PaginePaginepagineapp.comRead both texts. Compare how each develops its ideas.
By 2040, automated beacons had replaced every lighthouse keeper on the coast — except one. Ruth Ellery, ninety-one, refused to leave Gull Point.
"The machine works perfectly," the inspector said, tapping the sensor on the tower. "You aren’t needed."
Ruth poured him tea. "The machine knows when it’s dark," she said. "It doesn’t know when someone is lost."
That winter, a solar storm knocked out satellite navigation across the region. The automated beacon kept blinking its correct, perfect signal. But it was Ruth, watching from her window, who saw the small boat drifting toward the rocks and rowed out with a lantern to guide it in.
The next spring, the inspector returned — not to remove her, but to ask if she would teach a class.
Your immune system defends your body against germs such as viruses and bacteria. When it meets a new germ, it takes time to learn how to fight it, and you may get sick in the meantime.
A vaccine gives the immune system a safe preview. It contains a weakened or inactivated germ, a harmless piece of a germ, or instructions that teach cells to make that harmless piece. The immune system responds by making antibodies and memory cells.
If the real germ later enters the body, the memory cells recognize it and the immune system responds quickly, often stopping the infection before it causes serious illness.
When many people in a community are vaccinated, germs have trouble spreading. This "community immunity" helps protect people who cannot be vaccinated, such as newborns.
| The Last Lighthouse | How Vaccines Train the Immune System | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre and purpose | ||
| Central idea or theme | ||
| How the author develops it | ||
| Key evidence or detail |
Worksheets › Grade 8 English › Integration of Knowledge & Ideas › Integration of Knowledge & Ideas
Free Grade 8 English worksheet (Common Core RL.8.9): compare "The Last Lighthouse" with "How Vaccines Train the Immune System" and analyze how each develops its ideas. Skill: Compare texts and evaluate arguments. Level: Grade 8 — also suits Year 9 (UK).
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It is designed for Grade 8 (ages 13–14), but use it with any child who is ready.
Compare texts and evaluate arguments.
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All 5 integration of knowledge & ideas sheets → · Grade 8 English: all 10 skills → · All Common Core grades
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