Candies come in many different forms

By Washington Post, adapted by Newsela staff on 10.23.18

Word Count 430
Level 590L

Lollipops from Dylan's Candy Bar are displayed at J.C. Penney in New York City. Photo: Mark Lennihan, AP

Halloween is almost here. Soon you'll have a pile of candy. Think about all the forms it can come
in. Some will be smooth and chewy, like caramel. There will be gummy animals and a rainbow of
lollipops. All of these sweets are made with the same main ingredient: sugar. So how can candy
take on so many different forms? It is all about what happens to the tiny parts that make up
sugar.

Alton Brown is a chef on TV. He knows the secret to making candy. He says it is "controlling the
size and shape of sugar crystals."

Crystal Patterns

Each grain of sugar is a crystal. The crystal is made up of tiny building blocks. These blocks fit
together in a repeating pattern. The building blocks that make sugar crystals are called sucrose.
Sucrose likes to stick to other sucrose. This is how the crystal pattern forms. When sugar gets

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wet, some sucrose bits want to stick to the water instead. This makes them lose their crystal form.
They melt. Hot water can melt more sugar than cold water. Melted sugar turns into a syrup, like
sweet water. Crystals will start to form as soon as the syrup cools down. That's how many
candies are made.

How candy feels depends on sugar crystals. Different types of candy have different sizes of
crystals. Chefs are able to make different sugar crystals. They do this by changing the speed of
how sugar syrup cools. Cool it slowly and big crystals form. The biggest crystals make rock
candy. You can put a string into a glass of sugar syrup. Let it cool down slowly over several days.
The sucrose will move together. Giant crystals will form on the string.

Glass Candy, Chewy Candy

What is the opposite of rock candy? It is candy that has no sugar crystals at all. It's called glass
candy. Lollipops are a kind of glass candy. It is made by cooling syrup down fast. The sucrose
clumps together randomly so no crystal pattern is formed.

Chewy candy is somewhere in the middle. It has lots of tiny crystals instead of a few giant chunks.
Chefs do this by cooling syrup slowly. They have to stir it as it cools.

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Alton Brown says the feel of candy matters more than we think. He thinks we like the feel of our
favorite candy. It is more important than the taste.

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Quiz

1 Read the following paragraph from the section "Glass Candy, Chewy Candy."

What is the opposite of rock candy? It is candy that has no sugar crystals
at all. It's called glass candy. Lollipops are a kind of glass candy. It is
made by cooling syrup down fast. The sucrose clumps together randomly
so no crystal pattern is formed.

Which question is answered in this paragraph?

(A) How many crystals are in rock candy?

(B) How long long does it take to make rock candy?

(C) How long does it take to make glass candy?

(D) How many crystals are in glass candy?

2 Which sentence from the section "Crystal Patterns" shows HOW different sugar crystals are made?

(A) Each grain of sugar is a crystal.

(B) Different types of candy have different sizes of crystals.

(C) They do this by changing the speed of how sugar syrup cools.

(D) Giant crystals will form on the string.

3 What information will the reader find in the introduction [paragraphs 1-2]?

(A) the secret to making candy

(B) the name of Alton Brown's TV show

(C) the most popular types of Halloween candy

(D) the ingredients used to make candy

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4 Read the paragraph below from the section "Glass Candy, Chewy Candy."

Chewy candy is somewhere in the middle. It has lots of tiny crystals

instead of a few giant chunks. Chefs do this by cooling syrup slowly.
They have to stir it as it cools.

What information can the reader get by reading this paragraph?

(A) what type of candy has giant chunks of crystals in it

(B) what chefs like Alton Brown like about chewy candy

(C) how much time it takes to stir syrup for chewy candy

(D) how chewy candy is different from other candy

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Answer Key

1 Read the following paragraph from the section "Glass Candy, Chewy Candy."

What is the opposite of rock candy? It is candy that has no sugar crystals
at all. It's called glass candy. Lollipops are a kind of glass candy. It is
made by cooling syrup down fast. The sucrose clumps together randomly
so no crystal pattern is formed.

Which question is answered in this paragraph?

(A) How many crystals are in rock candy?

(B) How long long does it take to make rock candy?

(C) How long does it take to make glass candy?

(D) How many crystals are in glass candy?

2 Which sentence from the section "Crystal Patterns" shows HOW different sugar crystals are made?

(A) Each grain of sugar is a crystal.

(B) Different types of candy have different sizes of crystals.

(C) They do this by changing the speed of how sugar syrup cools.

(D) Giant crystals will form on the string.

3 What information will the reader find in the introduction [paragraphs 1-2]?

(A) the secret to making candy

(B) the name of Alton Brown's TV show

(C) the most popular types of Halloween candy

(D) the ingredients used to make candy

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 6

4 Read the paragraph below from the section "Glass Candy, Chewy Candy."

Chewy candy is somewhere in the middle. It has lots of tiny crystals

instead of a few giant chunks. Chefs do this by cooling syrup slowly.
They have to stir it as it cools.

What information can the reader get by reading this paragraph?

(A) what type of candy has giant chunks of crystals in it

(B) what chefs like Alton Brown like about chewy candy

(C) how much time it takes to stir syrup for chewy candy

(D) how chewy candy is different from other candy

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 7