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The Cubit and the Wandering Forearm

4th grade nonfiction passage about history of measuring: 229 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

4th grade nonfiction history of measuring 229 words

The Cubit and the Wandering Forearm

People measured things long before they had rulers. A builder needed to know how long a wall should be. A trader needed to know how much cloth to sell. With no tools, they used the one thing they always carried, which was their own body.

In ancient Egypt, a common unit was the cubit. It was the length of a forearm, from the elbow to the tip of the longest finger. People also used a hand width, a thumb width, and a foot. Those names are still used today. We call a unit of 12 inches a foot, and horse owners measure a horse in hands.

There was a problem, though. Arms and feet are not the same size. If one builder's cubit was longer than another builder's cubit, a wall built by two workers might not fit together. A trader with a long arm could even sell less cloth than he promised.

The Egyptians fixed this with a standard. They carved a measuring rod to the right length, and workers made copies of it. Now every cubit was the same.

You can try the problem yourself. Measure your desk by laying your hand span end to end. Then ask a friend to do the same. Your numbers will probably differ. That is why people everywhere finally agreed on shared units, so a measurement means the same thing for everyone.

Questions

  1. What did early people use to measure things before they had rulers? in the text

  2. What was a cubit? in the text

  3. Which unit that we still use is named for a body part? in the text

  4. What problem came from measuring with arms and feet? in the text

  5. How did the Egyptians fix the problem? in the text

  6. Why will your desk measurement probably differ from your friend's? think about it

Words to know

cubit
an old unit of length based on the forearm
forearm
the part of the arm between the elbow and the wrist
trader
a person who buys and sells goods
standard
something everyone agrees to use as the correct size
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 · 173 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.4

People measured things long before rulers. A builder needed to know how long a wall should be. A trader needed to know how much cloth to sell. With no tools, they used their own bodies.

In ancient Egypt, one unit was the cubit. It was the length of a forearm, from the elbow to the tip of the longest finger. People also used a hand width, a thumb width, and a foot. We still call 12 inches a foot. Horse owners measure a horse in hands.

But arms and feet are not the same size. If one builder had a longer cubit, the walls might not fit. A trader with a long arm could sell less cloth than he said.

The Egyptians fixed this with a standard. They carved a rod to the right length. Workers made copies of it. Now every cubit was the same.

Try it. Measure your desk with your hand spans. Ask a friend to do it too. The numbers will differ. That is why people agreed on shared units.

▲ This passage · 229 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.3

People measured things long before they had rulers. A builder needed to know how long a wall should be. A trader needed to know how much cloth to sell. With no tools, they used the one thing they always carried, which was their own body.

In ancient Egypt, a common unit was the cubit. It was the length of a forearm, from the elbow to the tip of the longest finger. People also used a hand width, a thumb width, and a foot. Those names are still used today. We call a unit of 12 inches a foot, and horse owners measure a horse in hands.

There was a problem, though. Arms and feet are not the same size. If one builder's cubit was longer than another builder's cubit, a wall built by two workers might not fit together. A trader with a long arm could even sell less cloth than he promised.

The Egyptians fixed this with a standard. They carved a measuring rod to the right length, and workers made copies of it. Now every cubit was the same.

You can try the problem yourself. Measure your desk by laying your hand span end to end. Then ask a friend to do the same. Your numbers will probably differ. That is why people everywhere finally agreed on shared units, so a measurement means the same thing for everyone.

■ Harder · 255 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.7

Long before anyone had invented rulers, people were already measuring the world around them. A builder needed to know how long a wall should be, and a trader needed to know how much cloth to sell. Lacking proper tools, they relied on the one thing they always carried with them, which was their own body.

In ancient Egypt, a common unit of length was the cubit, which stretched from the elbow to the tip of the longest finger. People also measured with the width of a hand, the width of a thumb, and the length of a foot. Several of those names survive today. We still call a unit of 12 inches a foot, and horse owners still measure the height of a horse in hands.

There was an obvious problem, however. Arms and feet differ in size from one person to the next. If one builder's cubit was longer than another's, a wall built by two workers might not fit together properly, and a trader with a long arm could quietly sell less cloth than he had promised.

The Egyptians solved this by creating a standard. They carved a measuring rod to the correct length, and workers made copies of it so that every cubit became identical.

You can experience the difficulty yourself. Measure your desk by laying your hand span end to end, then ask a friend to do the same. Your answers will probably differ, which is exactly why people everywhere eventually agreed on shared units that mean the same thing for everyone.

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 cubit, forearm, trader and standard 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 "The Cubit and the Wandering Forearm"?

It was written for 4th grade. It has 229 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 4.3. 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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