Claims and Evidence
This is the CLAIM: Predicting the future is valuable.
What is the evidence?
A. “Rather than texting and video chatting, you’ll be able to send thoughts directly from your brain into your friends’ brains!”
B. “In fact, it’s become an important discipline, essential to the work of government officials and business leaders around the globe.”
C. “Others have been hilariously weird—like that by 2022, animals would be doing all our chores.”
D. “Space travel will be commonplace, like going to the beach or park.”
B. “In fact, it’s become an important discipline, essential to the work of government officials and business leaders around the globe.”
What do you think the speaker’s attitude about the future is?
the speaker admires humankind’s curiosity, sense of wonder, and ever-evolving knowledge. At the same time, the speaker knows that sometimes there will be darkness and that we can never be certain about what the future holds.
In “Welcome to 2122!,” authors Adee Braun and Kristin Lewis’s tone could best be described as _____.
A. concerned B. enthusiastic C. indifferent D. unsure
B. enthusiastic
Would destroying all pests have been a good solution? Why or why not?
Destroying all pests would have been a bad solution. While flies, mosquitoes, and other insects may be pests to us, they play an important role in their ecosystems as they are food for many other creatures. Destroying them by draining swamplands and chemically treating streams would also cause great damage to the environment.
Both articles make predictions about the future regarding _____. Choose THREE.
A. food and agriculture
B. transportation
C. money
D. communication
A. food and agriculture
B. transportation
D. communication
Here is the EVIDENCE: 1. “That’s why insects will be a major part of your diet. They’re packed with protein and take far fewer resources to raise than traditional sources of protein, like chickens and cows.” 2. “Whatever you flush will be recycled and turned into energy to heat and cool your home.”
What is the CLAIM?:
A. It’s impossible to predict the future.
B. We will do less harm to the environment in the future.
C. We will spend too much time online in the future.
B. We will do less harm to the environment in the future.
Who is the “we” in lines 2 and 6?
The “we” in the poem is humankind.
Braun and Lewis write that predicting the future has become “essential to the work of government officials and business leaders.”
Which is the definition of essential?
A. possible; available as a choice
B. extremely important or necessary
C. lesser in importance, seriousness, or significance
D. producing a great deal of profit
B. extremely important or necessary
What do “condensed words” and “condensed ideas” remind you of?
Condensed words and ideas might remind you of the texting slang and abbreviations, emojis, and gifs that are used for text messaging and online communication today.
The title and the last line of the poem are the same: “What is yet to be is but a guess.” Would Braun and Lewis agree?
They acknowle that even today, predictions involve some amount of guesswork, but they are stating that there is more of a science to predicting the future than there used to be. Braun and Lewis might amend the last line of Dotlich’s poem to say, “what is yet to be is somewhat of a guess.”
Here is the CLAIM: The authors of “Welcome to 2122!” sound excited about what the future holds.
What is the Evidence?:
A.“You’ll cheer for machines that have been built and programmed to play a sport. The games will be thrilling spectacles! And guess what? This has already started.”
B. “For example, after researching transportation, a futurist might anticipate that most people will one day use driverless cars.”
A.“You’ll cheer for machines that have been built and programmed to play a sport. The games will be thrilling spectacles! And guess what? This has already started.”
What do you think the speaker means by “there is both dreaming/and waking in the dark”? What might the dark represent?
Dreams are thoughts and visions that occur while we sleep, or if we’re awake, fantasies of pleasing things that may happen or goals we hope to achieve. “Waking in the dark” sounds unpleasant, like waking up from a bad dream or nightmare. Perhaps darkness represents difficult times when we are filled with misunderstanding, confusion, or disappointment.
Braun and Lewis state, “The global population will have increased by about 2 billion people.”
This fact is used to _____.
A. convince people to eat insects
B. support the idea that new food sources will be needed
C. explain why futurists are needed
D. describe what our complex civilization will look like
B. support the idea that new food sources will be needed
Where do our fruits and vegetables come from?
Our fruits and vegetables often come from all over the country and the world. For example, in most U.S. grocery stores, people are able to purchase avocados from Mexico and bananas from Central and South America all year long.
If aliens were to come to Earth and read these three texts, would they conclude that humans are generally pessimistic or optimistic? Why?
the future is a wonderful place where we will have solved many of our current problems and made life more pleasant—so aliens would probably conclude that humans are generally optimistic.
YOUR TURN!
Will the predicted developments in virtual reality be beneficial?
● State your claim.
● Support your claim with a piece of text evidence. (As Braun and Lewis explain, _____.)
● Explain how the evidence supports your claim. (This shows that ____.)
The predicted developments in virtual reality technology may not be entirely beneficial. As Braun and Lewis explain, “Some people will spend a lot of time in the virtual world, unplugging only to eat and sleep.” This shows that some people may end up spending too much time in the virtual reality universe. While walking with dinosaurs across a grassy virtual plain sounds amazing, we need to be mindful not to disconnect from the real world and people around us too much.
The fourth stanza states that “the world watches” the compass, the map, the microscope, the telescope, and the sketch. What kinds of items are these? What could the world learn from watching them?
The compass and the map allow us to explore, find our way, and chart new territory. The microscope and the telescope allow us to look at things more closely. A sketch is a rough drawing or outline of something, often a beginning study or view of something. By paying attention to these items, the world can solve the mysteries and challenges it is presented with.
Which lines support that the authors are enthusiastic about the future? Choose THREE.
A. “Crack in the road? Watch it repair itself!”
B. “Giant space gardens will produce breathable air and delicious food.”
C. “The games will be thrilling spectacles!”
D. “For example, after researching transportation, a futurist might anticipate that most people will one day use driverless cars.”
A. “Crack in the road? Watch it repair itself!”
B. “Giant space gardens will produce breathable air and delicious food.”
C. “The games will be thrilling spectacles!”
What part of the prediction about tubes delivering packages turned out to be true?
Today, airplanes and trucks collect, transport, and deliver packages over great distances very quickly.
What are some possible negative aspects of the predicted developments in technology?
Having the ability to communicate brain to brain could lead to major invasions of privacy; playing virtual reality games to the point that we unplug only to eat and sleep would be unhealthy and cause us to lose touch with reality and one another; robots could become so intelligent that they take over the world; if going to space becomes commonplace, we may not care as much about problems that still need solving here on Earth.
According to “Welcome to 2122!,” in what ways will we become more eco-friendly in the future?
According to “Welcome to 2122!,” we will become more eco-friendly in the future by changing the way we eat, the way we light our homes, the efficiency of four cities, and even what we do with human waste. Authors Adee Braun and Kristin Lewis explain that in the future, we will all be eating insects. This will be an eco-friendly move because insects require far fewer resources to raise than the sources of protein many of us consume now, such as chickens and cows. The authors also explain that in the future, some of our light will come from glowing plants rather than from light bulbs that require power and can be harmful to the environment. Our cities, the authors state, will be highly efficient with roads made of self-healing concrete, solar-powered highways that charge cars as they drive, and underground farms in apartment buildings. You can conclude that these farms will greatly reduce the need to package, store, and transport food, all of which can harm the environment. Finally, Braun and Lewis explain, the waste we flush down the toilet “will be recycled and turned into energy to heat and cool” our homes.
Why do you think the poet chose the verbs scrawled and scratched? What feelings do they evoke?
The words scrawled and scratched evoke feelings of rushing, excitement, frenzy, feverishness, etc. The poet may have chosen them to evoke the idea of someone feverishly trying to figure something out or making an exciting discovery.
How do the authors and editors make the article easy for readers to follow?
predictions listed, bold/capital letters summary, photos and captions allow readers to take in several predictions at a glance.
What magazine are the predictions in this article originally from?
Ladies Home Journal
Do you think making predictions about the future is important? Why or why not?
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