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Neil Armstrong (Grades 5-7)

Neil Armstrong (Grades 5-7)
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 5 to 7
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   6.22

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    moonquakes, seismograph, spacecraft, spaceship, weightless, orbit, atmosphere, gravity, unpredictable, relearn, lunar, mankind, rocket, equipment, calculate, landing
     content words:    Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, On July

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Neil Armstrong
By Sharon Fabian 		  
1     When you are planning to go on a trip, you have to get things ready. You have to pack. If you're going to the beach for a vacation, maybe you pack swim suits, shorts, and T-shirts, but you might also pack a few warm clothes in case it gets cold at night. If you're planning a trip to someplace you've never been before, maybe you do a little research to find out what the weather is usually like there. Maybe you pack something to read, something to play with, or some sports equipment. If you're going on a business or study trip, you pack the materials that you will need while you are there. You might look up the best route on a map, or ask someone for directions. You might fill up the gas tank in your car, or buy a plane ticket.
 
2     In 1969, Neil Armstrong was planning a trip. For this trip, he couldn't choose a route from a road map, and there was no one who had taken the same trip before, so he couldn't just ask for directions. Neil Armstrong was planning a trip to the moon. If the trip went as he planned, he would be the first person ever to set foot on the moon.
 
3     Armstrong and the other scientists at NASA had a lot of planning to do. Since both the earth and the moon are always moving, it would take a lot of very precise math to figure out how to get there and back. The weather would be unpredictable, as always, and might cause last minute changes in their plans. They had to choose a landing site. Since no one had ever been on the moon's surface, they had to make a scientific guess about where would be a good place to land, and they chose a place named the Sea of Tranquility.

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