Hey there! Today, we’re going to learn about something fun called comparing and contrasting. It’s like playing a game where you find out how things are the same and how they are different. Let’s dive in!
Comparing and contrasting is all about looking at two things and figuring out what they have in common and what makes them different. For example, think about a building in your city and your house. How are they the same? Maybe they both have windows and doors. But how are they different? The building might be taller, and people might work there instead of living there like in your house.
Have you ever heard someone say, “That’s like comparing apples and oranges”? This means they are talking about two things that are different. An apple is usually red or green, and you can eat it without peeling. An orange is, well, orange, and you have to peel it first. But they are both fruits, round, and healthy for you. See? We just compared and contrasted apples and oranges!
Let’s think about a basketball and a soccer ball. Both are round and used in sports. But you bounce a basketball and kick a soccer ball. You try to get a soccer ball into a goal on the ground, while a basketball goes into a net high above. They also look and feel different.
You can also compare and contrast when reading stories or watching shows. Let’s look at a story about twins named Noah and Ava. They both have red hair and blue eyes, and they enjoy working. But Noah is taller and wants to be an engineer, while Ava is faster and wants to be a doctor. By finding these similarities and differences, you’re comparing and contrasting!
Now it’s your turn! Can you compare and contrast yourself with a friend or sibling? What about your parents or your street compared to another street? Think about what they have in common and what makes them different.
Here’s a fun challenge: try to think of two things that can’t be compared and contrasted at all. It’s tricky! How about a cupcake and a shoe? Give it a try!
Thanks for learning with us! Keep practicing comparing and contrasting, and you’ll get even better at it. Have fun!
Compare and Contrast Nature Walk: Take a walk in your neighborhood or a nearby park with a family member or friend. Bring along a notebook and pencil. Look for two different types of trees or plants. Write down or draw what you notice about each one. What do they have in common? How are they different? Share your findings with someone at home.
Favorite Snacks Comparison: Choose two of your favorite snacks, like a cookie and a piece of fruit. With the help of an adult, make a list of how they are similar and how they are different. Think about their taste, texture, color, and how they make you feel when you eat them. You can even draw a picture of each snack and label their features.
Story Character Comparison: Pick two characters from a story you recently read or a show you watched. Draw a picture of each character and write down a few things they have in common and a few things that make them different. Share your drawings and notes with a classmate or family member and see if they can add more similarities or differences.
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
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[Music]
**Comparing and Contrasting for Kids**
Hey kids! This video is different from some of the other Clarendon Learning videos you may have watched, but it’s also the same. Wait, what? How can two things be both different and the same? What are we talking about? Well, let’s see!
This video is the same as others you’ve watched because it’s made by Clarendon Learning. It has a narrator and images that you can look at. You can turn the volume up and down on your computer or tablet, or whatever device you’re watching this on, or you can turn it on and off. Please don’t turn this one off!
But it’s also different from other videos because it’s not about history, science, or how to do math. It’s different because it’s shorter than some videos and longer than others. The narration is unique to this video, and the images you’re looking at are also found only in this video.
What we just did by pointing out the similarities and differences between this video and some others is what this whole video is about. That’s right! This is a lesson on comparing and contrasting.
So, what is comparing and contrasting? Well, almost anything can be compared and contrasted to almost anything else. For example, let’s say you see a building in the city where you live. You could easily compare and contrast it to your house. What is it about that building that’s the same as your house? Is it made of brick like your house? Does it have windows like your house? Is it built on a street just like your house?
Now, what are some of the things that are different about the building from your house? Is it taller than your house? Is the building brown while your house is white? Do people go to work there rather than live there? By answering all those questions, you’ve just compared and contrasted that building to your house. When you found things that were the same, you were comparing. When you found things that were different, you were contrasting.
Let’s think of a more common example. Have you ever heard the expression “that’s like comparing apples and oranges”? It’s a famous expression that people use when they are trying to express that two things are different from each other. An apple is usually red or green, and an orange is, well, orange! You can bite right into an apple without peeling it, but an orange? Not so much! There, we’ve contrasted the apple to the orange by pointing out the things that are different. But if we wanted to compare the two, we could easily do that as well. An apple and an orange are both fruits, they’re both round, they can both be found in the produce section of a grocery store, and they’re both healthy for you.
What about a basketball and a soccer ball? Think about those two pieces of sports equipment. Now take a minute to compare and contrast those in your head. I bet you thought about the fact that they’re both round, they can both be thrown, and they’re both used for sports. You probably also thought about the differences: you kick a soccer ball, but you bounce a basketball. You try to get a soccer ball into a goal on the ground, whereas with a basketball, you’re trying to throw it into a net that’s many feet above the ground. Basketballs and soccer balls also have different colors and textures.
So, comparing and contrasting objects is pretty straightforward when you think about it. But comparing and contrasting can also be used in other situations too, like when you’re reading stories, watching shows on TV, or even movies. You can take a situation in one story and compare and contrast it to a situation in another story. There are some things that are the same between people in stories and some things that are different.
As an example, here’s a quick story: Noah and Ava were twins. They had red hair just like their mom, but their eyes were blue like their dad’s. One day, a neighbor asked Noah to help trim a tree. He was taller than Ava, who wished she was taller. Ava was much faster than her brother, so she was asked to walk the neighbor’s dogs. Both Noah and Ava enjoyed working. Noah wants to be an engineer when he gets older, and Ava wants to be a doctor. The neighbors paid Noah and Ava for their hard work.
In that story, we’re talking about Noah and Ava, brother and sister. If you were paying attention, you could quickly pick out the things that are the same and the things that are different. If you got distracted during the story, feel free to go back and listen to it again.
Okay, now that you’ve heard the story again, let’s compare and contrast. Let’s start by comparing: what things did Noah and Ava have in common? They both have the same parents, they’re both twins, they both have red hair and blue eyes, and they both enjoyed working.
Now let’s contrast: Noah is taller than Ava, but Ava is faster. Noah trimmed a tree while Ava walked the dogs. Noah wants to be an engineer when he grows up, and Ava wants to be a doctor.
Remember, comparing and contrasting is all about finding things that are the same between people, places, stories, or objects, and finding the things that are different. Can you compare and contrast yourself to your brother or sister or your best friend? How about comparing and contrasting your parents to each other or the street that you live on compared to the street around the corner? Think about some things that they all have in common and some of the things they don’t.
Okay, now that you get the concept of comparing and contrasting, here’s a fun exercise: can you think of two things that can’t be compared and contrasted at all? It’s pretty hard to do! What about a cupcake and a shoe? Go!
While you think about that, I’m going to listen to my narration from this video and compare and contrast it to my previous narrations. Hope it’s as good!
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