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Ships Climb Hills of Water

8th grade nonfiction passage about the Panama Canal: 272 words, five questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

8th grade nonfiction the Panama Canal 272 words

Ships Climb Hills of Water

Before 1914, a ship traveling from New York to San Francisco had to sail all the way around the southern tip of South America, a journey of about 13,000 miles. Then the Panama Canal opened, and the trip shrank to about 5,000 miles. The canal cuts through a narrow strip of land in Panama, joining the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. A shorter trip saves fuel, time, and money, which is why shipping companies value the canal so highly.

Building it was among the hardest engineering projects of its time. Workers had to cut through mountains, clear thick jungle, and handle heavy rains that caused landslides. Disease was also a deadly danger. Mosquitoes carried illnesses such as yellow fever and malaria, and thousands of workers died. Doctors eventually learned that mosquitoes spread these diseases, and crews drained standing water and sealed homes with screens, which sharply reduced the sickness.

The canal's greatest trick is that ships go up and down hills of water. The middle of Panama is higher than sea level, so engineers built a large lake, Gatun Lake, about 26 meters, or 85 feet, above the ocean. Ships enter a lock, which is a giant chamber with gates at both ends. Water flows in from the lake by gravity, lifting the ship step by step, with no pumps. At the far side, the process runs in reverse and the ship is lowered back to sea level. The whole crossing takes about eight to ten hours.

Today more than 13,000 ships pass through each year, hauling goods such as grain, cars, and electronics. In 2016, a wider set of locks opened so even larger ships could cross.

Questions

  1. How much shorter did the trip from New York to San Francisco become? in the text

  2. What diseases did mosquitoes spread among the workers? in the text

  3. How does water get into a lock? in the text

  4. Why did engineers need to build a lake in the middle of Panama? think about it

  5. Why did draining standing water reduce the sickness? think about it

Words to know

canal
a waterway dug by people for ships
engineering
using science and math to design and build things
landslide
a mass of earth and rock sliding down a slope
lock
a chamber with gates that raises or lowers ships
chamber
a large enclosed space
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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 · 267 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.8

Before 1914, a ship going from New York to San Francisco had to sail all the way around the tip of South America. That trip was about 13,000 miles. Then the Panama Canal opened. The trip shrank to about 5,000 miles. The canal cuts through a narrow strip of land in Panama. It joins the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. A shorter trip saves fuel, time, and money. That is why shipping companies value the canal.

Building it was one of the hardest jobs of its time. Workers cut through mountains and cleared thick jungle. Heavy rains caused landslides. Disease was a deadly danger too. Mosquitoes carried illnesses such as yellow fever and malaria. Thousands of workers died. Doctors learned that mosquitoes spread these diseases. Crews drained standing water and put screens on homes. This cut the sickness a great deal.

The canal's best trick is that ships go up and down hills of water. The middle of Panama is higher than the sea. So engineers built a large lake called Gatun Lake. It is about 26 meters, or 85 feet, above the ocean. A ship enters a lock, a giant chamber with gates at both ends. Water flows in from the lake by gravity. It lifts the ship step by step, with no pumps. At the far side, the steps run in reverse. The ship is lowered back to sea level. The whole trip takes about eight to ten hours.

Today more than 13,000 ships pass through each year. They carry goods such as grain, cars, and electronics. In 2016, a wider set of locks opened. Even larger ships could now cross.

▲ This passage · 272 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.7

Before 1914, a ship traveling from New York to San Francisco had to sail all the way around the southern tip of South America, a journey of about 13,000 miles. Then the Panama Canal opened, and the trip shrank to about 5,000 miles. The canal cuts through a narrow strip of land in Panama, joining the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. A shorter trip saves fuel, time, and money, which is why shipping companies value the canal so highly.

Building it was among the hardest engineering projects of its time. Workers had to cut through mountains, clear thick jungle, and handle heavy rains that caused landslides. Disease was also a deadly danger. Mosquitoes carried illnesses such as yellow fever and malaria, and thousands of workers died. Doctors eventually learned that mosquitoes spread these diseases, and crews drained standing water and sealed homes with screens, which sharply reduced the sickness.

The canal's greatest trick is that ships go up and down hills of water. The middle of Panama is higher than sea level, so engineers built a large lake, Gatun Lake, about 26 meters, or 85 feet, above the ocean. Ships enter a lock, which is a giant chamber with gates at both ends. Water flows in from the lake by gravity, lifting the ship step by step, with no pumps. At the far side, the process runs in reverse and the ship is lowered back to sea level. The whole crossing takes about eight to ten hours.

Today more than 13,000 ships pass through each year, hauling goods such as grain, cars, and electronics. In 2016, a wider set of locks opened so even larger ships could cross.

■ Harder · 283 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 8.9

Prior to 1914, a vessel traveling from New York to San Francisco was obliged to sail all the way around the southern tip of South America, a voyage of roughly 13,000 miles. Then the Panama Canal opened, and the journey shrank to about 5,000 miles. The canal slices through a narrow strip of land in Panama, linking the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean. A shorter route conserves fuel, time, and money, which is why shipping companies value the canal so highly.

Constructing it was among the most formidable engineering projects of its era. Workers had to carve through mountains, clear dense jungle, and cope with torrential rains that triggered landslides. Disease posed another deadly threat. Mosquitoes carried illnesses such as yellow fever and malaria, and thousands of workers perished. Doctors eventually discovered that mosquitoes spread these diseases, and crews responded by draining standing water and sealing homes with screens, which sharply reduced the sickness.

The canal's most ingenious feature is that ships travel up and down hills of water. Because the middle of Panama lies higher than sea level, engineers created a vast lake, Gatun Lake, roughly 26 meters, or 85 feet, above the ocean. Ships enter a lock, which is an enormous chamber with gates at both ends. Water pours in from the lake by gravity, raising the ship step by step without any pumps. At the far side, the process runs in reverse, and the ship is lowered back to sea level. The entire crossing takes about eight to ten hours.

Today more than 13,000 ships pass through the canal each year, transporting cargo such as grain, cars, and electronics. In 2016, a wider set of locks opened so that even larger ships could make the crossing.

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 canal, engineering, landslide, lock and chamber 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 "Ships Climb Hills of Water"?

It was written for 8th grade. It has 272 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 7.7. 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 five. 3 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.

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