Thomas Edison: a Life in Science

Questions

1. Sequence Which of these happened first?

   Edison demonstrated a light bulb that could glow for many hours Edison opened one of the first power stations, in New York City Edison opened a laboratory for inventing in Menlo Park, New Jersey Edison invented the phonograph, which recorded and played back sound
2. Sequence Which of these happened last?

   Edison opened a laboratory for inventing in Menlo Park, New Jersey Edison invented the phonograph, which recorded and played back sound Edison opened one of the first power stations, in New York City Edison demonstrated a light bulb that could glow for many hours
3. Details In what year did this happen? "Edison demonstrated a light bulb that could glow for many hours."

   1872 1889 1879 1882
4. Timeline math How many years passed between these two events? First: "Edison invented the phonograph, which recorded and played back sound." Later: "He demonstrated a light bulb that could glow for many hours."

   12 2 3 1
5. Vocabulary In the passage, what does "laboratory" mean?

   an injury to the skin caused by heat, chemicals or electricity growing different crops in a field from year to year to keep the soil healthy a room or building for experiments and research a person trained to travel into space
6. Character traits Which word best describes Thomas Edison?

   lazy careless hardworking unkind
7. Evidence Which detail from the passage shows that Edison was hardworking?

   As a child he collected plants and became known as the 'plant doctor' for helping sick plants grow. He and his team tested thousands of materials before finding one that made a light bulb last. He questioned why objects fall and why the Moon stays in the sky. He wondered how doctors could see inside the body in slices, not just in flat X-rays.
8. Main idea What is this passage mostly about?

   the life and work of Jane Goodall the life and work of Alexander Graham Bell the life and work of Thomas Edison the life and work of Marie Curie
9. Text structure How does the author organize the middle of the passage?

   by comparing two people from most important to least important event in time order, from earlier events to later ones as a problem and its solution

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