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    by Julia McKie
    Genre: Informational Text
    An informational text informs the
    reader about real people and real
    events. Some informational texts tell
    about important historical events
    and ideas.
    “Ancient Chinese Inventions” is about
    two historical inventions: the compass
    and the earthquake detector, or
    seismoscope.
    Genre: Fiction
    Fiction stories are made up. Some parts
    of the story may be realistic, and some
    parts may be fantasy or possible only in
    the future.
    “The Robotic Recycler” is a story about
    a group of student inventors and their
    inventions. Some of the inventions are
    realistic. Others are fantasy today—but
    they may be possible someday.
    9
    The Robotic
    Recycler
    by Jennifer Li
    163
    Key Words
    clunky
    drone
    gently
    lab bench
    lock up
    missing
    partner
    recycle
    robotic arm
    Understanding
    Context Clues
    As you read, you may see
    an unfamiliar word. To
    figure out its meaning,
    look for clues in the words
    and phrases around it.
    The author may give a
    definition, a description,
    an example or a synonym.
    The pictures may also
    help you understand
    some words.
    1 Read the first
    paragraph of the
    story. Then look at the
    picture on pages 164
    and 165. What do you
    think a lab is? What do
    you think inventors do?
    2 Listen and follow.
    35
    The Robotic
    Recycler
    by Jennifer Li
    164 Topic 9
    “Welcome to the lab!” said Professor Hiro. He opened the door and beckoned his newest
    student past the sign that said, “Top Secret! Inventors Only!”
    “Everybody, meet April Brooks, the newest member of our lab! Do you remember the Brush-
    O-Matic, which won last year’s international invention challenge? It’s designed to brush your teeth
    for you. In fact, it does a better job than you would—two years of testing, and not a single
    cavity.
    That was April’s invention!”
    April beamed, and everyone in the lab clapped and waved before going back to work.
    “I’ll give you the grand tour, April,” said Professor Hiro. “Let’s start at the Wall of Fame—all
    the amazing things invented right here in our lab.” He led April over to a display on the wall and
    pointed to what looked like a
    helmet with strange rods and tubes attached.
    “I know what that is!” said April excitedly. “Isn’t that your Invisi-Hat?”
    “Of course it is!” said Professor Hiro, delighted. “That’s what put us on the map. It was invented
    a long time ago, so it looks a little clunky. But it works! Put it on, flick the switch and you’re
    invisible! No one can see you. At least, for an hour. Then you turn into a pumpkin!” He chuckled.
    165The Robotic Recycler
    Next, Professor Hiro led April over to her lab bench. April tried to listen to his instructions,
    but there was so much to see! Everywhere she looked, inventors were working on interesting
    new projects. Someone was rewiring a drone that could clean tall windows. Another inventor
    was testing a potato chip can that pushed up the chips from the bottom with a special spring.
    Professor Hiro called two of the inventors over to April’s bench. A blond girl with a wide
    smile and a boy with red hair and freckles shook her hand.
    “April, I’d like you to meet your two inventing partners, Dawn and Ryan,” said Professor
    Hiro.
    “Welcome!” said the girl. “Look at this!” She used a metal frame to grab a book off a high
    shelf nearby. “This is my new Stretch-O-Stick. This
    prototype was just delivered today. It’s the
    first one ever made!”
    “Cool!” said April. “And what about you, Ryan?”
    “My inventions are used to improve recycling,” said the boy. “I’ve almost finished my latest
    invention, the Trash Crusher. It crushes piles of metal and plastic into cubes, so they can be sent
    to recycling centers easily. What’s your specialty, April?”
    Topic 9166
    “I like inventing all kinds of things,”
    said April. “But my next invention will be
    something that thinks for itself! It won’t be
    a tool to help people do things. It will do
    things all by itself, even when people aren’t
    around!”
    Over the next few months, April spent
    nearly every day in the lab, working on her
    new invention. She asked Dawn to help
    her make a robotic arm that could grip
    something, lift it up and then put it down.
    They made drawings and measured carefully
    to be sure the arm was the right size and
    shape. They even made a computer model
    to test it. It took Herculean effort, but April
    enjoyed working hard in the excitement of
    the lab. She knew this would be her greatest
    invention ever!
    But when April’s prototype
    finally arrived, the robotic arm didn’t
    pick things up gently, the way it was
    supposed to. It crushed them in its
    grip. Then, when she changed the
    settings so it would hold things more
    gently, its grip was so loose that it
    dropped everything right away!
    “It’s part of being an inventor,”
    said Dawn encouragingly. “Remember
    what Thomas Edison said: ‘I haven’t
    failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that
    won’t work.’”
    April laughed. “I just hope we
    don’t have 9,999 more tests to go!”
    she said.
    167The Robotic Recycler
    Fortunately, after a few more adjustments, the arm was working perfectly. April attached
    the arm to a cart that could move around on its own. She worked many long hours to program
    her invention to react to its environment—just as if it were “thinking” on its own. Finally, she
    was finished.
    “OK,” said Dawn. “Now you have to tell us what it’s for!”
    April smiled. “My new invention is called the Robotic Recycler!” she said. “It’s going to help
    us recycle right here in the lab.”
    “I love it!” said Ryan. “How is it going to work?”
    “It will move around the lab and look for empty soda cans to recycle,” said April. “It’ll pick
    up a can, see if it’s empty and if it is, put it in the recycling bin. We don’t even have to be here.
    We can leave our soda cans around the lab during the day, and the Robotic Recycler will clean up
    after us at night!”
    That night, April was the last one to leave the lab. She turned on the Robotic Recycler and
    watched as it set off to look for empty soda cans.
    168 Topic 9
    The next morning, when April came in, the Robotic Recycler had done its job. All the
    empty cans of soda were stacked neatly in the recycling bin. Ryan was waiting beside it to
    congratulate her. “April, this is wonderful!” he said. “I know this will help us recycle. Plus, now I
    have more cans for my Trash Crusher!”
    He happily turned the recycling bin over and poured the cans into the Trash Crusher. Soon
    it produced a neat cube of metal.
    But when April saw Dawn, she didn’t look happy at all. “April,” she said worriedly,
    “something strange has happened. I can’t find the prototype for my Stretch-O-Stick! I left it on
    my lab bench yesterday, and now it’s gone!”
    April frowned. “I’m sure I locked up last night. Maybe it just fell off the bench.”
    She and Ryan spent the rest of the day helping Dawn search the lab. But the Stretch-O-Stick
    was nowhere to be found.
    “Come on, Dawn,” said Ryan at the end of the day. “Let’s go find Professor Hiro. Maybe he’ll
    order a second prototype for you. April, can you lock up the lab?”
    A few minutes later, April closed the lab door behind her. This time, she double-checked
    that it was locked.
    169The Robotic Recycler
    The next morning, when April got to the lab, she was met by the worried faces of Dawn
    and Ryan. Professor Hiro was standing behind them with an unusually serious expression.
    “What’s wrong?” she asked them. “Did you have trouble getting a new prototype?”
    “No, we didn’t,” said Ryan angrily. “The problem is that we can’t seem to keep the original
    prototypes around!”
    April looked from Dawn to Ryan, trying to understand. “What do you mean?”
    Dawn sighed. “My Stretch-O-Stick went missing yesterday, and today Ryan’s Trash Crusher
    is missing, too. It disappeared overnight!”
    “Oh, no!” said April. “What happened?”
    “We were wondering if you could tell us,”
    said Professor Hiro gently. “You locked up the
    lab both nights, and the missing inventions
    belonged to your partners.”
    “I promise I didn’t take them,” said April
    seriously. “I have no idea what happened. You
    can come and search through my things.”
    April walked over to her bench, but then
    she stopped suddenly. Something was missing
    there, too. “My Robotic Recycler!” she cried.
    “It’s gone!”
    170 Topic 9
    April felt like crying. Frantically, she began to search around her lab bench. Seeing the
    expression on her face, Dawn, Ryan and Professor Hiro joined her. They looked under lab
    benches, inside trash cans and even outside the lab, just in case the Robotic Recycler had
    somehow escaped.
    Finally, Ryan opened a supply closet door and gave a shout of surprise. April, Dawn and
    Professor Hiro ran to see what was there. Then they began to laugh.
    The Robotic Recycler sat in the back of the supply closet, surrounded by a huge pile of
    empty cans. It was wearing the Stretch-O-Stick on its robotic arm and feeding empty cans into
    the Trash Crusher. A moment later, it pressed a button, and the Trash Crusher produced a cube
    of recycling.
    “Well, at least we know the Trash Crusher
    is easy enough for anyone to use!” said Ryan in
    disbelief.
    “And my Stretch-O-Stick, too!” cried Dawn.
    April couldn’t believe it. “It really does think
    for itself!”
    Professor Hiro laughed. “I think the Robotic
    Recycler realized something you three didn’t. Your
    inventions work best together! It’s time for us to
    add a new invention to our Wall of Fame: the New,
    Improved Robotic Recycler!”
    The Robotic Recycler 171
    1 Complete the chart.
    Inventor Invention What It Does
    Professor Hiro
    Invisi-Hat
    April
    Dawn
    Ryan
    2 Understanding Context Clues Find the words in blue. Read the phrases and
    sentences around them. Match the words with the context clues.
    1
    cavity
    2
    disbelief
    3
    helmet
    4
    invisible
    5
    prototype
    a
    couldn’t believe it
    b
    brush your teeth
    c
    It’s the first one ever made!
    d
    hat
    e
    No one can see you.
    3 Circle True or False.
    1
    Dawn and Ryan help April because they are her best friends. True False
    2
    When April is inventing the Robotic Recycler, everything goes perfectly. True False
    3
    Professor Hiro thinks April might have taken her partners’ inventions. True False
    4
    The Robotic Recycler uses other inventions to do its job better. True False
    A
    Listen and check.
    36
    172 Topic 9
    Prior Knowledge
    Sometimes, you need to
    use your prior knowledge
    to help you understand a
    story. The author of this
    story makes allusions,
    or references, to famous
    stories and people. You
    need to know the story
    or person to understand
    the allusion.
    4 Prior Knowledge Look at the underlined allusions. What prior
    knowledge do you need to understand it?
    1
    “‘Put it on, flick the switch and you’re invisible! No one
    can see you. At least, for an hour. Then you
    turn into a pumpkin!’”
    2
    “It took Herculean effort, but April enjoyed working hard
    in the excitement of the lab.”
    3
    “‘It’s part of being an inventor,’ said Dawn encouragingly.
    ‘Remember what Thomas Edison said: “I haven’t failed. I’ve
    just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”’”
    A
    Match the allusions with the pictures.
    Hercules was a hero in
    Greek mythology.
    He was known for his
    great strength.
    Thomas Edison (1847–1931)
    was a famous American
    inventor.
    In the fairy tale about
    Cinderella, she rides to the
    ball in a magical carriage.
    But at midnight, it becomes
    a pumpkin again.
    5 Active Reading Choose a page of the story. Draw a picture of the scene in your
    notebook. Work with a classmate. Retell that part of the story in your own words.
    6 Think and discuss. Do you think the inventions in the story are fun or useful? Will they
    entertain or help people?
    a b c
    173The Robotic Recycler
    Key Words
    bronze
    detect
    ladle
    magnet
    navigation
    origin
    pendulum
    represent
    urn
    Understanding
    Diagrams
    Diagrams show
    information in a visual
    way. They use pictures
    and text to help readers
    understand an idea. A
    timeline is a special kind
    of diagram. Timelines
    present historical
    information in time order.
    They list the date of
    each event.
    1 Look at the
    timeline on
    pages 175 to
    177. When was
    the compass
    invented?
    When was the
    seismoscope
    invented?
    2 Listen and
    follow.
    37
    M
    any things we still use today were invented by ancient
    civilizations. When you read the words “ancient
    civilizations,” you might think of the ancient Egyptians or
    Greeks. But did you know that many inventions also come
    from the ancient Chinese civilization? We can thank creative
    innovators from China for more than a hundred inventions.
    Two of these are the compass and the earthquake detector,
    or seismoscope.
    The First Compass
    Imagine going on a hike through the mountains with
    only a simple map, the sun and the stars to guide you. You
    probably wouldn’t do that. You might get lost! However, that’s
    exactly what ancient explorers did—at least until the compass
    was invented.
    by Julia McKie
    Topic 9174
    North
    Northwest
    West
    Southwest
    South
    Southeast
    East
    Northeast
    First compass invented,
    used to tell the future
    F
    F
    u
    u
    400
    
    The Big Dipper
    Ancient Chinese Compass
    ladle
    plate
    l
    We don’t know exactly when, but the first compass was probably
    designed in the fourth century BC. It was made of two pieces: a ladle, like
    a spoon, and a square plate made of bronze. The ladle’s shape was similar
    to a pattern of stars called the Big Dipper. It
    sat on a circle in the center of the plate. The
    circle represented the sky. The rest of the
    plate represented the earth. It was labeled with
    the eight directions: North, South, East, West,
    Northeast, Northwest, Southeast and Southwest.
    How the Compass Worked
    The ladle was made from a kind of
    rock called lodestone. Lodestone is a natural
    magnet. It lines up with Earth’s magnetic
    field. When the bronze plate on the compass
    was turned, the ladle would turn, too. Its
    handle would always point south. Once they
    knew which way was south, people could
    also deduce the other seven directions.
    How the Compass was Used
    By AD 1000, the Chinese were using the
    compass for navigation, just as we do today.
    However, it was originally designed for another use. It was made to tell
    the future. The ancient Chinese used the compass to find out whether
    a home or business faced the correct direction. If it did, they believed
    that they would have good health and a successful business.
    175
    Ancient Chinese Inventions
    First
    seismoscope
    invented
    F
    F
    F
    F
    s
    s
    s
    s
    i
    
    132
    e
    e
    First earthquake
    recorded by
    seismoscope
    F
    F
    F
    r
    r
    r
    r
    s
    s
    
    134
    uake
    ke
    uak
    Zhang
    Heng
    dies
    Z
    Z
    Z
    Z
    H
    H
    H
    H
    H
    d
    
    139
    Ancient Chinese Seismoscope
    urn
    dragon
    bronze ball
    toads
    t
    d
    b ll
    The First Seismoscope
    Now imagine living in a place
    where earthquakes are common. Even
    with our technology today, we may
    have only a few minutes or seconds of
    advance warning. But more than two
    thousand years ago, an extraordinary
    inventor created a device to detect
    earthquakes. And he did it without
    our technology.
    The first earthquake detector, or
    seismoscope, was designed in AD 132. It was created by a Chinese astronomer,
    mathematician, engineer and inventor called Zhang Heng. His device was a
    large bronze urn, almost 2 meters across. There were eight bronze dragons
    crawling down the outside. They each faced one direction of the compass. Each
    dragon had a small bronze ball in its mouth. Below each dragon sat a toad with
    its mouth open, ready to catch the ball.
    How the Seismoscope Worked
    When the seismoscope detected an earthquake, a ball would drop from
    one dragon’s mouth. The sound of the ball dropping would alert people to the
    earthquake. It was so loud, it could wake up the entire royal court.
    The direction that the dragon faced would tell people where
    the origin of the earthquake was. For example, if the dragon
    facing the north dropped its ball, people knew there had been an
    earthquake to the north.
    Topic 9176
    Compass used
    for navigation
    C
    C
    C
    C
    f
    f
    f
    f
    
    1000
    Modern
    seismograph
    created
    M
    M
    M
    M
    s
    s
    s
    s
    c
    c
    
    1880
    Inside a Seismoscope
    lever
    pendulum
    No one is certain about what was inside
    the seismoscope. That information was lost
    over time. Nevertheless, scientists think there
    was a pendulum inside the bronze urn. In
    an earthquake, the pendulum would lose its
    balance and swing, like the pendulum on a
    clock. When the pendulum moved, a lever
    would open the mouth of one of the dragons.
    The dragon would then drop its ball into the
    mouth of the toad below.
    The First Recorded Earthquake
    In AD 134, the first bronze ball dropped into the mouth of a toad. But no one in
    the capital city of Luoyang, where the seismoscope was, had felt any earthquake at
    all. Although Zhang Heng was a respected scientist, people began to doubt that his
    device worked. Then, a few days later, a messenger came from the city of Longxi—
    almost 500 kilometers away. The city had been destroyed by an earthquake. And it
    had happened at the same time the seismoscope had sounded the alarm!
    How the Seismoscope was Used
    The seismoscope did not detect earthquakes before they happened.
    It could only show that an earthquake was happening. However, it was
    still useful. If the device detected an earthquake, people in the capital
    could send help in the direction it was needed.
    The ancient seismoscope worked until Zhang Heng died in AD 139.
    After that, no one knew how to maintain it! A more modern earthquake
    detector, the seismograph, would not be created until 1880.
    177
    Ancient Chinese Inventions
    1 Circle True or False.
    1
    The first compass was made from lodestone and gold. True False
    2
    The ladle of the compass was designed to look like the Big Dipper. True False
    3
    The compass was first used for navigation. True False
    4
    The seismoscope warned people about earthquakes in advance. True False
    5
    During an earthquake, a ball would fall out of a dragon’s mouth. True False
    6
    The seismoscope worked even for areas far away. True False
    2 Number the steps in the correct order. What happens inside the seismoscope
    during an earthquake?
    The pendulum swings and moves
    a lever.
    The ball makes a noise loud
    enough to alert people.
    The pendulum loses its balance.
    The ball drops down into a
    toad’s mouth.
    The lever opens the dragon’s mouth.
    3 Label the pictures.
    ladle magnet navigation urn
    4 Answer the questions.
    1
    Why do you think the compass was invented?
    2
    Why do you think Zhang Heng invented the seismoscope?
    1 2 3 4
    178 Topic 9
    5 Understanding Diagrams Listen and number the parts of the compass.
    38
    1
    earth
    2
    East
    3
    ladle
    4
    North
    5
    plate
    6
    South
    7
    sky
    8
    West
    6 Transitions that Show Contrast Read the quotes.
    Circle the transition words that show contrast.
    1
    “By AD 1000, the Chinese were using the compass for navigation,
    just as we do today. However, it was originally designed for
    another use.”
    2
    “No one is certain about what was inside the seismoscope. That
    information was lost over time. Nevertheless, scientists think there
    was a pendulum inside the bronze urn.”
    3
    “In AD 134, the first bronze ball dropped into the mouth of a toad. But no one in the
    capital city of Luoyang, where the seismoscope was, had felt any earthquake at all.”
    4
    “Although Zhang Heng was a respected scientist, people began to doubt that his
    device worked.”
    7 Active Reading Work with a classmate. Use the diagrams from the text. How does the
    compass work? How does the seismoscope work?
    8 Think and discuss. Which invention do you think is more useful today?
    Transitions that
    Show Contrast
    Authors often contrast
    two ideas, or show how
    they are different. The
    author of this text uses
    transition words such as
    although, but and however
    to signal contrast.
    179Ancient Chinese Inventions
    Connect to Me
    1 Imagine that you are an inventor in Professor Hiro’s lab. What invention do you create?
    Draw and label a diagram of the invention. Describe what it does.
    Connect to History
    1 Research another ancient Chinese invention. Choose from the inventions below,
    or use your own ideas. Complete the fact file.
    porcelainpaper silk cloth the mechanical clock
    My Invention
    What it does:
    Ancient Chinese Invention:
    When was it invented?
    Who invented it?
    What did it look like?
    What was it designed to do?
    What did it do?
    180 Topic 9