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The Snow Route Planner Ranks the Roads

6th grade nonfiction passage about snow plow route planner: 231 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

6th grade nonfiction snow plow route planner 231 words

The Snow Route Planner Ranks the Roads

When a big snowstorm is on the way, a city has a problem. It has hundreds of streets to clear, but only a limited number of plows and drivers. Somebody has to decide which roads go first. That person is a snow route planner.

The planner starts by ranking roads. Main roads that carry the most traffic come first, along with the streets that lead to hospitals, fire stations, and police stations. Next come the roads that buses use. Quiet side streets, which carry only a few cars, are cleared last. This order helps emergency vehicles and workers move through town while the storm is still going.

The planner then draws a route for each plow. A good route has no wasted trips. The plow should cover its streets in a smooth loop and avoid driving back over roads that are already clear. Steep hills and sharp curves are placed early, because they are the hardest to clear once ice builds up.

Plows are often followed or preceded by trucks that spread salt. Salt lowers the temperature at which water freezes, so ice melts or never forms. But salt works poorly when it is extremely cold, so crews may use sand to give tires some grip instead. Throughout the storm, the planner watches the forecast and the reports from drivers, and changes the plan if the snow falls faster than expected.

Questions

  1. Which roads does the planner clear first? in the text

  2. Which streets are cleared last? in the text

  3. What does salt do to water? in the text

  4. Why does the planner put steep hills early in a route? think about it

  5. Why might crews use sand instead of salt on a very cold day? think about it

  6. Why does the planner keep watching the forecast during the storm? think about it

Words to know

planner
a person who decides what to do and in what order
ranking
putting things in order from first to last
emergency
a sudden and serious situation that needs fast help
route
the path a vehicle follows from start to end
forecast
a prediction of what the weather will do
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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 · 213 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3

When a big snowstorm is coming, a city has a problem. It has hundreds of streets to clear. But it has only so many plows and drivers. Someone must choose which roads go first. That person is a snow route planner.

The planner begins by ranking the roads. Main roads with the most cars come first. So do the streets that lead to hospitals, fire stations, and police stations. Then come the roads that buses use. Quiet side streets with only a few cars are last. This order helps emergency vehicles and workers get around while the storm is still going.

Next, the planner draws a route for each plow. A good route has no wasted trips. The plow drives a smooth loop and does not go back over roads that are clear. Steep hills and sharp curves go early. They are the hardest to clear once ice builds up.

Trucks that spread salt often go with the plows. Salt lowers the temperature at which water freezes. So ice melts or does not form. But salt works poorly in very cold weather. So crews may use sand to help tires grip. During the storm, the planner watches the forecast and listens to drivers. If the snow falls faster than expected, the plan changes.

▲ This passage · 231 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.3

When a big snowstorm is on the way, a city has a problem. It has hundreds of streets to clear, but only a limited number of plows and drivers. Somebody has to decide which roads go first. That person is a snow route planner.

The planner starts by ranking roads. Main roads that carry the most traffic come first, along with the streets that lead to hospitals, fire stations, and police stations. Next come the roads that buses use. Quiet side streets, which carry only a few cars, are cleared last. This order helps emergency vehicles and workers move through town while the storm is still going.

The planner then draws a route for each plow. A good route has no wasted trips. The plow should cover its streets in a smooth loop and avoid driving back over roads that are already clear. Steep hills and sharp curves are placed early, because they are the hardest to clear once ice builds up.

Plows are often followed or preceded by trucks that spread salt. Salt lowers the temperature at which water freezes, so ice melts or never forms. But salt works poorly when it is extremely cold, so crews may use sand to give tires some grip instead. Throughout the storm, the planner watches the forecast and the reports from drivers, and changes the plan if the snow falls faster than expected.

■ Harder · 258 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 8.5

When a major snowstorm is approaching, a city faces a genuine dilemma. It has hundreds of streets that need to be cleared, yet only a limited number of plows and drivers with which to do the job. Somebody has to decide which roads receive attention first, and that responsibility belongs to a snow route planner.

The planner begins by ranking the roads according to their importance. Main roads that carry the heaviest traffic come first, together with the streets that lead to hospitals, fire stations, and police stations. Next come the roads that buses depend on. Quiet side streets, which carry only a handful of cars, are cleared last. This order allows emergency vehicles and essential workers to move through town even while the storm is still raging.

The planner then maps out a route for every plow. A well-designed route contains no wasted trips: the plow should cover its assigned streets in a smooth loop and avoid doubling back over roads that are already clear. Steep hills and sharp curves are scheduled early, because they become the most difficult to clear once ice has built up.

Plows are frequently accompanied by trucks that spread salt. Salt lowers the temperature at which water freezes, so ice either melts or never forms in the first place. Salt performs poorly in extreme cold, however, so crews may spread sand instead to give tires some grip. Throughout the storm, the planner monitors the forecast and the reports from drivers, and revises the plan whenever the snow falls faster than anticipated.

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 planner, ranking, emergency, route and forecast 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 Snow Route Planner Ranks the Roads"?

It was written for 6th grade. It has 231 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 5.3. 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. 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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