Skip to the content
Peabody TeachFor teachers and grown-ups

A Weather Buoy Floats at Zero and Zero

4th grade nonfiction passage about latitude and longitude at zero: 203 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

4th grade nonfiction latitude and longitude at zero 203 words

A Weather Buoy Floats at Zero and Zero

Every place on Earth can be named with two numbers. One number tells you how far north or south of the equator you are. This is called latitude. The other tells you how far east or west of a line called the prime meridian. This is called longitude. The prime meridian runs through Greenwich, near London in England.

The equator is at zero degrees latitude. The prime meridian is at zero degrees longitude. So what is at zero and zero, where the two lines cross?

Look at a globe, and you may be surprised. The spot is not in a city or on a mountain. It is in the Atlantic Ocean, in a wide bay off the coast of West Africa. There is only open water.

Even so, something floats there. Scientists have anchored a weather buoy near the spot. A buoy is a floating machine with tools that measure wind, air temperature, and the temperature of the sea. It sends its readings by satellite, and the numbers help people understand ocean weather.

So the place named by the simplest pair of numbers on the map turns out to be a quiet patch of sea with one lonely machine bobbing on the waves.

Questions

  1. What does latitude tell you? in the text

  2. What does longitude tell you? in the text

  3. Where do the equator and the prime meridian cross? in the text

  4. What three things does the weather buoy measure? in the text

  5. How does the buoy send its readings? in the text

  6. Why might a weather buoy be useful at a spot with only open water? think about it

Words to know

latitude
a measure of how far north or south a place is
longitude
a measure of how far east or west a place is
buoy
a floating object that is anchored in the water
satellite
a machine that circles the Earth and sends back information
Share

One passage, three levels

The same topic and facts written three ways, so a mixed class can read and talk about one text. Each group’s sheet shows only a shape; the key says which is which.

● Easier · 180 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.5

Every place on Earth can be named with two numbers. One number tells how far north or south of the equator you are. This is latitude. The other number tells how far east or west of a line called the prime meridian. This is longitude. The prime meridian goes through Greenwich, near London in England.

The equator is at zero degrees latitude. The prime meridian is at zero degrees longitude. So what is at zero and zero, where the two lines cross?

Look at a globe. You may be surprised. It is not a city or a mountain. It is in the Atlantic Ocean, in a wide bay off West Africa. There is only open water.

Still, something floats there. Scientists put a weather buoy near the spot. A buoy is a floating machine. It measures wind, air temperature, and the temperature of the sea. It sends its numbers by satellite. They help people learn about ocean weather.

So the place with the simplest pair of numbers is a quiet patch of sea. One lonely machine bobs on the waves.

▲ This passage · 203 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.4

Every place on Earth can be named with two numbers. One number tells you how far north or south of the equator you are. This is called latitude. The other tells you how far east or west of a line called the prime meridian. This is called longitude. The prime meridian runs through Greenwich, near London in England.

The equator is at zero degrees latitude. The prime meridian is at zero degrees longitude. So what is at zero and zero, where the two lines cross?

Look at a globe, and you may be surprised. The spot is not in a city or on a mountain. It is in the Atlantic Ocean, in a wide bay off the coast of West Africa. There is only open water.

Even so, something floats there. Scientists have anchored a weather buoy near the spot. A buoy is a floating machine with tools that measure wind, air temperature, and the temperature of the sea. It sends its readings by satellite, and the numbers help people understand ocean weather.

So the place named by the simplest pair of numbers on the map turns out to be a quiet patch of sea with one lonely machine bobbing on the waves.

■ Harder · 226 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 8.4

Every location on Earth can be identified by a pair of numbers. The first indicates how far north or south of the equator the place lies, a measurement known as latitude. The second indicates how far east or west of an imaginary line called the prime meridian it lies, a measurement known as longitude. The prime meridian passes through Greenwich, which is near London in England.

The equator sits at zero degrees latitude, and the prime meridian sits at zero degrees longitude. So what can be found at zero and zero, the point where the two lines cross?

If you study a globe, the answer may surprise you. The spot is not in a city or on a mountaintop. It lies in the Atlantic Ocean, in a wide bay off the coast of West Africa, where there is nothing but open water.

Nevertheless, something floats there. Scientists have anchored a weather buoy close to the spot. A buoy is a floating machine equipped with instruments that measure the wind, the air temperature, and the temperature of the sea. It transmits its readings by satellite, and the numbers help people understand the weather over the ocean.

Thus the place named by the simplest pair of numbers on the map turns out to be a quiet stretch of sea, with a single lonely machine bobbing on the waves.

Download as one PDF

How to use it

  1. Press Read it big (or B) to put the text on the projector, or Full screen (F) to fill the whole screen.
  2. Ask the questions one at a time and use Show answer when the class has decided. A shows or hides every answer.
  3. Print student copy for the class, or Print with answers for yourself.

Ideas for class

  • Before reading, put latitude, longitude, buoy and satellite on the board with their meanings from the Words to know section and have students predict what the text will be about.
  • Read it aloud once while students follow along, then have them reread it alone or with a partner. At a calm 100 words a minute it takes about 2 minutes to read aloud.
  • Use the Read it big button (or B) to put the text on the projector, and Show answer on one question at a time so the class commits to an answer first.
  • Question 6 asks the reader to infer. Ask students to point to the words in the passage that led them to their answer.
  • Ask students to write one question the passage did not answer, then look for the answer in a book or on a classroom screen.
  • Print the student copy for independent work and keep the answer-key copy for yourself.

Related

Questions

What reading level is "A Weather Buoy Floats at Zero and Zero"?

It was written for 4th grade. It has 203 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 5.4. That is a formula's estimate from sentence length and syllables, and it is not a Lexile or a guided reading level, so check it against your students.

What do the questions ask?

There are six. 5 ask for something the text says directly and 1 ask the reader to work something out from clues. Each has an answer in the key, and the answers are written as a teacher would accept them, not as the only possible wording.

How long does it take to read?

About 2 minutes read aloud at 100 words a minute. For a one-minute fluency check, paste it into the fluency timer and use the word count.

Can I print it?

Yes. Print student copy gives the passage, the questions with lines to write on, and the word meanings. Print with answers gives the same page with the answers filled in. Both are made in your browser.

Is this passage from a published book?

No. It was written for Peabody Teach, so there is no book to buy and no login to read it.

Nothing you do here is sent to us. No sign-in, no ads.