1a. What happens to water pressure as a diver goes into deeper water?
1b. How could that change affect the diver?
2a. What do the two stages of the aqualung's regulator do?
2b. Why are two stages necessary?
3a. What happens as the diver inhales?
3b. How does the diaphragm contribute to the process?
4a. Where does exhaled air go?
4b. Why doesn't the exhaled air return to the cylinder?
5a. How many main points make up this explanation of how an aqualung works? What are they? How many minor points are under each main point?
5b. Explain briefly, in your own words, how an aqualung works.
6a. How effective is this explanation? How do the visual parts of the explanation contribute to your understanding of the process of breathing with an aqualung?
6b. What other concepts, devices, or systems would benefit from an explanation that includes visual components such as this? Why is this format particularly beneficial for the items you list?
Coherence. Examine how the author presents concepts involved in the workings of an aqualung. How does the order in which the ideas appear help you understand the process described? How does the author use transitions and repetition?
Keys, Captions, and Labels. What do you learn from the key in "The Aqualung" diagram? How important is the key in interpreting the diagram? What do you learn from captions? labels? How do they contribute to your understanding?
1. Write a step-by-step explanation of how something familiar to you works. Write clearly so that someone unfamiliar with the concept could understand it.
2. Look around the room for a picture, or think of your surroundings as an image, and write a caption for it.
3. Suppose that you are interested in learning more about becoming a certified diver. Write a request for information that you might send to a nearby scuba-diving school.
Investigating New Words. Look up the following words from the selection, using a dictionary, encyclopedia, or other reference book. Write a definition for each word, and use each word in a contextual sentence. Try to think of the word in terms of the scientific context in which it is used in the selection. For more information, see the Language Arts Survey 1.17, "Using a Dictionary."
1. pressure
2. regulator
3. stage
4. admit
5. spring
6. lever
7. suction
8. diaphragm
9. valve
10. expel
Editing to Clarify.Write a paragraph using the sequence of events listed below. Show how the steps are linked by combining sentences and inserting words and phrases. Your objective is to clarify the process of catching a mouse in the game Mousetrap and to highlight the cause-and-effect relationships among the parts of the mouse-catching contraption. You don't have to know this game before clarifying the directions—in fact, a person unfamiliar with the game is probably even better able to point out confusing directions. You might also find it helpful to draw the steps as you go through the list. For more information, see the Language Arts Survey 6.2, "Following Directions," and 6.3, "Giving Directions." 1. Someone turns the crank. 2. A vertical plate with teeth turns a horizontal plate with teeth. 3. The plate has a short bar. 4. The bar presses a long lever. 5. The lever has a rubber band that stretches. 6. The rubber band pulls the lever back. 7. The end of the lever has a stop-sign-like face. 8. The face hits a hanging shoe. 9. The shoe hits a bucket containing a marble. 10. The marble zig-zags down a ramp. 11. It falls into a chute. 12. It rolls down. 13. It hits an upright stick. 14. The stick, with a hand on top, is pushed up. 15. A marble rests on a platform above the hand. 16. The marble falls into a tub. 17. It falls through a hole in the tub. 18. It lands on one end of a teeter-totter-like diving board. 19. The man on the end of the board jumps up. 20. He falls into a washtub. 21. The washtub compresses the platform on which it sits. 22. A cage top is suspended on a stick on the platform. 23. It falls and traps a mouse underneath.
