Worksheet

Read with a Purpose: The Paper Bridge Test

Practice setting a purpose for reading, then read a grade 5 how-to text about testing paper bridges and answer questions to show understanding.

Grade 5ELAInteractive · Printable

Aligned toRF.5.4.a

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What’s included

Single worksheet
Auto-graded online
1 Common Core standard
Printable answer key
11 questions
Classroom-ready

Details

Format: Interactive · Printable
Grade: Grade 5
Subject: ELA
Question types: Fill in the blank, Multiple choice, Matching, Circle the answer, Sorting, Short answer

About this worksheet

What students practice

Students match a reading purpose to the kind of text they are reading.
Students read a grade-level how-to text with understanding.
Students use details from the steps to answer questions.

How to use

Do the first section together to talk about why we read. Then let students read the text silently and answer the rest on their own.

Curriculum

Common Core standard covered

RF.5.4.a

Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding.

Preview

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Name Date

Read with a Purpose: The Paper Bridge Test

Set a purpose, read the steps, and check your understanding.

Set a purpose

Good readers know why they are reading. Their purpose helps them choose how to read.

Match each reading situation to its best purpose.

Reading the directions for a science experiment
Reading a bus schedule to see when the next bus comes
Reading an adventure story on a rainy afternoon
Reading a science chapter to get ready for a test

A. to enjoy a story
B. to study and remember information
C. to follow the steps and make something
D. to find one fact quickly

You are about to read a text called "How to Build a Paper Bridge." Which purpose fits best?

A. to learn the steps for building and testing a bridge
B. to enjoy an exciting story about a bridge builder
C. to find out the date when a famous bridge opened
D. to study the names of the parts of a real bridge

Read the text

Read slowly. The steps must be done in order.

How to Build a Paper Bridge

1Bridges carry people and cars over rivers, roads, and deep valleys. Engineers must be sure that a bridge is strong enough to hold heavy loads. In this activity, you will test two paper bridges to find out whether the shape of a material can change how strong it is. Read each step carefully, because the steps must be done in order.

2Materials: You will need two stacks of books that are exactly the same height, two sheets of paper, a small paper cup, and a handful of coins. Keep the stacks the same height so that each paper bridge lies level.

3Step 1: Set the two stacks of books on a table. Leave a gap between them that is a little shorter than a sheet of paper is long. Lay one flat sheet of paper across the gap so that each end rests on a stack.

4Step 2: Place the paper cup in the middle of the flat sheet. Add coins to the cup one at a time. Stop when the paper sags, or bends down in the middle, so far that the cup tips over. Count the coins that were in the cup, and write that number down.

5Step 3: Take the second sheet and fold it back and forth in narrow accordion folds, about as wide as your finger, with the folds running the long way down the sheet. Lay the folded sheet across the same gap. Use the same gap and the same cup each time, so that the test stays fair.

6Step 4: Place the cup in the middle of the folded sheet and add coins one at a time, just as you did before. Stop when the cup tips over. Count the coins and write that number down.

7Step 5: Compare your two numbers. Most of the time, the folded sheet holds many more coins than the flat sheet.

8Why does folding help? A flat sheet bends easily in the middle because nothing holds it up. The folds make a row of ridges. Each ridge helps hold up the ridges beside it and spreads the weight of the cup across the whole sheet. Builders use the same idea when they bend metal into ridged roof panels. They also test their ideas carefully before they build, just as you did with your coins.

Show what you understood

Go back to the text to check your answers.

According to paragraph 2, why should the two stacks of books be the same height?

A. So that the gap is as wide as the cup
B. So that the coins weigh the same amount
C. So that each paper bridge lies level
D. So that the paper is easier to fold

Use paragraph 2. How many sheets of paper does the activity use? Write the number or the word.

The activity uses sheets of paper.

You have counted the coins for the flat sheet and written the number down. What do you do next?

A. Compare the two numbers you wrote down.
B. Add coins to the cup on the folded sheet.
C. Move the stacks of books farther apart.
D. Fold the second sheet in narrow folds.

In Step 2, the paper "sags." What does sags mean?

A. slides to one side
B. bends down in the middle
C. rips into two pieces
D. lifts up at the ends

Use Step 3. Write the word that describes how the second sheet is folded.

The second sheet is folded in narrow folds.

Read paragraph 8 again. Underline the sentence that tells how each ridge helps the folded sheet.

Why does folding help?A flat sheet bends easily in the middle because nothing holds it up.The folds make a row of ridges.Each ridge helps hold up the ridges beside it and spreads the weight of the cup across the whole sheet.Builders use the same idea when they bend metal into ridged roof panels.

Sort each description by the kind of sheet it matches.

is tested first, in Step 2has a row of ridgesbends easily in the middleusually holds many more coins