Storytown Grade 6 Lesson 27

CONTENTS
Draw and Evaluate Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .690
Draw conclusions about a text and evaluate the evidence
for the author’s conclusions.
Vocabulary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .692
Read, write, and learn the meanings of new words.
“The Incredible Quest to Find
the Titanic” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .694
by Brad Matsen
• Learn the characteristics of expository nonfiction.
• Summarize during and after reading.
“High-Tech Treasure Hunt”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .712
by Kelly Bourne
Read about the Global Positioning System and geocaching.
Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .716
• Compare texts.
• Review vocabulary.
• Reread for fluency.
• Write a persuasive composition.
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Genr e: Ex
po
y No
r
o
t
i
s
n f ic t ion
Genr e: M a g a zine A r t icle
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Draw and Evaluate
Conclusions
You have learned that when you read, you can draw
conclusions to figure out what the author has not told you
directly. Conclusions may be based on different kinds of
evidence:
• facts or information in the text
• your prior knowledge about the topic
• your own experiences
Authors base their conclusions on the same kinds of
evidence. To evaluate an author’s conclusions, determine
whether the facts or information in the text support the
conclusion. Then think about anything you know or have
experienced that might support the author’s conclusion.
Evidence
Evidence
Conclusion
Evidence may be stated directly
in the text, or it can be implied by other
information that the author includes.
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Read the following letter. Think about the writer’s
conclusion at the end of the letter. The graphic organizer below
shows how text information and your own knowledge can be
used to evaluate the writer’s conclusion.
Dear Aunt Mary,
Tomorrow, the Titanic departs for New
York City. The ship is truly a wonder. The
White Star Line shipping company built it.
The brochure says that the ship is practically
unsinkable! Even if four of its watertight
compartments flood, it will stay
afloat. Everyone should feel safe
knowing that the ship cannot sink!
Evidence
The brochure called the Titanic
“practically” unsinkable.
Evidence
I already know that the Titanic sank
on its first voyage.
Conclusion
The writer concluded that the Titanic would stay afloat.
The conclusion was invalid because the ship sank.
Try This
Reread the letter above. What conclusions could you draw
about the writer? What evidence supports your conclusions?
www.harcourtschool.com/storytown
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Build Robust Vocabulary
Dive Guide
lavish
dreaded
ascent
doomed
murky
remains
Welcome to Sunset Island! During your
stay at one of our lavish hotels, you may be
tempted to explore the coral reef. Here are
some tips for scuba divers and snorkelers.
Put Safety First Always listen to your
instructor’s directions. The most dreaded sight
for a diver is a shark. If you see one, do not
panic. Wait until the shark swims away. Then
calmly make your ascent to the surface.
Many divers enjoy photographing the
beautiful coral formations.
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Explore a Shipwreck
With a scuba guide,
divers can visit a Spanish
shipwreck. An underwater
exhibit tells them how the
ship was doomed when it
hit a reef more than 200
years ago.
Photograph the Reef The
water is rarely murky in the
waters around Sunset Island. The
coral reefs on the island’s west side
are a photographer’s dream. Butterfly
fish, clown fish, and living coral provide an
impressive display of color. Divers can get
spectacular close-up shots that will amaze
their friends!
Local legend says that
gold is still buried
deep within the ship’s
remains.
www.harcourtschool.com/storytown
Word Detective
Your mission this week is to look for the
Vocabulary Words outside of your classroom.
You might hear the words on television or
read them in a magazine or newspaper. When you see or
hear a Vocabulary Word, write in your vocabulary journal
how it was used. Be sure to tell where you found the word.
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Exposi t o r y Non f ic t ion
Genre Study
Expositor y nonfiction tells
about real people, things,
places, or events. As you read,
look for
• information about a historical
event and the people involved.
• details that support main
ideas.
Detail
Detail
Detail
Graphic
Organizer
Box
Mainspace
Idea
Comprehension
Strategy
NCREDIBLE
I
E
TH
Summarize the main ideas and
the most important details in
one or two sentences.
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THE SINKING OF TITANIC IN 1912 WAS SURROUNDED
BY MANY MYSTERIES, UNTIL SEVENTY-THREE YEARS
LATER WHEN A GROUP OF RESEARCHERS FIRST
LOCATED THE SHIP’S WRECKAGE.
LIKE?
WHAT WAS TITANIC
WHAT DID THE RESEARCHERS DISCOVER ABOUT
THE BIGGEST SHIP OF ITS TIME?
QUEST TO FIND
THE
BY
BRAD
M AT
SEN
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Luxury Liner
Titanic was huge, but it was also the most modern, comfortable ship ever.
It could carry 3,533 passengers and crew. (Titanic was not full when it
sailed on its first voyage.) The passengers traveled in three classes. First
class had grand dining rooms, luxurious cabins, and a swimming pool.
The ship was as splendid and comfortable as an elegant hotel. Titanic
had three elevators to take passengers between decks. It also had a grand
staircase. Its first-class cabins and passageways had thick carpets. Titanic
even carried an orchestra.
On its first voyage, many rich and famous people traveled in first-class
cabins aboard Titanic. Most of the upper decks of the ship were reserved
for first-class passengers only. Second-class passengers had lavish but
smaller rooms. Third-class passengers paid the least for their tickets. Their
cabins and dining rooms were smaller, and they had less space on deck for
walking around. But they were still aboard the greatest ship ever built.
PASSENGERS STROLL ALONG THE
UPPER DECK OF TITANIC.
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Titanic Sails for New York
April 10, 1912, was a gusty spring day in Southampton, England. Titanic
was ready to sail. Thousands of people lined the waterfront. At noon,
Captain Edward Smith gave the order to cast off the lines that held the ship
to the dock.
Titanic’s gangway doors closed and its mighty engines came to life. Tiny
tugboats guided the huge black-and-white ship into the Itchen River. Horns
blew. The crowds cheered. The greatest ocean liner of its time set sail on its
first voyage.
Disaster almost struck before Titanic even left the river. It sailed slowly
past another ocean liner named New York, which was tied to the dock.
The pull of Titanic’s propellers in the water sucked the New York from
the dock. The New York’s mooring lines broke! The tugboats saved the two
ships from a collision.
It was a strange coincidence that Titanic almost hit the New York.
Titanic was going to New York City on its voyage! First, though, it stopped
in Cherbourg, France, to pick up more passengers. Then it stopped in
Queenstown, Ireland, to pick up its final passengers. Finally, Titanic
headed toward the Atlantic Ocean and its destiny.
On the first day, Captain Smith did not run Titanic at full speed. On the
second day, though, the weather was good. Everything on the great ship was
working perfectly. Smith increased Titanic’s speed.
THE MIGHTY TITANIC SAILED
AMONG A FIELD OF ICEBERGS.
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The Iceberg’s Journey
Icebergs are huge chunks of ice and rock. They float like ice cubes in a
glass of water. Some icebergs are as large as ships. Others are larger than
the state of Delaware. Only 10 percent of an iceberg sticks up above the
water. The rest of it is hidden beneath the water’s surface.
Icebergs break off from enormous, slow-moving rivers of ice called
glaciers. A glacier is made of snow that hardens into solid ice. The force
of gravity pulls the ice downward from higher land. Glaciers flow from
mountains to the sea, where pieces break off to form icebergs. The icebergs
are driven by wind and water currents out into the open sea.
About two years before Titanic sailed for New York, an iceberg
broke off a glacier in Greenland. Greenland is a big island that is almost
completely covered with ice. It is on the northwest edge of the Atlantic
Ocean.
The iceberg fell off the front of the glacier with a loud crack. The whole
iceberg may have been 1,000 feet (300 meters) high. The part of the iceberg
that was out of the water was probably about 100 feet (30 meters) high. The
whole thing weighed over 300,000 tons. By the night of April 14, the iceberg
was right in the path of Titanic.
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Titanic Hits the Iceberg
At 11:40 P.M. on April 14, Titanic’s passengers were finished with dinner.
It was cold outside, so only a few were strolling on deck. Many had already
gone to their cabins to sleep. Everyone felt very safe. The newspapers had
proclaimed Titanic to be unsinkable, and everyone believed them. The
great ship steamed through the darkness with starlit skies overhead. It was
going 25 miles (40 kilometers) per hour.
The officers in charge of Titanic that night had been warned about
icebergs by other ships. Captain Smith posted two lookouts near the front
of the ship. The lookouts were Fred Fleet and Reginald Lee, who had come
on duty at 10:00 P.M. They peered into the darkness and looked for signs of
icebergs.
The officers and crew on duty steered Titanic and communicated with
the engine room from a part of the ship called the bridge. Captain Smith
was in his cabin taking a short rest. First Officer William Murdoch was in
charge of the ship. He was responsible for telling the sailor at the wheel
what course to steer.
Suddenly Fred Fleet cried out, “Iceberg ahead! Iceberg ahead!” He rang
the warning bell three times. Then he picked up the telephone to warn the
bridge. “Iceberg, right ahead,” he said to Officer Murdoch.
“Hard to starboard!” called Murdoch. The sailor threw the wheel to the
right. “Stop. Full speed astern!” Murdoch cried out. Another sailor sent that
order down to the engine room.
Titanic continued to speed toward the iceberg. Then gradually the ship
began to turn to port. It shuddered a little as the engines went into reverse.
For a moment it looked like Titanic would miss the iceberg.
Then disaster struck. The huge submerged portion of the iceberg
collided with Titanic’s underwater steel plates. The iceberg slid along the
starboard side of the ship. It made a dull sound as it scraped past. Ice fell
onto Titanic’s forward deck. The iceberg passed behind the ship and into
the night.
Then there was silence.
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CAPTAIN SMITH KNEW THAT THE
TITANIC WOULD NOT STAY AFLOAT
MUCH LONGER. HE ORDERED THAT
PASSENGERS BOARD THE
LIFEBOATS IMMEDIATELY.
Titanic Is Doomed
Captain Smith rushed to the bridge and asked what had happened.
Murdoch told him they had just hit an iceberg. Smith ordered another of
his officers to find out if the iceberg had damaged the ship.
Titanic was divided into sixteen separate compartments. They were
joined by doors that could be closed to seal off damaged compartments.
If part of the ship had a hole in it, the other sections would stay dry if the
watertight doors were closed. Titanic would then stay afloat.
The news was bad. All four of Titanic’s forward compartments were
flooding with water. Captain Smith talked to the ship’s chief engineer,
Joseph Bell. It was determined that the ship could stay afloat for only
one or two hours. The passengers must be put into lifeboats immediately.
Titanic was doomed.
Captain Smith knew one more bit of very bad news. There were only
enough lifeboats for less than half the people aboard.
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THE WRECK OF THE TITANIC LAY 400
MILES SOUTHEAST OF NEWFOUNDLAND
AND 1,300 MILES EAST OF NEW YORK.
CANADA
Titanic Goes to Its Grave
UNITED STATES
●
TITANIC
WRECK
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
PACIFIC
OCEAN
Captain Smith ordered the radio operator to
send the distress signal CQD. That was the
code for a ship in danger of sinking. (Today
SOS is used instead.) If ships nearby heard
that code on their radios they must hurry
to help the doomed ship. CQD was the most
dreaded code a sailor could send or hear.
The radio operator sent out CQD. Titanic
was sinking.
Then Captain Smith gave the order for women and children to get in
the lifeboats first. During the first hour after he gave the order, many
passengers thought there was no real danger. Many were not willing to get
into the lifeboats. Some boats were lowered to the ocean partly full. Other
lifeboats filled up.
When all the lifeboats were gone, panic swept through Titanic.
Hundreds of people jumped into the ocean wearing life jackets. Only six of
them would survive in the icy water. Many others stayed with the ship. They
were swept into the sea or dragged to the bottom with Titanic.
By 2:20 A.M., Titanic was gone. The bow of the ship sank first. The stern
stayed afloat for a few more minutes. Then it went down, too.
The 712 survivors were picked up a few hours later by another ocean
liner, the SS Carpathia. Hundreds of others who had gone into the water
in life jackets or clinging to wreckage died before the rescue ship arrived.
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Exploring Titanic
Titanic rested alone in its watery grave for over seven decades. No human
eyes had seen the lost ship until Robert Ballard and Jean-Louis Michel
located it using remote control video cameras in 1985. Titanic lay in two
big pieces on the bottom not far from where it sank. The wreck was 1,300
miles (2,093 kilometers) east of New York and 400 miles (644 kilometers)
southeast of the island of Newfoundland. Titanic’s grave was 12,400 feet
(3,780 meters) beneath the surface of the sea.
In 1986, Ballard returned to explore the Titanic. Jean-Louis Michel did
not come on this second expedition. Michel would lead other expeditions
in following years. On July 12, Ballard arrived over Titanic’s grave on his
research ship Atlantis II.
This time, Ballard would dive to Titanic in Alvin. Alvin is a little
submarine that can carry three people. It has spotlights and windows for
exploring the deep sea. With Alvin, Ballard hoped he would actually see
Titanic with his own eyes. Exploring Titanic had been Robert Ballard’s
dream since he was very young. Thanks to Alvin, his dream could come
true. And he hoped to solve the mystery of how Titanic sank.
INSIDE THE SUBMERSIBLE ALVIN,
ROBERT BALLARD AND HIS PILOT
AND COPILOT DROPPED TO THE
OCEAN DEPTHS IN SEARCH OF THE
TITANIC WRECK.
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Alvin and Jason Jr.
Alvin is made of titanium, a metal much stronger than steel. Alvin can
move forward and backward and dive to a depth of 14,764 feet (4,500
meters). That’s almost three miles below the surface of the ocean. Alvin
could reach the Titanic.
Alvin carried a small robot submarine, Jason Jr. This was a brandnew kind of remotely operated vehicle (ROV). Jason Jr. was connected
to Alvin with a cable called a tether. The little robot could send pictures
from its television cameras through the tether to Alvin. Ballard would use
Jason Jr. to explore the inside of Titanic.
A pilot inside Alvin controlled Jason Jr. He used a joystick to move
the robot. He could turn the lights and cameras on and off. Everyone was
excited about using the small robot. They wanted to visit inside Titanic’s
cabins, dining rooms, and other places on the lost ship. No one had ever
done anything like this before.
Diving to Titanic
Robert Ballard and his crew had prepared for almost a year for exploring
Titanic. Finally the day of the first dive arrived. The crew rolled Alvin
from its hangar on the deck of Atlantis II. Robert Ballard, pilot Ralph
Hollis, and copilot Dudley Foster prepared for the first descent. They took
off their shoes and climbed into the tiny cabin.
Hollis closed Alvin’s hatch. Ballard turned on the oxygen tank. Outside,
a winch on Atlantis II’s deck lifted Alvin up and over the stern. The
winch slowly lowered Alvin into the water. Three divers swam around the
submersible and made final checks for the dive. At 8:35 A.M., the controller
on Atlantis II told Alvin it was cleared to dive. Next stop, Titanic.
The men huddled in the cramped cabin. Hollis threw a switch to flood
Alvin’s tanks with water and begin the descent. As the sub slipped beneath
the surface, Ballard watched a jellyfish drift past the window. Then he saw
a shark swim by. The shark was curious about the strange machine entering
its domain, but it left the contraption alone.
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The first dive was a test. Ballard wanted to see if he could safely get close
to Titanic. Jason Jr. would stay in its garage aboard Alvin. The little
robot would be used to explore Titanic beginning with the second dive.
Diving into the deep ocean is always dangerous. The water put enormous
pressure on Alvin’s hull. Outside, the water was nearly freezing, and the
cabin grew colder as they descended. The men put on more clothes to keep
warm. The dive to Titanic would take two and a half hours.
On the way to the bottom, the men relaxed and looked out the windows.
They played music on the stereo system. Fifteen minutes after they began
the descent, the sea was totally black. No sunlight reaches the deep ocean.
The light inside Alvin was soft red. The dials and gauges glowed. Down,
down they went.
THE BOW OF THE TITANIC WAS
COVERED IN RUSTY COLUMNS,
WHICH BALLARD NAMED RUSTICLES.
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First Sight of Titanic
The controller on Atlantis II directed Alvin to Titanic. Ballard switched
on powerful searchlights. They crawled along the bottom but saw nothing.
The men strained their eyes at the viewing ports. Still there was nothing.
An alarm sounded. Some of Alvin’s batteries were not working very well.
Hollis said they would have to surface soon.
Just then the seafloor began to look strange. It sloped upward at a steep
angle. Ballard’s heartbeat quickened. “Come right,” he said to Hollis. “I
think I see a wall of black just on the other side of that mud mound.”
Suddenly, a dark steel wall towered over tiny Alvin. Ballard, Hollis, and
Foster gasped. There it was. Titanic. Through the murky water, the ship
looked enormous. For the first time in seventy-four years, human eyes could
see the most famous ship in history.
The battery alarm continued to sound. Hollis told Ballard they must
return to the surface immediately. They were in no danger, but he did not
want to risk harming the sub. After just two minutes with Titanic, they
began their ascent. Ballard was disappointed. He had not been able to
explore at all. But he knew he would dive again the next day.
A Closer Look at Titanic
The next day, Ballard and Hollis prepared to descend again to Titanic.
The third crew member was Martin Bowen, who was an expert at piloting
Jason Jr. Again, they made the long dive to the bottom.
This time, Alvin performed perfectly. Ballard’s second view of Titanic
was breathtaking. As they glided along the bottom, the sharp edge of the
ship’s high bow loomed ahead. Ballard saw the two huge anchors still in
their places. He saw that the bow had driven deeply into the mud when it
made its deadly dive.
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Hollis guided Alvin along the side of the ship. Everything was covered
with rust. Some of the rust formed long columns like icicles. Ballard named
these formations rusticles. Crabs and sea worms were living all over the
wreck. All the wood on the ship had been eaten away. The explorers could
clearly see rails, one of the ship’s cranes, and the remains of the bridge.
The wooden wheelhouse had completely vanished.
They rose above Titanic’s deck to look for a place to land. Ballard knew
that the glass dome that had once covered the grand first-class staircase
would give them an opening into Titanic. He particularly wanted to see
the staircase.
HUNDREDS OF THESE SPECIAL CLAY DISHES FROM TITANIC WERE
RECOVERED FROM THE OCEAN BOTTOM. THE WOODEN CABINET IN
WHICH THEY WERE KEPT PROTECTED THEM DURING THE SINKING.
OVER TIME THE WOOD ROTTED AWAY, LEAVING THE DISHES STACKED
NEATLY TOGETHER IN THE SAND.
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Emergency on the Bottom
They had been on the bottom for almost two hours. Hollis was piloting
Alvin along the upper deck when disaster struck. The crew felt a thump.
The sub shuddered and clanged. A shower of rust covered the windows.
“Ralph, we’ve hit something,” Ballard said.
Hollis carefully backed up. They saw what they had hit. It was a davit, a
curved pole used for hanging a lifeboat on a ship. They continued to rise.
The current was very strong and Hollis had trouble steering. Ballard saw
that they were headed for a tangle of wreckage on the deck.
“Swing back to the left,” Ballard cried. “I have wreckage just out of my
view port and it’s getting close. Swing left!”
“It won’t come around into the current,” Hollis answered.
This was the worst nightmare for a deep diver. They were out of control
near tangled steel and cables that could trap them forever.
“Then come up,” Ballard said. “Let’s get out of here! It’s too dangerous.”
For a few long seconds, Alvin failed to respond to Hollis’s commands. Then
slowly it rose away from the wreckage.
The controller on Atlantis II told them that the weather on the surface
was getting bad. Picking up Alvin in rough seas is very difficult. Every
minute more they spent on the bottom meant more danger. Just then, the
battery alarm began to sound again. This dive was over.
Hollis made one more pass along Titanic’s side. Then the long ascent
began. Ballard played music on the stereo. The men tried to relax. They had
had a close call, but everything was okay. When they arrived on the surface,
the sea was very stormy. Jason Jr. accidentally slipped out of its garage,
but divers rescued it. Finally, Alvin was safe in its cradle.
The crew of Atlantis II crowded into the video studio. Ballard showed
them the videotapes of the dive. They saw the great bow planted in the
mud. They saw the decks, the portholes, and the remains of the bridge.
Everyone was stunned as they viewed Titanic in its grave.
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Mystery Solved
Robert Ballard was living his dream. He had landed on Titanic and
explored the grand staircase. He and his crew made fifteen dives that
summer. On every one, Titanic became more real. On one dive they used
Jason Jr. to scan the side of the ship.
Using Jason Jr.’s cameras, they could see part of the iceberg damage
on Titanic’s side. It looked like the iceberg had not cut a gash in the ship
after all. Probably, the force of the collision had caused rivets to break.
Then the plates on the side of the ship came apart at the seams. Water
flooded in. No ship could have survived. Later, Ballard and other explorers
confirmed the theory that the steel plates had come apart.
LARRY S. ANDERSON, GRAND STAIRCASE, WATERCOLOR ON PAPER, 1996. COURTESY OF THE ARTIST.
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THINK CRITICALLY
1 What coincidence happened when Titanic first left the dock? Why was this
event a coincidence?
NOTE DETAILS
2 What events led to the sinking of Titanic? SEQUENCE
3 How does the author of “The Incredible Quest to Find the Titanic” help you
picture the wrecked ship through the eyes of the underwater explorers? Use
examples from the selection to explain your answer.
LITERARY DEVICES
4 Do you agree with the author that Robert Ballard was living his dream while
exploring Titanic? Why or why not?
DRAW AND EVALUATE CONCLUSIONS
5 WR ITE Use details from the selection to explain how Alvin and Jason Jr.
each helped Ballard see Titanic.
EXTENDED RESPONSE
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
BRAD MATSEN
For thirty years, Brad Matsen has
been writing books, screenplays,
documentary scripts, and magazine
articles about the ocean and the
cultures of the Pacific Northwest. He
says that he didn’t find his true voice in
writing until he was about forty years
old. He realized then that enthusiasm
was as important to writing well as
were discipline and skill. In addition
to being a writer, Brad Matsen has also
worked as a commercial fisherman and
a merchant seaman. He has lived most
of his life in Alaska and the Pacific
Northwest. He now divides his time
between Seattle and New York.
www.harcourtschool.com/storytown
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Social Studies
Tapping satellites circling
Earth, Scouts find loot
hidden in a geocache.
(Excuse me? Geo-cash-what?)
M a g a zine A r t icle
by Kelly Bourne
photographs by Brian Payne
First Class Scout Matt Stom had a determined
look in his eyes and a phone-size device in
his hand. But it was neither a cell phone nor
a calculator, which wouldn’t be of much use
out here in the knee-high prairie grass and cold
drizzle. Periodically he looked down at the
gadget, changed his direction ever so slightly,
and forged ahead.
Matt and 15 other members of Troop 374
from Omaha, Nebraska, were on a treasure
hunt—one with a high-tech twist. He held a
Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, the
futuristic compass that led the boys to the
location of the hidden boxes.
The Scouts were participating in “geocaching,”
a kind of unconventional treasure hunt. They
divided into four patrols, each equipped with
a GPS device and the coordinates to where a
small, waterproof box—or cache (said, “cash”)—
was hidden. The first group to find its cache
would get its choice of the prizes inside. Matt’s
team wanted to win so badly that the look of
determination on their faces was mesmerizing.
“At first I thought we were going in the
wrong direction,” said Senior Patrol Leader
Michael Harrington. “The other patrols were
heading straight west and we were going
southwest.”
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WHAT IS THE GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM?
The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a navigation system made up of 24 satellites
orbiting Earth. A GPS device contains a radio receiver that reads signals from these
satellites. The receiver “triangulates” its location, using signals from at least three
satellites, and displays it as longitude (east/west) and latitude (north/south)
measurements. Early GPS signals had encryption code—a signal filter, now removed—
that made only U.S. military units very precise.
Go to www.geocaching.com to find a cache
location, in longitude and latitude, near you.
GPS works like a
futuristic compass.
But Scout Taylor Gardner was sure they
were going in the right direction. “We were
following the arrow on the GPS. Within half an
hour, the GPS receiver told us we were in the
right spot.”
The GPS receiver gets you to within 20 feet
of the target. After that, it’s up to your sight,
smell, touch—whatever it takes.
“Once we knew we were real close, we split
up,” explained Tenderfoot Scout Chris Lucas.
“We spread out and looked for hiding places
like grassy areas, bushes, or holes in the ground.
We didn’t really know where
it would be hidden.”
BASIC CACHE
Geocaching’s basics are simple. Someone hides
a cache and registers its position on the Web
at www.geocaching.com. People who want
to search for a cache look on this site for
geocache spots in their area.
A cache might be covered with leaves or
pine needles. It might be wedged under a large
rock or in a hollow log. It might even be above
eye level in a tree. The craftiness of people who
hide caches shouldn’t be underestimated—one
cache allegedly was strapped 50 feet up a tree
trunk.
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Geocaching got its start in May 2000,
inspired by the United States government’s
removal of the encryption code from GPS
satellite signals (see “What Is the Global
Positioning System?”). Since then, the
popularity of geocaching has ballooned.
There are more than 10,000 caches hidden
in more than 130 countries. More are added
daily. People get involved in geocaching for
many reasons. Some like being outdoors.
Others enjoy the exercise. Most do it because
they love the challenge and thrill of hunting for
treasure!
“It was exciting to open it up,” said Taylor.
“We had no idea what would be in it.”
The cache contained a silk daisy, several
bookmarkers, a candy dispenser, a pencil
sharpener, a doll outfit, a jigsaw puzzle, a small
sewing kit, a pocketknife, and a key chain. The
Scouts contributed a jamboree patch and a golf
tee to the contents and took the pocketknife.
“After we put our patch into the box, we
covered it up again very carefully. We wanted
to make it just as hard for the next searchers to
find,” Chris said. “There’s no reason it should be
easier for them than it was for us.”
SPREAD OUT
ON TO CACHE TWO
Michael was the first to recognize the cache’s
hiding spot.
“It was just a pile of leaves and sticks
covered with brown curved seed pods,” he
pointed out. “But there was something different
about it. There were too many seed pods on
top of it. There weren’t that many stacked up
anywhere else so it caught my eye.”
As he used his arm to sweep aside the
leaves, he knew he had found the cache
because it made a hollow, metallic sound. Once
it was uncovered, the boys found that it was
a green army ammunition box stenciled with
“Geocaching.com” across one side.
The patrol of Second Class Scout Chris
Bahr, Eagle Scout Burke Bourne, Scout Hari
Narayanan, and First Class Scout Blake Griffiths
was determined to be the first to find the next
cache. Their search led them into a valley on
the edge of a small stream. The boys initially
leaped over the stream, but the GPS told them
they’d gone too far west. So they leaped back
to the original side.
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After looking around the damp clearing for
a few minutes, Burke suggested that they use a
more organized approach. “Let’s form a police
line to make sure we cover every inch of this
area,” he said.
His idea worked. On the first sweep through
the area, Blake spotted the ammo box as he
went around a tree. The cache was tucked into
the crack where the tree split into two trunks.
To conceal the ammo box, a hefty branch and
several large pieces of bark covered it.
“That cache was tricky,” Hari said. “It wasn’t
where I expected it would be. Whoever hid it
knew what they were doing.”
Inside this cache: several small toys, a
windshield ice scraper, a string of beads, several
bookmarks, and a baseball card. In keeping
with the spirit of geocaching, the Scouts took
something and left something, exchanging a
toy army truck and dinosaur with one of the
troop’s patches and a Webelos Scout medallion
emblazoned with, “Do Your Best.”
HIDDEN TREASURE
The Scouts found in geocaching a nice mix of
technology and a good old-fashioned scavenger
hunt.
“It was wet,” Scout Eddie Hanlon said
afterward, “but that just made it more
challenging. If you can find a cache when the
weather is bad, then you’re pretty good.”
“Using a GPS was pretty cool,” Burke added.
“Once you got used to it, you could go right to
the general area where the cache is located.”
Some Scouts thought the high point was
just being outdoors, even if the weather wasn’t
the best.
“It was cool when a herd of deer came out
of the woods,” said First Class Scout Matthew
Bang. The deer didn’t seem the least bit upset
to share their piece of wilderness with a crew
of geocachers.
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Comparing Texts
1. Robert Ballard’s undersea exploration made an important
discovery. If you could be an explorer, what kinds of
discoveries would you like to make?
2. Compare Robert Ballard and his crew with the scouts
in “High-Tech Treasure Hunt.” What did the people in
each group gain from their discoveries?
3. How can studying the remains of past shipwrecks such
as the Titanic help scientists and engineers today?
Vocabulary Review
lavish
Rate a Situation
With a partner, read each sentence below. Point to a
spot on the line to show how happy or unhappy you
would be in each situation. Explain your choices.
Unhappy
Happy
dreaded
ascent
doomed
murky
•
•
•
•
The part of a ride you had dreaded is over.
You’ve been invited to a lavish party.
You make a smooth ascent in an airplane.
You can’t see your wallet in the lake’s murky water.
remains
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Fluency Practice
Repeated Reading
You have learned that you can
increase your reading rate with
practice. Turn to the section, A Closer
Look at Titanic, on page 706. Reread
the section aloud, and time your
reading with a stopwatch. Record
how long it takes. Reread the section
two or three more times, and record
how long each reading takes.
Continue practicing your fluency
with sentences or paragraphs that
may be slowing you down.
Writing
My Writing Che
Write a Persuasive
Composition
The sinking of the Titanic is perhaps the
best-known shipwreck in history. Write
a persuasive composition telling why the
Titanic disaster should be or should not be
studied.
I supported m
Organization
I used a graphi
Evidence
cklist
c organizer to
plan my writi
ng.
y conclusions
with evidence
.
I organized my
most importan
important.
ideas from
t to least
Evidence
Conclusion
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