IXL | Compare and contrast in informational texts

Use the text to compare and contrast microwave ovens and conventional ovens.

Walk into any American kitchen, and you'll most likely find two appliances for cooking: a microwave oven and a conventional oven. Both appliances are useful, but they cook food in different ways. A microwave oven uses short waves of energy that specifically affect the water molecules in food. Microwaves make the water molecules vibrate, creating thermal energy, or heat, which quickly cooks the food from within. In contrast, conventional ovens heat the air surrounding the food, which cooks the food more slowly. Though microwaves are great for immediately heating food, sometimes rapid heating isn't appropriate. Baking bread, for example, requires slow heating in a conventional oven so the dough has time to rise.

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question

Use the text to compare and contrast straw and hay.

If you've never worked on a farm, you may think that straw and hay are the same thing. They do both come from plants, but there are actually a number of important distinctions. Straw is leftover plant material collected after a seed or grain harvest. As such, it is a great source of fiber. It is used in a number of ways, including as feed and bedding for livestock. Hay is used for similar purposes, but its high nutritional value makes it especially appealing as livestock feed. It is harvested before the plants produce seeds, which preserves many nutrients that straw lacks. Straw and hay alike are commonly tied together in large bundles called bales.

	Straw	Hay
Comes from plants
Plant matter left over from a harvest
Does not have much nutritional value

key idea

Authors often use a compare-contrast text structure to discuss ideas, events, people, or things.

When authors compare, they often use signal words such as in the same way, both, and similarly. These signal words help to show how two subjects or topics are similar.

When authors contrast, they often use signal words such as unlike, on the other hand, or however. These signal words help to show how two subjects or topics are different.

solution

Look at the signal words and the surrounding details in the text.

If you've never worked on a farm, you may think that straw and hay are the same thing. They do both come from plants, but there are actually a number of important distinctions. Straw is leftover plant material collected after a seed or grain harvest. As such, it is a great source of fiber. It is used in a number of ways, including as feed and bedding for livestock. Hay is used for similar purposes, but its high nutritional value makes it especially appealing as livestock feed. It is harvested before the plants produce seeds, which preserves many nutrients that straw lacks. Straw and hay alike are commonly tied together in large bundles called bales.

These signal words help show the differences and similarities between straw and hay:

	Straw	Hay
Comes from plants
Plant matter left over from a harvest
Does not have much nutritional value

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R.1Transitions with conjunctive adverbs

F.2Compare and contrast in informational texts

	Microwave ovens	Conventional ovens
Are found in most American homes
Cook food by heating water molecules
Can be used for making bread

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