Worksheets and No Prep Teaching Resources Reading Comprehension Worksheets The 1900's

Discovery of the North Pole The 1900's

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Discovery of the North Pole
Print Discovery of the North Pole Reading Comprehension with Sixth Grade Work

Print Discovery of the North Pole Reading Comprehension


Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 6 to 8
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	6.53

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		disbelievers, contend, investigation, unexplored, surveyor, casket, colleague, reenacted, formally, lieutenant, military, rank, realm, commission, latitude, feat
	content words:		Robert Peary, North Pole, Bowdoin College, United States Navy, Ellesmere Island, Matthew Henson, On April, Frederick Cook, United States Congress, Rear Admiral

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Discovery of the North Pole By Jane Runyon

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¹     Robert Peary was a born explorer. He sought to find places where no human had ever been. By the early 1900s, there were few unexplored land areas left on earth. Robert Peary dreamed of being the first man at the North Pole. He wanted to stand at the point that was exactly ninety degrees north latitude. He wanted to be able to tell the world about what he saw.
 
²     Robert Peary was born in Cresson, Pennsylvania, on May 6, 1856. He attended Bowdoin College in Maine. After college he took a job as a surveyor. He wanted more training in the survey field and chose to receive it from the United States Navy. He received his commission as a lieutenant in the Navy in 1881. While working in Nicaragua on surveying the best place for a canal, he dreamed of the invigorating climate of the Arctic. He took a leave of absence from his duties in the Navy in 1886. He decided to explore the island of Greenland. He came to the conclusion during this exploration that the North Pole was not a part of Greenland as had been previously believed. He made up his mind that he would be the first man to find the North Pole.
 
³     Peary spent more than twenty years exploring the Arctic. In 1909, he set out from Ellesmere Island with a group that included 23 men, 133 sled dogs, and 19 sleds. One of the men who accompanied Peary was the one man he trusted most, Matthew Henson. Henson was an African-American who shared Peary's love of the sea and love of adventure.

Paragraphs 4 to 8:
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The 1900's

The 1900's

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United States

United States

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