1. “The Incredible Shrinking Shot” An article from Popular Science magazine

2. Format  Looking at the format of the article may help you get the main idea before you even start reading.  What is the headline of the article? (the title)  What information might that give you about the article?  What are the subheadings of each section?  What information might those give you about the article?  What magazine is this article from? (look at the bottom)  What month and year was it published?  Why would the date the article was published be important to know?

3. Pictures  Look at the pictures. Read the captions.  What is something you learned from the pictures and captions?

4. Read the article  Let’s start with the lead (the part under the heading that begins “ The design…” ).  What does this section talk about? What is important in this section?  Did you know the needle was invented in France over a hundred and fifty years ago?  Who wrote this article?

5. SHORT-Skin Deep  Read the next section under the subheading SHORT-SKIN DEEP.  What is the main idea in this section?  What did the Fluzone Intradermal microinjector needle change about the traditional needle?  What’s nice about this invention besides being less painful?

6. SHORTER-Low-pressure Plunger  Read this section.  This design for a needle was taken from nature-a mosquito to be exact.  Why is copying the way a mosquito draws blood a good idea? What is unique about the way a mosquito takes blood?

7. SHORTEST-Prickly Patch  Read the last section.  The researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University developed a special kind of needle. What was so unique about this needle?  They compared this needle to a Band-Aid.  What is a good thing about this type of needle, especially in poor countries/conditions?

8. Sum it up!  After reading the article, which needle would you want to use? Why?  Turn your paper over and answer the questions.