Lighthouse Facts
What is the primary function of a lighthouse?
To warn ships of danger and help them navigate safely.
What is the main idea of the first paragraph of Lighthouses: Guiding Lights of the Sea?
Lighthouses help sailors by warning them of danger using lights.
What does the word "beacon" mean in the first passage?
A light or signal that warns or guides.
What is the author’s purpose in Lighthouses: Guiding Lights of the Sea?
To inform the reader about how lighthouses work and their history.
Name one thing both passages have in common.
They both talk about how lighthouses help keep sailors safe.
List two details from the second paragraph that support the main idea.
(Main Idea: Lighthouses help sailors by warning them of danger using lights).
Lighthouses used oil lamps in the past.
Now they use Fresnel lenses and are automated.
What does "automated" mean in the sentence, "Today, most lighthouses are automated"?
Operated by machines instead of people.
What is the author’s purpose in Life of a Lighthouse Keeper?
To explain what lighthouse keepers did and why their job was important.
What is one difference between the two passages?
One talks about the lighthouse itself; the other focuses on the lighthouse keeper.
How did the Fresnel lens change lighthouse operations?
It allows the light to be seen from farther away, making lighthouses more effective.
What is the main idea of Life of a Lighthouse Keeper?
What does maritime mean?
Related to the sea or sailing.
How does the author show the importance of lighthouse keepers?
By describing their hard work, isolation, and role in savin
Compare the job of a lighthouse keeper to a job today.
Like air traffic controllers, they help keep others safe by managing safety systems.
Why does each lighthouse have a unique flash pattern?
How do the details about the keeper's duties support the main?
They show how much effort was needed--refueling lamps, cleaning lenses, etc.--to make sure the light stayed on.
What does "solitude" tell you about the lighthouse keeper's life?
That it was a lonely and quiet life, with little human contact.
Compare the purposes of both passages.
Both aim to inform, but one focuses on the structure and technology (lighthouse), and the other on the people who ran them.
Contrast how technology is described in both passages.
One describes how it advanced lighthouses; the other talks about how keepers had to do everything by hand.
Predict how maritime (ship) navigation might have changed without lighthouses.
Ships would have faced more accidents and shipwrecks due to not knowing where dangers like rocks and shorelines were located.
Compare the main ideas of both passages. What do they have in common?
Both show how lighthouses and their caretakers were important in keeping sailors safe.
How does the vocabulary in both passages contribute to the tone?
It helps create a serious, respectful tone by using words like “crucial,” “beacon,” and “solitude” to show importance and sacrifice.
How well does each author achieve their purpose?
Very well—they use clear facts and examples to help readers understand both the technology and the human role behind lighthouse safety.
How did technology change the role of the lighthouse keeper?
It made many of their tasks unnecessary by automating the lights, which reduced the need for full-time keepers.