Compare and Contrast
Sometimes you need to compare and contrast information to understand what you observe or what you read. When you compare you say how things are alike. When you contrast you say how things are different.
Onions and Their Cells
An onion has many different characteristics. An onion may be white, yellow, green, or red. Onions have layers. You can see thin lines going from the bottom to the top of the onion.
Onions look very different when you observe them with a microscope. You see box-like structures called cells. They are usually the same color as the onion. You can see a dot in the center of each cell.
Apply It!
Make a graphic organizer like the one at the right to compare and contrast onion characteristics that you observe. Write the characteristics that you see without using a microscope in one circle, those you see using a microscope in the other circle, and characteristics that are the same in the center section.
For more practice on Compare and Contrast, use Every Student Learns Teacher's Guide, p. 1.
The student understands a variety of textual organizations (for example, comparison and contrast, cause-and-effect, sequence of events).
The target skill for Classifying Plants and Animals is Compare and Contrast. Students are introduced to the skill as you guide them through this page.
Tell students that understanding how to compare and contrast can help them see similarities and differences between ideas, objects, or actions. Say: Suppose you are trying to decide which movie to see. What might you do? Possible answer: I will think about factors such as the time each one is playing, where it is playing, what it is about, and so forth, and then see which one has the best combination of factors.
Point out the science article in the middle of the page. Help students understand that noting how things are the same and how they are different can help them to better understand unfamiliar things.
Graphic Organizer
Look at the Graphic Organizer together. Work with students to complete the Graphic Organizer using the information from the science article.
