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Measuring the Sea With a Rope and a Lump of Lead

5th grade nonfiction passage about old ways to measure depth: 203 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

5th grade nonfiction old ways to measure depth 203 words

Measuring the Sea With a Rope and a Lump of Lead

Long before sonar, sailors still needed to know how deep the water was beneath their ship. Shallow water can hide rocks and sandbars, so a wrong guess could be costly. Their tool was a simple one called a lead line.

The lead line was a rope with a heavy lump of lead tied to the end. Along the rope, sailors fastened pieces of leather, cloth, or knotted cord at set distances. Each mark felt and looked different, so a sailor could read the depth even in the dark by touch. To take a measurement, a sailor swung the weight forward and let it sink until it hit the bottom. The rope went slack. Then the sailor read the nearest mark at the water's surface and called out the depth. Measuring depth this way is called sounding. Depth was counted in fathoms, and one fathom is six feet.

Sailors also pressed a bit of soft wax into a hollow at the bottom of the lead. When the weight touched the sea floor, sand, mud, or tiny shells stuck to it. By looking at what came up, a sailor learned what the bottom was made of, which helped in choosing a safe place to anchor.

Questions

  1. Why did sailors need to know how deep the water was? in the text

  2. What was a lead line made of? in the text

  3. Why did the marks on the rope feel and look different? think about it

  4. How did a sailor know the weight had reached the bottom? in the text

  5. What is measuring depth with a lead line called? in the text

  6. Why did sailors put wax in the bottom of the lead? think about it

Words to know

sonar
a way to find depth or objects using sound waves
sandbars
ridges of sand built up just under the water
slack
loose, not pulled tight
fathoms
old units for measuring water depth, six feet each
anchor
to drop a heavy weight that holds a ship in place
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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 · 167 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.2

Long before sonar, sailors needed to know how deep the water was. Shallow water can hide rocks and sandbars. A wrong guess could be costly. Their tool was a lead line.

A lead line was a rope with a heavy lump of lead on the end. Sailors tied bits of leather, cloth, or knotted cord on the rope at set spots. Each mark felt and looked different. A sailor could read the depth in the dark by touch. To measure, a sailor swung the weight out and let it sink to the bottom. The rope went slack. Then the sailor read the nearest mark at the water and called out the depth. This is called sounding. Depth was counted in fathoms. One fathom is six feet.

Sailors also pressed soft wax into a hollow in the lead. Sand, mud, or tiny shells stuck to it at the bottom. The sailor saw what the sea floor was made of. That helped to pick a safe place to anchor.

▲ This passage · 203 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.9

Long before sonar, sailors still needed to know how deep the water was beneath their ship. Shallow water can hide rocks and sandbars, so a wrong guess could be costly. Their tool was a simple one called a lead line.

The lead line was a rope with a heavy lump of lead tied to the end. Along the rope, sailors fastened pieces of leather, cloth, or knotted cord at set distances. Each mark felt and looked different, so a sailor could read the depth even in the dark by touch. To take a measurement, a sailor swung the weight forward and let it sink until it hit the bottom. The rope went slack. Then the sailor read the nearest mark at the water's surface and called out the depth. Measuring depth this way is called sounding. Depth was counted in fathoms, and one fathom is six feet.

Sailors also pressed a bit of soft wax into a hollow at the bottom of the lead. When the weight touched the sea floor, sand, mud, or tiny shells stuck to it. By looking at what came up, a sailor learned what the bottom was made of, which helped in choosing a safe place to anchor.

■ Harder · 227 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.6

Long before the invention of sonar, sailors still had to find out how deep the water was beneath their ship. Shallow water can conceal rocks and sandbars, so a careless guess could prove very costly. The tool they relied on was a simple one known as a lead line.

The lead line consisted of a rope with a heavy lump of lead tied to its end. Along the length of the rope, sailors fastened pieces of leather, cloth, or knotted cord at set distances. Each mark felt and looked different from the others, which meant that a sailor could read the depth by touch, even in the dark. To take a measurement, a sailor swung the weight forward and let it sink until it struck the bottom, at which point the rope went slack. The sailor then read the nearest mark at the water's surface and called out the depth. Measuring depth in this way is called sounding, and depth was counted in fathoms, with one fathom equal to six feet.

Sailors also pressed a bit of soft wax into a hollow at the base of the lead. When the weight touched the sea floor, sand, mud, or tiny shells stuck to it, and by examining what came up, a sailor learned what the bottom was made of, which helped in choosing a safe place to anchor.

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 sonar, sandbars, slack, fathoms and anchor 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 3 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 "Measuring the Sea With a Rope and a Lump of Lead"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 203 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 4.9. 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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