, chocolate chip cookies are sometimes
his waffles into cones and gave them to the ice-cream
still called Toll House cookies.
vendor. People loved the waffle cones with the ice cream,
and the ice-cream cone was invented!
melt (v): to change from a solid to a liquid
Chocolate chip cookies: In the 1930s, Ruth Wakefield explode (v): to break apart with force
and her husband owned a hotel in the state of pop (v): to heat dried corn to make popcorn
Massachusetts called the Toll House Inn. Ruth cooked

VOCABULARY
Complete the sentences with words and phrases from the box.

chocolate bar  cookie dough  peanut cluster  popcorn  waffles

1 I love with honey.

2 That is going to melt in your hands.
3 My mother taught me how to prepare the best . We made chocolate cookies together.
4 A has peanuts and chocolate combined.
5 I can’t stop eating whenever I watch a movie in the movie theater.

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11 Use and Reuse LE V EL 2 – RE A DING WORK SHEE T: Science PAGE 2 OF 2

COMPREHENSION
Choose True or False.

1 The inventor of the microwave oven had a chocolate bar in his pocket. True / False
2 The 1904 World’s Fair was in the summer. True / False
3 The people at the World’s Fair ate the waffle cones with the ice cream. True / False
4 Ruth Wakefield wanted to invent a new flavor of cookie. True / False
5 Toll House cookies are the same thing as chocolate chip cookies. True / False

THINKING
What other accidental inventions or discoveries do you know about?

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11 Use and Reuse LE V EL 2 – RE A DING WORK SHEE T: Services PAGE 1 OF 2

READING
Read about a community service that you can do. How can you help stop littering in your community?

Community Service—How to
Stop Littering
The next time you are in a public place, look around
you. Is the place clean and attractive, or is there a lot
of trash on the ground? If you want to have a cleaner,
more beautiful community, you can help stop littering!
First, let’s look at where littering happens. Most people
do not throw litter on the ground around their own
houses, but for some reason, many people think it’s
OK to litter in public places. You probably know that
parks often have a big littering problem. People buy
food or drinks, or they bring picnics to the park, and
when they have finished, they drop metal cans and
paper or plastic packages on the ground. Did you
know that there are types of businesses that also
have big problems with littering? When you shop at a sometimes sold in polystyrene foam boxes. Try to
convenience store or buy food at a fast food restaurant, convince businesses to use paper straws and cups
look at the area outside the business. How much trash and cardboard boxes for food.
do you see? Unfortunately, people often buy things in a • Educate people. Start a community blog to explain
store or restaurant and then walk outside and throw the which materials are biodegradable and which are
packages on the ground. not, to tell people where and how to recycle their
“Yes, that’s a problem,” you say, “but what can I do trash, and to recommend eco-friendly businesses and
about it?” First, organize people. Use social media to products.
connect with other people in your school or community  e should use our community services like trash
W
who want to help. Then make a plan. Here are some collection and recycling to make our communities
ideas that can help you: better places to live.
• Talk to city officials and ask them to put more trash
cans and recycling bins in public places. Also talk to litter (n): paper, plastic, metal, or other trash on the
the owners and managers of convenience stores and ground
fast food restaurants. Most people won’t litter if there litter (v): to throw trash on the ground
are plenty of places to put trash. convenience store (n): a small store that sells
• Try to change the types of litter. Paper is groceries, drinks, and snacks; often open 24 hours
biodegradable. Plastic, polystyrene foam, and metal biodegradable (adj): a material that can be broken
are not biodegradable, and we should reduce their down by bacteria
use. Most straws used with soft drinks are made polystyrene (n): a thermoplastic that has good
of plastic. Cups are made of plastic or polystyrene
insulating qualities
foam, and many drinks are sold in cans. Food is

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11 Use and Reuse LE V EL 2 – RE A DING WORK SHEE T: Services PAGE 2 OF 2

VOCABULARY
Complete the descriptions with words from the box.

cardboard  polystyrene foam   recycling bin  straw  trash can

1 is a very light plastic material that is used to make cups and food boxes. In the UK, it is called
polystyrene.
2 A is a large plastic box for things that can be used again, like bottles, cans, or paper. Big trucks
pick up the things and take them to be processed.
3 is very thick paper in layers that is used to make boxes. It is often brown.
4 A is a metal or plastic container to put food and other items that you don’t want. These items
are not recycled.
5 A is a long thin paper or plastic tube for drinking sodas or other cold drinks.

COMPREHENSION
Choose the correct option.

1 Littering is a problem …
a around people’s houses. b in public places. c inside stores and other buildings.
2 … have a big problem with littering.
a Convenience stores b Supermarkets c Shopping malls
3 To reduce littering, we need more …
a city officials. b stores. c trash cans.
4 … is biodegradable.
a Plastic b Styrofoam c Paper
5 We should … the use of plastic, metal, and Styrofoam items.
a reduce b get rid of c increase

THINKING
Where do you often see litter in your community? What ideas can you think of for reducing litter in
those areas?

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11 Use and Reuse LE V EL 2 – RE A DING WORK SHEE T: Business PAGE 1 OF 2

READING
Read about an unusual material for clothes. Would you ever think plastic would make good clothing?

Cotton? Wool? Leather?

No—Plastic!
Look at the labels on your clothes. What are the clothes
made of? Plastic is made from petroleum, and fabrics
like polyester, spandex, and nylon are all types of
plastic. These fabrics have existed for a long time, but
now there are new types of fabrics that are made from
recycled plastic.
Many people are worried about the effects of trash,
especially plastic, on the environment. In the 1950s,
companies began making millions and millions of
products from plastic, and almost all of that plastic still
exists today. Unlike biodegradable materials like cotton
or leather, plastic lasts more than 400 years after we
throw it away. People around the world buy about one
make clothes buy the cloth and use it to make many
million plastic bottles every minute. A few companies
types of clothing.
are trying to help with this problem. They are using
water bottles to make clothes. Clothes made from recycled plastic can be recycled
again when they are old, and the plastic can be used
Water bottles are made of a type of plastic called PET,
for new clothes or other products. Other plastic items
and this type of plastic can be used to make fabric for
can also be recycled and used to make many other
clothes. Here is how recycled water bottles become
new products. Unfortunately, most people still do not
shirts, pants, or shoes.
recycle plastic, metal, and paper trash, but more and
First, plastic bottles are collected and taken to recycling more people every day begin to recycle. Please recycle!
centers. The clear plastic bottles are separated from Remember—the next time you wear a new shirt, you
the colored plastic bottles. Then the PET bottles are may be wearing your old water bottle!
separated from other types of plastic because only this
plastic is used for fabric. After that, the PET bottles
are cleaned and cut into very small pieces. Then a flexible (adj): yielding; capable of bending or
machine makes large squares from the pieces. The moving easily
plastic squares are heated to make a flexible substance, thread (n): a long, thin fiber used to sew or make
and that substance is used to make thread. Another cloth
machine dyes the thread to add color to it. Finally, the cloth (n): a yielding material used for making
colored thread is used to make cloth. Companies that clothes

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11 Use and Reuse LE V EL 2 – RE A DING WORK SHEE T: Business PAGE 2 OF 2

VOCABULARY
Read the sentences and use the context to choose the correct meaning of each word in bold.

1 Look at the labels on your clothes. What are the clothes made of?
a information about a piece of clothing
b the material used for a piece of clothing
c the brand of clothing
2 Fabrics like polyester, spandex, and nylon are all types of plastic.
a types of plastic b places where clothes are made c material used to make clothes
3 Water bottles are made of PET, and this … can be used to make fabric for clothes.
a a type of fabric b type of plastic c a type of bottled water
4 The clear plastic bottles are separated from the colored plastic bottles.
a with no color b with many different colors c another word for PET
5 Another machine dyes the thread to make different colors.
a makes different colors of clothes b makes colored fabric c changes the color

COMPREHENSION
Complete the sentences with information from the text.

1 Polyester and spandex are made from .

2 Cotton and leather are examples of materials.
3 Plastic stays on the Earth for about .
4 One million plastic bottles are sold .
5 The type of plastic that is used to make fabric is called .

THINKING
To upcycle something is to use it for a new purpose. What kinds of things could you use old water or soda
bottles for?

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This page may be photocopied and used within the class.