Transcript Comets and Meteors Visitors From Space Focus Skills

Name ______________________________
Comets and Meteors
Visitors From Space
By Jeanne Bendick
Illustrated by David Schleinkofer
Prediction
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Author’s Purpose
inform
persuade
entertain
Comets and Meteors
Visitors From Space
Focus Skills:
•To use book parts to locate information and find
answers to questions in text.
•To read and understand a nonfiction selection.
Genre
Expository Nonfiction: explains information and ideas
Summary
We see comets when the Sun’s gravity pulls them
past Earth. Comets may look like bright, fuzzy balls or
long-haired stars, but they are really made of rock,
dust, and ice.
Reading Strategy
Use Text Structure and Format
Good readers are active readers and they pay
attention to how an author has organized information
in a selection. Many nonfiction selections include
headings and captions. Major ideas are organized
under headings, and captions give information about
illustrations or photographs.
Page
404
Today
Long Ago
Define
astronomer
Where on
these
pages
would
you look
to find
out
where
comets
come
from?
Page
406
How does a
comet
begin its
travels?
Explain
How does a
comet
change as
it gets
closer to
the sun?
What is
solar
wind?
Where else in
the book could
you find the
meaning of
this term?
Different
Page
408
Why don’t
comets
glow when
they are far
from the
sun?
Alike
comet
Why does the
author
compare the
Moon’s
movements
to a comet’s
movements?
planet
Think and Respond
1.
How are comets different from planets?
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2.
What is the purpose of the words in red letters at the
tops of some pages?
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3.
What effect does the solar wind have on comets?
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4.
If you could talk with the author, what question would
you ask her? Why would you ask this question?
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Use the graphic organizer to answer the following questions.
Highlight the answers on the organizer.
1.
What is the main purpose of this selection?
2.
Why is this selection most like an informational book?
3.
What does a comet look like in the sky?
4.
Why did people who lived long ago think a comet was a
warning of something bad?
5.
What can the gas in the comet’s coma be compared to?
6.
What are scientists who study the planets and stars called?
7.
Where do scientists think a huge cloud of comets might be?
8.
What do you call the force that connects the solar system to
the sun called?
9.
What is the name for the “flying rocks” in our solar system?
10.
What does a comet start out as?
11.
What are the tails of comets made of?
12.
What is the name for the orbits that comets take around the
sun?
13.
What is one thing that makes a comet glow?
14.
What is a comet tail?