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Finding Islands Without a Compass: Wayfinding

7th grade nonfiction passage about polynesian ocean navigation: 242 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

7th grade nonfiction polynesian ocean navigation 242 words

Finding Islands Without a Compass: Wayfinding

Centuries ago, the people of the Pacific crossed thousands of miles of open ocean and settled islands scattered across an area larger than any continent. They did it in double-hulled sailing canoes, without compasses, charts, or written maps. Their method is called wayfinding.

A wayfinder watched the sky first. Stars rise and set at the same points on the horizon each night, so a navigator who memorized where certain stars appeared could steer toward a target all night long, moving from one star to the next as each climbed too high. By day, the sun served as a guide.

The ocean offered clues as well. Steady swells travel for great distances in set directions, and a skilled navigator could feel their pattern through the hull while lying down in the canoe. Near land, the swells bend and bounce in a different way. Birds helped too. Some kinds fly out to sea in the morning to fish and return to land at dusk, so their flight paths pointed toward home. Clouds that gather over an island, and a faint green tint on their undersides, hinted at land still out of view.

Knowledge like this was memorized and passed from teacher to student, often through chants and stories. In 1976, a modern voyaging canoe sailed from Hawaii to Tahiti using only these traditional methods. The trip proved that the old skills were not myths. They were a precise and reliable science of the sea.

Questions

  1. What kind of boat did the Pacific voyagers use? in the text

  2. How could stars help a navigator steer all night? in the text

  3. How did swells help a navigator? in the text

  4. How was wayfinding knowledge passed on? in the text

  5. Why would a bird flying out in the morning point toward land? think about it

  6. What did the 1976 voyage show? think about it

Words to know

navigator
a person who plans and guides the route of a ship or canoe
horizon
the line where the sky seems to meet the land or sea
swells
long, smooth waves that move across the open sea
hull
the main body of a boat
reliable
able to be trusted to work well
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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 · 199 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.6

Long ago, people of the Pacific sailed across thousands of miles of open sea. They settled islands spread over a huge area. They used double-hulled sailing canoes. They had no compasses or maps. Their way of finding a path is called wayfinding.

A wayfinder watched the sky. Stars rise and set at the same spots on the horizon each night. A navigator who knew where certain stars appeared could steer all night. He moved from one star to the next. By day, the sun was a guide.

The sea gave clues too. Swells move in the same directions for long distances. A good navigator could feel them through the hull as he lay in the canoe. Near land, the swells bend in a new way. Birds helped. Some fly out to sea in the morning to fish and come back at dusk. So their path pointed home. Clouds over an island can have a green tint. That told of land not yet in sight.

People memorized all this. They taught it to students in chants and stories. In 1976, a modern canoe sailed from Hawaii to Tahiti with these old ways. It showed the skills were real and sure.

▲ This passage · 242 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.5

Centuries ago, the people of the Pacific crossed thousands of miles of open ocean and settled islands scattered across an area larger than any continent. They did it in double-hulled sailing canoes, without compasses, charts, or written maps. Their method is called wayfinding.

A wayfinder watched the sky first. Stars rise and set at the same points on the horizon each night, so a navigator who memorized where certain stars appeared could steer toward a target all night long, moving from one star to the next as each climbed too high. By day, the sun served as a guide.

The ocean offered clues as well. Steady swells travel for great distances in set directions, and a skilled navigator could feel their pattern through the hull while lying down in the canoe. Near land, the swells bend and bounce in a different way. Birds helped too. Some kinds fly out to sea in the morning to fish and return to land at dusk, so their flight paths pointed toward home. Clouds that gather over an island, and a faint green tint on their undersides, hinted at land still out of view.

Knowledge like this was memorized and passed from teacher to student, often through chants and stories. In 1976, a modern voyaging canoe sailed from Hawaii to Tahiti using only these traditional methods. The trip proved that the old skills were not myths. They were a precise and reliable science of the sea.

■ Harder · 264 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 8

Centuries ago, the peoples of the Pacific crossed thousands of miles of open ocean and eventually settled islands scattered across an expanse of sea larger than any continent. They accomplished this in double-hulled sailing canoes, without compasses, charts, or written maps of any kind. Their remarkable method of finding a path is known as wayfinding.

A wayfinder studied the sky first. Because stars rise and set at the same points on the horizon each night, a navigator who had memorized where certain stars appeared could hold a steady course throughout the darkness, shifting from one star to the next as each climbed too high to be useful. During the day, the sun served as his guide.

The ocean supplied further clues. Steady swells travel for enormous distances in fixed directions, and an experienced navigator could sense their pattern through the hull while lying down in the canoe. Close to land, the swells bend and rebound in a distinctive way. Birds were helpful as well. Certain kinds fly out to sea each morning to fish and return to land at dusk, so their flight paths pointed toward home. Clouds that gather above an island, and a faint green tint beneath them, hinted at land that was still hidden from view.

All of this knowledge was memorized and handed down from teacher to student, frequently through chants and stories. In 1976, a modern voyaging canoe sailed from Hawaii to Tahiti using nothing but these traditional methods. The journey proved that the ancient skills were not legends. They formed a precise and dependable science of the sea.

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 navigator, horizon, swells, hull and reliable 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 "Finding Islands Without a Compass: Wayfinding"?

It was written for 7th grade. It has 242 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 6.5. 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 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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