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Living on a Clock That Runs Forty Minutes Late

5th grade nonfiction passage about a day on Mars: 232 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

5th grade nonfiction a day on Mars 232 words

Living on a Clock That Runs Forty Minutes Late

A day is the time it takes a planet to spin around once. On Earth, that is about twenty-four hours. Mars spins at nearly the same speed, but its day is a little longer, about forty minutes longer than ours. Scientists call a Mars day a sol.

A difference of forty minutes may not sound like much. Yet for the teams who work with rovers on Mars, it changes how they live. A rover uses sunlight, so it works while it is day on Mars and rests at night. The team on Earth wants to send it directions in the Mars morning, so their own day has to move to match.

Each Earth day, the Mars morning begins about forty minutes later on an Earth clock. So the team members start work forty minutes later each day. After a week or two, they are going to work in the middle of the night. After about a month, they are back around to a normal morning, and then they begin the cycle again.

Some teams wore special watches that showed Mars time. They also covered their windows so that they could sleep while the sun was shining outside. It was tiring, but it let them check the rover's pictures as soon as they arrived. Working on another planet's clock is a hard job, and the people who do it are very dedicated.

Questions

  1. What is a Mars day called? in the text

  2. How much longer is a Mars day than an Earth day? in the text

  3. Why does a rover rest at night? in the text

  4. Why did team members start work later each day? think about it

  5. Why might team members cover their windows? think about it

  6. What did some teams wear to follow Mars time? in the text

Words to know

sol
one day on the planet Mars
rover
a robot vehicle that explores another world
directions
instructions that tell someone what to do or where to go
cycle
a set of events that repeat in the same order
dedicated
working very hard because you care
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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 · 197 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3

A day is the time a planet takes to spin around once. On Earth, that is about twenty-four hours. Mars spins at nearly the same speed, but its day is a bit longer. It is about forty minutes longer than ours. Scientists call a Mars day a sol.

Forty minutes may not sound like much. But for the teams who work with rovers on Mars, it changes how they live. A rover needs sunlight. It works in the Mars day and rests at night. The team on Earth wants to send it directions in the Mars morning. So their own day has to move to match.

Each Earth day, the Mars morning starts about forty minutes later by an Earth clock. So the team starts work forty minutes later each day. After a week or two, they go to work in the middle of the night. After about a month, they are back to a normal morning, and it starts again.

Some teams wore watches that showed Mars time. They covered their windows so they could sleep in the daytime. It was tiring, but they could see the rover's pictures as soon as they came in.

▲ This passage · 232 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.3

A day is the time it takes a planet to spin around once. On Earth, that is about twenty-four hours. Mars spins at nearly the same speed, but its day is a little longer, about forty minutes longer than ours. Scientists call a Mars day a sol.

A difference of forty minutes may not sound like much. Yet for the teams who work with rovers on Mars, it changes how they live. A rover uses sunlight, so it works while it is day on Mars and rests at night. The team on Earth wants to send it directions in the Mars morning, so their own day has to move to match.

Each Earth day, the Mars morning begins about forty minutes later on an Earth clock. So the team members start work forty minutes later each day. After a week or two, they are going to work in the middle of the night. After about a month, they are back around to a normal morning, and then they begin the cycle again.

Some teams wore special watches that showed Mars time. They also covered their windows so that they could sleep while the sun was shining outside. It was tiring, but it let them check the rover's pictures as soon as they arrived. Working on another planet's clock is a hard job, and the people who do it are very dedicated.

■ Harder · 244 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 8.1

A day is the amount of time it takes a planet to rotate completely once. On Earth, that interval is about twenty-four hours. Mars rotates at nearly the same rate, but its day is somewhat longer, lasting about forty minutes more than ours. Scientists have given a Mars day its own name, the sol.

A difference of forty minutes may not sound significant. Yet for the teams who operate rovers on Mars, it transforms the way they live. A rover depends on sunlight, so it works during the Martian day and rests through the night. The team on Earth wants to transmit instructions in the Martian morning, which means that their own daily schedule has to shift to match.

With each Earth day that passes, the Martian morning begins about forty minutes later on an Earth clock. Consequently, the team members start work forty minutes later every day. After a week or two, they are reporting for duty in the middle of the night. After roughly a month, they have circled back to an ordinary morning, and then the cycle begins all over again.

Some teams wore special watches that displayed Mars time, and they covered their windows so that they could sleep while the sun was blazing outside. It was exhausting, but it allowed them to examine the rover's pictures the moment they arrived. Working on another planet's clock is a demanding job, and the people who do it are extraordinarily dedicated.

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 sol, rover, directions, cycle and dedicated 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 4 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 "Living on a Clock That Runs Forty Minutes Late"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 232 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 5.3. 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. 4 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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