Reading Comprehension Strategies

Strategy 1 – Using prior knowledge

Imagine that you receive this exercise: Read the text and answer the questions
What are you going to do first?
- Look at the text in general (Is it long? How much time do I have?)
- Read the title to see what it is about. (understanding the title is important!)
- Look at the pictures that accompany the text. (It will probably be “The topic” of the text)
- Next, think for a couple of seconds and try to remember what you know about batteries, for
example:
o Are batteries all the same?
o How many types of batteries do you know?
o Why are they important to our world?
o Name some appliances that use batteries, for example, flashlights…
o How do they work?
This will help you look for the information in the text, and you will probably find it easier.

How Batteries Work

How do batteries power our world? See more battery pictures.
Imagine a world where everything that used electricity had to be plugged in. Flashlights,
hearing aids, cell phones and other portable devices would be tethered to electrical
outlets, rendering them awkward and cumbersome. Cars couldn't be started with the
simple turn of a key; a strenuous cranking would be required to get the pistons moving.
Wires would be strung everywhere, creating a safety hazard and an unsightly mess. Thankfully, batteries provide
us with a mobile source of power that makes many modern conveniences possible.

While there are many different types of batteries, the basic concept by which they function remains the same.
When a device is connected to a battery, a reaction occurs that produces electrical energy. This is known as
an electrochemical reaction. Italian physicist Count Alessandro Volta first discovered this process in 1799
when he created a simple battery from metal plates and brine-soaked cardboard or paper. Since then, scientists
have greatly improved upon Volta's original design to create batteries made from a variety of materials that come
in a multitude of sizes.
Strategy 2 – Predicting
Imagine that you receive this exercise: Read the text and answer the questions
After remembering what you know about batteries and its history, you need to take a couple of
seconds to try to predict the content:
- Look at the title again: that is not difficult to predict, they will speak about history!
- Look at the picture: ok, I will find some technical explanation of the theory behind the battery…
- Look briefly at the text: ok, I can see some years (normal, they will be historical references).
Ok, I can see some strange names (probably inventors), letters in black (very important!! That
is probably an important concept).

Battery History
The history of batteries can be traced back to 1800. Learn about the history of batteries and find out
how the Daniell cell battery is constructed.
HOWSTUFFWORKS.COM

Batteries have been around longer than you may think. In 1938,
archaeologist Wilhelm Konig discovered some peculiar clay pots
while digging at Khujut Rabu, just outside of present-day Baghdad,
Iraq. The jars, which measure approximately 5 inches (12.7
centimeters) long, contained an iron rod encased in copper and
dated from about 200 B.C. Tests suggested that the vessels had
once been filled with an acidic substance like vinegar or wine, leading
Konig to believe that these vessels were ancient batteries. Since this
discovery, scholars have produced replicas of the pots that are in
fact capable of producing an electric charge. These "Baghdad
batteries" may have been used for religious rituals, medicinal purposes, or even electroplating.

In 1799, Italian physicist Alessandro Volta created the first battery by stacking alternating layers of zinc, brine-
soaked pasteboard or cloth, and silver. This arrangement, called a voltaic pile, was not the first device to
create electricity, but it was the first to emit a steady, lasting current. However, there were some drawbacks to
Volta's invention. The height at which the layers could be stacked was limited because the weight of the pile
would squeeze the brine out of the pasteboard or cloth. The metal discs also tended to corrode quickly,
shortening the life of the battery. Despite these shortcomings, the SI unit of electromotive force is now called a
volt in honor of Volta's achievement.
Strategy 3 – Identifying main ideas
Imagine that you receive this exercise: Read the text and answer the questions
After checking what I remember about the topic and using some time to predict, I start reading! And
what do I look for? The main ideas and the secondary ideas!

Anatomy of a Battery
Take a look at any battery, and you'll notice that it has
two terminals. One terminal is marked (+), or positive,
while the other is marked (-), or negative. In normal
flashlight batteries, like AA, C or D cell, the terminals are
located on the ends. On a 9-volt or car battery, however,
the terminals are situated next to each other on the top of
the unit. If you connect a wire between the two terminals,
the electrons will flow from the negative end to the positive
end as fast as they can. This will quickly wear out the
battery and can also be dangerous, particularly on larger
batteries. To properly harness the electric charge produced
by a battery, you must connect it to a load. The load might
be something like a light bulb, a motor or an electronic circuit like a radio.

The internal workings of a battery are typically housed within a metal or plastic case. Inside this case are
a cathode, which connects to the positive terminal, and an anode, which connects to the negative terminal.
These components, more generally known as electrodes, occupy most of the space in a battery and are the
place where the chemical reactions occur. A separator creates a barrier between the cathode and anode,
preventing the electrodes from touching while allowing electrical charge to flow freely between them. The
medium that allows the electric charge to flow between the cathode and anode is known as the electrolyte.
Finally, the collector conducts the charge to the outside of the battery and through the load.
Strategy 4 – Questioning
Imagine that you receive this exercise: Read the text and answer the questions
This is easy, because your teachers will make the questions. So, option 1 (I recommend this one):
read the questions before reading the text, so you can focus on the information you need. Or, option
2: After reading the text, pay attention to the questions and re-read looking for the information you
need.

Possible questions:
1) What do you need to buy if you want to make this experiment?
2) What must the meter read?
3) What elements can you use?
4) What must you do with the paper?
5) What is the final step of the instructions to make this pile?
6) What is the function of each element of this experiment?
Battery Experiments: Voltaic Pile
If you want to learn more about the electrochemical reactions that
occur in batteries, you can actually build one yourself using simple
household materials. One thing you should buy before you start is an
inexpensive ($10 to $20) volt-ohm meter at your local electronics or
hardware store. Make sure that the meter can read low voltages (in
the one-volt range) and low currents (in the five-to-10 milliamp range).
With this equipment on hand, you'll be able to see exactly how well your battery is performing.

You can create your own voltaic pile using quarters, foil, blotting paper, cider vinegar and salt. Cut the foil and
blotting paper into circles, then soak the blotting paper in a mixture of the cider vinegar and salt. Using masking
tape, attach a copper wire to one of the foil discs. Now stack the materials in this order: foil, paper, quarter, foil,
paper, quarter, and so on until you have repeated the pattern 10 times. Once the last coin is on the stack, attach
a wire to it with masking tape. Finally, attach the free ends of the two wires to an LED, which should light up. In
this experiment, the copper in the quarter is the cathode, the foil is the anode, the cider vinegar-salt solution is
the electrolyte, and the blotting paper is the separator.
Strategy 5 – Visualizing (imagine the graphic organizer for this text)
Imagine that you receive this exercise: Read the text and answer the questions
What is the organization of this text? While you read, imagine how you would organize it. Is it showing
categories? Showing similarities and differences? Showing a cycle? Or presenting a process?

Battery Reactions and Chemistry

A lot happens inside a battery when you pop it into your flashlight,
remote control or other wire-free device. While the processes by
which they produce electricity differ slightly from battery to battery,
the basic idea remains the same.

When a load completes the circuit between the two terminals, the
battery produces electricity through a series of electromagnetic
reactions between the anode, cathode and electrolyte. The anode
experiences an oxidation reaction in which two or
more ions (electrically charged atoms or molecules) from the electrolyte combine with the anode, producing a
compound and releasing one or more electrons. At the same time, the cathode goes through a reduction
reaction in which the cathode substance, ions and free electrons also combine to form compounds. While this
action may sound complicated, it's actually very simple: The reaction in the anode creates electrons, and the
reaction in the cathode absorbs them. The net product is electricity. The battery will continue to produce electricity
until one or both of the electrodes run out of the substance necessary for the reactions to occur.