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A Pinhole Makes a Picture on the Wall

5th grade nonfiction passage about the camera obscura: 210 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

5th grade nonfiction the camera obscura 210 words

A Pinhole Makes a Picture on the Wall

Long before cameras with film or screens, people noticed a strange thing. If a dark room had one tiny hole in a wall, a picture of the outdoors could appear on the opposite wall. The picture glowed in color, but it was upside down.

This effect is called a camera obscura, which means "dark room" in Latin. It works because light travels in straight lines. Light from the top of a tree passes through the hole and keeps going downward, so it lands low on the far wall. Light from the bottom of the tree travels upward and lands high. That is why the image is flipped.

The hole must be very small. A big opening lets in light from too many directions, and the picture turns into a blurry glow. A tiny hole keeps the picture sharp, but the image is dim, so the room must be quite dark.

Artists and scientists used the camera obscura for hundreds of years. Some artists traced the image to help them draw buildings and landscapes. Later, inventors added a lens to make the picture brighter, and they found a way to catch the image on special paper. That step led to photography.

You can find the same idea inside every camera today.

Questions

  1. What did people see on the wall of a dark room with one tiny hole? in the text

  2. What does camera obscura mean? in the text

  3. What happens if the hole is too big? in the text

  4. What did inventors add to make the picture brighter? in the text

  5. Why is the picture upside down? think about it

  6. Why would an artist find a camera obscura helpful? think about it

Words to know

opposite
on the other side, facing the first thing
image
a picture of something
blurry
not clear or sharp
lens
a curved piece of glass that bends light
landscape
a view of land and scenery
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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 · 179 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3

Long ago, people saw a strange thing. A dark room had one tiny hole in a wall. A picture of the outdoors showed up on the far wall. It had color, but it was upside down.

This is called a camera obscura. That means "dark room" in Latin. It works because light goes in straight lines. Light from the top of a tree goes through the hole and down. It lands low on the wall. Light from the bottom goes up and lands high. So the picture is flipped.

The hole must be very small. A big hole lets in light from too many ways. Then the picture is a blurry glow. A tiny hole keeps it sharp. But the picture is dim, so the room must be dark.

Artists and scientists used a camera obscura for hundreds of years. Some artists traced the picture to draw buildings. Later, inventors added a lens to make it brighter. They found a way to catch the picture on special paper. That led to photography.

Every camera today uses the same idea.

▲ This passage · 210 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.6

Long before cameras with film or screens, people noticed a strange thing. If a dark room had one tiny hole in a wall, a picture of the outdoors could appear on the opposite wall. The picture glowed in color, but it was upside down.

This effect is called a camera obscura, which means "dark room" in Latin. It works because light travels in straight lines. Light from the top of a tree passes through the hole and keeps going downward, so it lands low on the far wall. Light from the bottom of the tree travels upward and lands high. That is why the image is flipped.

The hole must be very small. A big opening lets in light from too many directions, and the picture turns into a blurry glow. A tiny hole keeps the picture sharp, but the image is dim, so the room must be quite dark.

Artists and scientists used the camera obscura for hundreds of years. Some artists traced the image to help them draw buildings and landscapes. Later, inventors added a lens to make the picture brighter, and they found a way to catch the image on special paper. That step led to photography.

You can find the same idea inside every camera today.

■ Harder · 216 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.6

Long before cameras with film or screens existed, people noticed something curious. If a dark room had a single tiny hole in one wall, a picture of the outdoors could appear on the opposite wall. The scene glowed in full color, but it was upside down.

This effect is called a camera obscura, which means "dark room" in Latin. It works because light travels in straight lines. Light from the top of a tree passes through the hole and continues downward, so it lands low on the far wall. Light from the bottom of the tree travels upward and lands high. That is precisely why the image appears flipped.

The hole must be extremely small. A large opening admits light from too many directions, and the picture dissolves into a blurry glow. A tiny hole keeps the picture sharp, although the image becomes dim, which means the room must be thoroughly dark.

Artists and scientists relied on the camera obscura for hundreds of years. Some artists traced the image to help them draw buildings and landscapes accurately. Eventually, inventors added a lens to brighten the picture, and they discovered a way to capture the image on specially treated paper. That step led directly to photography.

The same basic idea can be found inside every camera today.

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 opposite, image, blurry, lens and landscape 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 "A Pinhole Makes a Picture on the Wall"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 210 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 5.6. 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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