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How Bridges Stay Up

5th grade nonfiction passage about engineering: 205 words, seven questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

5th grade nonfiction engineering 205 words

How Bridges Stay Up

A bridge must carry heavy loads without falling. Engineers design bridges by thinking about two forces that push and pull on every part.

Compression is a force that squeezes, or pushes together. Tension is a force that stretches, or pulls apart. When a heavy truck crosses a beam, the top of the beam is squeezed and the bottom is stretched. A good bridge keeps both forces under control.

The simplest bridge is a beam bridge, which is a strong beam laid across a gap. It works well over short distances. For a longer gap, builders may choose an arch. An arch bridge is curved, and the curve turns the weight pressing down on it into compression that flows along the arch to the ground at both ends. Stone arches have stood for centuries, because stone is strong when it is squeezed.

A suspension bridge hangs the road from long steel cables. The cables run over tall towers and are anchored at each end. The weight of the road pulls on the cables, so they are in tension, while the towers are squeezed. Steel cables are very strong when they are pulled.

Each design uses a shape that fits the gap, the ground, and the materials.

Questions

  1. What is compression? in the text

  2. What is tension? in the text

  3. What is the simplest kind of bridge? in the text

  4. How does an arch bridge carry weight? in the text

  5. In a suspension bridge, which parts are in tension and which are squeezed? in the text

  6. Why is stone a good material for an arch? think about it

  7. Why might builders choose a different kind of bridge for a long gap than for a short one? think about it

Words to know

engineers
people who plan and design things such as bridges and machines
compression
a force that squeezes or pushes something together
tension
a force that stretches or pulls something apart
arch
a curved shape that holds up weight above an opening
suspension
hanging from above, as a road hangs from cables
cables
thick, strong ropes made of twisted wires

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 engineers, compression, tension, arch, suspension and cables 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 "How Bridges Stay Up"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 205 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 4.8. 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 seven. 5 ask for something the text says directly and 2 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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