Match the letters in the drawing to the following words: corpse; flesh; giant jaws; predator; prey.

Transcription

1 english-to-go.com T-Rex: Hunter? Pre-Reading Activities Lower-Intermediate Instant Lesson A: Matching Match the letters in the drawing to the following words: corpse; flesh; giant jaws; predator; prey. B: Test Your Knowledge Work in pairs. Look at the picture and try to answer the questions below. 1. What kind of animal is this? 3. How big is it compared to the size of a person? a. a fish a. smaller b. a mammal b. the same size c. a dinosaur c. about twice the size d. a reptile d. about three times the size 2. What is it called? 4. What does it eat; plants or meat? a. Stegosaurus 5. How does it get its food; by hunting or scavenging b. Tyrannosaurus Rex (i.e. searching among waste to find food)? c. Triceratops d. Brachiosaurus Reading Activities A: Reading for Information Read Part One of today's text to check your answers to questions 4 and 5 from Pre-Reading Activity A. Do not use a dictionary. What does it eat; plants or meat? How does it get its food; by hunting or scavenging? Part One T-Rex, Merciless Killer or Garbage Disposal Unit? LONDON Thu July 31, 2003 (Reuters) For a century, the towering Tyrannosaurus Rex has been regarded as a savage killer marauding unchallenged across the later dinosaur era. But a new exhibition at London's Natural History Museum asks whether the monster meat-eater was instead a lumbering bully which lived on rotting corpses or used its bulk to rob smaller dinosaurs of their prey. "I believe it was a scavenger pure and simple because I can't find any evidence to support the theory that it was a predator," paleontologist Jack Horner said at the opening on Thursday of "T-Rex -- the killer question." (Continued/...) ARTICLE 2003 REUTERS LIMITED. LESSON Glossary: era - time in history savage - cruel and violent paleontologist - a scientist who studies fossils (i.e. the remains of animals in rocks) ARTICLE 2003 REUTERS LIMITED. LESSON

2 B: Scanning Read Part Two of today's article and complete the fact table with information about the Tyrannosaurus Rex. Arm Size: Eyesight Quality: Running Speed: Sense of Smell: What It Can Do With Its Jaws: Problems Chasing Moving Animals: Height: Weight: Part Two (.../Continued) Horner, the inspiration for scientist Alan Grant played by Sam Neill in Steven Spielberg s Jurassic Park, said the lumbering giant was too slow, its arms too small and its sight too poor to catch anything moving. On the other hand like a vulture the part of its brain dedicated to smell was huge and its giant jaws were bone crushers not flesh cutters. Everything says this dinosaur lived on dead meat. Even statistically we find that plant-eating dinosaurs were far more common than predators, and T-Rex is the second most common dinosaur, said Horner from Montana s Museum of the Rockies. Although Natural History Museum paleontologist Angela Milner agreed that T-Rex was not built to run far or fast, she said there was nothing to suggest it could not catch and kill slow moving prey although falling over might be a problem. Research in the United States suggests that falling over while running might have been fatal because of its bulk. But I think it was partly a scavenger and partly a hunter. I believe it could have killed old or weak animals, she said. Visitors to the exhibition which includes life-sized animated models of the 16-foot (4.87 meters) tall, six-ton (6,096 kg) brute attacking and eating its four-legged meals will get the chance to make up their own minds over the next nine months. But a show of hands by the group of children at the opening on Thursday already suggested the likely answer almost all said T-Rex was probably a combination predator-scavenger. The answer is that we will probably never be certain, but as long as we keep asking the questions we are serving science, said an unfazed Horner. ARTICLE 2003 REUTERS LIMITED. LESSON Glossary: fatal - causing death C: Summarizing Today's article reports on a new understanding about the Tyrannosaurus Rex. Fill the gaps below to summarize the point of today's article. For a hundred years, scientists have believed that the T-Rex was a. But now paleontologist Jack Horner is saying that T-Rex was a scavenger that ate. It is believed that the T-Rex was too heavy and slow to be able to. Paleontologist Angela Milner and children who attended the exhibition suggest that the T-Rex was probably. But we will probably never be certain. D: Vocabulary 1. Look at the headline from today's article: T-Rex, Merciless Killer or Garbage Disposal Unit? Read today's article again and try to find different words which express similar meanings to: merciless killer: garbage disposal unit: 2. Work with a partner. Choose one word that is new to you from the list below. Find out as much information about the word as you can and then teach it to your partner. exhibition; evidence; bully; bulk. ARTICLE 2003 REUTERS LIMITED. LESSON

3 Post-Reading Activities You may do one or more of these. A: Listen and Draw Work in groups of four. Each student in your group will be given a dinosaur picture. Do not show your picture to anyone. Carefully describe your picture to your group. They will draw a picture according to your description. Then listen as another person in your group describes their picture. When all four pictures have been described and drawn, compare the pictures and see how close they are. B: Language Look at the sentences from today's article. 1. The monster was a lumbering bully which lived on rotting corpses. 2. For a century, the towering T-Rex has been regarded as a savage killer. 3. The lumbering giant was too slow. 4. Plant-eating dinosaurs were far more common than flesh-eating dinosaurs. Complete the sentence below to make a grammar rule explaining the examples. Participles can be used like by adding and placing them in front of a noun. This way they have similar meanings to active verbs. Look at the list of nouns and verbs below. Nouns: babies, dogs, drivers, people, spiders, sun, teachers Verbs: bark, burn, complain, crawl, cry, smile, speed Put pairs of nouns and verbs together to form sentences. Follow the rule above. One has been done for you as an example. Example: Smiling teachers make learning so much more enjoyable. Now write six more sentences of your own C: Writing Look at the poem below. Complete it with the strangest thing you have ever done or experienced in your life. Think about whether you can use an -ing participle before your nouns. Be ready to share your poem with the class. Have you ever in your life Met a towering, lumbering dinosaur face to face? I have never met a towering, lumbering dinosaur I am very pleased to say, But I have met a And it made me feel. D: Presentation Go to a search engine on the Internet and type in 'Dinosaurs'. Find a site that describes different kinds of dinosaurs and choose a particular kind of dinosaur to research. After you have researched one, present your information to the rest of your class in a 3 to 5 minute speech presentation. Your presentation should include, but not be limited to, the following things: What the dinosaur looks like - its height and weight too. (You may wish to draw a picture or show a picture to the class.) Its diet. Is it a carnivore (flesh-eating) or herbivore (plant-eating)? How long ago it lived on Earth. ARTICLE 2003 REUTERS LIMITED. LESSON

4 TEACHERS' NOTES AND ANSWER KEY Pre-Reading Activities A: Matching - Answers A - predator, B - prey, C - giant jaws, D - corpse, E - flesh. B: Test Your Knowledge - Notes At this stage of the lesson it is not particularly important that students have the correct answers to the questions. This task is designed to get them talking and to activate any knowledge on the subject that is already there. They will find the answers to the questions when they read the article. Reading Activities A: Reading for Information - Answers Meat. By scavenging. B: Scanning - Answers Arm Size: small Eyesight Quality: poor Running Speed: slow Sense of Smell: very strong What It Can Do With Its Jaws: crush bones Problems Chasing Moving Animals: Because of its bulk, there was a danger of falling. A fall could be fatal. Height: 16 feet (4.87 meters) Weight: 6 tons (6,096 kg) C: Summarizing - Suggested Answers For a hundred years, scientists have believed that the T-Rex was a dangerous predator which hunted other dinosaurs for its food. But now paleontologist Jack Horner is saying that T-Rex was a scavenger that ate rotting bodies of dead animals or robbed smaller dinosaurs of their prey. It is believed that the T-Rex was too heavy and slow to be able to hunt for itself. Paleontologist Angela Milner and children who attended the exhibition suggest that the T-Rex was probably both a hunter (predator) and a scavenger. But we will probably never be certain. D: Vocabulary - Suggested Answers 1. merciless killer - predator, hunter; garbage disposal unit - scavenger. 2. Exhibition - noun - a collection of things (art, bones, old items) which are displayed in a public place. 'Visitors to the exhibition.' 'A new exhibition at London's Natural History Museum.' Collocations: to put on an exhibition, to visit an exhibition, a wonderful exhibition. Evidence - noun - what you see, read or are told that makes you believe something is true. 'I can't find any evidence to support the theory that it was a predator.' Collocations: to get / find evidence, to look for evidence, no real evidence. Bully - noun - someone or something which uses its strength or power to hurt other people / animals. 'The monster meat-eater was a lumbering bully which lived on rotting corpses.' Collocations: a violent bully, a big bully. Bulk - noun - large body, large size 'Running might have been fatal because of its bulk.' 'It used its bulk to rob smaller dinosaurs of their prey.' Collocations: vast bulk, big bulk. Post-Reading Activities A: Listen and Draw - Notes The purpose of this task is to get students talking and to have some fun. It is not important whether the pictures are to any particular standard, but that students attempt to listen for detail and speak clearly. If you have a small class, you can put students in pairs. Each student could get two pictures of dinosaurs instead of one. A: Listen and Draw - Worksheets These are on the next page. B: Language - Sample Answers Participles can be used like adjectives by adding -ing and placing them in front of a noun. This way they have similar meanings to active verbs. 1. Crawling spiders are very scary. 2. We have to be careful in the burning sun. 3. I get really annoyed with complaining people. 4. Crying babies make me not want to have children. 5. I hate being woken up by a barking dog. 6. Speeding drivers deserve to lose their driver's license. C: Writing - Notes This activity reinforces the grammar point in Post-Reading Activity B, with a lighthearted flavor. C: Writing - Sample Have you ever in your life Met a towering, lumbering dinosaur face to face? I have never met a towering, lumbering dinosaur I am very pleased to say, But I have met a creeping, crawling spider And it made me feel sick to my stomach. D: Presentation - Notes Tell students that the list given is there to guide them, but they do not have to limit their research to only those things on the list. Students should speak for 3 to 5 minutes. They may think that is a long time to speak, but will probably find they can't get through everything they want to say in that allotted time. Encourage students to practice and even time themselves at home before they give their presentations English To Go Ltd. All rights reserved. News article 2003 Reuters, used with permission. Not to be reproduced or stored in any way without the permission of English To Go Ltd. English To Go and Instant Lessons are the registered trade marks of English To Go Ltd. editor@english-to-go.com ania ARTICLE 2003 REUTERS LIMITED. LESSON

5 A: Listen and Draw - Worksheets Stegosaurus Triceratops Brachiosaurus Allosaurus ARTICLE 2003 REUTERS LIMITED. LESSON