Inside and Outside Carlsbad Caverns

DAY 1 Inside and Outside Carlsbad Caverns

Inside and Outside Carlsbad Caverns by ReadWorks

Imagine watching hundreds of thousands of bats swirl around you, swarming to form a large, black mass that flies off into the horizon. At Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, this scene is a regular occurrence. The caverns, located in a United States National Park, are home to around 400,000 Mexican free-tailed bats that fly out into the night sky each evening at dusk to feed on nearby moths and insects, returning at dawn to their caves. The spectacle draws crowds from around the world into the Chihuahuan Desert, where the park is located. One such visitor was Laurel Mathews, who once visited the caves with her family on a road trip.

"At the entrance to one of the caves, there's stadium seating for visitors to watch the bats," she remembers. "We waited a long time to see them. Finally, they started circling out of the cave and they flew off-out came more and more and more, all of them flying in loops and then out into the sky. It was amazing that there were so many!"

Laurel also remembers the sound the bats made, describing the high, screeching noise. "It was really creepy, but also really cool," she says.

Laurel recalls her family's arrival at the Carlsbad Caverns National Park. "It didn't look very spectacular when we first drove in," she admits. "But then we started exploring the big network of underground caves."

The formation of the caves is a result of a fossilized reef that existed 250 to 280 million years ago in an inland sea that has long since disappeared. Since limestone is typically made up of fragments of coral, a large limestone deposit eventually formed in the area. Today, you can still find several fossilized plants and animals in the caves' limestone that date back to a time before dinosaurs walked the earth. Starting sometime between four and six million years ago, water from the earth's surface began moving through the cracks in the stone deposit. There is a type of acid in surface water. When this water combined with rainwater, the two mixed to form another type of acid as a result of their chemical compositions. This acid slowly dissolved the limestone to eventually form the winding caves that exist today in Carlsbad Caverns. This is a very common process that happens to limestone-many caves all around the world exist in limestone deposits due to the stone's solubility (the ability of a substance to be dissolved) in a mixture of water and acid.

Eventually, speleothems-formations that arise from mineral deposits in caves-began to take shape in the lower levels of the caverns. In fact, these speleothems existed during the last ice age, when instead of a desert, a pine forest sat above the caves. Over the years, park employees and rangers have found clues that hint at the caves' history. For example, according to the National Park Service, people have found some bones of ancient ice age animals scattered around the entrance to some of the caves. In 2003, an employee found a part of a stone scraper dating back to the last ice age near a cave entrance as well. Clearly, the caves have a long history-researchers have discovered that American Indians first inhabited the area sometime between 12,000 and 14,000 years ago. Ever since then, the caves have been explored by several groups, including Spanish explorers in the 1500s, and later by American explorers and guides who drew attention from all across the country to the natural phenomenon.

Laurel remembers this phenomenon very well. "It took us between one and two hours to get all the way to the bottom," she says, recounting the windy pathway leading deeper and deeper into the heart of the caves. "The park had put in blue and red lights to highlight the beautiful rock formations."

Once they reached the bottom, Laurel says that she had to take an elevator to get back to the top. "My ears popped so much in the elevator!" she remembers. "It took a really long time to reach the top; I didn't realize how far down we were until we were on our way back up."

Name: ______Date: ______1. According to the passage, what currently lives in the caves at Carlsbad Cavern National?

A. Native Americans B. bats C. bears D. explorers

2. What does the author describe at the beginning of the passage?

A. how speleothems are formed B. the formation of limestone caves C. fossils found in Carlsbad Cavern D. watching bats at Carlsbad Cavern

3. Limestone deposits can help researchers learn about what the area was like thousands of years ago. What evidence from the passage best supports this conclusion?

A. Limestone can contain fossilized plants and animals. B. Acid can slowly dissolve limestone to form winding caves. C. Limestone is typically made up of coral fragments. D. Many caves around the world exist in limestone deposits.

4. "At the entrance to the cave, there's stadium seating for visitors to watch the bats." Based on this information, what can you conclude about the popularity of the bats at Carlsbad Cavern?

A. The bats are not a popular attraction at Carlsbad Cavern. B. People go to Carlsbad Cavern to see the caves, not the bats. C. The bats are a popular attraction at Carlsbad Cavern. D. Most people who visit Carlsbad Cavern don't know about the bats.

A. Laurel Mathews' family vacation B. how bats navigate using sound C. how speleothems are formed D. caves at Carlsbad Cavern National Park

6. Read the following sentences: "The caverns, located in a United States National Park, are home to around 400,000 Mexican free-tailed bats that fly out into the night sky each evening at dusk to feed on nearby moths and insects, returning at dawn to their caves. The spectacle draws crowds from around the world into the Chihuahuan Desert, where the park is located."

As used in this sentence, what does the word "spectacle" mean?

A. a very impressive show B. something that happens irregularly C. something that happens at night D. something that people watch with glasses

7. Choose the answer that best completes the sentence below.

______, Laurel did not think the Carlsbad Cavern National Park looked very spectacular, but her opinion changed after she explored the caves.

A. For instance B. Initially C. Particularly D. Therefore

8. What are speleothems?

9. Explain how the limestone caves at Carlsbad Cavern were formed.

10. Explain how researchers may learn about the history of the caves at Carlsbad Cavern. Support your answer using information from the passage.

Peer Pressure Power by Lynn Brunelle

Going along with the crowd doesn't have to be a risky move.

Ever done something you didn't want to do, just to fit in? Or just because your friends wanted you to? That's peer pressure. And just about everyone feels it at one time or another.

Peers are people your age, such as your friends, who have experiences similar to yours. Your peers influence your decisions and behavior every day, and they can push you to make bad choices, even dangerous ones. But is peer pressure always bad?

Positive Spin on Peer Pressure

"Peer pressure can sometimes be a good thing," says Ian Brennan, cocreator and one of the writers of the TV show Glee. That show dealt with the issue of peer pressure all the time, through the experiences of musical kids in a not-so-popular high school chorus. "Friends can give you the courage to try something you normally wouldn't, like a new sport or auditioning for the school play," Brennan points out.

Nicole S., 16, of Edmore, N.D., used to be afraid of singing in front of people. One time, her friends convinced her to sing karaoke with them. She ended up having fun! "Now I will sing anywhere, even with people present. Positive peer pressure helped me face my fear," she says.

Pressure's On!

You are surrounded by your peers all the time, and you learn a lot-both good and bad-by just being around them. You might admire a star athlete. Maybe you notice the popular kids at school and look up to them. Those aren't necessarily bad things. The popular group could be really nice; the athlete, a hard worker. Being inspired and influenced by different peer groups could help you in the long run.

The people around you can also be negative influences, however. Maybe a star teammate tells you never to pass the ball to a certain player, or a popular student cheats on tests or sends mean texts. Should you try to be like them to fit in?

Peer Pressure Is a Fact of Life

"It's not a matter of if peer pressure is going to happen," says Lee Erickson, coordinator for the Northern Lights Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) group in North Dakota. "It's a matter of when."

"The main thing is not to compromise who you are," Erickson continues. "The kind of coolness and popularity you think you may get by joining the crowd and doing risky stuff is temporary. Your character is with you for the rest of your life."

Nicole agrees. "My motto is be who you are, not who others want you to be," she says.

Peer pressure is powerful, but the ability to choose is yours. If a situation feels wrong, there's a good chance it is wrong. Think about what's best for you-and what you'll say or do- before you're in a sticky situation. "No one has tried to get me to smoke or drink yet, but I know there will come a time," says Schuyler W., 13, of Seattle. "The thing is, I know I don't want to do it, so when it does happen, I'm just going to stick up for myself and say no."

Make pacts with your friends to stay away from risky situations together and to support one another when the going gets tough. Talk with your parents about ways they can "bail you out" if you need to save face with your peers. (For instance, if someone asks you to hang out after school and you think there might be drinking or drugs around, you can tell them your parents need you to come home right away.)

Should You or Shouldn't You?

Standing up for yourself and saying no isn't always easy. But you might give voice to a bunch of peers that feel the same way you do. It can take just one person to speak out and change a situation. According to Erickson, "People will respect you for standing up for yourself-even if it doesn't seem like it right away."

"If friends try to get you to do something that you know in your heart feels wrong," says Glee's Brennan, "tell them exactly how you feel. And if they're not cool about it, find new friends."

That can be hard to do, but sometimes it's necessary. "If your so-called friends are trying to get you to do negative things, do you really think they're the best of friends?" asks Nicole. "To me, real friends accept you for who you are [and] what you believe in, and respect your decisions."

Bad News and Good News

"Negative peer pressure gets ahold of us kids really easily," says Nicole. "Because our friends ReadWorks.org Copyright © 2009 Weekly Reader Corporation. All rights reserved. Used by permission.Weekly Reader is a registered trademark of Weekly Reader Corporation. Peer Pressure Power do it, we're told something's 'cool' or we're pressured to try something 'just one time' because it won't hurt."

Some kids decide to go with the flow regardless of what they know is right. They tell themselves that being popular or being liked is more important than their own sense of self. It doesn't make sense, but that's the problem with peer pressure. You can lose yourself. But you can also find yourself, as Schuyler did when he was asked to go camping last year. He really didn't want to go.

"Sometimes your friends get you to do stuff you don't want to do, and it turns out great," he says. "I didn't want to go camping, but my friends really wanted me to go. Finally, I gave in, and I'm so glad I did. The trip was awesome! We did a lot of fun stuff I would never have done on my own."

The good news is peer pressure isn't always something to fear. Your decisions are yours to make. Take the time to make them wisely.

Power Up

Resisting negative peer pressure is a challenge, but it is definitely possible. Here are a few tips for navigating all kinds of pressure-filled situations:

· Find real friends who accept the real you. Knowing whom to listen to and whom to avoid is the key to steering clear of negative peer pressure. · Know what to say. "Just say doing that stuff really isn't your thing," says Elli L., 15, of North Dakota. "You can also blame your parents-it works wonders." · Be confident. Stick up for yourself. People will respect you for it. · Think about it. Keep in mind that just one destructive decision can change your whole life, says Nicole S., 16, also of North Dakota. Think: How might this one moment affect how you see yourself?

Getting Real With SADD

Looking to join other kids who want to make smart decisions and avoid negative peer pressure? Check out Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD). It's a national group, based in middle schools and high schools, that works to save lives by spreading the word about the dangers of risky behaviors such as drinking, using tobacco, bullying, and driving distractedly (including driving while using a cell phone).

SADD is a great resource for kids who are feeling pressured. "It is comforting to know that there are so many people supporting each other," says Elli L., a SADD member in North Dakota. "We all kind of hold each other up."

Courtesy Of Northern Lights Sadd

Teens from around the U.S. went to Washington, D.C., for a SADD conference.

"SADD does a lot of awareness projects," adds fellow member Nicole S. Groups organize awareness days; dances; bowling, pizza and roller-skating events; and more. "We get the word out, but we have fun doing it," says Nicole.

Young people take the lead in SADD groups. "The kids are in charge," says regional director Lee Erickson. He works with more than 200 chapters of SADD in South Dakota, North Dakota, and Minnesota. "Our job as adults is to listen, provide support, [and] offer tools and motivation, not to tell them what to do. They can figure that stuff out on their own."

SADD has chapters all across the country. To find one in your area or to learn more, visit www.sadd.org.

ReadWorks.org Copyright © 2009 Weekly Reader Corporation. All rights reserved. Used by permission.Weekly Reader is a registered trademark of Weekly Reader Corporation. Peer Pressure Power - Comprehension Questions

Name: ______Date: ______1. What is peer pressure?

A. the admiration that some people have for a star athlete or popular students at school B. the confidence that some students show when they refuse to do something they dislike C. the feeling that you need to do something because people similar to you are doing it D. the fear of getting up in front of a large group of people to sing, dance, or act

2. What is the passage trying to persuade readers to do?

A. The passage is trying to persuade readers to sing karaoke and go camping. B. The passage is trying to persuade readers to resist negative peer pressure. C. The passage is trying to persuade readers to get into arguments with their friends. D. The passage is trying to persuade readers to spend more time studying than playing sports.

3. Peer pressure can be a good thing.

What evidence from the passage supports this statement?

A. Some young people decide to go with the flow regardless of what they know is right and lose their sense of self. B. SADD is a student group that works to save lives by spreading the word about the dangers of risky behaviors. C. People's peers often influence their decisions and can push them to make bad choices, even dangerous ones. D. Schuyler W. did not want to go camping, but his friends convinced him to, and he had a great time.

4. Why might someone give in to peer pressure from friends?

A. Someone might give in to peer pressure from friends because he or she is worried about losing those friends by saying no. B. Someone might give in to peer pressure from friends because he or she is a member of Students Against Destructive Decisions. C. Someone might give in to peer pressure from friends because he or she is a star athlete and does not care what others think. D. Someone might give in to peer pressure from friends because he or she is very confident and has a strong sense of self.

A. a national group that helps kids deal with peer pressure B. peer pressure and how to handle it C. the fear of singing in front of people D. ways that your parents can "bail you out"

6. Read the following sentences: "The people around you can also be negative influences, however. Maybe a star teammate tells you never to pass the ball to a certain player, or a popular student cheats on tests or sends mean texts."

What does the word negative mean above?

A. short B. tall C. bad D. good

7. Choose the answer that best completes the sentence below.

Peer pressure can be a bad thing; ______, it can also be a good thing.

A. in particular B. on the other hand C. as an illustration D. as a result

8. What is an example of negative peer pressure mentioned in the passage?

9. Name two tips given in the passage for dealing with peer pressure.

10. Choose an example of negative peer pressure mentioned in the passage. Then explain how some of the tips listed in the passage could be used to deal with that particular situation.

A Funny Old Ballpark by W.M. Akers

Have you ever seen a baseball stadium with a hill in it? In Nashville, Tennessee, there used to be a ballpark called Sulphur Dell. It was one of the strangest ballparks in history.

In most ballparks, the right field fence is about 330 feet from home plate. In Sulphur Dell, it was only 262 feet-which made it very easy to hit home runs, if you hit the ball to just the right spot. That's pretty odd, but not half as weird as the hill in the outfield. It sloped up in front of the right field fence, until it got to about 22 feet high!

Skip Nipper, a historian who wrote about Sulphur Dell in his book Baseball in Nashville, calls the stadium "quirky." He likes to tell a story about a player named Phil Weintraub, who had some trouble with the outfield hill in 1934.

"A hard line drive came his way," says Nipper, "and he ran down the hill and reached down to catch the ball and missed it. It went between his legs. He turned around, went up the hill to catch it, and once again it went between his legs. When he finally got it, he threw it over the third baseman's head."

In baseball, when a player makes a mistake, he's charged with an "error." It's pretty bad if a player makes more than one error in a game, but on that play, Phil Weintraub made three!

A lot of great players came through Sulphur Dell, including Bill Dickey, Honus Wagner, and the sultan of swat himself: Babe Ruth. When Ruth came to town, the whole city was excited. The state Senate even made a special resolution, allowing them to leave the Capitol early so they could all go to the game. Back then, you couldn't watch players on TV, and they didn't want to miss their chance to see Babe Ruth. Ruth was in the outfield when he played there in 1934, Nipper says, and "almost broke one of his legs" running on it.

But even though the ballplayers didn't like hills, the people of Nashville loved their ballpark. They called it "the Dell." Nipper started going to games at the Dell when he was a child. His father would take him, and so would his grandfather.

"My dad would take me and my cousin or my brother," he says, "and we would sit on the first base side, so we could see that right field hill. And my grandfather would not let us go to the concession stand until the seventh-inning stretch. He wanted us to watch the game."

One of the greatest games ever played at the Dell was on July 11, 1916. A pitcher named Tom Rogers was on the mound for the Tennessee Volunteers. They called him Shotgun Rogers, because he threw the ball so fast. That night, he pitched better than he ever had. He did something that's only happened a few dozen times in all of baseball history: he threw a perfect game. That means that, in nine innings of play, nobody on the opposing team got a hit. Nobody got a walk. Nobody even got to first base!

By 1963, the old ballpark wasn't so popular anymore. Teams stopped playing baseball there, and eventually Sulphur Dell was torn down. It had been around for almost 100 years.

In 1978, a new team came to town: the Nashville Sounds. They built themselves a brand new ballpark called Greer Stadium. A lot of famous players have played there: Don Mattingly, Ryan Braun, Rick Ankiel-even Michael Jordan, when he was playing baseball. The Sounds played at Greer Stadium through the 2014 season. A new ballpark called First Tennessee Park was built for The Sounds. It opened its doors in 2015, and it is located right beside the state Capitol, on the spot of land Sulphur Dell once stood.

Where does Skip Nipper think they should have built First Tennessee Park? He doesn't care.

"I'm a baseball fan," he says. "I'm going to go wherever they play."

Name: ______Date: ______1. What was Sulphur Dell?

A. a baseball B. a historian C. a ballpark D. a meeting place for state senators

2. What does this passage describe?

A. This passage describes the career of baseball stars like Babe Ruth, Don Mattingly, and Ryan Braun. B. This passage describes a strange old ballpark and some of the things that happened there. C. This passage describes the reasons that some people want to build a new ballpark next to the state Capitol in Tennessee. D. This passage describes the different players on the Nashville Sounds.

3. Sulphur Dell was a strange ballpark.

What evidence from the passage supports this statement?

A. "In most ballparks, the right field fence is about 330 feet from home plate. In Sulphur Dell, it was only 262 feet-which made it very easy to hit home runs, if you hit the ball to just the right spot." B. "A new ballpark called First Tennessee Park was built for The Sounds. It opened its door in 2015, and it is located right beside the state Capitol, on the spot of land Sulphur Dell once stood." C. "One of the greatest games ever played at the Dell was on July 11, 1916. A pitcher named Tom Rogers was on the mound for the Tennessee Volunteers." D. "A lot of great players came through Sulphur Dell, including Bill Dickey, Honus Wagner, and the sultan of swat himself: Babe Ruth. When Ruth came to town, the whole city was excited."

4. Based on the information in the passage, how did baseball fans feel about Sulphur Dell?

A. Baseball fans hated Sulphur Dell and almost never went to games there. B. Baseball fans loved Sulphur Dell and were excited about going to games there. C. Baseball fans did not care much about Sulphur Dell one way or the other. D. Baseball fans did not like Sulphur Dell at first but started liking it more in the 1960s.

5. What is this passage mainly about?

A. what watching a baseball game at Sulphur Dell was like for Skip Nipper B. what it means for a pitcher to throw a perfect game C. what made Sulphur Dell a strange and special ballpark D. how the right field fence in Sulphur Dell made it easy to hit home runs

6. Read the following sentence: "By 1963, the old ballpark wasn't so popular anymore. They stopped playing baseball there, and eventually Sulphur Dell was torn down."

What does the word ballpark mean?

A. a hill in the outfield of a baseball stadium B. a fence that is about 310 feet from home plate C. a baseball game in which no player gets a hit D. a place where baseball is played

7. Choose the answer that best completes the sentence below.

Sulphur Dell was eventually torn down, ______it had once been popular and loved by baseball fans.

A. although B. because C. before D. especially

8. According to the passage, what was weird about the outfield at Sulphur Dell?

9. Describe the trouble Phil Weintraub had with the outfield hill in 1934.

10. Was Sulphur Dell a good place or a bad place for baseball games? Explain your answer using evidence from the story.

Up in the Air by Daniel Scheffler

Kurt closed the door of his mother's car with great excitement. Today was the day he was finally going to be on a plane. For the first time in his life, he was going to actually soar through the skies and see the clouds from all the angles he had imagined since he was little.

"Are you excited my boy?" said Kurt's mother, Val, from the front of the car.

"I can't believe today's the day!" said Kurt.

"Believe it!" responded Kurt's older brother Joachim as he lifted his head from his mobile phone for just a second to speak to Kurt.

The car ride felt like forever, but that's because Kurt could not wait to get to the airport and see this adventure through. It felt like they were stuck in traffic for hours and all the cars were moving slowly just to drive Kurt crazy. But actually they arrived at the airport in just a few minutes.

Val parked their car in the underground parking lot and found a steel trolley to load the suitcases and the hatbox she always took with her on a journey. Joachim never helped with ReadWorks.org · © 2013 ReadWorks®, Inc. All rights reserved. Up in the Air anything, so Kurt knew he was the best man for the job. He helped his mother load the trolley neatly and pushed it towards the terminal building proudly.

It was bigger than Kurt thought it would be. It was a massive building filled with hundreds of people looking around and rushing to get to wherever they were going. He immediately felt the rush of energy as he walked towards the check-in desk.

He watched as Val took out their passports and gave them to the friendly lady on the other side of the desk. His mother asked Joachim to help lift the bags onto the scale so that they could get weighed and checked in. But he wasn't listening. Kurt gloated as he lifted the bags and put them on the designated scale. The check-in lady was overly friendly and appreciative of his help. He loved the feeling.

Val was handed some tickets and off they went to security. After what felt like a long wait in line, the security officer asked Kurt to empty his pockets and put his bag through the big X-ray scanner. Kurt had never done this before and felt a little nervous. It was such a big and scary machine that started beeping loudly as the elderly woman in front of him walked through.

Kurt started to feel more confident now as he walked through the machine. Not a beep. He waited for his family to come through security as he grabbed his bag. Suddenly, he saw the plane through the massive glass windows. It was huge! And it looked much bigger than what it looked like in his dreams.

Kurt ran down the ramp towards the gate. After a few minutes, the plane was ready for boarding. Everyone lined up and showed their tickets. Walking on a ramp down towards the plane, Kurt nearly tripped from all the excitement. And then he arrived, he was one foot away from the plane and finally feeling like a grown up who would fly all over the globe.

The air steward took his ticket and showed him down the aisle to his seat. Kurt ran ahead of his mother and brother and immediately sat down in his seat, buckling his seat belt. With his eyes firmly on the wing of the plane, he was waiting for everyone to sit down so that he could feel that weightlessness that everyone talks about at school when a plane takes off.

The plane started to move, and reversed slightly. Moving like a giant metal bird, the plane taxied towards the runway. Kurt clenched his mother's hand. The plane started to speed up, faster than Kurt has ever gone in his life in any car or boat. And then, as if by magic, the plane lifted off the ground. And Kurt knew this would be the first of many adventures that started this way.

Name: ______Date: ______1. What is Kurt doing for the first time in his life?

A. traveling B. driving C. going on a trip with his mom and brother D. flying on a plane

2. What critical event happens at the end of the story?

A. Kurt walks on a ramp towards the plane and nearly trips from all the excitement. B. Kurt goes through security at the airport for the first time. C. The plane lifts off the ground and Kurt experiences flying in a plane for the first time. D. Kurt, Val, and Joachim drive to the airport.

3. What evidence from the text suggests that Kurt may have been looking forward to being on a plane for a while?

A. Kurt had dreams about planes. B. Kurt clenches his mother's hand when the plane taxies toward the runway. C. Kurt ran ahead of his mother and brother towards the plane. D. Kurt helped to lift the bags on the designated scale at the check-in desk.

4. Which statement best describes Kurt and Joachim?

A. Neither Kurt nor Joachim is excited and eager about the trip. B. Kurt is very eager and respectful. Joachim is distant and not interested. C. Both Kurt and Joachim are very excited about the trip. D. Kurt is not eager and respectful. Joachim is helpful and excited.

5. What is this story mainly about?

A. what airports are like B. Kurt's relationship with Joachim C. Kurt's experience on his first plane trip D. how large airplanes are

ReadWorks.org · © 2020 ReadWorks®, Inc. All rights reserved. Up in the Air - Comprehension Questions 6. Read the following sentence: "The car ride felt like forever, but that's because Kurt could not wait to get to the airport and see this adventure through."

What does the phrase "see this adventure through" most nearly mean?

A. look at the adventure from a distance B. complete the adventure C. look at the adventure through a window D. cancel the adventure

7. Choose the answer that best completes the sentence below.

______the plane taxied towards the runway, Kurt clenched his mother's hand.

A. Therefore B. However C. So D. As

8. Describe Kurt's experience and how he felt as he went through security.

9. Explain how Kurt reacted when the plane started to move and then lift off the ground.

10. Explain which experience or experiences from the story most likely had the biggest impact on Kurt and his desire to go on more adventures.

The Secret of Cell Phones by R. Howard

Maria was very excited: her parents were finally going to buy her a cell phone. Most of her friends had already been given a cell phone and were able to talk all the time, even when they weren't in school. Their parents mostly got them for "emergencies." All of Maria's friends were very careful with their phones and didn't like to let other people (even Maria) play games or send text messages on their personal phones. Maria's parents relied on Maria's friends if they needed to get in touch with Maria and to make sure she got home all right after school if they were still at work.

Maria and her parents went to the electronics store one Saturday to pick out the phone. There were so many options to choose from: phones that flipped open, big chunky ones that looked very old, rectangular phones with touch screens, square phones with buttons, heavy phones

ReadWorks.org · © 2013 ReadWorks®, Inc. All rights reserved. The Secret of Cell Phones that had touch screens and buttons. Maria picked out one of the rectangular touch screen phones and immediately began to play with it, wondering at how it all worked, sliding her thumb from side to side to lock it.

When she got home, she immediately called her best friend Jennifer. "I got the phone!" she said. "What's your cell phone number?"

After inputting the number into the contacts list, Maria sent Jennifer a text message: "Look now we can text." It took a few moments for the message to go through. Once it did, and the two girls started talking via text message, Maria began to think about what was happening. How did the words that she typed into the keypad on her phone show up in the same exact way on Jennifer's phone? Jennifer lived almost five whole miles from Maria (they had counted the exact distance one summer). How did the words travel so far and so quickly?

Once Maria thought of these questions, so many others popped up in her head. For example, Maria's mom sent so many emails to Maria's grandmother, who lived in Florida. Mom attached pictures of Maria to most of the emails she sent to Grandma, since Maria didn't get to see Grandma very often. There was so much to think about with the pictures! First, how did the pictures get onto the computer from the camera in the first place? Second, how were the pictures able to be attached to the email? Lastly, how did each picture-with all the parts of Maria and whatever background Maria was standing in front of-go from the New York email to the Florida email? Maria knew all about using the different USB ports and clicking the right buttons to attach pictures, but now she wondered about how the data was actually sent from the camera to the computer to the email, and then from Mom's email to Grandma's email.

Maria decided to ask her parents about it later. It was all very confusing, especially when Maria thought back to the time period she was learning about in school, the late 1700s, when America was becoming the United States. For example, if the settlers had cell phones and computers and GPS, Paul Revere would not have needed to go horseback riding all over the colonies telling people that the British were coming. He could have just called someone in Boston to let him know what was going on.

Then Maria thought about making phone calls. When she was little, she and her cousins had made "telephones" out of empty tin cans and string. The vibrations of their voices had carried through the cans and onto the string so that the other person could hear the words from the other end of the line. But cell phones and telephones did not have any string attached to them -and you could call people hundreds of miles away and hear them perfectly. She called her cousins in Mexico all the time! How did they hear the words she said in New York if their

ReadWorks.org · © 2013 ReadWorks®, Inc. All rights reserved. The Secret of Cell Phones phones weren't connected? Sometimes she had to leave voice messages for her cousins, if they weren't able to come to the phone. That was also a strange thing: how did the words she said in one moment into a voice mailbox get saved until her cousins were ready to listen?

Maria knew that telephones and cell phones and computers were considered "high tech devices" that you had to buy in special stores. But how did they do what they did? How did they convert the words she said and the pictures her mom sent (Maria knew this stuff was called data) into the appropriate form that they were supposed to be in?

This was definitely something to ask her dad. In the meantime, Maria decided to send Jennifer a funny picture of herself and her dog Spotty.

Name: ______Date: ______1. What do Maria's parents buy her?

A. a cell phone B. a computer C. a camera D. tin cans and string

2. What does the author describe in the story?

A. how the main character uses text messaging on her cell phone to deal with an emergency at school B. how getting a cell phone changes the way the main character feels about her grandmother C. how one computer is able to send words and pictures to another computer far away D. how the main character gets a cell phone and then asks herself a series of questions

3. Maria has questions about how phones, email, and computers work.

What sentences from the passage support this statement?

A. "Maria was very excited: her parents were finally going to buy her a cell phone. Most of her friends had already been given a cell phone and were able to talk all the time, even when they weren't in school." B. "Maria knew that telephones and cell phones and computers were considered 'high tech devices' that you had to buy in special stores. But how did they do what they did?" C. "Then Maria thought about making phone calls. When she was little, she and her cousins had made 'telephones' out of empty tin cans and string." D. "After inputting the number into the contacts list, Maria sent Jennifer a text message: 'Look now we can text.' It took a few moments for the message to go through."

ReadWorks.org · © 2020 ReadWorks®, Inc. All rights reserved. The Secret of Cell Phones - Comprehension Questions 4. What can be concluded about the string telephones Maria used when she was little and the phones without string she uses to call her cousins in Mexico?

A. The string telephones and the phones Maria uses to call her cousins in Mexico work are made out of the same materials. B. Both the string telephones and the phones Maria uses to call her cousins in Mexico can be used to send text messages. C. The string telephones and the phones Maria uses to call her cousins in Mexico work for different reasons. D. Maria likes using string telephones more than she likes using the phones without string to call her cousins in Mexico.

5. What is this passage mainly about?

A. a girl who asks herself questions about how phones, email, and computers work B. a girl who gets a cell phone and likes sending text messages more than calling people with it C. a computer that a family uses to send each other pictures because not all of them live in the same place D. a computer that could have helped Paul Revere warn colonists about the British if it been around in the 1700s

6. Read the following sentences: "Then Maria thought about making phone calls. When she was little, she and her cousins had made 'telephones' out of empty tin cans and string."

Why does the author put the word 'telephones' in quotation marks?

A. to tell the reader that Maria is saying the word out loud to herself B. to let the reader know that the string telephones were not real telephones C. to convince the reader that telephones made out of tin cans and string are better than other telephones D. to show the reader how important the string telephones were to Maria as a child

Maria asks questions about different "high tech devices," ______cell phones and computers.

A. such as B. finally C. instead D. in the end

8. What does Maria's mom often send to Maria's grandmother?

9. Name at least two different ways that Maria communicates with Jennifer in the story.

10. "The Secret of Cell Phones" describes various devices that Maria and her family use to communicate. Do Maria and her family need to use as many different devices as they do? Explain why or why not, using evidence from the passage.