Skip to the content
Peabody TeachFor teachers and grown-ups

Mail Shot Through Tubes Under the City Streets

8th grade nonfiction passage about pneumatic tube systems: 282 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

8th grade nonfiction pneumatic tube systems 282 words

Mail Shot Through Tubes Under the City Streets

Before email, big cities had a faster way to move paper than carrying it by hand. In the nineteenth century, engineers began burying pipes under city streets and pushing small containers through them with air. These pneumatic tube systems linked post offices, newspaper offices, and banks, and the idea spread to department stores and later to hospitals.

The principle is simple. A carrier is a sealed cylinder, often made of plastic or metal, with a soft ring or brush around each end. It fits the tube closely, so little air can slip past it. A powerful blower pushes air into the tube behind the carrier. Because the carrier almost blocks the pipe, the pressure builds up behind it, and the higher pressure shoves it along. Some systems work the opposite way, using a pump to pull air out ahead of the carrier. The carrier is then pushed by the normal air behind it, which is at higher pressure than the thin air in front.

Many systems have a network of tubes and switches, so a carrier can be sent from any station to any other. Operators dial or type a destination, and a diverter inside the pipes sends the carrier down the correct branch. At the end, the air is let out and the carrier slows to a gentle stop in a catching basket.

Some tube networks in large cities carried thousands of messages each day. Most city networks closed once telephones, cheaper delivery, and email took over. Yet hospitals still use tube systems to send small samples and medicines quickly, and many drive-through bank lanes use them, too. The method lasts because it is quick and needs few moving parts.

Questions

  1. What moves through a pneumatic tube? in the text

  2. Why does the carrier have a soft ring around each end? in the text

  3. What is the difference between pushing and pulling systems? in the text

  4. What sends a carrier down the correct branch? in the text

  5. Why does pressure build up behind the carrier? think about it

  6. Why did most city networks close? think about it

Words to know

pneumatic
worked by air under pressure
carrier
a container that holds things being sent
blower
a machine that moves air with force
diverter
a part that sends something in a different direction
network
a system of lines that connect many points
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 · 269 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.7

Before email, big cities had a fast way to move paper without carrying it by hand. In the 1800s, engineers buried pipes under city streets. They pushed small containers through the pipes with air. These pneumatic tube systems linked post offices, newspaper offices and banks. The idea spread to department stores and later to hospitals.

The idea is simple. A carrier is a sealed tube, often made of plastic or metal. It has a soft ring or brush around each end. It fits the pipe closely, so little air can slip past. A strong blower pushes air into the pipe behind the carrier. The carrier almost blocks the pipe, so the pressure builds up behind it. The high pressure shoves it along. Some systems work the other way. A pump pulls air out in front of the carrier. The normal air behind it is at higher pressure than the thin air in front, so it pushes the carrier along.

Many systems have a network of tubes and switches. A carrier can go from any station to any other. A worker types or dials a place. A diverter inside the pipes sends the carrier down the right branch. At the end, the air is let out, and the carrier slows to a soft stop in a basket.

Some city networks carried thousands of messages a day. Most of them closed when telephones, cheaper delivery and email took over. But hospitals still use tubes to send small samples and medicines fast. Many drive-through bank lanes use them too. The method lasts because it is quick and has few moving parts.

▲ This passage · 282 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.8

Before email, big cities had a faster way to move paper than carrying it by hand. In the nineteenth century, engineers began burying pipes under city streets and pushing small containers through them with air. These pneumatic tube systems linked post offices, newspaper offices, and banks, and the idea spread to department stores and later to hospitals.

The principle is simple. A carrier is a sealed cylinder, often made of plastic or metal, with a soft ring or brush around each end. It fits the tube closely, so little air can slip past it. A powerful blower pushes air into the tube behind the carrier. Because the carrier almost blocks the pipe, the pressure builds up behind it, and the higher pressure shoves it along. Some systems work the opposite way, using a pump to pull air out ahead of the carrier. The carrier is then pushed by the normal air behind it, which is at higher pressure than the thin air in front.

Many systems have a network of tubes and switches, so a carrier can be sent from any station to any other. Operators dial or type a destination, and a diverter inside the pipes sends the carrier down the correct branch. At the end, the air is let out and the carrier slows to a gentle stop in a catching basket.

Some tube networks in large cities carried thousands of messages each day. Most city networks closed once telephones, cheaper delivery, and email took over. Yet hospitals still use tube systems to send small samples and medicines quickly, and many drive-through bank lanes use them, too. The method lasts because it is quick and needs few moving parts.

■ Harder · 305 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 9.4

Before the arrival of email, large cities possessed a faster way of moving paper than carrying it from place to place by hand. During the nineteenth century, engineers began burying pipes beneath city streets and propelling small containers through them with compressed air. These pneumatic tube systems connected post offices, newspaper offices, and banks, and the idea eventually spread to department stores and, later, to hospitals.

The principle is elegantly simple. A carrier is a sealed cylinder, often made of plastic or metal, with a soft ring or brush around each end. It fits the tube so closely that very little air can slip past it. A powerful blower forces air into the tube behind the carrier, and because the carrier almost blocks the pipe, the pressure builds up behind it, and the higher pressure shoves it along. Some systems work in the opposite way, using a pump to draw air out ahead of the carrier. The carrier is then pushed by the ordinary air behind it, which is at a higher pressure than the thin air in front.

Many systems consist of a network of tubes and switches, so that a carrier can be dispatched from any station to any other. An operator dials or types a destination, and a diverter inside the pipes steers the carrier into the correct branch. At the end of the journey, the air is released and the carrier slows to a gentle stop in a catching basket.

Some tube networks in large cities carried thousands of messages each day. Most of those networks closed once telephones, cheaper delivery, and email took over. Yet hospitals still use tube systems to send small samples and medicines quickly, and many drive-through bank lanes use them as well. The method has endured because it is swift and requires few moving parts.

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 pneumatic, carrier, blower, diverter and network 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 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 "Mail Shot Through Tubes Under the City Streets"?

It was written for 8th grade. It has 282 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 7.8. 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.