Becky Schroeder

North Carolina Testing ProgramEOG Reading Grade 4 Sample ItemsRead this story about Becky Schroeder, who invented something when she was 10 years old,and answer the questions that follow.Becky Schroederby Catherine ThimmeshA person has to be sixteen to drive,seventeen to see certain movies, andeighteen to vote. People can get terrificdiscounts on all sorts of stuff–providedthey’re over sixty-five. Everywhere we lookthere are age limits that define what peoplecan and can’t do. But creativity has noboundaries, no limitations. Anyone caninvent. And they do. Inventors are poppingup at the youngest of ages.Sitting in the car waiting for her momto return from shopping, Becky decided shemight as well try to finish her mathhomework. But it was growing dark andgetting hard to see the paper.3 “I didn’t have a flashlight, and I didn’twant to open the car door because then thewhole car would light up,” recalled Becky.“So I thought it would be neat to have mypaper light up somehow, and that’s when theidea came to me.”It isn’t every day that a ten-year-oldinvents a product eagerly sought by severalbusinesses, but that’s exactly whatBecky Schroeder did when she created a toolthat enabled people to write in the dark. Herinvention? The Glo-sheet.5 That night Becky went home trying toimagine different ways of making her paperglow in the dark. She remembered all sortsof glow-in-the-dark toys–like balls andFrisbees TM –and wondered how they weremade. She was determined to find asolution. So the very next day, Becky’s dadtook her on an outing to the hardware store.They returned with a pail of phosphorescentpaint. She took the paint and stacks ofpaper into the darkest room in the house–the bathroom. There, she experimented.6 “I’d turn on the light, turn it off, turn iton,” said Becky. “My parents remember merunning out of the room saying ‘It works, itworks! I’m writing in the dark!’”She used an acrylic board and coatedit with a specific amount of phosphorescentpaint. She took a complicated idea and madeit work rather simply. When the coatedclipboard is exposed to light, it glows. Theglowing board then illuminates, or lights up,the paper that has been placed on top. Twoyears after her initial inspiration, in 1974,Becky became the youngest female ever toreceive a U.S. patent.8 She didn’t actively market herGlo-sheet. She didn’t need to. TheNew York Times wrote an article about anincredible invention–patented by atwelve-year-old–and the inquiries andorders streamed in. Professionals whoneeded to write in the dark started orderingher Glo-sheet: photographers for theirdarkrooms, critics who took notes indarkened theaters, emergency medicalpeople for use in ambulances.9 “Some of the Glo-sheets I washand-making and some I had a companymanufacture for me,” Becky explained. “Therewere more expensive versions and lessexpensive ones–electric-operated andlight-activated models.”Several large companies offered to buyher patent rights, but Becky and her fatherdecided to sell the Glo-Sheet on their own.What began as a personal project, just forfun, blossomed into a business, with Beckyas the president of the company. Proof thatsuccess can come at any age with a good ideaand a little imagination.“Becky Schroeder” from Girls Think of Everything: Stories of Ingenious Inventions by Women by CatherineThimmesh; illustrated by Melissa Sweet. Text copyright © 2000 by Catherine Thimmesh. Reprinted by permissionof Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.Page 1Published April 2005. May reproduce for instructional andeducational purposes only, not for personal or financial gain.

North Carolina Testing Program1. What caused Becky to inventGlo-sheet?ABCDShe was having trouble withmath problems.She was trying to do homeworkwhen it got dark.She was trying to earn money.She was working on a schoolproject.2. Why are paragraphs 3, 6, and 9written in italics?ABCso the reader will know there isnew vocabularyso the reader will read with moreexpressionto show that Becky is speakingEOG Reading Grade 4 Sample Items4. In paragraph 8, what does it meanthat Becky “didn’t actively market herGlo-sheet”?ABCDShe kept the original one for herown use.Other people came to her to getthe Glo-sheet.Becky’s father tried to sell theGlo-sheet.She gave away samples to herfriends.5. With which statement would BeckySchroeder most likely agree ?ABExperience is needed to be a goodinventor.Only invent things you knowother people want.Dto set off difficult paragraphsCYou never know what you can dounless you try.3. In paragraph 5, Becky and her dadreturned from the hardware store witha bucket of phosphorescent paint.What is phosphorescent paint?DAlways try to sell patent rights tolarge companies.ABCDpaint that glows in the darkpaint that acts as gluepaint that covers markspaint that becomes hardPage 2Published April 2005. May reproduce for instructional andeducational purposes only, not for personal or financial gain.

North Carolina Testing ProgramEOG Reading Grade 4 Sample Items6. Who would most likely need Becky’sinvention?ABCDa doctor giving instructions in ahospitalstudents doing work in theirclassrooms during school hoursa librarian who checks out booksat the front deska scientist taking notes aboutanimals being observed at nightEnd of SetIn compliance with federal law, including the provisions ofTitle IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the Departmentof Public Instruction does not discriminate on the basis of race,sex, religion, color, national or ethnic origin, age, disability, ormilitary service in its policies, programs, activities, admissionsor employment.Page 3Published April 2005. May reproduce for instructional andeducational purposes only, not for personal or financial gain.

Grade 4Answers toReading Comprehension Sample ItemsQuestion Correct ObjectiveSelection Title Number Answer Category Thinking Skill NumberBecky Schroeder 1 B Cognition Analyzing 2.02Becky Schroeder 2 C Critical Stance Analyzing 3.03Becky Schroeder 3 A Cognition Analyzing 1.03Becky Schroeder 4 B Interpretation Analyzing 2.04Becky Schroeder 5 C Critical Stance Generating 3.01Becky Schroeder 6 D Connections Applying 2.02Tuesday, April 12, 2005 Page 1 of 1