Text Structures 3

A geode is a special rock. It's rounded, hollow, and lined with sparkly crystals. If you crack it open, then you'll see crystals of blue, pink, purple, or other colors. Geodes form when a bubble of air is caught in a layer of rock. That could happen when a volcano explodes. Volcanic rock surrounds the hot bubble. Then, rain soaks through into the middle of the bubble. The water contains different minerals. More water brings in more minerals, over millions of years. Different minerals make differently colored crystals inside the geode.

Cause Effect

A program in Mexico tried to get people to use less electricity. This program had mixed results. The program paid people to replace old refrigerators and air conditioners with new ones. The new machines used less power. So, the new refrigerators led to less electricity use. However, since the new air conditioners worked better than the old air conditioners, people used them more. For this reason, people actually used more electricity with the new air conditioners.

Cause Effect

For many years, trade and travel between the United States and China were not allowed. A 1971 Ping-Pong tournament in Japan helped to change that. An American player and a Chinese player at the tournament met, shook hands, and exchanged gifts. In response to this friendly meeting, China's leader, Mao Zedong, invited the American Ping-Pong team to visit China. This official Chinese welcome led to talks between the Chinese and American leaders. The talks resulted in opening travel and trade between the two countries.

Cause Effect

A trumpet and a flute are both wind instruments. That is, they're musical instruments that you play by blowing air to make a sound. But they're members of two different musical families. The trumpet is a member of the brass family. Most brass instruments are made at least partly of brass. The flute, on the other hand, is a woodwind. Most woodwind instruments were once made of wood. There are still some wooden flutes, though most are now metal.

Compare Contrast

Although there are many kinds of writing, most people divide texts into two different types: fiction and nonfiction. Fiction means stories that are made up. Charlotte's Web is fiction because, of course, spiders and pigs don't really talk. Nonfiction, however, gives you facts about the real world. You can find nonfiction books about history, science, real people, animals, and many other topics. Nonfiction also includes newspapers and textbooks, while fiction includes stories, plays, and novels. Reading both fiction and nonfiction can be fun and educational.

Compare Contrast

Canoes and kayaks are both great for exploring lakes and rivers. Both are light boats, easy to paddle and good in shallow water. They're not exactly the same, though. Canoes are larger and more open, with space for two or three people and supplies. Kayaks are usually covered on top with an opening for just one person. A canoe paddle has a single blade, that is, just one end that dips into the water. The kayak usually has a double-bladed paddle instead. The kayaker paddles by dipping in one blade, then the other.

Compare Contrast

Different animals are good at guarding in different situations. Some people own dogs to guard their homes. Dogs can bark a warning when strangers (or mail carriers) show up. Dogs usually live well in city homes. But if you're in the country, you might prefer a donkey instead. That's especially true if you have sheep, pigs, or horses to protect. Donkeys can fight off coyotes and wolves better than many dogs. A donkey is easier to care for, too. It can just eat the grass in the pasture with the other animals.

Compare Contrast

The Philippines is a country made up of more than seven thousand islands. In fact, the land area of those islands is just a little greater than the state of Arizona. But that small space holds many people. Indeed, the Philippines is one of the world's fifteen largest countries by population. In addition, it has many languages. There are two official languages: English and Filipino. But almost everyone there grows up speaking at least one native Philippine language.

Description

The word onomatopoeia is easier to explain than to spell! An onomatopoeia is a special type of word. It's a word that imitates the sound of something, like buzz. Many onomatopoeias are animal sounds, such as meow, tweet, and baa. Others are words for sounds that people make, including groan and grunt. Still others are nature sounds, as when we say water splish-splashes and thunder rumbles. Onomatopoeias are part of rich, strong writing.

Description

Passengers entering New York Harbor are greeted by a great lady. She is the Statue of Liberty, and she is hard to miss. For one thing, she stands alone on a small island in the middle of the harbor. For another, she's tall, very tall. From the ground to the top, she measures more than three hundred feet. That's as high as a thirty-story building. And she holds, raised high in her right hand, a torch to light the way.

Descriptive

During World War II, the United States needed a way to get messages to soldiers. They wanted a code that the enemy could not understand. One system they used came from the Navajo language. The military asked Navajo soldiers to develop a code based on their language. By remembering a complicated code, the soldiers could send messages that only other U.S. soldiers would understand. Their work helped save lives and win victories.

Problem Solution

It's very expensive to buy or rent a house or apartment in London. As prices continue to rise, people have a lot of trouble paying for housing. However, some people have come up with an original idea for affordable homes. These folks live on canal boats. Long and narrow, canal boats are cheaper than most houses and apartments. Their owners tie them up along the miles of canals that go through London. They're constantly exploring new areas of the city in their movable, affordable homes.

Problem Solution

Khodr Farhat is a Michigan man on a mission. When he eats out at a restaurant, he faces an issue that most people don't. Khodr can't see well enough to read the menu. He usually has friends read menus aloud to him. However, this strategy doesn't let him take his time with the menu or dine independently. So, he has worked with restaurants to create menus in braille. Braille is a system of writing that uses raised dots. Braille menus allow many customers who are blind to read their own menus.

Problem Solution

Luis Soriano was a teacher in a small village in Colombia in South America. In the other villages and countryside around him, there were no libraries. Books were hard to find. Luis had an answer. He created the Biblioburro, or Donkey Library. Every weekend, he rode into the country with two donkeys. One donkey carried him, and the other carried books. Luis visited villages, read to children, and let them borrow books. This worked so well that the word spread. People sent Luis more books to share with the kids. Now the Biblioburro has thousands of books.

Problem Solution

Sea animals, like sharks and eels, can get food stuck in their teeth like you do. However, a shark can't use a toothpick or floss. Many sea animals are also bothered by tiny bugs, or parasites. In the waters of Hawaii, a special fish helps other sea animals with these troubles. This small fish is called the Hawaiian cleaner wrasse. The brightly striped cleaner wrasse picks off parasites and eats them. It also eats the leftover food in sharks' teeth. Sharks don't eat the wrasse because they need its cleaning services.

Problem Solution

Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Battuta lived in the fourteenth century. He grew up in Morocco, in northern Africa. In 1325, he left home to travel. He went to Tanzania, Africa, in 1330 and then to India in about 1333. His journeys were long, dangerous, and full of adventures. He traveled to China and Spain. Then, in 1352, he crossed Africa's Sahara Desert to visit the African kingdom of Mali. He returned home in 1355. Ibn Battuta's descriptions of his travels give us important information about the world of his time.

Sequential

Early spring is sugaring season in the northeastern United States. That's when sugar makers turn the sap of maple trees into syrup. In February, they tap the sugar maples. They drill small holes in the trees' bark. They put a bucket or plastic tube into place to collect the sap. In March or April, the maple trees' sap starts flowing. The sugar makers collect the sap and boil it. The water evaporates, and what's left is pure, delicious maple syrup. When the maple buds come out in May, sugaring ends and the taps are pulled out.

Sequential

Here's how to make a simple superhero cape. First, find an old, large T-shirt that you can cut. Start by laying it flat with the back facing up. Then draw a line from the bottom left corner up to the left side of the neck. Flip the shirt over and continue drawing the line around the front of the neck. Repeat for the right side. Join the right and left lines in front of the neck, just below the shirt's neckband. Then cut on that line, leaving the neckband whole. If you put your head through the neckband, the back hangs like a cape.

Sequential

In the 2016 Olympics in Brazil, two runners showed true Olympic spirit. It started when New Zealand runner Nikki Hamblin fell during a race. Next, American runner Abbey D'Agostino tripped over Hamblin and also fell. When D'Agostino got up, Hamblin was still down on the track. D'Agostino helped Hamblin up. The runners continued, but D'Agostino had badly hurt her knee. She stopped. Then, Hamblin helped D'Agostino, encouraging her to finish. Later, they received a special Olympic award for showing the spirit of the games.

Sequential

You breathe air in through your nose and mouth. What happens next? The air travels to the back of your throat. Then, it enters your windpipe, the tube that leads to your lungs. In the lungs, this tube splits into smaller and smaller tubes, and finally into tiny alveoli. These alveoli are tiny bags that are surrounded by tiny blood vessels. Now the oxygen in the air passes through the walls of the alveoli into the blood. Your heart then pumps the blood throughout your body, getting that oxygen to all your cells.

Sequential