Scanning and skimming are two different reading techniques used to gather information quickly from a text.

1. Scanning: The purpose of scanning is to locate specific information in a text. When scanning, we move our eyes quickly down the paragraph or text, searching for specific keywords, dates, names, or figures.  It is effective when we search for a particular piece of information without reading the whole text.

Example: "Imagine you have a phone bill and you're scanning it to find how much data you used last month. You don't read everything, just the part where it mentions "data usage."

You're looking through a history book to find the exact date of a historical event, like when World War II ended. You look for the year "1945."

2. Skimming: The purpose of skimming is to get a general overview of the content. When skimming, we read the headings, subheadings, introductory paragraphs, and sometimes the first sentence of each paragraph to understand the main ideas instantly. It is useful when we need to have a general idea of the content without going into details.

Example:  You pick up a news article and skim through it to see if it's worth reading in full. You glance at the title, read the first few lines, and check the subheadings to get the general story.

You're flipping through a research paper to see if it's relevant to your topic. You skim the abstract, headings, and conclusion to see if it matches your needs.