Try It

Now that you have explored a process for determining the central idea and relevant supporting evidence, let's practice with an article representative of science text. Read the title and the first several paragraphs of the Newsela article "Florida finds favor with sea turtles; more are nesting on state beaches."opens in new window

Remember to ask yourself:

  • What is most important in this text?
  • What is the biggest idea?
  • What does the author want me to learn?
  • Why does this information matter?

Complete the following activity. You will be examining evidence and synthesizing it in order to trace the development of the central idea. Examine the following excerpt from the article.

Florida finds favor with sea turtles; more are nesting on state beaches

1 This year’s early count of sea turtles nesting on Florida beaches is encouraging, though there are many unknowns in the numbers.

2 Welcome to the mysterious world of sea turtles. They spend much of their life far from Florida's beaches running into fishing boats, oil spills, plastic trash and any number of other perils.

3 Increasing numbers of loggerhead, green and leatherback turtles have nested along the state's coast for the past five years. On the other hand, there have also been meaningful dips and climbs in their nest counts from year to year.

4 Green turtles, for example, have wowed researchers with their growing preference for Florida beaches. Yet while last year the number of nests scientists counted was surprisingly high, this year’s is down, a change that experts expected.

- Newselaopens in new window, November 5, 2014