Can You Ever Touch Anything? | Reading Comprehension 2 Passage & Questions

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Can you ever touch anything? is a fascinating gateway into atomic structure, forces, and the nature of matter, making it a memorable middle and high school science topic that students love to debate. This resource explores electron repulsion and what we really feel as “touch” through two science reading passages with questions, one higher level and slightly more complex and one lower level and more accessible, so you can differentiate instruction while keeping everyone on the same big idea.

Students learn how electric charges interact, why electron clouds do not overlap easily, how contact forces emerge from electromagnetic forces, and how this connects to solids, pressure, friction, and even modern technologies. The paired texts, comprehension questions, vocabulary support and critical thinking prompts build scientific literacy, strengthen reasoning, and help students link microscopic particle models to everyday experiences in a lesson that sparks curiosity while staying grounded in real physics.

This tiered approach - offering two sets of guiding reading and questions tailored to each text - builds foundational skills in reading, critical thinking, and scientific inquiry, so you can use the right one for you. Through such structured resources, students develop a deeper appreciation for the processes that create and preserve this incredible natural phenomenon, and gain the scientific literacy necessary to make informed decisions.

This 2 article set of Can you ever touch anything? reading passages with questions provides the perfect grab and go, print and provide resource that can help your students learn all about Can you ever touch anything?. For digital, you can provide a Google doc copy for ease of submission or a Microsoft word version as well. In this Can you ever touch anything? article with questions to check comprehension and inspire scientific thinking.

The accessible version is geared towards approximately 5th / 6th / 7th grade science students, while the more advanced version is geared towards approximately 8th / 9th / 10th grade science students. This range for both could be extended with prep work or additional materials.

THIS CAN WE EVER TOUCH ANYTHING? ARTICLE CAN BE USED SO MANY WAYS:

Useful for substitute (sub) teaching
To extend students
To increase scientific literacy in your class
A weekly reading task
Great as a lesson filler when class goes too fast
To inspire students on a particular topic
Give a selection of these articles for students to choose from

WHAT'S INCLUDED IN THIS CAN WE EVER TOUCH ANYTHING? READING PASSAGE WITH QUESTIONS:

2 - 3 page Word doc image - textboxes teacher version with answers
2 - 2 page Word doc image - textboxes student version with room to fill in answers (text boxes)
2 - 3 page PDF teacher version with answers
2 - 2 page PDF student version without answers (but space left to do so)
2 - 3 page Google doc image - textboxes teacher version with answers
2 - 2 page Google doc image - textboxes student version with room to fill answers (text boxes)

Please note: That the Doc versions are images with editable text boxes overlayed on top and this is the most effective way to keep the article sleek and well-designed and also that students cannot change things significantly.