Prefixes and suffixes


Invent-a-saurus

The name "dinosaur" comes from two Greek words. The first is "deinos", which means huge or terrible. The second is "sauros", meaning lizard. So a dinosaur is a huge or terrible lizard.

The names of fossil species were invented by the scientists who first described them and were often derived from Greek or Latin, which were the original international languages of science. The name chosen may indicate what they looked like, how they behaved, where they came from, or even who discovered them.

So we can identify what each dinosaur was named for

Triceratops (their head ornaments) Tri = three; ceratops = horned face
Iguanodon (their teeth) Iguan = iguana (lizard); odon = tooth
Deinonychus (their feet) Deino = terrible; onychus = claw
Maiasuara (their behavior) Maia = good mother; saura = lizard
Stegosaurus (their body features) Stego = roof; saurus = lizard
Sonorasaurus (the place where it was found) Sonora = Sonoran Desert, saurus = lizard

1. Find out what these names mean.

Allosaurus Brachiosaurus Pentaceratops

2. Imagine that you are a famous
paleontologist who just discovered a new dinosaur! Now you need to give it a scientific name. Combine the scientific word parts in the lists below to name your new dinosaur. You may use more than one word from each list.

Once you have named it draw an illustration of your discovery in its habitat. You might even write a story about the dinosaur you just discovered. You can write about the meaning of its name, its height , weight and length, what it ate, where it lived, what it liked to do...

Remember-use prefixes at the beginning of a word...a suffix is at the end of the word!

Beginning (prefix) brachio - arm/bronte - thunder/di - two/deino - terrible/gravis - heavy/frigo - cold/glyco - sweet/makros - long/megalo - large/micro - small/saltus - leaping/stegos - plated/teratos - monster/tri - three

Ending (suffix) ceratops - horned face/dipus - two-footed/gnathus - jaw/mimus - imitator/nychus - claw/ops - face/odon - teeth/pus - foot/raptor - thief/rhinos - nose/saurus - lizard/venator - hunter-


Click on the image of a "Parasaurolophus" to learn more about dinosaurs.


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Apart from being valid for teachers, it is such a good page that it is also used by people who want to learn or improve their English.

It is very well organized and the explanations are very clear.

The only disadvantage of this site is the fact that there is so much there it can take time to navigate.

Grammar, vocabulary, reading, listening... and more!


A very useful resource

Englishpage
.com
offers free English lessons with English grammar and vocabulary exercises online.

It has also created a collection of listening resources to help advanced English learners learn English online. The resources include free online news and culture broadcasts, online music, online movies, online radio and more.

In addition, its "Reading Room" allows you to choose from popular newspapers, magazines, online books, reference materials, etc for your reading selection.

Click on the image to enter this site

British life & culture

What is the difference between UK, England, Great Britain (GB) and British Isles?


"England" is sometimes, wrongly, used in reference to the whole United Kingdom, the entire island of Great Britain (or simply Britain), or indeed the British Isles. This is not only incorrect but can cause offence to people from other parts of the UK.
England, Scotland, Wales, Great Britain
refer to different parts of the UK.
The British Isles includes many islands not even part of the UK.
The diverse history of England, Scotland and Wales has led to very different cultural traditions; The Scots and Welsh have right to feel aggrieved whenever the term 'English' is used wrongly, to mean all three.

Find out how to avoid these common mistakes by clicking on the image.
(
projectbritain.com)


Funny tongue twisters

Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Peppers

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers;
A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked;

If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,

Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?



Listen to the the tongue twister ( click on the image) as you read the words on the text. Then, start saying it slowly, then say it faster and faster as you repeat it. Practicing tongue twisters is a good way of enhancing your English pronunciation.
(Starfall.com)

"Laughter is the best medicine."

A plane taking off

A plane was taking off from Kennedy Airport. After it reached a comfortable cruising altitude, the captain made an announcement over the intercom, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. Welcome to Flight Number 293, non-stop from New York to Los Angeles. The weather ahead is good and, therefore, we should have a smooth and uneventful flight. Now sit back and relax - OH, MY GOD!"

Silence followed, and after a few minutes the captain came back on the intercom and said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, I am so sorry if I scared you earlier; but, while I was talking, the flight attendant brought me a cup of coffee and spilled the hot coffee in my lap. You should see the front of my pants!"

A passenger in the plane said, "That's nothing. He should see the back of mine!"


This site contains jokes followed by a key vocabulary, verbs and sentences from the jokes. (Funnylessons.com)
Click on the image above for more information.

English through jokes


The polar bear

TO BE: present simple

POLAR BEAR CUB: Mum, am I a real polar bear?
POLAR BEAR MOTHER:
Yes, dear, of course you are.
POLAR BEAR CUB:
Really?
POLAR BEAR MOTHER:
Mother: Yes, son. I’m a polar bear. Your dad’s a polar bear. Your grandparents are polar bears. Your sisters are polar bears. Your brothers are polar bears.
POLAR BEAR CUB:
I know that, mum. But am I a real polar bear?
POLAR BEAR MOTHER:
Of course you are. Be quiet and eat your fish.
POLAR BEAR CUB:
But I’m not a polar bear, I’m sure.
POLAR BEAR MOTHER:
Listen to me. You are a real polar bear. Why do you ask the same question again and again?
POLAR BEAR CUB:
Because I’m freezing!



This site contains jokes based on useful
grammar points in English. Each joke is followed by a grammar explanation and exercises on the grammar and key vocabulary from the jokes.
(ESLjokes.net)
Click on the image above for more information.

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