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Why a Ship's Anchor Digs In and Holds

5th grade nonfiction passage about how an anchor holds a boat: 226 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

5th grade nonfiction how an anchor holds a boat 226 words

Why a Ship's Anchor Digs In and Holds

A boat floating on the water drifts wherever the wind and waves push it. To stay in one place, a crew drops an anchor. Many people think an anchor holds a boat only because it is heavy, but weight is just part of the story.

Most anchors have curved arms called flukes. The flukes are shaped like pointed blades. When an anchor is lowered to the sea floor, the boat is allowed to drift back a little. The line pulls the anchor sideways along the bottom, and the flukes bite into the sand or mud. The harder the boat pulls, the deeper they dig.

The line matters as much as the anchor. A sailor lets out much more line than the depth of the water, and the line often includes a length of heavy chain near the anchor. The chain lies along the bottom, so the anchor is pulled flat instead of straight up. A flat pull keeps the flukes buried in the ground. A steep pull could tear them loose.

Different anchors are made for different sea floors. A design that grips soft mud may skip over a rocky bottom. So a careful captain thinks about the sea floor before choosing a place to stop for the night.

In the morning, the crew hauls the line back in, and the anchor comes up with it.

Questions

  1. What are the curved arms of an anchor called? in the text

  2. What do the flukes do when the boat pulls on the line? in the text

  3. What is often attached near the anchor in the line? in the text

  4. Why does a sailor let out much more line than the depth of the water? think about it

  5. What could happen if the line pulled the anchor straight up? think about it

  6. Why does a captain think about the sea floor before stopping? think about it

Words to know

anchor
a heavy hook that holds a boat in place
fluke
the pointed, curved arm of an anchor
drift
to be carried slowly along by wind or water
chain
a line made of metal rings linked together
haul
to pull something heavy with effort
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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 · 198 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.1

A boat on the water drifts where the wind and waves push it. To stay in one place, the crew drops an anchor. Many people think an anchor works only because it is heavy. But weight is just part of the story.

Most anchors have curved arms called flukes. They are shaped like pointed blades. The anchor goes down to the sea floor. The boat drifts back a little. The line pulls the anchor sideways along the bottom. The flukes bite into the sand or mud. The harder the boat pulls, the deeper they dig.

The line matters as much as the anchor. A sailor lets out much more line than the depth of the water. The line often has heavy chain near the anchor. The chain lies on the bottom. So the anchor is pulled flat, not straight up. A flat pull keeps the flukes in the ground. A steep pull could tear them loose.

Different anchors are made for different sea floors. One that grips soft mud may skip over rocks. So a careful captain thinks about the sea floor first.

In the morning, the crew hauls in the line. The anchor comes up with it.

▲ This passage · 226 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.4

A boat floating on the water drifts wherever the wind and waves push it. To stay in one place, a crew drops an anchor. Many people think an anchor holds a boat only because it is heavy, but weight is just part of the story.

Most anchors have curved arms called flukes. The flukes are shaped like pointed blades. When an anchor is lowered to the sea floor, the boat is allowed to drift back a little. The line pulls the anchor sideways along the bottom, and the flukes bite into the sand or mud. The harder the boat pulls, the deeper they dig.

The line matters as much as the anchor. A sailor lets out much more line than the depth of the water, and the line often includes a length of heavy chain near the anchor. The chain lies along the bottom, so the anchor is pulled flat instead of straight up. A flat pull keeps the flukes buried in the ground. A steep pull could tear them loose.

Different anchors are made for different sea floors. A design that grips soft mud may skip over a rocky bottom. So a careful captain thinks about the sea floor before choosing a place to stop for the night.

In the morning, the crew hauls the line back in, and the anchor comes up with it.

■ Harder · 230 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.5

A boat floating on open water drifts wherever the wind and waves happen to push it. To remain in one place, a crew lowers an anchor. Many people assume that an anchor holds a boat solely because it is heavy, but weight is only part of the explanation.

Most anchors have curved arms called flukes, which are shaped like pointed blades. When the anchor is lowered to the sea floor, the boat is permitted to drift backward a short distance. The line drags the anchor sideways along the bottom, and the flukes bite into the sand or mud. The harder the boat pulls, the deeper they dig.

The line matters just as much as the anchor itself. A sailor lets out far more line than the depth of the water, and the line frequently includes a length of heavy chain near the anchor. The chain rests along the bottom, so the anchor is pulled flat rather than straight upward. A flat pull keeps the flukes buried in the ground, whereas a steep pull could wrench them loose.

Different anchors are designed for different sea floors. A design that grips soft mud may skip across a rocky bottom, so a careful captain considers the sea floor before choosing a place to stop for the night.

In the morning, the crew hauls the line back in, and the anchor rises with it.

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 anchor, fluke, drift, chain and haul 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 "Why a Ship's Anchor Digs In and Holds"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 226 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 4.4. 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. 3 ask for something the text says directly and 3 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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