35 Making Waves

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Making Waves by Michele Spirn Table of Contents Introduction page 2 Chapter 1 Dragon Boats page 4 Chapter 2 Ice Boats page 8 Chapter 3 Snake Boats page 11 Conclusion page 14 Glossary/ Index page 15 Comprehension Check page 16

Introduction Around the world, people enjoy different kinds of boat races. People race dragon boats in many places. The racers use paddles to make the boats go faster. In cold places, people race ice boats. The wind pushes the boats across frozen lakes and rivers. In India you can watch snake boat races. Over 100 rowers sit in one boat and row as fast as they can. How do these different race boats work? Let's find out! People in Hong Kong, China, have dragon boat races every year in June. paddles Chinese dragon boats

CHAPTER 1 Dragon Boats Dragon boat races began in China over 2,000 years ago. Now more than 50 million people all over the world race the boats. Before the race, artists paint the boats to look like dragons. Then, they paint on the eyes. The eyes "wake up the dragon." SWEET TREATS People eat sweet rice cakes at the dragon boat races in China. These dragon boats are ready to race. These racers practice for a dragon boat race in China. Why do the boats look like dragons? In China a dragon means that something is powerful. There are 20 to 40 racers in each dragon boat. When the race begins, a drummer on each boat makes a beat. The drum helps the racers paddle together. They paddle 60 to 85 times every minute. beat: a sound that repeats

Why are dragon boats fast? Dragon boats are not heavy. They are light in weight. This makes them go fast. Dragon boats have low sides. Boats with low sides float high in the water. This also makes them go fast. It takes less work to move a dragon boat. DRAGON PARADE The city of Boston, in Massachusetts, has a Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival every year. People march, or walk, in the parade with dragons. Racers must work together to win a race. Racers push paddles in the water to make the boat's speed fast or slow. If paddles are too big or too small, they are hard to move in the water. It is harder to move a large paddle through the water. A smaller paddle is easier to move. It can move faster through the water. push: to move forward

CHAPTER 2 Ice Boats People have been ice boating for 4,000 years. People used ice boats in the winter. They used them to move foods and other things. Today ice boating is just a fun sport. Racers in boats with sails glide over the ice. Language DETECTIVE Clue: The word them is an object pronoun. Here, them takes the place of ice boats. What does them take the place of on page 6? This ice boat race is in Sandusky, Ohio. sails STOPPING THE BOAT Ice boats don't have brakes to make them stop. They are not like bicycles or cars. The ice boat racer stops the boat by moving the front of the boat into the wind. Ice boats are powered by the wind. Ice boat racers turn the sails to get wind inside them. Then the wind pushes the boat. Ice boaters can use the wind to turn, or steer, the boat. When the wind moves a different way, the ice boat racer turns the sails the same way.