Worksheets and No Prep Teaching Resources
Worksheets and No Prep Teaching Resources
Reading Comprehension Worksheets
The 1900's
When Man Took Flight

The 1900's
The 1900's


When Man Took Flight
Print When Man Took Flight Reading Comprehension with Fifth Grade Work

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Print When Man Took Flight Reading Comprehension

Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 5 to 7
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   5.44

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    wingtip, horsepower, historic, propellers, reality, military, article, flights, writing, series, meantime, reporter, refused, design, hoax, public
     content words:    New York Times, Wilbur Wright, North Carolina, Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hill, Wright Glider, New York, Wright Flyer, Alberto Santos-Dumont, Glenn Curtiss


When Man Took Flight
By Jane Runyon
  

1     In 1903, a reporter for The New York Times wrote an article. He had heard stories about some inventors. These inventors wanted to invent a machine that could fly. After researching his article, the reporter came up with one conclusion. He decided that man would be able to make a plane that was lighter than air in one to ten million years. Nothing he had seen could convince him that man would ever fly like the birds. Little did that reporter know that even while he was writing his article, the idea of flight was coming closer to becoming a reality.
 
2     Wilbur Wright and his brother had been experimenting since 1899 with flying machines. Their first plane was a glider. It was powered by the wind. This first glider cost only $15 to construct. It measured sixteen feet from wingtip to wingtip. The Wright brothers owned a bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio. They used their knowledge of machines to build a glider that could be steered in the wind. A means of steering would enable the flyers to control where they went. They ran a wire from the tip of each wing. This wire led to steering sticks at the center of the glider. Moving these sticks let the pilot turn left or right.
 
3     The success they found in constructing a glider led the two men to another level. They decided that they could attach a small engine to their glider and stay in the air for longer periods of time. In 1900, they moved their experiment to North Carolina. They had a friend who studied weather. He convinced the brothers that the wind at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, would be perfect for their tests. A sand dune named Kill Devil Hill would also keep them hidden from the curious eyes of the public. For two years, Wilbur and Orville tested their gliders. With each test they learned more. They revised the construction of their glider and built new ones when necessary. Their last glider was called the Wright Glider of 1902. It made over one thousand flights.

Paragraphs 4 to 9:
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The 1900's
             The 1900's


United States
             United States


    American Government  
 
    Black History and Blacks in U.S. History  
 
    Children in History  
 
    Government Careers  
 
    Hispanic Heritage  
 
    How Can I Help?  
 
 
    Immigration  
 
    National Parks and Monuments  
 
    Native Americans  
 
    Presidents of the United States  
 
    Women's History  
 


United States History
    A Nation Divided
(1840-1861)
 
 
    A New Nation
(1776-1830)
 
 
    After the Civil War
(1865-1870)
 
 
    American Revolution  
 
    Cold War
(1947-1991)
 
 
    Colonial America (1492-1776)  
 
    Lewis and Clark
(1804-1806)
 
 
    Pearl Harbor  
 
    Spanish American War (1898)  
 
    The 1890's  
 
    The 1900's  
 
    The 1910's  
 
    The 1920's  
 
    The 1930's  
 
 
    The 1940's  
 
    The 1950's  
 
    The 1960's  
 
    The 1970's  
 
    The 1980's  
 
    The 1990's  
 
    The 2000's  
 
    The Civil War
(1861-1865)
 
 
    The Great Depression
(1929-1945)
 
 
    The United States Grows
(1865-1900)
 
 
    The War of 1812  
 
    Wild, Wild West  
 
    World War I
(1914-1918)
 
 
    World War II  
 


50 States

             Fifty States Theme Unit


Document Based Activities
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