The Bobsled Race

The Bobsled Race

The Bobsled Race
Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 4 to 5
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	3.86

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		accomplishment, bobsleigh, brakeman, fiberglass, filmmakers, snow-covered, minimum, committee, gravity, fourteenth, fastest, pioneer, film, zoom, races, public
	content words:		Hottest Thing, United States, Olympic Gold, Vonetta Flowers, Jill Bakken, Bobsled Team, World Cup, America Cup, Army National Guard, World Class Athlete Program

Print The Bobsled Race
edHelper.com subscriber options:

	Print The Bobsled Race (font options, pick words for additional puzzles, and more)
	Quickly print reading comprehension
	Print a proofreading activity

Feedback on The Bobsled Race

Leave your feedback on The Bobsled Race (use this link if you found an error in the story)

Other Languages
     French: La Course de Bobsleigh
     Spanish: El Trineo de Balancín
     German: Das Bobrennen

The Bobsled Race
By Phyllis Naegeli

¹     Do you like to go sledding? Imagine traveling at speeds of up to eighty miles per hour. Now think about having one to three other people on the sled with you. You really need to work together. Whew! It sounds scary. That's the sport of bobsled (or bobsleigh) racing.

²     It's time for your bobsled team to start. If you are a four-person team, you have a pilot, a brakeman, and two pushers. Your sled is just over twelve feet long. A two-person team is a pilot and brakeman. You will slide on a sled that is just under nine feet long. You've checked the weight of your sled and team. Four people and a sled must weigh under 1,500 pounds or 630 kilograms. The two-person limit is 860 pounds or 390 kilograms. The timer counts down - beep, beep, beep - and you're off!

³     A bobsled race is won or lost at the start. Teams have fifty meters to push the sled to a good speed. It's important to get the sled moving. Then they jump on and zoom down the course. In each Olympics, the course is different. Yet, there are some standards. A course must be at least 1,500 meters. It needs a minimum of fifteen icy twists and turns. A team can be subject to five times the pull of gravity on some turns. The course also needs a slope. The bobsled race is a gravity run race. The final winner is decided after four races for men. Women run two races.

Paragraphs 4 to 7:
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable

Copyright © 2008 edHelper