Read “Dream Job” and “Saucy by Nature” then Read … Shang. $16.99. ... By Jennifer...

Name ___________________________________________________________________________

What is Summer Reading all about?

o Reading is a life-long skill that one needs to be successful as a student and in life

o MCPS has promoted Summer Reading since 1998

Due Date: Thursday, September 3rd Deadline: Wednesday, September 9th

What is expected? Complete ONE of the following options: Option 1: Option 2:

Read “Dream Job” and “Saucy by Nature” then

use them to complete the paired questions that follow. OR

Read “Mission to Mars” and “NJ Physics Professor has the ‘Right Stuff’” then use them to complete the paired questions that follow.

If you want to read a book of your choice,

please complete the blank organizer at the end and fill in the required information.

Attached is a list of recommended reads from Scholastic – you DO NOT have to

choose from only this list. Please choose something appropriate for your lexile and interests. You are not required to

purchase a book; many are available from your local library.

This will count as TWO (2) FIVE-POINT (5) homework grades!

Resources:

Young Adult Library Services Association: www.ala.org/yalsa/booklists

What should I read next?

http://www.whatshouldireadnext.com/search

Montgomery County Public Libraries www.montgomerycountymd.gov/library

If you have any questions, contact Ms. Meredith Lyvers, English Content Specialist:

o 301-670-8242 o [email protected]

http://www.ala.org/yalsa/booklists

http://www.whatshouldireadnext.com/search

http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/library

mailto:[email protected]

50sizzling summer reads❒ unusual chickens for the exceptional poultry farmer

By Kelly Jones, illustrated

by Katie Kath. $16.99.

Grades 4–6.

❒ return to augie hobble

By Lane Smith. $16.99.

Grades 4–7.

❒ the terrible two

By Jory John and Mac

Barnett, illustrated by Kevin

Cornell. $13.95.

Grades 4–6.

❒ petlandia

By Peter Hannan. $8.99.

Grades 2–5.

❒ frank ein-stein and the electro-finger By Jon

Scieszka, illustrated by Brian

Biggs. $13.95. Grades 3–6.

❒ cassidy’s guide to everyday etiquette (and obfuscation) By Sue Stauffacher. $16.99.

Grades 3–7.

❒ dragons at crumbling castle

By Terry Pratchett. $16.99.

Grades 4–7.

❒ rude cakes By Rowboat Watkins.

$16.99. Grades K–2.

❒ circus mirandus By Cassie Beasley. $17.99.

Grades 4–8.

❒ last of the sandwalkers

By Jay Hosler. $16.99.

Grades 4–7.

❒ ratscalibur By Josh Lieb. $16.99.

Grades 3–7.

❒ the princess in black By Shannon

Hale and Dean Hale,

illustrated by LeUyen

Pham. $6.99. Grades K–3.

❒ nightbird By Alice

Hoffman. $16.99.

Grades 5–8.

❒ pip bartlett’s guide to magical creatures By Jackson

Pearce and Maggie

Stiefvater. $16.99.

Grades 3–6.

❒ the lost track of time By Paige Britt,

illustrated by Lee White.

$17.99. Grades 4–7.

❒ interstellar cinderella By Deborah Underwood,

illustrated by Meg Hunt.

$16.99. Grades K–3.

❒ welcome to the neighborwood

By Shawn Sheehy. $29.99.

Grades K–2.

❒ emmanuel’s dream: the true story of emmanuel ofosu yeboah

By Laurie Ann Thompson,

illustrated by Sean Qualls.

$17.99. Grades K–3.

❒ gingerbread for liberty!: how a german baker helped win the american revolution

By Mara Rockliff, illus-

trated by Vincent X. Kirsch.

$17.99. Grades 1–4.

❒ growing up pedro By Matt Tavares. $16.99.

Grades 2–5.

❒ a nest is noisy

By Dianna Hutts Aston,

illustrated by Sylvia Long.

$16.99. Grades K–3.

❒ why’d they wear that?: fashion as the mirror of history By Sarah

Albee. $19.99. Grades 5–8.

❒ the founding fathers!: the horse-ridin’,fiddle-playin’, book-readin’, gun-totin’ gentlemen who started america By Jonah

Winter, illustrated by Barry

Blitt. $17.99. Grades 3–5.

❒ i will always write back: how one letter changed two lives By Caitlin

Alifirenka and Martin

Ganda, with Liz Welch.

$18. Grades 6–8.

❒ a handful of stars By Cynthia Lord.

$16.99. Grades 3–7.

❒ the penderwicks in spring By Jeanne

Birdsall. $16.99.

Grades 3–7.

❒ listen, slowly By Thanhhà Lai. $16.99.

Grades 5–8.

❒ gone crazy in alabama By Rita

Williams-Garcia. $16.99.

Grades 4–6.

❒ dear hank williams By Kimberly

Willis Holt. $16.99.

Grades 4–7.

❒ ice cream summer By Peter Sís.

$17.99. Grades K–3.

❒ the way home looks now By Wendy

Wan-Long Shang. $16.99.

Grades 4–7.

❒ fish in a tree

By Linda Mullaly Hunt.

$16.99. Grades 4–7.

❒ lost in the sun

By Lisa Graff. $16.99.

Grades 5–8.

❒ the island of dr. libris By Chris

Grabenstein. $16.99.

Grades 3–7.

❒ echo By Pam Muñoz

Ryan. $19.99. Grades 5–9.

❒ randi rhodes, ninja detective: the sweetest heist in history By Octavia

Spencer. $16.99.

Grades 4–7.

❒ pieces and players

By Blue Balliett. $17.99.

Grades 3–7.

❒ smashie mcperter and the mystery of room 11 By N. Griffin,

illustrated by Kate Hindley.

$15.99. Grades 2–5.

❒ william & the missing masterpiece

By Helen Hancocks. $16.99.

Grades K–2.

❒ honey By Sarah Weeks.

$16.99. Grades 3–7.

❒ bayou magic By

Jewell Parker Rhodes. $17.

Grades 3–7.

❒ book scavenger

By Jennifer Chambliss

Bertman. $16.99.

Grades 4–9.

❒ last stop on market street By Matt de la Peña, illus-

trated by Christian Robinson.

$16.99. Grades 2–5.

❒ sea rex By Molly Idle.

$16.99. Grades K–1.

❒ an ambush of tigers: a wild gathering of collec-tive nouns By Betsy R.

Rosenthal, illustrated by

Jago. $19.99. Grades K–3.

❒ duncan the story dragon By Amanda Driscoll. $16.99.

Grades K–2.

❒ marilyn’s monster By Michelle Knudsen,

illustrated by Matt Phelan.

$15.99. Grades K–3.

❒ 999 frogs and a little brother

By Ken Kimura, illustrated

by Yasunari Murakami.

$17.95. Grades K–2.

❒ how to read a story By Kate Messner,

illustrated by Mark Siegel.

$16.99. Grades K–3.

❒ drum dream girl: how one girl’s cour-age changed music

By Margarita Engle,

illustrated by Rafael López.

$16.99. Grades K–3.

Dream Job

© 2013 ReadWorks®, Inc. All rights reserved.

Dream Job

In an extremely fashionable part of New York City, there is a tall, beautiful skyscraper. It’s on a very wide avenue, shooting nearly 100 stories into the air. This building, The Spurlock, casts a very heavy shadow on the buildings around it. Jonathan Smeek lives in one of these buildings. Jonathan Smeek is a young man, but he seems older. He tends to dress in gray suits that don’t quite fit, eats the same vaguely gray egg salad sandwich for lunch every day, and has a gray cat that he can never quite manage to name. He calls it simply “Cat,” or “You” in emergency situations, as in, “Hey, don’t eat that, You!” or “Don’t knock that off the shelf, You!” Smeek’s apartment is in the middle of his building, which he likes a great deal. The people at the top often seem quite upset about the number of stops the elevator has to make on its slow, rumbling journey. The ones near the bottom have to use the stairs, as the elevators only stop at the fourth floor and up. The poor people on the third floor have it the worst, huffing up several flights of stairs every day. Smeek, on the sixth floor, however, has a smooth ride down to the lobby. Smeek has a lot of time to think about relatively minor things, like the ways in which his apartment floor affects his day. This is because he does not have a job. He has been out of work for months, and he spends most of the day watching television he hates and arguing with Cat, who doesn’t like the cheap food Smeek is forced to buy him. It is all he can afford. “I know it’s not the best, Cat,” Smeek says, leaning against a wall in his kitchen, still in his pajamas even though it is late in the afternoon. “Meow,” says Cat, in a tone that Smeek does not like. “Now look here, You,” he says, beginning to get a little upset. “It’s not like I’m not trying to get a job. I am trying. But it’s very difficult. Until then, we’re all making sacrifices.” Cat seems to sigh and takes a polite nibble of his food. Smeek sighs, and he sits down to open his old and graying laptop. As he glumly checks his email, not expecting much, he finds an interesting email. “MEDICAL SALES – EARNING POTENTIAL UNLIMITED!” reads the subject line. Smeek is suspicious. He has only run into one “unlimited” thing in his life, a breakfast buffet he’d been

Dream Job


to with his parents as a child. And a nasty waiter there stopped him from going back for a fifth serving of bacon, so how unlimited had it been, really? He reads on. “This position with Allied Medical Technologies sells a digital suite of over 19 products to a targeted audience of medical institutions. The earning potential is uncapped! Interested parties please reply referencing Job No. 97742.” Jonathan Smeek is interested, but he finds this job listing very confusing. What is a digital suite? Exactly what are these products? Smeek decides to reply. He writes: "To Whom It May Concern ‐‐ Good afternoon. I am very interested in position number 97742. I have long been fascinated by medical technology, and I am excited to hear more about the position. Please find my resume attached. I look forward to hearing from you." He sits back and sighs. Cat jumps on his lap and looks at the screen. "Meow?" He asks. "I know," Smeek says, guiltily. "I may have fibbed a bit. Still, just because I'm not interested in medical technology today, it doesn't mean I won’t be tomorrow. I'm open to change." "Meow," says Cat, before jumping off to chase a shadow. Smeek isn't quite sure what Cat has meant with that last meow. He lays down on the couch and quickly falls into a deep sleep. Just like always, his dreams seem very real. Also just like always, he dreams of cartoons. Since he was a small boy, Jonathan Smeek has dreamed of making cartoons. He loves watching them, of course, sprawled on the couch with a bag of chips and laughing his head off on the edge of his seat. But they are more than entertainment to him. He notices the styles of different animators and the kinds of shows different companies produce. He feels a unique sense of betrayal the first time a smart show he loves suddenly swerves to become simple and uncreative, but more popular. In this dream, Smeek is 13 years old. He is drawing his first cartoon, Tennisotro, about a mild‐mannered boy tennis player who one day uses radioactive sunscreen and grows a cannon arm that shoots tennis balls. Smeek sits at a small desk in his childhood room, lovingly filling in Tennisotro’s neon‐green eyes. He sits back and admires his work.

Dream Job


Just then, his father comes into the room. “WHAT’S THIS MESS?” he bellows. “STOP WASTING YOUR TIME WITH THESE IDIOTIC DRAWINGS!” He rips the paper from under Smeek’s hands, crumples it into a ball, and throws it back in his face. Smeek wakes with a shudder and remembers again why he’s never shown his drawings to anyone. He can’t help but keep doing them. He can’t stop if he wanted to, but he keeps them for himself even though he has come to believe that drawing is a waste of time. Smeek checks his computer and sees a reply. “Dear Sir – Thank you very much for your reply. Please come for an interview today at 4 PM.” The address listed is easy for Smeek to remember. It is in the Spurlock. Jonathan Smeek has never been inside the Spurlock before. He tries to walk straight to the elevators, holding his only nice folder with his important papers in it and looking like a man of business, his eyes straight ahead. They are so straight ahead that he slams into a frosted glass barrier a few feet tall without noticing it. He gives it a gentle push, thinking it might swing open. It does not, so he gives it a somewhat harder push, with no result. He is just about to step over it when he hears a stern voice. “SIR. STEP AWAY.” Smeek freezes mid‐step, with his left leg high in the air. A muscular security guard is standing behind a wide marble desk. His arms are crossed, and he does not look very happy. Smeek notices, somewhat embarrassed, that the guard’s suit is much nicer than his. “Sir,” the guard says again. Smeek realizes he is still frozen in place. He walks over and explains himself to the guard as best as he is able. The guard very hesitantly allows Smeek to enter the building. The elevator banks are huge. Brushed steel doors ten feet high are snugly fitted into black stone walls that are so clean Smeek can see his reflection in them. He presses the elevator’s “Up” button and leaves a big oily fingerprint. He tries to slyly edge up close to the button panel and begins rubbing the button with his shirt tail. The smudge won’t come off. He rubs harder. “I’m pretty sure we don’t have an elevator genie. But keep rubbing and see what comes out, I guess.”

Dream Job


For the second time, Jonathan Smeek freezes. Behind him, there is a beautiful woman, with black hair hanging neatly to her shoulders, a black‐and‐white polka dotted top, and a purple skirt covered in cartoon characters. “Oh, ah, ha, yes, of course.” Smeek manages. “I was just trying to, ah, clean it off a bit.” “Oh, of course. Nothing worse than a dirty button,” the girl says to him with a smile. “I’m Katherine.” “Oh. Great,” Smeek replies. “Not great that you’re Katherine, but, uh, great to meet you. I’m Jonathan.” Just then, the elevator arrives. They both get in, and Katherine pushes the button for a floor just a few above the one Smeek’s interview is on. He is so pleasantly surprised that he drops his folder on the ground, and his papers go everywhere. Most embarrassing of all, Smeek has totally forgotten that his folder is full of his drawings. Now Katherine will see all of his silly characters, he thinks, even Tennisotro. Katherine bends down to help him collect his things. “Are these yours?” she says. “Oh, uh, yes?” Smeek says, bracing himself for her laughter. He shuts his eyes and listens, but the laugh never comes. Instead, she makes a sort of “ooooo” sound. Puzzled, Smeek opens his eyes and looks over. Katherine is excitedly shuffling through his papers. “I love these! They’re great! Look at how green this guy’s eyes are!” “Uh, that’s Tennisotro. He used some radioactive sunscreen, and now he uses his supersonic tennis ball cannon to fight crime.” “That rules! Look, I’m sure you get a lot of work. I mean, you’re obviously very talented. I work for a magazine here, and we’re always trying to find great new people to illustrate for us. I mean, it wouldn’t be stuff as creative as this. It’s just portraits of people in the news the odd little cartoon here and there. Would you like to come up to my office and talk it over?” Smeek is absolutely bowled over. He can’t believe his luck. Of course, he has had many years of bad luck, he figures, so isn’t he entitled to just a bit of good luck? Of course, luck is only part of it, he thinks. Now it is up to him to take advantage of his opportunity and do something positive. Also, he wishes he had started sharing his work with people years ago.

Dream Job


“Oh, well, I understand if you’re busy,” says Katherine. Smeek realizes he hasn’t spoken for several seconds. “You’ve probably got an important meeting here?” “I can say with absolute confidence,” says Smeek, “that talking with you is the most important thing I have going on at this moment.” Katherine smiles. When the doors open at the floor of Allied Medical Technologies, Smeek leans forward and presses the “Door Close” button. He rides up with Katherine and into the future.

© 2013 ReadWorks

®, Inc. All rights reserved.

Saucy by Nature

Monika Luczak was exhausted. She had just finished a long day at work—one of those days where she was the first person in the office and didn’t leave until long after dinner. Working long hours wasn’t unusual for someone in Monika’s field. The year was 2011, and she had been working as a lawyer for several years. After the recession hit in 2008, many people began working more hours. Even if they weren’t passionate about the job, they were grateful to have work that paid well. But Monika didn’t quite understand how she had ended up working over 60 hours every week at a job she found boring. “Being lawyer has never been a passion of mine,” she explained. “Like many people I just picked a career I thought was going to be successful. Years later you’re like, ‘Wait a minute, why am I doing this? I’m not even happy.’” Monika knew what her two real passions were: food and traveling. She was happiest when she could combine them, tasting new flavors in exotic locations. At a party in 2001, she had met Przemek Adolf, a kindred spirit who also loved food and travel. Both Monika and Przemek are Polish-American and had just finished college. A friendship blossomed, and they began to travel together. Monika’s schedule allowed her to work intensely for weeks and then take weeks of vacation. They travelled to South America, the Caribbean and Asia. In every new place, Przemek and Monika were excited about the new flavors they tasted.

© 2013 ReadWorks


“It became about the food for me, really,” explained Monika. “That's what made the experience, trying all the different foods, and then Przemek had a similar passion. We went to Southeast Asia with one-way tickets—it was about the food and the cultures and how local the ingredients are.” The two began trying to recreate the flavors they had tasted abroad once they returned home to New York. In 2011, Przemek was living in London but moved back to New York City to start a business with Monika. The business they started, Saucy by Nature, made organic and tasty sauces to go on meats, vegetables and sandwiches. They started out small, and Monika found herself working even longer hours than she had as a lawyer. But she considered herself lucky to have a business partner. “At a lot of companies, there’s just one person,” Monika explained. “Thankfully we have two people. It’s a lot of work, especially if you want to run it as an actual business and not just a hobby.” There were so many things to consider: recipe development of the sauces, legal requirements for selling food, marketing, a website. It was overwhelming and exciting, all at the same time. No one was available to guide the pair, so they had to figure it out for themselves. They made some mistakes at the beginning, such as creating too many sauces. “At one point we were making nine different sauces,” said Monika. It was too difficult to create so many different flavors, and they had to cut back to only producing four. But they had successes as well. A new farmers’ market opened in the Bronx, and instantly, buying from farmers became easier. Now they could purchase ingredients from farmers based in Hudson Valley, Long Island and New Jersey all in the same place. The prices were cheaper at the new farmers’ market because it was a wholesale market. At wholesale markets, farmers sell their goods for less money but in larger quantities. “There wasn’t anything like that in 2011,” said Monika. “Now you can go and get 10 cases of cilantro at wholesale prices. It makes all the difference.”

© 2013 ReadWorks


Both Monika and Przemek wanted to be sure they were sourcing their ingredients from local farmers. In their travels abroad, they had noticed that many cuisines were based off the produce and spices that were locally available. “The local food movement here has become so intense and so exciting. There’s really become a pathway to work with farmers directly and impact the farm economics in this state,” said Monika. They try to work with organic farmers because they feel that organic foods are healthier for their customers and for the environment. By 2013, Saucy by Nature had become a growing business. Monika and Przemek still sold their sauces at Smorgasburg, an outdoor food market in New York on the weekends. But they also had contracts to sell their sauces at West Elm and small grocery stores throughout New York City and Pennsylvania. Monika and Przemek wanted to help other food entrepreneurs and create a community. They founded Fare Trade NYC, an organization that connects small food businesses and helps them grow. One of the main benefits of Fare Trade NYC was that it enabled new food business owners to speak with people who had faced the same problems. Monika explained: “Being able to speak with someone who's been there and done that, and gone through the same processes is really priceless. You can't get that anywhere else.” Monika explained further that the food business is especially difficult because it needs a lot of investment at the beginning. “If you get a huge order, you have to invest in the jars, the labels, the boxes, renting a kitchen for 8-20 hours. Then when you deliver your order to a big store, they can take up to 60 days to pay you back. You’re constantly juggling finances.” Another challenge of working in food is the change in what ingredients are available. “Working with seasonal ingredients has been especially challenging,” said Monika, “Especially during our first transition from summer to winter.” At a Fare Trade NYC meeting, Monika helped explain to a young woman starting a soup business the difficulty of working with seasonal ingredients and worked with her to create a plan for finding the right ingredients for her soups.

© 2013 ReadWorks


Monika works even more hours now than she did as a lawyer. But she’s still happy she made a change in her career path. She explained that her job satisfaction is much higher now that she is doing something she loves. “It’s just instant gratification in the sense that we’re there all the time, we’re the face of the company. It’s amazing to have people try your food and love it. Then when they come back for your food every weekend—that feels amazing. That feels so good. Also knowing that we are working directly with farmers, we’re feeding people great food with no preservatives, things that we really feel proud of. It’s affirming.” One day Monika hopes that Saucy by Nature will be available across the country. But until then, she’ll be at the food markets in Brooklyn every weekend, helping New Yorkers discover new flavors.

Texts: “Saucy by Nature” “Dream Job”


Paired Text Questions

Part 1: Use the article “Saucy by Nature” to answer the following questions:

1. By 2011, Monika had been a lawyer for several years, even though that was not her passion. What were her two real

passions?

2. Why did Monika decide to stop being a lawyer and start her Saucy by Nature business? Support your answer with

evidence from the text.

3. Does Monika probably feel like she made the right decision in changing her career path? Use evidence from the text

to support your answer.

Part 2: Use the article “Dream Job” to answer the following questions:

4. How does Smeek feel about medical technology?

5. What is Smeek’s “dream job”? Support your answer with evidence from the text.

6. Why did Smeek decide to talk to Katherine instead of going to his interview with Allied Medical Technologies? Support

your answer with evidence from the text.

Part 3: Use the articles “Saucy by Nature” & “Dream Job” to answer the following questions:

7. Would Monika from “Saucy by Nature” be likely to support Smeek’s decision to skip his interview with Allied Medical

Technologies and talk to Katherine instead? Use evidence from both texts to support and explain your answer.

8. How are Monika and Smeek similar? Use evidence from both texts to support your comparison.

Mission to Mars


Mission to Mars By Sheela Raman

It had taken decades of hard work, but at long last the day arrived. Hundreds of spectators gathered at NASA’s Kennedy Air Force Base to watch the Orion 254 shuttle shoot up into outer space, headed for Mars. Almost everyone in the world had tuned in to watch live footage of the launch on their smartphones or on TV. Onboard the shuttle two astronauts, dressed in puffy white spacesuits, patiently waited for blastoff. Roy and Ciara Thomas were a married couple NASA had specially selected to undertake this risky mission. In just a few minutes, they would begin an adventure that would carry them further away from Earth than anyone else in human history. A voice came over the speakers that hovered above the excited spectators. Suddenly the crowd hushed. “In 1969, human beings walked on the moon for the first time,” said the deep, confident voice, “and now, in July of 2020, we expand our frontier to Mars. Please send your salutations and blessings to our brave astronauts as they embark on this groundbreaking mission. ” Everyone erupted into cheers and whistles, and Ciara and Roy smiled as they heard these expressions of support over their shuttle radio. Family and friends of the astronauts stood at the front of the crowd. Tears streamed down their faces. They were proud of Roy and Ciara, but they did not know when or if they would ever see them again. The voyage would take at least a year to complete, and it involved many risks. Although Earth was now at its closest possible distance to Mars, the famed Red Planet was still 34 million miles away. The moon, which is 240,000 miles away from Earth, seemed a walk around the block by comparison. “Ten,” counted the deep voice, “nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one!” And with that, colossal fuel jets attached to the shuttle shot white‐hot streaks of fire into the ground, and the shuttle and tanks immediately shot upward into the sky. In order to generate enough force to propel the shuttle from the earth’s surface all the way into outer space, the shuttle’s

Mission to Mars


fuel tanks had to send an enormous amount of opposite pressure against the ground. That’s why NASA scientists designed the jets to be so big and powerful. The jets created a great show of fire and smoke when they released. Within minutes, Roy and Ciara passed through the top layers of the earth’s atmosphere. The fuel jets, which were no longer necessary, broke away from the shuttle and drifted off into the vastness of outer space. Roy and Ciara began to float inside the shuttle because Earth’s gravitational pull no longer weighed them down. Oxygen tanks fed air into their surroundings so that they could breathe. Roy and Ciara took their first deep breaths in space and gazed out the window. A brilliant blue sphere rose before them amid the blackness like a giant, shimmering jewel. That was Planet Earth, home to their fellow men and women, and they were now hurtling away from it at 75,000 miles per hour. “Ground control to Roy and Ciara,” said a happy voice on the radio from Mission Control. “Roy Thomas to Mission Control,” replied Roy. “That was a textbook takeoff,” the officer said. “Congratulations!” “Thanks,” said Roy. “We’ll keep you posted as we move along.” NASA chose Roy and Ciara for the Mars mission not only because they were both very intelligent and physically fit, but also because they were happily married. Over such a long trip, NASA felt it was better to send people who would not easily get into fights. If anything went wrong on board the spacecraft, Roy and Ciara would have to work as a tight team to fix the problem. For an entire year they would have to survive without a single freshly cooked meal—all their food was stored on the craft in vacuum‐sealed packs and tubes. A finite cargo of oxygen tanks contained their air supply. If at any point the mission stalled for too long, they ran the risk of running out of air to breathe. To maintain a good attitude amidst these challenges, the two astronauts really had to enjoy each other’s company. The risks of the Mars voyage did not seem to faze either Roy or Ciara. They were excited about the contribution they would make to human understanding of the universe. Roy was tall and broad‐shouldered, and had been an Air Force captain before joining the team at NASA. Ciara was a petite, fine‐boned woman, who worked as an astrophysicist for most of her career before volunteering to train as an astronaut.

Mission to Mars


For one whole quiet year the couple sailed across space. Every now and then Roy grew claustrophobic inside the small craft, but when this happened he exercised on the special fitness machines, or donned his spacesuit and opened the door of the craft, climbing on top of its surface to check that all parts were running smoothly. Ciara wrote in a journal about the beautiful sights she saw out the window—distant galaxies and stars, a giant asteroid not so far away. By the time Orion 254 finally approached the arid, rust‐colored surface of Mars, people on Earth had almost forgotten about them. But as the craft got closer and closer to the red surface, news channels on Earth started buzzing. “Humans on Mars, at long last! Another giant leap for mankind!” they proclaimed. Roy manned the gears of the craft now, directing it to a flat plain on the surface of Mars, just between two deep craters. He was an expert pilot, and he landed the spacecraft with a gentle thud. “Bravo!” shouted Mission Control. Everyone was clapping in the background. “You’re about to make history!” With great care and attention, the astronauts put their spacesuits back on. On top of these suits they strapped an extra layer to protect against radiation, much like a doctor puts a protective layer over a patient before performing an X‐ray. Unlike Earth, Mars does not have a very thick atmosphere or an ozone layer, so the radiation from the sun is many times stronger there. In a pouch attached to her spacesuit, Ciara carried jars and a small shovel to collect samples of Martian soil. She would be the first person to bring this precious material back to Earth. What would they discover in it? Alien bacteria? Some powerful, indestructible metal? Roy switched on the television monitors outside the spacecraft, so citizens of Earth could watch this historic, first walk on Mars. The two astronauts fixed microphones to the insides of their suits so that they could talk to each other, Mission Control, and the rest of the earthly world. They fastened their spacesuits to cords inside the craft and stepped out into the swirling dust. As he took his first steps, Roy saw a flicker of silver out of the corner of his eye. It seemed to move through the air and settle behind a rock to his right. Forgetting for a moment that he had to move slowly, Roy dashed forward to catch a better glimpse. In that one moment the cord attaching him to the spacecraft suddenly snapped, and he went floating into the air. People watching from Earth gripped their chairs in fear. There was not enough gravity on Mars to hold Roy steadily on the ground. Ciara saw what happened and immediately shouted to him over the intercom. “Throw something out in front of you! As hard as you can!”

Mission to Mars


Roy knew when to listen to his wife. He removed a big hammer from his tool belt and hurled it with all his might directly ahead of him. The force of his throw generated an equal and opposite force that sent Roy hurtling backwards—right back into the spacecraft. He grabbed hold of the doors of the craft to steady himself and then looked at the broken cord. Fortunately they had the materials to fix the tear, and Ciara and Roy worked together quickly to patch it up. Within fifteen minutes they were back out on the surface. Mission Control and most of planet Earth cheered them along. “Mars landing, take two,” said Roy, to Mission Control. “What happened?” asked the commander at Mission Control. “Why did you rush forward like that?” “You’re not going to believe this,” said Roy. “But I swear I saw something silver, moving behind that rock just ahead.” “Are you saying . . . that you might have seen a life form?” asked the commander in a serious, quiet voice. “Could be,” said Roy. “Won’t know for sure until we explore a bit.” “Indeed,” said Ciara. “We’ll have to be very quiet and slow.” Side by side, tools in hand, and Roy and Ciara Thomas ventured forth into the mysterious red landscape.

NJ Physics Professor Has the ‘Right Stuff’


NJ Physics Professor Has the 'Right Stuff' Valorie Sands

In 2005, Dr. Greg Olsen became the third person ever to travel into outer space as a private citizen. Unlike NASA astronauts who earn a generous salary, he bought his own ticket into space. He paid about $20 million for the trip, a ten‐day orbit aboard the Expedition 11 Russian Soyuz rocket, which docked at the International Space Station. He also took responsibility for his own training. The space flight was the achievement of a lifetime for the New Jersey entrepreneur and college physics professor. Olsen's fascination with outer space and astronomy began when he was still a boy. He was born in 1945, years before space travel was close to becoming a reality. In fact, space exploration did not really heat up until the post‐WWII rivalry known as the Cold War between Russia and the U.S. Both countries fought to win the race to space. The Race to Space In 1957, Russia took the lead when it sent Sputnik, the world's first artificial satellite, into space. But by 1962, U.S. President John F. Kennedy made it clear that the nation would not take a backseat to Russia. “We choose to go to the moon in this decade... because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win,” said Kennedy. When asked why he loved space travel, Dr. Olsen talked about his professional crewmates, NASA astronaut Bill McArthur and Russian cosmonaut Valery Tokarev. “For the same reason they love it ‐‐ to be weightless, to see the awesome sight of earth from space,” he said.



Spaceflight Training School Going to space school for the Expedition 11 spaceflight “was also like being a college student again,” said Dr. Olsen. That is, except for some of the training, which involved zero gravity flights and spins around in a centrifuge of up to 8 Gs acceleration (eight times earth’s gravitational pull). However, most of Dr. Olsen's training was spent in classrooms and in flight simulators. He was expected to know his way around the Soyuz vehicle, the space station, and to help with day‐to‐day routines. Yet neither NASA nor the Russians assigned him to heavy‐duty responsibilities during the space flight. According to Olsen, the most physically challenging part of the training was the water‐landing exercise to practice 'splash down.' This is a demanding and dangerous method of landing a spacecraft by parachute into a body of water. To prepare for the grueling task, Olsen and his crewmates wore wet suits and other protective survival gear. During just two hours of practice, he sweated off more than three pounds from his 170 pound frame. Learning Russian Despite demanding tests of endurance, Olsen described the physical training as the easiest part of preparation for the experience. He said that for him the hardest part “was trying to learn Russian. I love Russians and the Russian culture… but I’ve never been good at languages since I was a young person.” Dr. Olsen learned Russian well enough to succeed in bonding well with his Soviet crewmate and training personnel. “I’m just in awe of them,” he said. “When I watched them operate the Soyuz spacecraft and the simulators, they seemed to know every nut and bolt on the vehicle. I just tried to soak up the knowledge.” Overcoming fear was no problem for Dr. Olsen. He was “very, very confident” about space travel aboard the Russian Soyuz vehicle. “It has a great safety record, and I have no qualms about doing this whatsoever.” The main goal of the Soyuz mission was to switch crews, and to replace emergency capsules that must always be attached to the space station in case of an emergency escape. A Smooth Launch Olsen’s launch from the Cosmodrome, a space launch facility in Kazakhstan, went smoothly. He reported that one of the most unforgettable highlights of his ten‐day trip was the lift‐off experience during takeoff. He was also awed by the sight of the earth passing by in the rocket's window and the memorable feeling of floating around the space station.



Radio Broadcast from Space A licensed ham radio operator, Dr. Olsen spoke to New Jersey students from space via a ham radio. In the first of three broadcasts from the International Space Station (ISS) Olsen said, “Welcome to space. It's really nice here. It's nice and roomy." "In some ways it's like camping out, because we have no running water, no sinks, and we kind of have to fend for ourselves for food," said Dr. Olsen. He reported that the professional astronauts had made him feel welcome aboard the space station. Olsen expressed appreciation to many of his teachers, colleagues, and family in his space broadcast. He thanked his professors at Fairleigh Dickenson University in Teaneck, New Jersey, where he earned a Master’s Degree in Physics. He also thanked engineering students and former classmates at the University of Virginia, the school where he earned his doctorate. It was with their support that he was able to first build a spectrometer that became the basis for his New Jersey Company, Sensors Unlimited. Spectrometers are sophisticated space age tools that use light to help astronomers and astronauts collect information. Using a spectrometer, astronauts can calculate the temperature of an object in space, learn which direction it’s moving, calculate its speed and weight, and find out what it is made of. Scientific Studies from Space Olsen had planned to take an infrared spectrometer built by his Princeton, New Jersey firm with him on his space trip. However, it failed to pass through U.S. Export Customs, so the project had to be shelved. Instead, he conducted three medical experiments designed to study the human body's reaction to the absence of gravity. He also conducted studies on bacteria growth in zero gravity, and on how spaceflight affects the lower back and inner ear. He contributed his scientific findings to the European Space Agency. The Journey Home During Olsen's return trip to earth, there were pressurization problems aboard the Soyuz TMA‐6 spacecraft carrying him and his crew home. Overcoming the difficulties at undocking and during the descent tested the astronauts' skill, emotional strength and mental capability. In fact, at a press conference, a Russian News Agency announced that it had been a fairly serious situation. Fortunately, disaster was avoided because the Expedition 11’s astronauts all kept their cool and monitored the glitch very closely during re‐entry. All three space travelers wore Russian‐built Sokol spacesuits, a standard precaution, for an extra layer of protection, according to Olsen.



“At no time was there panic or alarm, or anything of that sort,” said Olsen about the pressurization problems during re‐entry. He added that at one point during the descent, he needed to add more oxygen into the Soyuz cabin. “We had practiced this many times during simulation practice, and I thought everyone handled it like pros.” Ten days after liftoff, the Soyuz crew landed safely back on earth, in a desert in Kazakhstan.


Paired Text Questions

Part 1: Use the article “NJ Physics Professor has the 'Right Stuff'” to answer the following questions:

1. What was the main goal of the Soyuz mission that Dr. Olsen went on?

2. What went wrong on Dr. Olsen’s return trip to earth?

Part 2: Use the article “Mission to Mars” to answer the following questions:

3. What is the goal of Roy and Ciara's mission?

4. What goes wrong on Roy and Ciara's trip to Mars?

Part 3: Use the articles “NJ Physics Professor has the 'Right Stuff'” & “Mission to Mars” to answer the following

questions:

5. A) Compare Roy and Ciara’s mission with the Soyuz crew’s mission.

B) Contrast Roy and Ciara’s mission with the Soyuz crew’s mission.

6. Who are more successful in achieving the goal of their mission, Roy and Ciara or Dr. Olsen and the Soyuz crew?

Support your answer with evidence from both texts.

Graphic Organizer for Self-Selected Fictional Reading Character Identity

Title of Book:_________________________ Author:______________________________

Character Name:

Who are they?

Describe the character’s interactions or relationships with other characters:

Describe the character’s culture or family background:

How do others perceive this character? What does the character say that defines

who they are?:

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