teacher’s guide - amazon s3€¦ · teacher’s guide. model metacognitive strategy: ......

B E N C H M A R K E D U C A T I O N C O M P A N Y

Themes • Invention• Living Conditions• Energy Resources

Social Studies

• Draw conclusions (comprehension strategy) (page 5) • Build background (page 3) • Determine text importance (metacognitive strategy)

(page 4) • Use context clues to determine word meaning:

descriptions (pages 6, 10) • Use text features to locate information: captions

(page 8) • Compare and contrast (page 11) • Draw conclusions (page 11)

National Content Standards

Science • Physical Science: c • Science and Technology: b, c • Science in Personal and Social Perspectives: b, c, d, e • History and the Nature of Science: a

Social Studies • Culture: a • Time, Continuity, and Change: b, c, d, e • People, Places, and Environments: k • Power, Authority, and Governance: g • Science, Technology, and Society: a, b, c • Global Connections: d

Related Resources

Comprehension Strategy Posters • Drawing Conclusions

Related Poems from Reading and Writing Poetic Forms

• “ Paul Revere’s Ride” (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)

Comprehension Strategy Assessment Handbook (Grade 3)

• Ongoing Assessments #13 and #14

Comprehension Through Deductive Reasoning Questions★Our Current World card

Skills & Strategies

Our Current WorldLevel P/38

TEACHER’S GUIDE

Model

metacognitive

strategy: deter-

mine text impor-

tance

Model

comprehension

strategy: draw

conclusions

Use context clues

to determine word

meaning:

descriptions

Apply

metacognitive

strategy: deter-

mine text impor-

tance

Guide

comprehension

strategy: draw

conclusions

Use text features

to locate

information:

captions

Apply

metacognitive

strategy: deter-

mine text impor-

tance

Apply

comprehension

strategy: draw

conclusions

Use context clues

to determine word

meaning:

descriptions

Compare and

contrast/draw

conclusions

D a y

1

2

3

4

5

A c t i v i t i e s

A dd i t i o n a l R e l a t e d R e s o u r c e s

Notable Trade Books

for Read-Aloud

• Bridgman, Roger Francis.

Eyewitness: Electronics. DK

Publishing, 2000.

• Cole, Joanna. The Magic School

Bus and the Electric Field Trip.

Scholastic, 1999.

• Parsons, Alexandra. Electricity

(Make It Work! Science). Two-

Can Publishing, 2000.

Web Site for Content Information

• Clark Public Utilities

http://clarkpud.apogee.net/kids

Clark Public Utilities provides

informative and interactive kids’

pages related to the fundamen-

tals of electricity. This site

includes a brief history, a glossary

of terms, and games.

S a m p l e L e s s o n P l a n n i n g G u i d e

Copyright © 2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC. All rights reserved. Teachers may photocopy the reproducible pages for classroom use. No other part of the guide may be reproduced or transmitted in whole or in part in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. ISBN: 978-1-4108-1109-72

Lesson at a GlanceBefore Reading (page 3)• Build Background• Introduce the Book• Administer Preassessment

During Reading (pages 4–10)Introduction–Chapter 1 (pages 4–6) • Model Metacognitive Strategy:

Determine Text Importance• Set a Purpose for Reading• Discuss the Reading• Model Comprehension Strategy:

Draw Conclusions• Use Context Clues to Determine Word

Meaning: Descriptions

Chapters 2–3 (pages 7–8)• Apply Metacognitive Strategy:

Determine Text Importance• Set a Purpose for Reading• Discuss the Reading• Guide Comprehension Strategy:

Draw Conclusions• Use Text Features to Locate

Information: Captions

Chapter 4–5 (pages 9–10)• Apply Metacognitive Strategy: Determine Text Importance• Set a Purpose for Reading• Discuss the Reading• Apply Comprehension Strategy:

Draw Conclusions• Use Context Clues to Locate

Information: Descriptions

After Reading (page 11)• Administer Posttest• Synthesize Information: Compare and

Contrast/Draw Conclusions

Writing Workshop (pages 12–13)• Model the Writing Process:

Write a Paragraph That Leads to Conclusions

Draw Conclusions (page 14)

Use Context Clues to Determine Word Meaning: Definitions (page 15)

Conclusions (page 16)

Build background:

pair share on how

students use

electricity every

day

Introduce/

preview the book:

back cover, table

of contents, skim

two chapters

Navigators Lesson Guides provide flexible options to meet a variety of instructional needs. Here is one way to structure this lesson.

Before ReadingBuild Background • Ask students to work in pairs. Have them discuss the ways in

which electricity helps them every day at home and at school. Reconvene the group and ask pairs to share their best ideas. Write these on chart paper as they are mentioned. If you wish, categorize the ideas as shown on the T-chart here.

• Before students read, preview some key words that are not found in the glossary of Our “Current” World. Make sure that students can use each word in a sentence. If they have difficulty, use a dictionary to define the word.

circuit communication energy

motor transportation

Tell students that most of the difficult words in the book will be defined in a glossary at the back.

Introduce the Book • Give students a copy of the book. Read the back cover blurb

aloud and ask students to tell what they think the book will be about.

• Have students turn to the table of contents. Ask: What is the title of chapter 1? (“All About Electricity”)

• Explain that Our “Current” World explains what electricity is and how it is used to improve people’s lives.

• Have students identify two chapters they would like to preview as a group. Ask volunteers to name the page number on which each chapter begins. Have students turn to that page and scan the pictures in the chapter. Discuss what they think each chapter will be about.

Administer Preassessment• Have students take Ongoing Assessment #13 on page 62 in the

Comprehension Strategy Assessment Handbook (Grade 3).

• Score assessments and use the results to determine instruction.

• Keep group assessments in a small-group reading folder. For in-depth analysis, discuss responses with individual students.

How Electricity Helps Us at

Home

How Electricity Helps Us at School

Informal Assessment Tips

1. Assess students’ ability to locate chapters using the table of contents.

2. Document informal observa-tions in a folder or notebook.

3. Keep the folder or notebook at the small-group reading table for handy reference.

4. Tell students who need more help to trace the lines with their fingers between the chapter title and the page number. Make sure they can answer questions like these: On which page does chapter 3 begin? Which chapter begins on page 19?

© 2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC 3

During Reading: Introduction–Chapter 1

Model Metacognitive Strategy: Determine Text Importance

•

Use a real-life example to show how you might determine text impor-tance. Hold up a news magazine. Show the various features you mention as you say: I like to read news magazines. I use the titles of articles to decide what to read. I know that the key topic of a magazine article usually appears in the first paragraph. Most news magazines have lots of pictures, diagrams, and graphs. I can use these to make sense of what I read. They also include lots of sidebars, which are usually boxed items printed in a dif-ferent color and separated from the rest of the story. Although these add interesting bits of information, I can often skip them without hurting my understanding of the article as a whole.

In anything you read, the author may include lots of interesting tidbits that are not part of the key ideas. You need to think: Why is the author writing this book or article or story? What does the author want me to know? Is this detail important to my understanding of that key topic?

• Read pages 2–3 of the book aloud as students follow along. Continue this real-life modeling. Say: This first paragraph draws me in by attracting my attention. However, it doesn’t really tell me much about electricity and what it is until I get to the last sentence. The next paragraph is more tied to the key topic. It explains what electricity does for me. The next two paragraphs give me a clue about what’s coming up. They don’t really explain what electricity is and how it works. However, the last paragraph helps me to understand the author’s purpose. The author wants me to learn about electricity and how it has improved people’s lives. The pictures give me clues about what electricity is. I could read this introduction and skip the “Think It Over” activity without losing much in the way of understanding. The “Think It Over” activity is fun, but it’s not as important as the rest of the introduction.

4 © 2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC

Good readers decide and remember what is important and

what is not important while they read. To do this well, readers

must be able to identify the author’s purpose for using partic-

ular nonfiction text features, notice and select new informa-

tion on familiar and unfamiliar topics, understand that a piece

of text may have many themes and/or ideas, and distinguish

between key topics and supporting details. Good readers may

keep track of their thinking by using a journal

or self-stick notes.

Content InformationThis information may help you to explain how electricity works.

• Usually, atoms have the same number of negatively charged electrons and positively charged protons. In that case, the atom is neutral.

• When electrons are loosely arranged, which is true in all conductors, they can move from one atom to another easily. Some atoms lose electrons and become positively charged. Some gain electrons and become negatively charged.

• Objects with the same charge push away from each other. Objects with opposite charges attract each other.

Minds-On/ Hands-On Activity

1. Have students work in groups of three or four. Give each group a balloon.

2. Explain that the balloon can become negatively charged by rubbing against someone’s hair. It picks up electrons from the hair.

3. Have students charge a balloon and test what happens when they apply the balloon to different surfaces in the room. As long as it remains charged, the balloon should stick to most surfaces. It sticks because its negative charge repels negative electrons in the surface, bringing the positive protons closer to the balloon, where they attract the negatively charged atoms of the balloon.

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Set a Purpose for Reading • Have students read chapter 1 silently. As they read, they should use their

reading journals to list the topics and ideas from the chapter that they feel are most important, based on their understanding of the author’s purpose: to inform them about electricity and how it has improved peo-ple’s lives.

Discuss the Reading • Ask students to share their lists of key topics from chapter 1.

Point out that if they were studying for a test on electricity, they would focus on these key ideas. Boldfaced terms often denote key topics or concepts that the author wants readers to learn and remember.

• For each idea mentioned, ask: Is this a key topic or a supporting detail? Have students underline key topics in red on their lists.

• Say: Supporting details are interesting and colorful, but they are not as important as the key topics you listed.

Model Comprehension Strategy: Draw Conclusions• Tell students that not all information is given directly by an author.

Often, readers must put clues from the text together with what they already know to draw conclusions about information or ideas.

• Say: As you read, you can think about what you already know about a topic. You put that knowledge together with the information in the text to draw conclusions about what you read. Be careful not to “jump to conclu-sions.” People jump to conclusions before they have enough information. Always have good evidence for the conclusions you draw.

• Pass out the graphic organizer Draw Conclusions (blackline master, page 14 of this guide).

• Explain that as they read, the group will complete the first four rows together. The last three rows will be completed independently.

• Have students turn to page 3. Read aloud the first paragraph. Say: The text tells me that only in the last 200 years or so have people been able to put what they know about electricity to use. I know that many years ago, people used candles and lanterns instead of lamps and overhead lights. I can conclude that electric lights did not exist in the 1700s.

• Write the information on the graphic organizer as you identify it. (You may want to make a chart-size copy of the organizer or use a transparency.)

Informal Assessment Tips1. Watch students as they

discriminate between key topics and supporting details in their journals or notebooks.

2. In a folder or notebook, jot down what you see each student doing.

3. Document students who are and are not using this meta-cognitive strategy as they read.

4. If students are not discrimi-nating between key topics and supporting details, remind them to ask them-selves what information they need to understand the topics about which they are reading.


3

Page Information What I Number from the Text Already Know Conclusion

Draw Conclusions

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People have only put electricity to use in the last 200 years.

People used to use candles and lanterns.

Electric lights did not exist in the 1700s.

Introduction–Chapter 1 (continued)


• Have students turn to page 5 and read the final paragraph. Say: The text tells me that the insulating plastic keeps the electric current from flowing out of the cord. I know that electric wires could give me a shock. By putting together information from the text with what I already know, I can conclude that the plastic protects me from getting a shock.

• Write the information on the graphic organizer as you mention it.

• Say: My conclusions are statements that tell what I can guess from my knowledge plus what I read in the book.

• Tell students that they will continue the chart as they continue reading Our Current World.

Use Context Clues to Determine Word Meaning: Descriptions • Point out the word battery on page 6. Point out that the word

is boldfaced, which means it is in the glossary. Point out that the author does not directly define the word. Say: Instead of defining this unfamiliar word in the text, the author gives us a description. The description “Batteries run everything from toys to flashlights to power tools to computers” does not exactly tell you what a battery is or even how it looks, but it gives you a good clue about how it is used, and that helps you better understand the word.

• Repeat this process with the word generators on page 6. Say: If you don’t know what a generator is, you can use the author’s description. The author says, “Generators use special wires and magnets to make large amounts of power.” From that, you can tell that a generator produces power.

• Tell students that they will use context clues to determine the meanings of unknown words as they continue reading Our Current World.

3


Draw Conclusions

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Insulating plastic keeps electric current from flowing out of a cord.

Electric wires could shock me.

The plastic protects me from getting a shock.

Chapters 2–3

Apply Metacognitive Strategy: Determine Text Importance• Remind students that they worked with you to differentiate

important information from less important information, or key topics from supporting details.

• Say: Today we’ll look at locating new information—information that can be important because it’s brand-new to you. Read page 10 aloud while students follow along. Say: The information on appliances and devices was not really new to me—I know that clocks and TVs run on electricity. However, the paragraph about watts was new to me. It’s a new topic, and it’s important to my understanding of how electricity works. The chart on that page helps me better understand this new information. I need to remember this new piece of information.

• Explain that as students read nonfiction, they will often be faced with new information about familiar and unfamiliar topics. Often, that new information is the most valuable or important to them, because it gives them an understanding about the topic that they did not have before.

Set a Purpose for Reading• As students read chapters 2 and 3, ask them to take notes on

any new information they learn. Point out that keeping track of new information by taking notes is a good way to study for a test and a good way to clarify a difficult nonfiction selection.

Discuss the Reading• Have students work with partners to share some of the new information

they learned in chapters 2 and 3. Say: Notice that not everyone lists the same things as new information. Some readers have more background knowledge about a topic than other readers do. For readers who know less about the topic, more of the text is likely to be important.

• Ask students to summarize the most important things they learned from the material in chapters 2 and 3.


Content InformationThis information may help students better understand the chapters.

• Electricity is provided to homes in our country through utility companies, which charge users a fee based on the amount of power they use.

• We can easily see how electricity affects our lives whenever there is a power blackout. Blackouts are rare in most parts of the United States, but when they occur, businesses and transportation come to a temporary standstill.


1. Give pairs of students a calculator and scrap paper. Have students assume that electricity in your area costs ten cents for an hour’s worth of 1,000 watts.

2. Ask them to imagine that they have ten 100-watt light bulbs in their homes. How much does it cost to keep all of the lights on five hours a day for a month?($15) How much could they save by turning half of the lights off? ($7.50)

3. Allow students to experiment with the numbers. Then discuss how conserving energy can also mean saving money.

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Chapters 2–3 (continued)

Informal Assessment Tips1. Watch students as they

help complete the Draw Conclusions chart.

2. In your folder, jot down what you see the students doing as they complete the activity with you.

3. Ask yourself: Are students having problems with this strategy? If so, what are the problems? Are students mastering this strategy? If so, how do I know?

4. For struggling students, review the strategy using the comprehension strategy poster. Use both sides of the poster if needed.

Guide Comprehension Strategy: Draw Conclusions • Review drawing conclusions by reviewing the graphic organizer. Explain

that as a group you are going to look back at chapters 2 and 3 to draw conclusions from what you read.

• Ask students to look at the sentence on page 8, “For thousands of years, people’s lives followed the rising and setting of the sun.” Write that fact in the left column of the chart. Then ask students what they know about the sun’s effect on Earth. Write that information in the second column. Finally, ask: From the information in the text and what you know about the sun, what conclusion can you draw about people’s bedtimes before the advent of electricity? (They probably went to bed early, since there would be no light or heat after the sun went down.) Write that in the last column of the chart.

• Point out the sentence “Many workers get to their offices in elevators” on page 14. Ask students to put that together with what they already know to draw a conclusion about the size of buildings before electricity was common. Use the graphic organizer at left for suggested answers.

Use Text Features to Locate Information: Captions• Direct students’ attention to the captions on page 8 and on pages 13 and 14.

Say: A caption can give you information that you don’t find in the text. Often a caption helps you understand the author’s purpose in including a particular illustration.

• Explain that the caption on page 8 repeats a key topic from chapter 2: Electricity has improved our lives at home. The captions on pages 13 and 14 give supporting details for the topic of the chapter, “Electricity at Work.”


3


Draw Conclusions

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People’s lives once followed the rising and setting of the sun.

The sun gives light and heat.

People probably went to bed right after sunset.

Many workers get to their offices in elevators.

Elevators run on electricity. Skyscrapers have elevators.

Before electricity was common, buildings were not so tall.


Chapter 4 –5

Apply Metacognitive Strategy: Determine Text Importance • Remind students that they have differentiated between

important and less important information as they read from the introduction through chapter 3.

• Say: You should have found that in each chapter, there were several impor-tant ideas. Since the author’s purpose is to teach us about electricity and how it has improved people’s lives, there are many key topics that help to support that purpose.

• Read the title of chapter 4. Say: It’s pretty clear from this title that the chapter will have more than one key topic. The chapter tells about two different things.

• Have volunteers read pages 15 and 16 aloud. Say: I got a couple of key topics out of these two pages. I learned that electricity can run cars, and I learned that it can run trains, too. Those are two important ways that electricity has improved people’s lives.

Set a Purpose for Reading • Have students read the rest of the book silently, taking notes on

the important ideas in the text. Remind them that not everyone will find the same information important. If ideas are new to them, they may need to write them down.

Discuss the Reading • Have students share their notes from the reading.

Ask: Are all of your notes on key topics or important ideas? Could any of the things you wrote be considered simply supporting details?

• Tell students that the notes they took on the book should provide enough information about its key ideas so they could now write a good summary of the book or take a test on the information it presented.

Content InformationStudents might like to know more about alternative ways of generating electricity.

• Most generators work using a turbine that is turned by steam. Burning coal or oil creates the steam. In some cases, the steam is generated by a nuclear reactor.

• Falling water can turn a turbine without the need for steam. A turning windmill can also turn a turbine.

• Solar cells allow you to skip the step that involves steam, falling water, or wind. They convert photons, or light cells, into electrons, directly using power from the sun to create electricity.


1. Illustrate Newton’s third law with a milk carton. Use a nail to punch holes in the bottom right corner of each side of a milk carton. Punch another hole in the top of the carton and tie a string through the hole.

2. Ask volunteers to cover each of the bottom holes with masking tape.

3. Hang the carton to a tree outside or over your classroom sink. Fill it with water from the top.

4. Ask a volunteer to pull off one strip of tape. Have students describe what happens. Ask another volunteer to pull off the tape from the opposite corner. What happens now? Finally, have students pull off all the tape and describe what they see.

5. Explain that the pouring water forces the carton to spin in much the same way that water or steam forces a tur-bine to spin.

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Chapter 4–5 (continued)

Informal Assessment Tips1. Watch students as they take notes

on key topics. Ask yourself: How have the students progressed with determining text importance? What problems are they still hav-ing? What questions pop into my head about what I see them doing?

2. Watch students as they complete the graphic organizer indepen-dently. Ask yourself: Who is still struggling with this strategy? What are they doing or not doing that makes me think they are struggling? How can I help them?

3. Jot down your thoughts in your folder or notebook.

Apply Comprehension Strategy: Draw Conclusions • Review the graphic organizer with students and explain that they will

draw conclusions from chapter 4 independently.

• Before they begin, ask whether they have questions about the strategy.

• Have students complete column 1. They should then write down what they know already and draw a conclusion.

• Monitor their work and intervene if they are having difficulty.

• Discuss students’ responses together.

• For more practice, have students complete the blackline master Conclusions on page 16 of this guide.

Use Context Clues to Determine Word Meaning: Descriptions• Remind students that context clues can often help them define unfa-

miliar words. These clues may take the form of descriptive phrases and sentences that tell more about the word in question.

• Have students find superconductors on page 19. Ask them what they could do if the word were not in the glossary. (use context clues)

• Ask: What do superconductors do? (make electric current move faster, more easily, and more cheaply) For students who are having difficulty, say: Look at the sentences that surround the word. They provide descriptions that should help you define the word.

• Have students find nonrenewable resources on page 20. Ask: What do you think this term means? (resources that will run out) How can you tell? (The next sentence refers to coal and oil running out.)

• For more practice, have students complete the blackline master Use Context Clues to Determine Word Meaning: Descriptions on page 15 of this guide.

3


Draw Conclusions


1. If objects have mutual traits, they ___________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

2. A watt is used to ___________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

3. A physicist is someone who _________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

4. Resistance has to do with ___________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

all share some things

measure electricity used by light bulbs

studies matter and energy

the flow of electricity through a conductor

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People’s lives once followed the rising and setting of the Sun.

The Sun gives light and heat.

People probably went to bed right after sunset.

Many workers get to their offices in elevators.

Elevators run on electricity. Skyscrapers have elevators.

Before electricity was common, buildings were not so tall.

Some trains run more than 200 miles per hour.

A car goes about 55–65 mph on the highway.

The train can get you to your destination much faster.

Coal and oil will run out.

We use coal and oil to run generators.

We’ll need better ways to use solar and wind power.

The telegraph was invented 32 years before the telephone.

Both machines help people communicate.

For 32 years, the telegraph was the quickest way to communicate.

O

1. What advantage does an electric motor have over a gas engine?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

2. Why might a hybrid car be better than an electric car?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Circle the letter of the best answer.

3. You would expect a hybrid car to use A. more gas than a gas car B. less gas than a gas car C. as much gas as a gas car D. no gas at all

It does not pollute.

The gas engine can recharge the car automatically.

After ReadingAdminister Posttest• Have students take Ongoing Assessment #14 on page 64 in the

Comprehension Strategy Assessment Handbook (Grade 3).

Synthesize Information: Compare and Contrast/Draw Conclusions• Have students work in pairs. Ask each pair to choose any two of

these locations.

a mall a farm an airport a hospital

a school a fair a skyscraper a TV studio

• Ask students to brainstorm a list of the many ways electricity is used in each of the locations they chose. They may use out-side resources or the Internet if you wish to make this a more complex research activity.

• Provide each pair of students with a sheet of chart paper and markers in red, blue, and black. Ask them to write one location’s name in red and the other’s name in blue. Then have them use black to copy their list of all the ways electricity is used. Finally, have them use red to circle the ways electricity is used in the first location and blue to circle the ways it is used in the second location.

• Give pairs a chance to present their charts to the class. Have them point out the electrical uses the locations have in common (those that are circled in both red and blue) and those that are specific to each location (those that are circled only in red or only in blue).

• Once all pairs have had a chance to present their work, ask the class to draw conclusions about how electricity is used. How is it used most often? What are some less common ways in which it is used?



1. Score assessments and determine if more instruction is needed for this strategy.

2. Keep group assessments in a small-group reading folder.

3. Look closely at students’ re sponses. Ask yourself: Why might this student have answered the question in this manner? For in-depth analysis, discuss responses with individual students.

4. Use posttests to document growth over time, for parent/ teacher conferences, or for your own records.

all share some things

measure electricity used by light bulbs

studies matter and energy

the flow of electricity through a conductor

Model the Writing Process: Write a Paragraph That Leads to Conclusions• Remind students that as they read the book Our “Current”

World, they learned many things directly. They learned other things by adding what the author wrote to what they already knew and drawing conclusions.

• On chart paper or the board, make a sequence diagram like the one shown below.

• Use the writing model to show how a sequence diagram may be used to explain a process—how something is done. Read the model aloud. Then have students draw conclusions about what tool is being described.

• Have students choose a tool or appliance. Ask them to diagram step-by-step how it is used. They should use those steps to write a paragraph of explanation, using the letter X in place of the name of the tool or appliance, just as in the model. Point out that the model begins with a topic sentence before going into the steps required.

• Ask students to read their paragraphs aloud and have their classmates draw conclusions about what tool or appliance is being described.


1. Observe students as they participate in the group writing project. Identify those who might need additional assistance during the various stages of the writing process. Jot down notes in your journal.

2. During conferences, keep notes on each student’s writing behav-iors. Ask yourself: What evidence do I have to support the conclusion that this student is writing well or poorly? What can I do about it?

3. For struggling students, suggest that they draw a comic strip showing themselves using the tool or appliance. They can use the drawing to help them organize their thoughts about how it is used.


Teaching Tips: Process Writing Steps

1. Have students independently write a first draft based on their sequence diagrams.

2. After students complete their paragraphs, have them revise and edit with the help of a classroom buddy.

3. Conference with each student following the first revision and editing.

4. Have students make any addi-tional changes and create a final copy of their paragraphs.

5. Finally, invite students to share their paragraphs with the class.

Writing Workshop

How to Use an X

Hold the X by its handle.

Place the tip in the groove of

a screw.

Turn the X.

Loosen the screw.

© 2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC

How to Use an XAn X is a handy tool to use around the

house. Suppose you need to remove a table

leg. Hold the X by its handle. Place the tip

of the X in the groove of the screw. Then turn

the X counterclockwise while leaning into the

screw. Keep turning until the screw comes

loose. You’re done!

Writing Model


Name _________________________________________ Date ___________________


Draw Conclusions

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Name _________________________________________ Date ___________________

Use Context Clues to Determine Word Meaning: Descriptions

Directions: Read the passage. Highlight or circle any descriptions that give clues to the meaning of the underlined words.

In the space below, write what you know about the underlined words.

1. If objects have mutual traits, they _____________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

2. A watt is used to _______________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

3. A physicist is someone who ____________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

4. Resistance has to do with ______________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

Electric WordsWatts, volts, ohms, and amperes have some mutual traits. They are used

to measure electricity. They are all words that come from men’s names.You may have seen a number and the word “watts” on a light bulb.

This tells you how much electricity the bulb uses. The watt is named for James Watt. He was an engineer who lived in Scotland.

Allesandro Volta was a physicist from Italy. He studied matter and energy. He built the first battery. The volt is named for him. A volt measures the force that makes electrons move.

The ohm is named for German scientist George Ohm. The ohm measures resistance. Good conductors such as water have low resistance. Poor conductors have high resistance. They slow the flow of electricity.

André-Marie Ampére was a French physicist. An ampere measures the strength of an electrical current.

These men studied electricity. Now we use their names to measure it.

Name _________________________________________ Date ___________________

ConclusionsDirections: Read the passage. Then answer the questions that follow.

Hybrid Cars

There are drawbacks to both gas and electric cars. Gas engines pollute. Electric motors need recharging. One alternative is the hybrid car.

A gas-powered car has a fuel tank. The tank feeds gas to an engine. The engine turns the transmission. That turns the wheels of the car.

An electric-powered car has batteries. The batteries send electricity to a motor. The motor turns the transmission, and that turns the wheels. The car must be recharged often. You must plug in the car at night.

A hybrid car uses both gas and electricity. It works in one of two ways. Some hybrid cars have a gas engine and an electric motor. Both link to the transmission. That way, either one can run the car.

Other hybrid cars have a gas engine hooked to a generator. The generator can charge the batteries. It can also run the electric motor. The gas engine is not connected to the transmission. It just helps the electricity run the car.

Hybrid cars are small because their engines are small. Other than that, they look like most cars you see. The main difference is under the hood.


1. What advantage does an electric motor have over a gas engine?

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2. Why might a hybrid car be better than an electric car?

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