1. Similarities and Differences Across Text

2. Erosion Erosion is the removal of rock particles by water, wind, or ice. Though weathering helps break down rock into smaller particles and makes erosion easier, rock can be eroded before it has weathered at all. Erosion is a natural process that depends on many factors—precipitation, wind speed, temperature, slope of the land, vegetation--and is often healthy for an ecosystem. Too much erosion, however, can cause problems. Poor land use practices like road building, unmanaged construction, overgrazing, and deforestation often speed up the process of erosion and make recovery of the soil difficult.

3. Let Jiggy Burger Erode! Upon news that we were getting a new Jiggy Burger in our town, I was ecstatic. Who doesn’t like the mouth watering taste of a fresh hot Jiggy Burger? But then I did some research. Did you know that Jiggy Burger, Inc. is destroying our planet? The slash and burn techniques that they employ in tropical forests in South America to create grazing land for their cattle has resulted in the erosion of large parts of the continent and has created hundreds of thousands of acres of wasteland. Without the trees to hold the soil in place, much of it is blown or washed away. No burger in the world is worth that. Stand with me. Let the plans for our newly proposed Jiggy Burger erode before an entire continent does!

5. Benjamin Franklin A Biography

6. Childhood 1 Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on January 17, 1706 to the son of a candle maker. He was the fifteenth of seventeen children and the youngest son. Benjamin’s parents wanted to send him to school to become a priest, but they only had enough money to send him to school for two years. His formal schooling ended when he was ten (but he went on to teach himself foreign languages, grammar, science, and math). At the age of twelve, Benjamin became an apprentice, or student, of his brother James, a printer. At the age of seventeen, he ran away to Philadelphia. Adulthood 2 As an adult, Benjamin Franklin wore many hats. He ran his own printing business and published a newspaper, The Pennsylvania Gazette. He helped create the first library in America, the first voluntary fire department in Philadelphia, and the first hospital in Pennsylvania. He was appointed post master and created a working postal system. He also invented bifocals, the lightning rod, and the Franklin stove; discovered that lightning is electricity; started the University of Pennsylvania; helped write the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution; served as a diplomat to France for ten years; and took up the cause to end slavery long before almost everyone else did.

7. Franklin’s Kite 3 Benjamin Franklin’s heart slowly sank like a submarine. It wasn’t going to happen today. Maybe it wasn’t ever going to happen. Maybe he was wrong. 4 For months the great American statesman and inventor had been charting the similarities between electrical sparks and lightning. But he needed more than charting. He needed an experiment to prove that electricity and lightning were one and the same. 5 He stood by a shed in a blustery Philadelphia field as his kite danced among the thunderclouds. No sign of electricity. 6 “What was I thinking?” he asked himself, allowing the doubts to creep back in. “Back to the drawing board, I guess.” 7 Benjamin looked down and saw something bizarre. Could it be? He pushed his bifocals to the top of his nose and leaned closer. The loose threads on the kite string stood erect. A familiar, delighted twinkle filled Benjamin’s eyes. 8 “Well, I’ll be!” 9 Placing his knuckle against the key he had tied to the end of the string, he felt an electrical spark. He was right.

8. Similarities and Differences Across Texts Differences Title: Benjamin Franklin – Childhood/Adulthood Title: Franklin’s Kite Similarities Titles: Benjamin Franklin – Childhood/Adulthood & Franklin’s Kite

9. Graphic Organizer # 1 Title: _____________________