6.2 Central Idea and Supporting Details

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Notes

The central idea (main idea) is the most important point of a text. Supporting details are facts, examples and explanations that develop it.

The central idea is often in the introduction or a topic sentence, but sometimes it is implied.
Test: Does every paragraph connect to it?
Supporting details include statistics, examples, quotations, anecdotes and descriptions.
A detail that is interesting but small is not the central idea.
Example: "Bees pollinate about a third of the crops we eat. Without them, foods like apples and almonds would become scarce. Protecting bees protects our food supply." Central idea: Bees are vital to our food supply.

Practice

"Sleep helps the brain store memories. Teens who sleep less than seven hours often score lower on tests. Lack of sleep also weakens the immune system." The central idea is:

In the passage above, "Teens who sleep less than seven hours often score lower on tests" is a:

"Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for about three hours. Cans can be recycled again and again. Recycling also reduces trash in landfills." Which sentence would best state the central idea?

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