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The Train Horn That Changes Its Tune

5th grade nonfiction passage about sound waves from moving things: 217 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

5th grade nonfiction sound waves from moving things 217 words

The Train Horn That Changes Its Tune

Stand beside a railroad crossing as a train rushes by blowing its horn. As the train comes closer, the horn sounds high. The moment the engine passes, the sound slides lower, and it stays low as the train moves away. Yet the engineer in the cab hears the same steady note the whole time. How can one horn make two different sounds?

Sound travels through the air as waves. The pitch of a sound, which means how high or low it seems, depends on how many waves reach your ear each second. More waves per second make a higher pitch, and fewer waves make a lower pitch.

When the train is coming toward you, each wave starts a little closer to you than the one before it. The waves get squeezed together, so more of them arrive each second. Your ears hear a higher pitch. After the train passes, each new wave begins farther away. The waves are stretched out, fewer of them arrive each second, and the pitch drops.

This is called the Doppler effect, after an Austrian scientist who described the idea long ago. You can hear it from a passing race car, a speeding motorcycle, or a siren on a truck. The horn itself never changes. Only the way the waves reach you changes.

Questions

  1. What happens to the sound of the horn after the engine passes you? in the text

  2. What does the engineer in the cab hear? in the text

  3. What does pitch depend on? in the text

  4. Why does the horn sound higher while the train comes toward you? think about it

  5. Why does the pitch drop once the train moves away? think about it

  6. What is this change in sound called? in the text

Words to know

pitch
how high or low a sound seems
crossing
a place where a road goes over train tracks
engineer
the person who drives a train
squeeze
to press close together
steady
staying the same without changing
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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 · 203 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.5

Stand by a railroad crossing when a train rushes past. The train blows its horn. As the train comes close, the horn sounds high. Once the engine passes, the sound gets lower. It stays low as the train goes away. But the engineer in the cab hears the same note all the time. How can one horn sound two ways?

Sound moves through the air in waves. The pitch of a sound is how high or low it seems. It depends on how many waves reach your ear each second. More waves each second make a higher pitch. Fewer waves make a lower pitch.

When the train comes toward you, each wave starts a bit closer to you than the last one. The waves get squeezed together. More of them reach you each second. You hear a higher pitch. After the train passes, each new wave starts farther away. The waves are stretched out. Fewer of them reach you, and the pitch drops.

This is called the Doppler effect. It is named for an Austrian scientist. You can hear it from a race car or a siren on a truck. The horn does not change. Only the way the waves reach you changes.

▲ This passage · 217 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.6

Stand beside a railroad crossing as a train rushes by blowing its horn. As the train comes closer, the horn sounds high. The moment the engine passes, the sound slides lower, and it stays low as the train moves away. Yet the engineer in the cab hears the same steady note the whole time. How can one horn make two different sounds?

Sound travels through the air as waves. The pitch of a sound, which means how high or low it seems, depends on how many waves reach your ear each second. More waves per second make a higher pitch, and fewer waves make a lower pitch.

When the train is coming toward you, each wave starts a little closer to you than the one before it. The waves get squeezed together, so more of them arrive each second. Your ears hear a higher pitch. After the train passes, each new wave begins farther away. The waves are stretched out, fewer of them arrive each second, and the pitch drops.

This is called the Doppler effect, after an Austrian scientist who described the idea long ago. You can hear it from a passing race car, a speeding motorcycle, or a siren on a truck. The horn itself never changes. Only the way the waves reach you changes.

■ Harder · 242 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.3

Imagine standing beside a railroad crossing as a locomotive thunders past with its horn blaring. While the train approaches, the horn sounds shrill and high. The instant the engine goes by, the sound slides downward, and it remains low as the train recedes into the distance. Meanwhile, the engineer sitting in the cab hears one unchanging note throughout. How can a single horn produce two different sounds?

Sound travels through the air in the form of waves. The pitch of a sound, meaning how high or low it seems to a listener, depends on how many of those waves reach your ear every second. A larger number of waves per second produces a higher pitch, and a smaller number produces a lower pitch.

When the train is rushing toward you, each wave begins a little closer to you than the wave before it, so the waves become squeezed together and more of them arrive each second. Your ears therefore detect a higher pitch. Once the train has passed, each new wave begins farther away, the waves are stretched out, fewer of them arrive each second, and the pitch falls.

This phenomenon is known as the Doppler effect, named after an Austrian scientist who described the idea long ago. You can hear it from a passing race car, a speeding motorcycle, or a siren on a truck. The horn itself never changes. Only the manner in which the waves reach you is different.

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 pitch, crossing, engineer, squeeze and steady 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 "The Train Horn That Changes Its Tune"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 217 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 4.6. 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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