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How a Wind-Up Toy Saves Up Energy

4th grade nonfiction passage about stored energy: 196 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

4th grade nonfiction stored energy 196 words

How a Wind-Up Toy Saves Up Energy

A wind-up toy sits still on the table. Then you turn the key a few times, let go, and the toy hops across the floor. Where did the hopping come from?

Inside the toy is a coil of springy metal. When you turn the key, you do work on the coil. You twist it tighter and tighter. The coil does not want to stay twisted. It wants to unwind. The energy you put in is stored in the squeezed coil, ready to be used. Scientists call this stored energy potential energy.

When you let go, the coil begins to unwind. Its stored energy changes into energy of motion. Little gears carry that motion to the toy's legs or wheels, and the toy moves. As the coil loosens, the toy slows down, until the stored energy is used up. Then it stops.

Other things store energy in the same way. A stretched rubber band can snap back. A pulled-back toy car with a spring can zoom forward. A compressed mattress spring pushes back up. In all of these, a springy material is squeezed or stretched, and it gives the energy back when it is released.

Questions

  1. What is inside a wind-up toy that stores energy? in the text

  2. What happens to the coil when you turn the key? in the text

  3. What is stored energy called in this passage? in the text

  4. What do the little gears do? in the text

  5. Why does the toy slow down and stop? think about it

  6. Which other things store energy when they are stretched or squeezed? in the text

Words to know

coil
a long piece wound into rings or spirals
unwind
to loosen and turn back the other way
potential energy
energy that is stored and ready to be used
gears
wheels with teeth that fit together and pass motion along
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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 · 164 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.4

A wind-up toy sits still. You turn the key a few times. You let go. The toy hops across the floor. Where did the hopping come from?

Inside the toy is a coil of springy metal. When you turn the key, you twist the coil tighter. The coil wants to unwind. The energy you put in is stored in the coil. It is saved for later. This is called potential energy.

When you let go, the coil unwinds. The saved energy turns into motion. Little gears pass the motion to the toy's legs or wheels. The toy moves. The coil gets looser, and the toy slows down. At last the saved energy is used up. The toy stops.

Other things save energy this way. A stretched rubber band can snap back. A toy car with a spring can zoom ahead. A mattress spring pushes back up. A springy thing is squeezed or stretched. When it is let go, it gives the energy back.

▲ This passage · 196 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.2

A wind-up toy sits still on the table. Then you turn the key a few times, let go, and the toy hops across the floor. Where did the hopping come from?

Inside the toy is a coil of springy metal. When you turn the key, you do work on the coil. You twist it tighter and tighter. The coil does not want to stay twisted. It wants to unwind. The energy you put in is stored in the squeezed coil, ready to be used. Scientists call this stored energy potential energy.

When you let go, the coil begins to unwind. Its stored energy changes into energy of motion. Little gears carry that motion to the toy's legs or wheels, and the toy moves. As the coil loosens, the toy slows down, until the stored energy is used up. Then it stops.

Other things store energy in the same way. A stretched rubber band can snap back. A pulled-back toy car with a spring can zoom forward. A compressed mattress spring pushes back up. In all of these, a springy material is squeezed or stretched, and it gives the energy back when it is released.

■ Harder · 201 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.4

A wind-up toy sits motionless on the table. Then you turn the key several times, release it, and the toy goes hopping across the floor. Where does all that movement come from?

Inside the toy is a coil of springy metal. When you turn the key, you do work on the coil by twisting it tighter and tighter. The coil resists staying twisted and tends to unwind, so the energy you supplied is stored in the compressed coil, ready for use. Scientists call this stored energy potential energy.

When you let go, the coil begins to unwind, and its stored energy is transformed into energy of motion. Small gears carry that motion to the toy's legs or wheels, which makes the toy move. As the coil loosens, the toy gradually slows down, and once the stored energy has been used up, it comes to a halt.

Many other things store energy in the same way. A stretched rubber band can snap back, a pulled-back toy car with a spring can shoot forward, and a compressed mattress spring pushes upward again. In every case, a springy material is squeezed or stretched, and it returns the energy when it is released.

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 coil, unwind, potential energy and gears 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 5 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 "How a Wind-Up Toy Saves Up Energy"?

It was written for 4th grade. It has 196 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 3.2. 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.

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