Explanation Texts How and Why?

What are explanations? There are two types of explanation: How do things work? Why do things happen?

How do things work? How does a plane fly? How does a car engine work? How does a pigeon find its way home? How do you fly a hot air balloon? How is honey made? How do they print bank notes?

Why do things happen? Why did we go to war in 1939? Why does the moon seem to change shape? Why do we pay tax? Why was there an earthquake in Haiti? Why do we count in the way we do? Why are there 60 seconds in 1 minute?

How do you write an explanation? Structure is very important Plan Sequence ideas so that they are in the correct order This needs a lot of thought How are you going to introduce your explanation? How are you going to conclude your explanation?

What Am I Looking For? Sentence structure Connectives Passive voice Time Cause and effect Passive voice Present tense Sequence explaining clearly about your chosen subject.

Example: Recycling Glass Bottles Intro Introduction – Glass bottles What are they made from? How do we get the materials? Collection What happens to old glass bottles? Recycling old glass. Collection and crushing. Processed What happens to the crushed glass? Bottle factory – silica sand – melted – lower temperature

Example: Recycling Glass Bottles Manufacture How are the bottles made? Hot liquid glass – machinery - bottles Conclusion Advantage of recycling glass – why do we do it?

Introduction Make it interesting Make it informative Question Complex sentence using “because” Make it informative Write about something you know about

How do car engines work? For over 100 years, people have been getting about using cars. Prior to the invention of the motor car, all but the adventurous stayed within a few miles of where they were born but once the car had become common place, people felt empowered to travel to far flung places and explore the world. This would never have happened without the invention of the motor car so how does it work?