Skip to the content
Peabody TeachFor teachers and grown-ups

Knowing Where Your Hand Is in the Dark

8th grade nonfiction passage about the body's position sense: 270 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

8th grade nonfiction the body's position sense 270 words

Knowing Where Your Hand Is in the Dark

Close your eyes and raise one arm, then bend your elbow. You can describe exactly where your hand is, even though you cannot see it. Scientists call this sense proprioception, and it works so smoothly that most people never notice it until something disturbs it.

Proprioception depends on sensors buried inside the body. Muscles contain tiny stretch detectors, and the tendons, which are the cords that join muscle to bone, report how hard a muscle is pulling. The joints add their own signals about how far they are bent. All of this information travels along nerves to the spinal cord and brain, where it is combined into a constantly updated map of the body's position.

This internal map explains many everyday skills. A typist can find the right keys without looking, and a person can walk down a dark hallway without losing balance. A basketball player can dribble while watching the court instead of the ball, because the hand's motion is tracked by feel rather than by sight. Practice helps the brain use these signals more skillfully, which is one reason that trained dancers and gymnasts look so smooth.

The sense is easy to disturb. When a foot falls asleep after you sit on it, the nerves cannot send their usual reports, so the foot feels strange and clumsy until the signals return. People who lose this sense because of a rare nerve condition can still move, but they must watch their limbs closely and concentrate on every step, which is tiring. Proprioception works quietly in the background, and that frees your attention for everything else you want to do.

Questions

  1. What is proprioception? in the text

  2. What do the tendons report to the brain? in the text

  3. Where does the position information travel? in the text

  4. How can a basketball player dribble while watching the court? think about it

  5. Why does a foot that fell asleep feel clumsy? think about it

  6. What must people who lose this sense do in order to move? in the text

Words to know

proprioception
the sense of where your body parts are
tendons
tough cords that join muscles to bones
joints
places where two bones meet and can bend
sensors
tiny parts that detect changes and send signals
disturbs
upsets or interrupts something that was working
Share

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 · 217 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.2

Close your eyes and lift one arm. Bend your elbow. You still know where your hand is. You cannot see it, but you know. This sense is called proprioception. Most people never notice it.

Your body has small sensors inside it. Muscles have sensors that feel stretch. Tendons are the cords that join muscle to bone. They tell the brain how hard a muscle is pulling. Joints tell the brain how far they are bent. The signals go along nerves to the spinal cord and the brain. The brain uses them to make a map of where your body is.

This map helps you every day. A typist finds the keys without looking. You can walk down a dark hall and stay on your feet. A basketball player can look at the court while dribbling. The hand is tracked by feel, so the eyes do not have to watch it.

The sense can be upset. Your foot falls asleep when you sit on it. The nerves cannot send their reports, so the foot feels odd and clumsy. Some people lose this sense because of a rare nerve problem. They can still move, but they must watch their limbs and think hard about each step. That is very tiring. Most of us never have to think about it.

▲ This passage · 270 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 8.6

Close your eyes and raise one arm, then bend your elbow. You can describe exactly where your hand is, even though you cannot see it. Scientists call this sense proprioception, and it works so smoothly that most people never notice it until something disturbs it.

Proprioception depends on sensors buried inside the body. Muscles contain tiny stretch detectors, and the tendons, which are the cords that join muscle to bone, report how hard a muscle is pulling. The joints add their own signals about how far they are bent. All of this information travels along nerves to the spinal cord and brain, where it is combined into a constantly updated map of the body's position.

This internal map explains many everyday skills. A typist can find the right keys without looking, and a person can walk down a dark hallway without losing balance. A basketball player can dribble while watching the court instead of the ball, because the hand's motion is tracked by feel rather than by sight. Practice helps the brain use these signals more skillfully, which is one reason that trained dancers and gymnasts look so smooth.

The sense is easy to disturb. When a foot falls asleep after you sit on it, the nerves cannot send their usual reports, so the foot feels strange and clumsy until the signals return. People who lose this sense because of a rare nerve condition can still move, but they must watch their limbs closely and concentrate on every step, which is tiring. Proprioception works quietly in the background, and that frees your attention for everything else you want to do.

■ Harder · 288 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 10.9

If you close your eyes, raise one arm, and bend your elbow, you can still describe precisely where your hand is, even though it is completely hidden from view. Scientists call this ability proprioception, and it operates so seamlessly that most people remain unaware of it until something interferes with it.

Proprioception relies on sensors distributed throughout the body. Muscles contain microscopic stretch detectors, and the tendons, the strong cords that anchor muscle to bone, report how forcefully a muscle is pulling. The joints contribute their own signals about the angle at which they are bent. All of this information travels along nerves to the spinal cord and the brain, where it is merged into a continuously updated map of the body's position.

That internal map accounts for a great many ordinary skills. A typist can locate the correct keys without glancing down, and a person can cross a dark hallway without losing balance. A basketball player can dribble while scanning the court rather than the ball, because the motion of the hand is monitored by feel instead of by sight. Practice helps the brain interpret these signals with greater skill, which is one reason trained dancers and gymnasts appear so fluid.

Nevertheless, the sense is surprisingly easy to disrupt. When a foot falls asleep after you have sat on it, the nerves cannot deliver their usual reports, so the foot feels strange and clumsy until the signals return. People who lose this sense through a rare nerve condition can still move, but they must keep a close watch on their limbs and concentrate on every step, which is exhausting. Proprioception works quietly in the background, and that frees your attention for everything else you hope to accomplish.

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 proprioception, tendons, joints, sensors and disturbs 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 3 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 "Knowing Where Your Hand Is in the Dark"?

It was written for 8th grade. It has 270 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 8.6. 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 3 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.

Nothing you do here is sent to us. No sign-in, no ads.