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Climbing Over Panama in a Ship

6th grade nonfiction passage about panama canal locks: 216 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

6th grade nonfiction panama canal locks 216 words

Climbing Over Panama in a Ship

Before 1914, a ship that wanted to go from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific had to sail all the way around the southern tip of South America. The trip was long and often stormy. The Panama Canal cut a path through the narrow land of Panama and saved ships thousands of miles.

The builders faced a big problem. The land in the middle of Panama is higher than the sea, so they could not simply dig a ditch from ocean to ocean. Their answer was to lift ships up and set them down again using locks. A lock is a chamber with big gates at each end. A ship sails in, the gates close behind it, and water flows into the chamber until the ship has risen to the level of the next stretch of water. Then the front gates open, and the ship moves on.

A series of locks raised ships up to a large lake called Gatun Lake, which was created by building a dam across a river. After crossing the lake, ships were lowered down another set of locks to reach the other ocean. The water in the locks moves by gravity, so no pumps are needed to fill them.

Today, newer and larger locks help big modern ships travel the same route.

Questions

  1. How did ships travel between the oceans before the canal opened? in the text

  2. Why could the builders not simply dig a ditch from ocean to ocean? in the text

  3. What is a lock? in the text

  4. How was Gatun Lake made? in the text

  5. Why do the locks need no pumps? in the text

  6. Why would a ship captain choose the canal over the long trip around South America? think about it

Words to know

canal
a waterway dug by people for ships
locks
sections of a waterway that raise or lower boats
chamber
a closed room or space
dam
a wall built across a river to hold back water
gravity
the force that pulls things toward the ground
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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 · 178 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.1

Before 1914, a ship going from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific had to sail around the southern tip of South America. The trip was long and often stormy. The Panama Canal made a path through the narrow land of Panama. It saved ships thousands of miles.

The builders had a big problem. The land in the middle of Panama is higher than the sea. They could not just dig a ditch from ocean to ocean. So they used locks to lift ships up and set them down. A lock is a chamber with big gates at each end. A ship sails in. The gates close behind it. Water flows in until the ship rises to the next level. Then the front gates open, and the ship moves on.

Locks raised ships up to Gatun Lake. A dam across a river made the lake. After the lake, ships went down more locks to the other ocean. The water in the locks moves by gravity. No pumps are needed.

Today, bigger new locks help large ships use the same route.

▲ This passage · 216 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.4

Before 1914, a ship that wanted to go from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific had to sail all the way around the southern tip of South America. The trip was long and often stormy. The Panama Canal cut a path through the narrow land of Panama and saved ships thousands of miles.

The builders faced a big problem. The land in the middle of Panama is higher than the sea, so they could not simply dig a ditch from ocean to ocean. Their answer was to lift ships up and set them down again using locks. A lock is a chamber with big gates at each end. A ship sails in, the gates close behind it, and water flows into the chamber until the ship has risen to the level of the next stretch of water. Then the front gates open, and the ship moves on.

A series of locks raised ships up to a large lake called Gatun Lake, which was created by building a dam across a river. After crossing the lake, ships were lowered down another set of locks to reach the other ocean. The water in the locks moves by gravity, so no pumps are needed to fill them.

Today, newer and larger locks help big modern ships travel the same route.

■ Harder · 224 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 8.3

Prior to 1914, a vessel traveling from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific was obliged to sail all the way around the southern tip of South America. The journey was lengthy and frequently stormy. The Panama Canal carved a passage through the narrow land of Panama and spared ships many thousands of miles.

The builders confronted a formidable obstacle. The terrain in the middle of Panama is higher than the sea, so they could not merely excavate a ditch from one ocean to the other. Their ingenious answer was to lift ships up and lower them again using locks. A lock is a chamber with enormous gates at each end. A ship enters, the gates close behind it, and water pours into the chamber until the ship has risen to the level of the next stretch of water. Then the forward gates swing open, and the ship continues on its way.

A series of locks raised ships to a large lake called Gatun Lake, which was created by building a dam across a river. After crossing the lake, ships were lowered through another set of locks to reach the opposite ocean. The water in the locks moves entirely by gravity, so no pumps are needed to fill them.

In modern times, newer and larger locks allow enormous cargo ships to travel along the same route.

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 canal, locks, chamber, dam and gravity 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 "Climbing Over Panama in a Ship"?

It was written for 6th grade. It has 216 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 6.3. 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. 5 ask for something the text says directly and 1 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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