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A Survey Ship Listens for Seafloor Echoes

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

5th grade nonfiction ocean floor mapping 205 words

A Survey Ship Listens for Seafloor Echoes

Mountains and valleys are not found only on land. They are on the bottom of the ocean too, hidden under deep water. A hydrographic surveyor is a scientist who maps them, and the main tool is sound.

A survey ship carries a device that sends a pulse of sound down toward the seafloor. The sound travels through the water, bounces off the bottom, and returns as an echo. The device measures how long the trip took. Deep water means a long trip, and shallow water means a short one. By doing this thousands of times as the ship slowly moves, the surveyor builds a picture of the bottom.

There is a catch. Sound travels at slightly different speeds in water that is warmer, colder, or saltier. So the crew lowers instruments into the sea to measure the water itself. Without this step, the depths on the map would be a little off.

The finished maps are used to make charts for ships. A chart shows where the water is deep enough for a big vessel and where a sandbar or rocky patch lies near the surface. Sailors depend on these charts to travel safely, even though nobody ever sees the seafloor with their own eyes.

Questions

  1. What is the main tool a hydrographic surveyor uses to map the ocean floor? in the text

  2. What does the device on the ship measure? in the text

  3. What does a long trip for the sound tell the surveyor? in the text

  4. Why does the crew lower instruments into the sea? in the text

  5. What do ship captains use the finished charts to find? in the text

  6. Why does the ship send sound pulses thousands of times? think about it

  7. Why do sailors trust charts of a place nobody can see? think about it

Words to know

hydrographic
having to do with measuring and mapping bodies of water
surveyor
a person who measures land or water to make maps
pulse
a short burst of sound or energy
echo
a sound that bounces back after hitting something
vessel
a ship or large boat
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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 · 182 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.4

There are mountains and valleys under the sea too. They are hidden by deep water. A hydrographic surveyor is a scientist who maps them. The main tool is sound.

A survey ship has a device. It sends a pulse of sound down to the seafloor. The sound goes through the water and hits the bottom. Then it comes back as an echo. The device measures how long the trip took. Deep water means a long trip. Shallow water means a short trip. The ship moves slowly and does this thousands of times. Soon the surveyor has a picture of the bottom.

There is one catch. Sound moves at slightly different speeds in water that is warmer, colder, or saltier. So the crew puts instruments in the sea to measure the water. If they skip this, the map will be a little off.

The maps are used to make charts for ships. A chart shows where the water is deep. It shows where a sandbar or rocks are near the top. Sailors need the charts to travel safely. They cannot see the seafloor.

▲ This passage · 205 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.5

Mountains and valleys are not found only on land. They are on the bottom of the ocean too, hidden under deep water. A hydrographic surveyor is a scientist who maps them, and the main tool is sound.

A survey ship carries a device that sends a pulse of sound down toward the seafloor. The sound travels through the water, bounces off the bottom, and returns as an echo. The device measures how long the trip took. Deep water means a long trip, and shallow water means a short one. By doing this thousands of times as the ship slowly moves, the surveyor builds a picture of the bottom.

There is a catch. Sound travels at slightly different speeds in water that is warmer, colder, or saltier. So the crew lowers instruments into the sea to measure the water itself. Without this step, the depths on the map would be a little off.

The finished maps are used to make charts for ships. A chart shows where the water is deep enough for a big vessel and where a sandbar or rocky patch lies near the surface. Sailors depend on these charts to travel safely, even though nobody ever sees the seafloor with their own eyes.

■ Harder · 215 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 8

Mountains and valleys exist not only on land but also on the floor of the ocean, concealed beneath deep water. A hydrographic surveyor is a scientist who charts these features, and the principal instrument is sound.

A survey ship carries a device that emits a pulse of sound downward toward the seafloor. The sound travels through the water, strikes the bottom, and rebounds as an echo. The device measures how long the journey took. Deep water produces a lengthy trip, whereas shallow water produces a brief one. By repeating this thousands of times while the ship moves steadily along, the surveyor gradually assembles a detailed picture of the bottom.

However, there is a complication. Sound travels at slightly different speeds in water that is warmer, colder, or saltier. For that reason, the crew lowers instruments into the sea to measure the water itself. If this step were skipped, the depths shown on the map would be somewhat inaccurate.

The completed maps are used to produce charts for ships. A chart indicates where the water is deep enough for a large vessel and where a sandbar or rocky patch rises close to the surface. Sailors rely on these charts to travel safely, even though no one has ever looked at that seafloor with their own eyes.

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 hydrographic, surveyor, pulse, echo and vessel 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 "A Survey Ship Listens for Seafloor Echoes"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 205 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 5.5. 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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