Download - To the Student Comprehension Skills...Wooden coasters are not as fast as steel roller coasters. Wooden roller coasters are nonlooping. Wooden coasters aren’t as tall or as long.

Contents

UN

UNIT

To the Student ............................................................................................5

Comprehension Skills

Recognizing the Main Idea ............................................................7

Recalling Details ...........................................................................8

Determining the Sequence of Events ................................................9

Identifying Cause-and-Effect Relationships ......................................10

Comparing and Contrasting .........................................................11

Making Inferences and Drawing Conclusions .................................12

Telling Fact from Opinion ............................................................13

Predicting...................................................................................14

Lesson 1: The Art of Animating ..................................................16Focus on a Skill: Determining the Sequence of Events

Lesson 2: Voice Actors at Work ................................................23Focus on a Skill: Recognizing the Main Idea

Lesson 3: The Magic of Movie Sound Effects ..............................30Focus on a Skill: Identifying Cause-and-Effect Relationships

Lesson 4: The Man Behind the Mouse ........................................37Focus on a Skill: Recalling Details

Lesson 5: The Basics of Bar Codes..............................................45Focus on a Skill: Determining the Sequence of Events

Lesson 6: A Major Math Mistake ................................................52Focus on a Skill: Identifying Cause-and-Effect Relationships

Lesson 7: Keeping Foods Delicious and Safe ..............................59Focus on a Skill: Recalling Details

Lesson 8: The Ride of Your Life ..................................................66Focus on a Skill: Recognizing the Main Idea

The World of Animation

Real-Life Math

FM 8(H) 6/18/07 8:33 AM Page 3

UN

Lesson 9: The Science of Weather Forecasting ............................74Focus on a Skill: Making Inferences and DrawingConclusions

Lesson 10: The Ultimate Movie Experience ....................................81Focus on a Skill: Comparing and Contrasting

Lesson 11: Testing the Waters......................................................88Focus on a Skill: Predicting

Lesson 12: Entertainment at Your Fingertips ..................................95Focus on a Skill: Telling Fact from Opinion

Changing Technology

Lesson 13: The Father of Television ............................................103Focus on a Skill: Predicting

Lesson 14: Making Ice Cream More Meaningful ..........................110Focus on a Skill: Making Inferences and DrawingConclusions

Lesson 15: Wiggling His Way to the Top ....................................117Focus on a Skill: Telling Fact from Opinion

Lesson 16: The Queen of Quick Food ........................................124Focus on a Skill: Comparing and Contrasting

Innovators Past and Present

Glossary ............................................................................131

My Glossary ......................................................................135

FM 8(H) 6/18/07 8:33 AM Page 4

8 The Ride of Your Life Lesson

66 Journey into Reading © The Continental Press, Inc. Do not duplicate.

The fastest steel roller coaster, the Kingda Ka,reaches a speed of 128 miles per hour. It is 456 feethigh and has a drop of 418 feet. How do designerscreate roller coasters that deliver maximum thrillswith a minimal risk? It’s simple. They do the math.

Recognizing the Main Idea

Authors of nonfiction texts frequently organize their texts bymain ideas and details. They state a general idea and thensupport it with more specific information. Main ideas are oftenstated at the beginning or end of a paragraph. When they areunstated, you will need to think about what the details have incommon to determine the main idea.

Read the paragraph below. The graphic shows the unstated mainidea and the details that support it.

Wooden roller coasters are not as fast as steelroller coasters. They are generally nonlooping, andthey are neither as tall nor as long as steel rollercoasters. They do offer one thrill that steel rollercoasters do not—a swaying frame.

To find the main idea of the whole article, you should identifythe individual main ideas and think about what these ideas havein common.

Wooden coasters are not as fast as steel roller coasters.

Wooden roller coasters are nonlooping.

Wooden coasters aren’t as tall or as long.

There are many differences between wooden roller coasters

and steel roller coasters.

Wooden roller coasters have swaying frames.

U2 8(H) 6/18/07 8:56 AM Page 66

VOCABULARY

© The Continental Press, Inc. Do not duplicate. Journey into Reading 67

You are about to read an article about roller coasters and the peoplewho design them. Below is a word web about roller coasters. Look atthe words in the web and notice how they relate to one another .

Read each of these definitions. Write the best word for the definition in the blankspace. Use the underlined words from the web above.

______________________ n. the amount of money that can be spent

______________________ n. problem solving involving numbers or quantities

______________________ n. a group of related businesses

______________________ n. detailed requirements

______________________ adj. dependable in achievement

______________________ n. the maximum amount that can be contained

______________________ v. modeled

must meet strict safetyspecifications

capacitydetermines how many

people can enjoy the ride at one time

roller coasters aresimulated on a computer

to make sure they are reliable

theamusement industry

always seeks new ways to thrill its customers

budget determines howelaborate coasters can be

carefulcalculations determine

how fast and steep rollercoasters can be

U2 8(H) 6/18/07 8:56 AM Page 67


TIME TO READ

The Arithmetic of Roller CoastersWith their hairpin turns, breakneck speeds, and thrilling

peaks and drops, roller coasters seem to put their riders inreal danger. However, riding a roller coaster is safer thancrossing the street. Roller coaster designers use precisecalculations and the laws of physics to create rides that areboth heart-stopping and safe.

From Rider to DesignerAs a child, Kent Seko loved riding roller coasters.

However, he never dreamed he would one day beresponsible for designing some of the highest, fastest, andmost intricate roller coasters in the world. Seko originallyplanned to be an architect, but a friend convinced him toapply for a job with one of the amusement industry’ sleading roller coaster design firms. Seko accepted a

position in the drafting department. From there, he workedhis way up to the position of designer.

Thrilling ArithmeticThe safety and design of a roller coaster depend heavily

on mathematics. Seko explains, “My job requires me to usemath every day. Designing the highest roller coasters, bestloops, and fastest drops requires lots of precise calculations.”

One of the first determinations a roller coaster designerhas to make is the speed and height of the coaster . Todecide how fast the ride will go, the designer mustcalculate the height of the roller coaster. The amount ofenergy a coaster has to complete its journey around thetrack depends on the height of the hill at the beginning.The higher the hill and the steeper the slope, the moreenergy the roller coaster has.

Designers also must consider the capacity of theroller coaster. The park owners see this as how manypeople can ride the coaster at one time. A designersees this as a question of how many cars to build andhow much weight to account for.

intricate

adj. having many entangled

or interrelated parts

Kent Seko helped designthe Pepsi Max Big One

roller coaster in England.

U2 8(H) 6/18/07 8:56 AM Page 68

TIME TO READ

Gravity is the third major design element that rollercoaster designers must consider. The thrill riders experienceon a steep drop is the result of a force called a G-force. At aspeed of 50 miles per hour, riders will experience a G-forceof four. This means the force is four times the force of gravity .

From Design to RealityThe goal of any coaster designer is to combine these

elements into the most exciting ride possible. However, theride must also be safe and meet client specifications, suchas budget. Designers then have to consider the surroundinglandscape of the ride, whether or not there will be a theme,and how long or short the ride will be.

Once the design is approved, the engineering departmenttakes over. The engineering designers build the track, thestructure, the stations, and the controls. Then the designs getsent to the manufacturing department, which builds themachines.

Roller coasters are simulated and tested on a computerbefore they are built. This makes the designs safer and morereliable. Then the built coasters are tested repeatedly beforethe public is allowed to ride them. Once the rides are open,routine safety check-ups are performed. Amusement parkswill shut down rides that aren’t working properly until theycan be repaired. Still not sure that roller coasters are safe?Actually they are safer than riding in a car . Roller coastersare controlled by computers, which removes the possibilityof human error.

A Career in Roller CoastersAlthough there are no special schools for roller coaster

designers, Kent Seko suggests majoring in engineering incollege. The bonuses are worth the hard work—Sekofrequently gets to bypass theme park admission and longlines and ride his roller coasters for free.


The Kingda Ka at Six Flags in New Jersey is currently the tallest and fastest steel roller

coaster in the world.

Do you think you havewhat it takes to designa roller coaster? Visitwww.learner.org/exhibits/parkphysics/coaster to show yourskills.

U2 8(H) 6/18/07 8:56 AM 9

Remember that identifying the main ideas and the details that supportthem can help you better understand the information in the text. Foreach section of an article, write the main idea. Then use the individualmain ideas to write one overall main idea. The main idea map belowshows how the individual details in the section “Thrilling Arithmetic”can help you determine the main idea of that section.

Complete the map below with the main idea of each section and then determinean overall main idea for the article.


STRATEGY: Main Idea Map

Main Idea of SectionArithmetic is necessary to designroller coasters.

Designers mustcalculate theheight of the rollercoaster.

Designers mustconsider thecapacity of theroller coaster.

Designers mustcalculate theamount of forcethey need.

Overall Main Idea

From Rider to Designer

A Career in Roller Coasters

Thrilling Arithmetic

Arithmetic isnecessary todesign rollercoasters.

From Designto Reality

U2 8(H) 6/18/07 8:56 AM 0

Writing a Response

Recalling Details

Using Context Clues

Determining the Sequence

of Events

Identifying Cause-and-Effect

Relationships

Think about what you learned from the article about designing rollercoasters. Then circle the letter of the correct answer.

1. What is one thing that determines how fast the ride will go? A the theme of the rideB the gravity of the rideC the budget of the rideD the height of the ride

2. In paragraph 2, the word drafting means ________.A selecting for military serviceB drawing the preliminary planC staying close behindD drawing away water

3. What happens right before a roller coaster is opened to the public?A The ride is simulated.B The ride is landscaped.C The ride is tested repeatedly for safety.D The ride is expanded to hold more people.

4. What is the effect of a higher hill and a steeper slope?A an unsafe rideB a bumpy rideC a faster rideD a slower ride

5. You can decide from the article that Kent Seko is probably ________.A good at mathB afraid of his own ridesC skilled at manufacturing ridesD more concerned with a ride’s appearance than with its safety

6. Do you enjoy riding roller coasters? Why or why not? Support yourresponse with details from the article.

COMPREHENSION


Making Inferences and DrawingConclusions

U2 8(H) 6/18/07 8:56 AM Page 71


WORD STUDY: Antonyms

Read each sentence below. Write an antonym for the underlined word. You mayuse a dictionary or thesaurus to help you.

1. The scientist made precise calculations. __________________

2. The roller coaster had a steep drop. __________________

3. The roller coasters are tested to make sure they are reliable . __________________

4. The designer accepted a job with an amusement park design company.

__________________

5. The roller coaster will complete its trip around the track in less than one minute.

__________________

6. Gravity is a major design element designers must consider. __________________

7. Are children allowed to ride the roller coaster? __________________

8. The new roller coaster is fast and exciting . __________________

Now rewrite these sentences from the article, replacing the underlined words withantonyms. Do the sentences still describe a roller coaster you’d like to ride?

1. Roller coaster designers use precise calculations and the laws of physics to createrides that are both heart-stopping and safe.

___________________________________________________________________________

2. With their hairpin turns, breakneck speeds, and thrilling peaks and drops, rollercoasters seem to put their riders in real danger.

___________________________________________________________________________

3. This makes the designs safer and more reliable.

___________________________________________________________________________

Antonyms are words that have opposite meanings. Thrilling andboring are antonyms.

U2 8(H) 6/18/07 8:56 AM Page 72