How Do Spiders Spin Webs?
An information text about how spiders make webs, with eight questions on finding facts, word meanings and explaining how things work.
Read the passage
Making silk
A spider makes silk inside its own body. The silk comes out of tiny tubes called spinnerets, at the back of the spider. It starts as a liquid. As soon as it meets the air, it turns into a thin, strong thread.
Starting a web
Many spiders spin a web to catch food. First, the spider lets a thread float on the wind. When the thread sticks to a branch, the spider walks along it. Then it builds a frame and adds lines like the spokes of a wheel.
The sticky spiral
Next, the spider spins a spiral of sticky thread across the spokes. The spokes are not sticky, so the spider can walk on them safely. Then the spider waits, often in the middle of the web.
Catching food
When a fly lands on the web, it gets stuck. The web shakes, and the spider feels it through its legs. The spider rushes over and wraps the fly in silk. Not all spiders spin webs, though. Some hunt for their food, and others wait in a hole.
Answer the questions
- What are the tiny tubes that silk comes out of called? (1 mark)
- What does a spider let float on the wind to start its web? (1 mark)
- Find and copy one word from the “Catching food” section that means “hurries”. (1 mark)
- Number these events 1 to 4 in the order they happen. (2 marks)• The spider spins a sticky spiral.• A fly gets stuck in the web.• The spider lets a thread float on the wind.• The spider builds a frame and spokes.
- Why can the spider walk on the spokes of its web safely? (1 mark)
- How does the spider know that a fly has landed on its web? (1 mark)
- Why do you think the spider wraps the fly in silk? (2 marks)
- Write one sentence to explain how a spider catches food in a web. (2 marks)
Answer key for parents and teachers
1. Spinnerets. (1 mark)
Finding information (2b). A key word that is stated in the first section.
2. A thread. (1 mark)
Finding information (2b). Finding a small detail in the right section.
3. rushes (1 mark)
Word meaning (2a). Matching a word to its meaning, using the section heading to find the right place.
4. 1. The spider lets a thread float on the wind. 2. The spider builds a frame and spokes. 3. The spider spins a sticky spiral. 4. A fly gets stuck in the web. (2 marks)
Sequencing events. Sequencing shows the child has followed the whole process, not just single facts.
5. The spokes are not sticky. (1 mark)
Explaining from the text. The child links a fact to the reason for it.
6. The web shakes and the spider feels it through its legs. (1 mark)
Explaining from the text. A cause and effect that is stated in the last section, put in the child’s own words.
7. To stop it escaping, or to keep it to eat later (any sensible reason). (2 marks)
Inference (2d). The text says what the spider does but not why, so the child has to work it out.
8. One mark for building a web and one for catching a fly in it, for example: A spider spins a sticky web, and when a fly gets stuck, the spider feels it shake and wraps the fly up. (2 marks)
Summarising (2c). Summing up a process in one sentence is a key reading skill.
What this practises
Finding information (2b), Word meaning (2a), Sequencing events, Explaining from the text, Inference (2d), Summarising (2c). The codes in brackets are the reading content domains from the national curriculum test framework. Marks and answers are a guide: accept any sensible answer that is backed up by the text.
Now try the writing task
Imagine you are a spider building a web at night. Write five sentences about what you see, feel and do.
Aim for five to eight sentences. Read it back aloud together and fix anything that does not sound right.
Want feedback on your child's own writing?
You mark the worksheet yourself with the answer key. LiteracyLab AI is different: it reads what your child has written and gives specific feedback, such as what worked, one thing to try next, and a corrected version, matched to their year. The Free plan includes 3 pieces a month and needs no card.
More Year 3 worksheets
Free to print and copy for your own family or classroom. Please do not sell or republish. The passage and questions were written for LiteracyLab AI.