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The Pantheon's Dome of Roman Concrete

6th grade nonfiction passage about roman concrete and the pantheon: 217 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

6th grade nonfiction roman concrete and the pantheon 217 words

The Pantheon's Dome of Roman Concrete

In the city of Rome stands a building with a huge dome made of concrete and no steel bars inside it. It is still the largest dome of its kind in the world. The building is called the Pantheon, and it was built almost two thousand years ago. The secret of its strength was Roman concrete.

Roman concrete was a mix of lime, water, volcanic ash, and chunks of stone or broken brick. When the mixture dried, it became as hard as rock. Some Roman concrete even hardened underwater, so builders used it for harbors and docks as well as for buildings.

To raise the dome, workers built a wooden frame shaped like a giant bowl and poured layers of concrete over it. The builders were careful about weight. Near the bottom of the dome, they used heavy stone in the mix, and higher up they used lighter materials. The walls were also thicker at the base and thinner toward the top, so the dome would not press too hard on the structure beneath it.

At the very top is a round opening called an oculus. It lets in light, and as the sun moves across the sky, a bright circle of light travels slowly around the inside walls. After all these centuries, the Pantheon still stands.

Questions

  1. How long ago was the Pantheon built? in the text

  2. What was Roman concrete made of? in the text

  3. What special thing could some Roman concrete do? in the text

  4. How did workers shape the dome? in the text

  5. Why did the builders use lighter materials higher in the dome? think about it

  6. What is the oculus, and what does it do? in the text

Words to know

concrete
a hard building material made from a mix of lime and stone
dome
a round roof shaped like half of a ball
volcanic
coming from a volcano
harbors
safe places along a coast where ships can stay
oculus
a round opening at the top of a dome
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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 · 190 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.8

In Rome stands a building with a huge dome. The dome is made of concrete. It has no steel bars inside. It is still the largest dome of its kind in the world. The building is the Pantheon. It was built almost two thousand years ago. Roman concrete made it strong.

Roman concrete was a mix of lime, water, volcanic ash, and pieces of stone or broken brick. When it dried, it became hard as rock. Some Roman concrete even hardened underwater. So builders used it for harbors and docks, too.

To make the dome, workers built a wooden frame shaped like a big bowl. They poured layers of concrete over it. The builders thought about weight. Near the bottom, they used heavy stone in the mix. Higher up, they used lighter things. The walls were thicker at the bottom and thinner at the top. This kept the dome from pressing too hard on what was under it.

At the top is a round opening called an oculus. It lets in light. A bright circle of light moves around the walls as the sun moves. The Pantheon still stands today.

▲ This passage · 217 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6

In the city of Rome stands a building with a huge dome made of concrete and no steel bars inside it. It is still the largest dome of its kind in the world. The building is called the Pantheon, and it was built almost two thousand years ago. The secret of its strength was Roman concrete.

Roman concrete was a mix of lime, water, volcanic ash, and chunks of stone or broken brick. When the mixture dried, it became as hard as rock. Some Roman concrete even hardened underwater, so builders used it for harbors and docks as well as for buildings.

To raise the dome, workers built a wooden frame shaped like a giant bowl and poured layers of concrete over it. The builders were careful about weight. Near the bottom of the dome, they used heavy stone in the mix, and higher up they used lighter materials. The walls were also thicker at the base and thinner toward the top, so the dome would not press too hard on the structure beneath it.

At the very top is a round opening called an oculus. It lets in light, and as the sun moves across the sky, a bright circle of light travels slowly around the inside walls. After all these centuries, the Pantheon still stands.

■ Harder · 230 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 8.3

In the city of Rome stands a magnificent building crowned by an enormous dome made of concrete, with no steel bars hidden inside it. It remains the largest dome of its kind anywhere in the world. The building is called the Pantheon, and it was constructed almost two thousand years ago. The secret of its remarkable durability was Roman concrete.

Roman concrete was a blend of lime, water, volcanic ash, and chunks of stone or broken brick. Once the mixture dried, it became as hard as natural rock. Certain types of Roman concrete even hardened underwater, so builders employed it for harbors and docks as well as for ordinary buildings.

To raise the dome, workers assembled a wooden frame in the shape of a gigantic bowl and poured successive layers of concrete over it. The builders paid careful attention to weight. Near the bottom of the dome, they used heavy stone in the mixture, while higher up they chose lighter materials. The walls were also thicker at the base and thinner toward the summit, so that the dome would not press too heavily on the structure beneath it.

At the very top is a circular opening called an oculus. It admits daylight, and as the sun travels across the sky, a bright circle of light glides slowly around the inside walls. After all these centuries, the Pantheon continues to stand.

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 concrete, dome, volcanic, harbors and oculus 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 "The Pantheon's Dome of Roman Concrete"?

It was written for 6th grade. It has 217 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 6.0. 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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