Lesson video

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Hi there.

My name is Mr. Byrne-Smith.

And today we're going to be doing some English together.

In particular today, we're going to be looking at subject specific vocabulary.

So we're going to have a really good opportunity to develop and create a whole variety of fantastic words, all relevant and appropriate for the non-chronological report that we're going to write soon.

It's going to be lots and lots of fun.

So let's make a start.

Here's the agenda for today's lesson.

First, we'll have a quick introduction, then we'll generate and use some subject-specific vocabulary.

After that we'll have a go at today's task.

In this lesson, you will need an exercise book or paper, a pencil and of course your brain.

If you need to go off and get any of these things, pause the video now.

Okay.

Let's remind ourselves about what's required in a non-chronological report.

Firstly, we need to ask ourselves what is subject-specific vocabulary? After all, today's lesson is all about subject-specific vocabulary.

Subject-specific vocabulary are words and phrases that are linked to a specific subject or topic.

This means that they're unfamiliar words that you would not read in everyday texts, words that you are unlikely to come across, unless you're really looking into a particular subject.

They're often scientific or formal or both.

Here we have three texts.

These are all examples of non-fiction texts.

All of these would contain subject-specific vocabulary.

The subject-specific vocabulary is specific to the subject being discussed in the text.

We have here, Creatures of the Deep, 100 facts, Ancient Greece and Human Body.

In Creatures of the Deep you're likely to come across words, which relate specifically to deep sea creatures.

In Ancient Greece, you're likely to come across words which relate to Ancient Greece and the same goes for Human Body.

When we create a non-chronological report of our own, we have to consider the vocabulary we choose very carefully.

We want it to sound scientific and formal and we want it to sound specific to the subject being discussed.

Here's a piece of text.

This text is taken from the Polar Bear non-chronological report that we've already looked at.

I'm going to read it out loud.

I'd like you to see if you can spot any subject vocabulary.

Polar Bears.

Polar bears are one of the largest land animals in the world.

Their bodies have ingenious adaptations to help them survive in their Arctic habitat and hunt for prey.

Did you know they can measure up to three metres and way up to 800 kilogrammes? This fascinating creature can be found in many countries across the globe, Russia, Greenland, Norway and Canada.

Read on to find out more interesting information about this amazing animals appearance and diet.

Okay.

I'll let you to pause the video and have a careful think.

Where's the subject specific vocab? Pause the video now.

Okay.

So if we look carefully, we can spot the vocabulary that is specific to polar bears or at least to animals and the science surrounding the animal kingdom.

Land animals is something you're only likely to find in a text that talks explicitly about animals.

Same goes to ingenious adaptations, Arctic habitat and prey.

These are all good examples of subject-specific vocabulary.

Some of these, in fact, we'll be able to use in our text.

Certainly adaptations and prey.

Okay, it's time for us to generate and use some of our own subject-specific vocabulary.

The first thing we need to do is think about and remind ourselves of the subject that we're going to be looking into.

We're going to be writing a non-chronological report all about the anglerfish.

My turn, your turn.

Anglerfish.

An anglerfish is a fish found in the depths of the ocean.

Right at the bottom, right on the sea floor.

Now down on the sea floor, it's a very hostile and harsh environment.

So not many things can survive.

One of the creatures that can survive is the anglerfish.

We going to find out lot more about the anglerfish over the coming lessons.

But first we need to get in the mood and have a think about the kind of adjectives we might use to describe this peculiar creature.

Over the thousands and thousands of years, the anglerfish has adapted to suit its environment.

And therefore it has a number of strange looking features that help it survive.

We're going to be writing a text about the anglerfish, an non-chrono report.

And we need to imagine that it's the kind of text that would feature in a book like this one.

We're going to imagine that what we write would be published in a book just like this, Creatures of the Deep.

If we get ourselves in that state of mind, then we'll be able to produce something really fantastic, very accurate and very scientific sounding.

Here it is.

This is the anglerfish.

This is a drawing of the anglerfish.

Now you can come across images, photographs of the anglerfish.

I really recommend you look them up.

They're quite hard to come by because the anglerfish lives so deep down.

They're actually quite hard to locate and quite hard to photograph, but photographs do exist.

Now you can already notice a number of strange things about this peculiar fish.

I'll like you to pause the video and have a think about each of the strange aspects of this creature.

Pause the video now.

Okay, so while I was doing that, I spotted straight away the thing coming up off its head.

So we're going to need to think about that because definitely, definitely worth noting.

Then there's the size and shape of its mouth with those enormous long teeth.

Now those teeth are actually slightly translucent, which means see through and they're incredibly sharp.

I'm also noticing that beading of an eye.

Something about that eye that makes me think it's very well adapted to the dark depths of the ocean.

The other things I've noticed are the fins, which actually ,they don't look that impressive.

I've got a feeling that this is the kind of fish that doesn't rely on speed.

I think it relies on other techniques when it comes to catching prey.

Now I've decided that this must be the kind of fish that catches prey purely based on those teeth.

Those teeth seem as though they have adapted to capture and to devour other living things.

Now we're going to have to see, cause maybe I'm wrong.

We're going to research this for ourselves.

But that's what I'm getting just off this picture alone.

Okay.

We're going to think today about a variety of vocabulary which could be used to describe this creature.

We're going to think about the appearance, the diet and the habitat.

I'm actually going to give you lots of really fabulous, fantastic words.

Before I do that, I've got a challenge for you.

I'd like you to pause the video in a second and think about which word you might use to describe the appearance of this creature, that diet of this creature and the habitat of this creature.

Now, since we haven't looked into it in depth, don't worry if you can't come up with many, this is just a really nice starting point.

When we come up with adjectives for non-chronological report, we need to make sure that they're appropriate.

So we're probably not going to use words like pretty or beautiful or ugly or weird.

That kind of vocabulary is far too informal.

It's also opinion-based.

So that's on the basis of what I believe.

Now non-fiction and non-chronological reports in particular are not based on opinion, they are based on fact.

So we need to use adjectives that describe the animal accurately and scientifically, that's really important.

Okay.

See which words you can come up with.

Pause the video now.

Okay.

First, we're going to think about the appearance of our creature.

The first word we're going to look at is species.

My turn, your turn.

Species.

Now first, I'm going to give you the definition.

That means the meaning of the word.

Species is a group of organisms consisting of similar individuals.

So when I refer to this species, I'm talking about the anglerfish.

Other species I might refer to are other fish or other animals that inhabit the planet.

Next we're going to look at synonyms. These are words you might use in place of the word species.

These words mean the same thing.

Type, kind and category.

This type of fish, this kind of fish, this category of fish.

Finally, I'm going to give you a sentence with this word being used.

The anglerfish is one of the strangest species of deep sea creature.

Okay.

Really good start.

The word species is the kind of word that you can use quite frequently in report, especially useful as a synonym for anglerfish.

To save ourselves having to say, anglerfish again and again and again.

We can say things like this bizarre species or this peculiar species.

Adaptation.

An adaptation is a change by which an organism becomes better suited to its environment.

Organisms change over time so that they can work and live healthily and well in the environment they're born into.

You can see that the anglerfish has adapted lots and lots and lots over, the thousands and thousands and thousands of years in order to survive in the hostile habitat of the deep.

Here's some synonyms for adaptation.

Change and modification.

These are also nouns.

So you can say that the anglerfish has a number of strange changes or variety of peculiar modifications.

Powerful fins are just one of many amazing adaptations.

Camouflage.

Camouflage can be used as a noun.

In this instance, we're using it as a verb.

In a non-chrono report about animals, it's really useful to use this as a verb.

It means to hide or disguise the presence of something.

Sometimes the presence of yourself.

Synonyms are disguise, hide and conceal.

And here it is in a sentence.

The dark scales of an anglerfish allow them to camouflage against the seafloor.

So disguise themselves against the seafloor.

Species, adaptation and camouflage.

What I'd like you to do now is try each of these words in a sentence.

Which I'd like you to write down.

Each of these sentences should describe the anglerfish in some way, shape or form.

Pause the video now.

Okay.

Our next three words are going to be all about the anglerfish's diet.

The first word is prey.

My turn, your turn.

Prey.

This means an animal that is hunted and killed by another for food.

Now the anglerfish is a carnivore, which means it eats other animals.

The anglerfish's prey of the things or the animal that it eats.

Synonyms for this word are victim or kill.

In these instances used as nouns.

Here's a sentence.

The anglerfish uses its many adaptations to hunt its prey.

Now its prey might be other small fish.

It might be small crustaceans, these are shellfish or cephalopods, such things like squid.

Predator.

Now I like think of predator almost as the opposite of prey.

So a predator is an animal that hunting kills other animals for food.

The anglerfish is a predator.

It hunts and kills other animals for food.

Synonyms for this word are hunter and attacker.

Here is in a sentence.

This fearsome predator feeds on a variety of other organisms. Carnivore.

Carnivore.

A carnivore is an animal that feeds only on other animals.

This has already come up.

A synonym for this is meat eater.

Here it is in a sentence.

The diet of this peculiar carnivore features only meat.

This is another really useful synonym for anglerfish.

We can use this in place of the term anglerfish to vary the way in which we refer to it.

So here they are.

We have prey, predator, carnivore.

I'd like you to try each of these in a sentence.

Remember the sentences should refer to the anglerfish.

Pause the video now and have a go.

Okay, the third about three categories is habitat.

We're going to see if we can come up with some vocabulary for the anglerfishes habitat.

My turn, your turn.

Habitat.

So I think the first word we should define is habitat itself.

Not only, so we have a better understanding of what this means, but also so we can use it in our own writing.

This word is actually very useful when discussing the home of an anglerfish.

Habitat means the natural home of a living thing.

Synonyms for this word are, home, surroundings and environment.

Here it is in a sentence.

The anglerfish is found in one of the world's most hostile habitats.

A hostile habitat is one that it's difficult to live in.

Territory.

The territory is an area that an animal inhabits and defends.

So normally when we talk about territory, we talk and think about an area that is defended.

So we're thinking about animals here that are aggressive against all the animals, which stray into its habitat.

Synonyms to this word are, area, region and domain.

And here I've put it in a sentence.

These peculiar fish defend their territory fiercely against others.

Lastly, we have conditions.

Conditions.

Conditions are the features of an environment that affect how something lives.

Synonyms for this word are, surroundings, circumstances and environment.

And I've put it in a sentence.

The harsh conditions of the deep ocean make it difficult for anything to survive.

So our three words, habitat, territory and conditions.

I'd like you to try using each of these in a sentence.

Remember, try and make it about the anglerfish.

Pause the video now.

Okay.

Time for today's task.

What I'd like you to do is write a paragraph about the anglerfish, using the vocabulary that you've learned in this lesson.

To a certain extent you've already done this.

You might want to combine some of those ideas or put them in an order which makes and create a coherent paragraph all about the anglerfish.

If you'd like to structure your paragraph carefully, I recommend starting with appearance, moving on to diet and finally talking about habitat.

If you'd rather pick just three or four of these words to focus on and expand on, that's fine too.

I've put them here so that we can remind ourselves of what they were.

Appearance, species, adaptation, camouflage.

Diet, prey, predator, carnival.

Habitat, habitat, territory conditions.

Now you might find that some of these words can be contained within the same sentence.

Don't feel as though you have to write a separate sentence for each of these.

Some of these go really nicely along side each other.

So don't be afraid of combining ideas and combining words, which work well together.

Pause the video and have a go.

Okay.

Well done.

That's the end of the lesson.

These are the things we've covered.

First, we had an introduction that we generated and used in subject-specific vocabulary before finally having a go at our task.

Which is quite a lot, so well done.

Congratulations for all of your hard work and that's the end of the lesson.

Bye.

I've finished the video