Lesson video

Hi, everybody.

It's Ms. Gardner, and welcome to today's vocabulary lesson.

In today's lesson, we are going to be looking at vocabulary that we can use to describe mountains.

We'll be looking at a range of adjectives and nouns all associated with mountain.

So these words might be useful if you're writing a setting descriptions set in the mountains, or maybe some nonfiction writing, information text about a mountain range perhaps.

All of these words will be really useful for that kind of writing.

So thank you for joining today's lesson.

I really hope you enjoy it.

So let's get started.

Your learning outcome for today's lesson is to effectively use the words precipitous, towering, and other rich vocabulary associated with the mountains.

Let's start by looking at the key words.

We'll do my turn, your turn.

Noun.

A noun is a naming word for people, places, or things.

Adjective.

An adjective is a word that describes a noun.

Synonym.

A synonym is a word that has the same or similar meaning to another word.

Word pair, these are words that often appear together.

There are three sections of our lesson today.

In the first, we'll be learning our first new word associated with the mountains.

Then we'll be learning our second new word associated with the mountains.

And in our third learning cycle, we'll be learning four new mountain words.

So let's start with our first new mountain word.

Before I reveal what the word is, can you look really closely at what is happening in this picture? Where is Bernice? How does she seem? What is she doing? In a moment, you can pause the video and discuss this with your partner, your class, whoever you're with, or just have some thinking time.

Pause the video now.

Okay, so what is happening in this picture? Well, clearly, we're very high up, aren't we? Because there's a plane going past at the same level as Bernice.

So clearly she's very high up on some mountain.

She looks very scared.

She's clearly trying to edge down the mountain and looks like a bit of rock has just kind of fallen off.

It's almost vertical this mountain, isn't it? She's really having to be careful.

So we can describe the mountain as being precipitous.

My turn, your turn.

Precipitous.

Precipitous is an adjective, and it means steep or dangerously high, like the edge of a very scary mountain.

So Bernice is climbing down a precipitous edge of a mountain.

A precipitous mountain is really, really steep and really, really high.

Other meanings, other ways we can use precipitous is describe something as sudden and dramatic.

These words are synonyms of precipitous when we're using it to describe in the context of a mountain.

We'll do my turn, your turn.

Steep.

Sharp.

Sudden.

A sudden drop down a mountain is a really steep drop down the mountain.

Here's the word in a sentence.

With trembling legs, Bernice started to climb carefully down the precipitous cliff.

So she's on a cliff in this picture.

You can see she's very nervous, so she has trembling legs because it's so precipitous and steep.

These words are word pairs of precipitous.

I'll read them out loud first, and then we'll pause the video and you can say them because we know it's important to not just see and hear the word pairs, but also say them ourself to make sure we remember them.

Precipitous mountain side, so that's the side of the mountain which is really steep.

Precipitous cliff.

Precipitous descent.

The descent is the way down a mountain.

So if it's a steep descent or precipitous descent, it's a really steep journey down.

Precipitous slope.

The slope of the mountain is at the surface of the mountain, and it's really precipitous and steep.

A precipitous ravine.

A ravine is like a valley or a gorge, which has really steep sides.

It goes really down low below the ground.

And then a precipitous crag.

A crag is a part for cliff or a mountain which is particularly steep.

So precipitous crag is a really useful word pair if we're describing parts of the mountain.

So now pause the video and off you go, saying aloud the word pairs.

Okay, well done.

Let's check for understanding.

Which of these is a synonym of precipitous? A, steep, B, flat, or C descent.

Pause the video now.

It is A, steep.

It couldn't be B, flat.

That's an antonym, an opposite meaning.

And C, descent, is a word pair.

You'd say the precipitous descent.

Well done.

It's time for task a.

You need to complete the word map for the word precipitous.

First thing you need to do is circle the synonym, so words which have a similar meaning to precipitous.

Precipitous is an adjective, so that means the synonyms will also be adjectives.

You could use the sentence to help you.

With trembling legs, Bernice started to climb carefully down the precipitous cliff.

If you replace the word precipitous with another word and the sentence still makes sense, then it's most likely a synonym.

For example, steep.

with trembling legs, Bernice started to climb carefully down the steep cliff.

That sentence still makes sense because steep is a synonym.

Then you'll draw lines to the word pairs.

So words that could be described as precipitous, the precipitous mountain side, for example.

Pause video now and off you go completing the word map.

Well done.

Let's go through it.

So our synonyms for precipitous were sudden, sharp, and steep.

Our word pairs, the precipitous cliff, precipitous descent, precipitous mountainside, precipitous slope, precipitous ravine, and a precipitous crack.

Well done.

Now we're going to learn our second new word associated with the mountains.

Before I reveal what the word is, have a look at this picture.

What is happening? What can you see? You can use these sentence starters to help you.

I can see or Armie is.

what's Armie doing? What's he looking up at? And let's describe the mountain as well.

The mountain is.

Pause video now and off you go, thinking about describing what is happening in this picture.

Okay, well done.

What do you think the word might be? So we're looking at the mountain here.

It's really big.

It's much taller than Armie.

Armie's looking up at it and it seems to be way taller than him.

It's looming over him.

And the mountain is so high up that actually the tip of it is in the amongst the clouds.

It's really, really tall mountain.

So we can describe the mountain as towering.

My turn, your turn.

Towering.

Towering is an adjective which means extremely tall, like a mountain looming over you.

The mountain in the picture is towering over Armie.

It's a towering mountain because it's so tall.

These words are synonyms of towering.

They have similar meaning, so they're also going to be adjectives.

We'll do my turn, your turn.

Tall.

Lofty.

Lofty means extremely tall.

Soaring.

Soaring.

It's so high up because it's so tall.

Here's the word in a sentence.

Armie looked up at the towering peak that seemed to almost touch the clouds.

You can see the peak of the mountain, the top of the mountain is so tall and towering that it's amongst the clouds in the picture.

These words are word pairs of towering, so words that could be described as towering.

I'll read them aloud first and then you can have a go at saying them as well.

The towering peak, that's the top of the mountain, really tall and towering.

Towering mountain, A towering cliff.

You could also use the word towering to describe a figure or a person.

The towering figure, really, really tall and imposing.

The towering skyscraper.

There's office buildings and cities, which are really, really tall.

And then finally, this one's a little different, towering rage.

Rage is anger.

So a towering rage is an anger that is so extreme, so big that it's so tall that you can describe it as towering.

I felt a towering rage when I was stuck in the traffic jam for hours.

So now pause the video and off you go saying the word pairs.

Well done.

Okay, let's check for understanding.

Which of these words is a word pair of towering? A, lofty, B rage, or C floor.

Pause the video now.

Okay, it is B, towering rage, that really extreme big feeling of anger.

Lofty is a synonym.

It means really tall as well.

And you wouldn't be able to describe sea floor as towering.

The floor isn't towering 'cause it's on the ground.

It's really low down.

Well done.

Okay, it's time to complete the word map for towering.

Just like in task A, you need to circle the synonyms, so the words which have a similar meaning to towering.

and then you need to draw lines to the word pairs.

Remember, you can use a sentence to help you.

Armie looked up at the towering peak that seemed to almost touch the clouds.

If you can replace the word towering in the sentence and the sentence still makes sense, then that word is probably a synonym.

So pause the video now and off you go.

Well done, everybody.

Okay, so let's go through it.

Our synonyms for towering are lofty, really, really tall.

Tall, and soaring.

The word pairs.

Towering peak, the peak of the mountain, the top of the mountain.

Towering mountain, towering skyscraper, towering rage, towering cliff, and towering figure.

Well done.

Now we're going to write a sentence using either the word precipitous or towering.

Make sure you use the word pairs to help you.

Here are the word pairs for precipitous and for towering.

First thing you need to do is choose which adjective you want to use.

Then choose your word pair.

For example, you could say the towering figure.

The towering figure walked silently through the streets.

However, I really want you to try and be as ambitious as you can with this sentence.

Maybe you could include a non-finite clause.

Maybe you could use show, not tell language or figurative language.

Or, could you even include a relative clause? So pause video now and off you go.

Well done, everybody.

Great job.

Could you help me here? Can you help me check that this sentence uses towering correctly.

Yesterday, Grit was in a towering rage.

Have I used towering correctly? I have, haven't I? Rage is a word pair, and I've said that yesterday grit was in a towering rage.

However, I didn't use a relative clause.

So let's improve this sentence.

Grit, who was in a towering rage, waved his fist angrily in the air as the traffic jam became worse and worse.

So now I have used my relative clause, who relative claw, to add extra detail and information to this sentence.

So pause the video now, read back through your sentence, and think about how effective it is in using the word towering or precipitous.

Pause video now.

Great job.

It's time for the third learning cycle where we're going to be learning four new words associated with the mountains.

Here are some pictures.

Can you predict what each word may be? I'm going to talk through it.

And as I'm doing that, you can be thinking about what the word might be.

So in the first picture, we have some rocks that are sticking out of the water.

They look quite jagged, quite sharp.

It looks like maybe the cliff face of the coast.

These rocks are not very smooth.

In fact, they're quite rough, aren't they? And different sizes and shapes.

So how could we describe those.

In the second picture, Grit is lowering himself down.

He's got a helmet on.

He's abseiling down this crack in the middle of the snow.

I wonder if you'd know what the noun is to describe that, what that crack is.

In the third picture, Mrs. Wordsmith has reached the top of a mountain and planted her flag.

It's a noun, this word.

What is the top of the mountain? And then in the final picture, Plato is on a ski lift and is holding on really, really tightly in case he falls and drops down the mountain.

He doesn't want to fall, drop down the mountain 'cause the mountain looks really maybe quite dangerous, really high up.

So how could we describe that mountain? So pause the video now and off you go thinking about what each word may be.

Okay, so let's go through them.

We'll do my turn, your turn for each word.

Our first picture was rugged.

Rugged.

Rugged is an adjective which means rough, uneven, or craggy, like a stretch of coast full of big jagged rocks.

Our next picture is crevasse.

Crevasse.

Crevasse is a noun and it is a crack or a deep hole, a huge pit that you can fall into and never climb out of again.

A crevasse is usually found in a snowy or mountainous landscape.

And you can see in that picture that Grit is lowering himself down, deep down into the crevasse.

Our third picture is summit.

Summit.

Again, this is a noun and this is the top or peak, the very highest point of a mountain where you can plant your flag.

For example, when people climb Mount Everest and they reach the summit, they plant their flag as to signify that they've made it to the top.

Then our final picture is steep.

Steep.

Steep is an adjective, which means sharp or vertical, like the big snowy drop beneath a ski lift.

So a really steep drop is very sharp and vertical.

A flat drop would be less scary to fall on because you wouldn't be able to keep rolling down.

Okay, let's check for understanding.

Can you match the adjective to the correct image? Pause the video now.

Okay, so crevasse.

This is the picture of Grit lowering himself down that pit in the hole, the crack in the surface, in the in the ground.

Rugged is the coastline, the rugged coastline with those sharp, jagged rocks.

Steep.

The mountain below Plato is really steep and sharp.

And then summit, the very top of the mountain, the highest point.

Well done.

Okay, it's time for task C.

We're gonna complete our first word map for the word summit.

Just like in task A and task B, you need to circle the synonyms and draw lines to the word pairs.

This time though we won't have gone through the word pairs and the synonyms beforehand.

So you are going to be working them out independently.

You can use the picture to help you and the definition, also your knowledge of synonyms and word pairs, and the sentence will be really useful.

So here's a sentence for the word summit.

Mrs. Wordsmith reached the summit of the mountain, and she stuck a flag in the ground.

Remember, synonyms are the same word class.

Summit is a noun.

So the synonyms will also be a noun.

If you can replace the word summit in the sentence with another word, and the sentence still makes sense, then that word is most likely a synonym.

Pause video now and off you go.

Well done.

Okay, let's go through these.

Synonyms for summit were the other nouns, top, peak, and crest.

These are all the top parts, the highest parts of the mountain.

Your word pairs are all verbs.

You can reach the summit.

That means if you've reached the summit, you've arrived, you're there.

Approach the summit.

That means you are about to reach it, you're approaching it.

Climb the summit.

A verb to describe how you're moving up the mountain to climb to the summit.

If you've conquered the summit, that means you've made it.

You've reached it.

You've won, basically.

Ascend the summit.

Ascend is a synonym for climb, you're climbing up, you're moving up the mountain to ascend the summit.

And then attempt the summit.

If you're going to attempt to summit Mount Everest, that means you're going to attempt to reach the very top.

You might not make it 'cause it could be too challenging, but you're going to attempt it.

Okay, well done.

Now we're going to complete the word map for the word crevasse.

Remember, crevasse is a noun.

So the synonyms will also be a noun.

Here's the sentence to help you.

Grit slowly lowered himself into the deep, dark crevasse.

Pause the video now and off you go.

Well done.

Let's go through these.

Which are synonyms of crevasse? Crack, chasm, that means like a hole, and deep hole.

Then the word pairs for crevasse, you could describe it as a dark crevasse, bottomless crevasse.

You have no idea where the bottom of the crevasse is.

It could go on for metres and metres.

It's bottomless.

The treacherous crevasse.

Treacherous means dangerous.

It's dangerous because it's really deep and you don't know how you're gonna get back up.

The narrow crevasse.

You don't want to fall down a narrow crevasse 'cause it could get stuck.

The dangerous crevasse, just like treacherous.

Hidden crevasse, often crevasses are really hidden because they're covered in snow so you don't see them.

That's why you have to be really careful when you're walking in these snowy landscapes.

And then the gaping crevasse, a bit like a gaping hole, it's open.

Well done.

Now you're going to complete the word map for the word rugged.

Here's a sentence to help you.

Grit got into danger when he encountered the rugged coastline, Maybe Grit was on a boat and then he hit one of those sharp rocks on the rugged coastline.

His broke boat broke, and then he was in danger, and it was those rugged, jagged rocks that caused that.

So now pause the video and off you go, circling the synonyms and drawing lines to the word pairs.

Okay, well done.

Let's go through this.

Our synonyms of rugged are rough, craggy.

So craggy, lots of sharp and uneven rocks.

And uneven.

If it was even, all the rocks would be the exact same size, but it's rugged and uneven, so you don't know.

There might be some under the water.

Some of the rocks might appear up.

It's uneven.

Then your word pairs.

A rugged landscape.

That's the view of the outdoors, that rugged landscape.

Rugged scenery.

In that picture there, the coastline you could describe as having rugged scenery.

The rugged coastline, the cliffs along the coast, along by the sea.

This is a little bit different here.

You could also just use rugged to describe beauty.

A rugged beauty, that means it's a bit rough around the edges.

It's not like a really perfect, flawless beauty, but a bit of a rugged beauty.

Rugged terrain.

Terrain is the ground.

A rugged terrain, it's very up and down, maybe lots of rocks, and gaps, and holes.

It's not very smooth.

A rugged exterior.

You could describe a building as having a rugged exterior.

That means, again, it's not flawless and perfectly painted or in perfect condition.

Maybe it's looking a little bit rough.

Rugged features.

You could describe a person as having rugged features.

Again, maybe a little bit rough, uneven, not perfect.

well done.

Now you're going to complete the word map for the word steep.

Here's your sentence to help you.

Armie gripped tightly onto the poles as he looked down at the steep drop.

It's really steep.

Remember, steep is an adjective.

So that means your synonyms are also going to be adjectives which have a similar meaning.

And if you can use them in the sentence and still the sentence makes sense, then they're most likely a synonym.

Pause the video now and off you go.

Well done.

Let's go through this.

Our synonyms for steep are sharp, vertical.

Vertical means basically straight up like that.

And precipitous, one of our words from earlier in the lesson, really steep and sharp.

Word pairs.

The steep stairs.

You might have climbed up steep stairs on a walk, and they're really, really tiring, aren't they? Because they're so vertical.

A steep slope on a mountain, a steep drop, a vertical drop, like in the picture below Plato.

A steep path.

Especially if we're going for a walk along the cliffs or the mountains, the path you could describe as being really steep, It'd be quite tiring to climb up.

A steep climb.

A steep climb is a really tough vertical climb.

A steep angle.

A steep hillside.

Again, a bit like a mountain side, a steep hillside.

And then a steep ascent.

If it's a really steep ascent, that's a tough ascent.

It's vertical.

It's going to be really challenging.

If it was a flat ascent, then it wouldn't be so hard because we're not walking uphill.

Well done.

Now it's time for our final task of the lesson where you need to fill in the gaps with either the word precipitous, towering, crevasse, summit, bugged, or steep.

I'll read the sentences out now.

And as I'm reading, you can be thinking about which word can go in each sentence.

Remember, two of our words are nouns.

So use that.

Making sure you're thinking about that when you're filling in the missing words, They need to make sense in the sentence as a noun.

The dark mm was dangerous because it was hidden in the ice.

The mm descent was almost vertical.

So Grit used ropes to get down.

The landscape had a mm beauty with sharp rocks and wind-beaten trees.

Armie was sure he could conquer the mm by midday.

Yin and Yang rolled down the hmm hillside at incredible speed.

Brick looked up at the hmm cliffs that were taller than any others he'd seen.

You can use the word maps from earlier in the lesson to help you with this, and the word pairs in particular will be very helpful.

So pause the video now and off you go.

Well done, everybody.

Let's go through these.

Now, some of the words are quite similar in the meaning.

So if you found that you've put the word in another sentence and the sentence still makes sense, I'm sure that's fine, but here are the answers that I have.

The dark crevasse was dangerous because it was hidden in the ice.

The precipitous descent was almost vertical, so Grit used ropes to get down.

You could also maybe have said the steep descent.

The landscape had a rugged beauty with sharp rocks and wind-beaten trees.

Armie was sure he could conquer the summit by midday.

Yin and Yang rolled down the steep hillside at incredible speed.

Brick looked up at the towering cliffs that were taller than any others he'd seen.

Great job.

Here's a summary of everything we've learned today.

Precipitous is an adjective, which means steep or dangerously high, like the edge of a very scary mountain.

Towering is an adjective, which means extremely tall, like a mountain looming over you.

Rugged is an adjective which means rough, uneven, or craggy, like a stretch of coast full of big jagged rocks.

Summit is a noun, and it is the top or peak, the very highest point of a mountain where you can plant your flag.

Steep is an adjective, which means sharp and vertical, like the big snowy drop beneath the ski lift.

And crevasse is a noun.

That means that is a crack or a deep hole, a huge pit that you can climb into and never climb out of again.

Great job today, everybody.

Well done.