📙 Part 2: Describe an area of science that you are interested in

This episode's vocabulary

Paleontology (noun) - the scientific study of organisms that lived on earth before there were written records, esp. by examining fossils.

Fossil (noun) - the shape of a bone, a shell, or a plant or animal that has been preserved in rock for a very long period.

Fungus (fungi - plural) (noun) - any of various types of organisms that get their food from decaying material or other living things.

Ecosystem (noun) - all the living things in an area and the way they affect each other and the environment.

Hinge (noun) - a piece of metal that fastens the edge of a door, window, lid, etc. to something else and allows it to open or close.

Thermoregulation (noun) - the ability of an organism to keep its body temperature within certain boundaries, even when the surrounding temperature is very different.

Utility (noun) - the usefulness of something, especially in a practical way.

-

Questions and Answers

M: Today Rory is going to describe an area of science that interests him and he is interested in it. He should say what it is, this area of science, what he learns from it, when he started becoming interested in it, and he's going to explain how this area of science helps him. Wow. Rory, are you ready to rock and roll?

R: Yes.

M: Yes, shoot.

R: I think it's a good time to talk about paleontology, which is the study of previous forms of life on Earth based on fossils. A lot of people think that's just about studying dinosaurs and that is part of it. If you watch films like Jurassic Park, then you've seen this kind of thing before. But they might be surprised to learn that it also includes microscopic animals, and plants, and even fungi. They can leave behind fossils as well. And I don't think a lot of people knew about that or even know about it still. And through this subject, I usually pick up facts like the names of different things, and what they ate, and how they operated in their ecosystems, and unique features that they had. For example, Stegosaurus had bone plates on its back that could be moved like they were on a hinge. And most people think that this is a form of thermoregulation, but other people think it's a kind of defense, so if they're attacked by other more predatory animals at the same period. Speaking of which, a lot of people think that Stegosaurus and Tyrannosaurus, which is a predatory animal, it's a predatory dinosaur. They think that they existed in the same period of time. But actually they didn't. I think they're separated by something like 100 million years. So that's another useful fact that you can learn from paleontology. And I think I first got into it when I was a child. Most kids are fascinated with dinosaurs, and I was no different. At first I learned the basic facts like names and periods that existed. But the more I found out, the greater the interest became and I've ended quite a bit now. I wasn't actually sure if it would help me, but it seems actually it's quite good for relating to kids when you're a teacher. In addition to giving me something to speak about for this IELTS test. So that's quite useful, isn't it? But if we go back to talking about kids, I think this is the area of greatest utility because, well, I teach kids more that I take IELTS tests and the kids are much more interested in dinosaurs.

M: What about your friends? Do they enjoy this area of science?

R: I think they used to, but I don't think they still do. They have other interests now.

-

Discussion

M: Thank you, Rory, for your answer. Paleontology. How should I pronounce it?

R: Well, you can call it paleontology or paleontology. I like paleontology because it's what I heard in Jurassic Park.

M: Ok, so pretty much this is the study of the history of life on Earth based on fossils. What are fossils?

R: It's what I am because I'm old. No, fossils are... Actually, here's a fun fact about fossils. People think fossils are the bones of animals that were alive in the past, but actually they're not the bones. What happens is the material in the bones turns to stone, but it's a different kind of stone from that around it. So you don't actually uncover the bones, you uncover the stone remains of the bones.

M: Yeah. So fossils basically are the remains of plants, animals, fungi, bacteria. Yeah. Dinosaurs. Yeah. They are fossilized into rocks. So they're like fossils. OK, interesting. Very interesting. And we can talk about dinosaurs here, right. So I'm into paleontology and I enjoyed dinosaurs and what fungi... Fungi are mushrooms.

R: They are. Although you could also if you want to be really nit picky, you could say there's paleobotany, which is the study of old plants.

M: Whoo hoo hoo hoo hoo. OK, dear listener, this is a really specific stuff. Right. But the point is that in the exam, you can get a card "describe an area of science that interests you". OK? And you can talk about paleontology. You can also talk about what, which area of science? Mathematics? Is it science?

R: I think some people say that mathematics was a science.

M: Yeah, chemistry, biology. Well, you can talk about archaeology, perhaps. Is it science?

R: Um, yes. Well, it's a kind of history, but it's the same idea.

M: Yeah. Yeah. So you should choose a science and talk about it for like from one to two minutes. Yeah.

R: But it's a good chance to use standard structures. So I talk specifically about paleontology, but maybe you know nothing about this. We can all say it's a good time for me to talk about blah and then use the structure, which is the study of and explain further what that is.

M: Yeah, for example, and then give an example. Like Rory is talking about paleontology and then he gives examples of different dinosaurs. So you talked about Stegosaurus.

R: Stegosaurus and Tyrannosaurus.

M: Yeah, my favorite "saurus" is Pteranodon. Oh, it's not "saurus". Yes. It's a flying dinosaur. Pteranodon is, you know, a flying reptile. Huge, you know. So Pteranodon. And it's interesting if you teach kids, kids do know different names for different dinosaurs.

R: Somehow.

M: Yeah. It's funny. OK, and then you say, I think I first got into it when I was a child. So I first got into it. I first got into this science like I'm into chemistry, I'm into biology.

R: That's like another standard structure that you can use. I first got into it when. Like you could say that for pretty much any answer. And it's a good high level piece of vocabulary.

M: Yeah. And then at first I learned the basic facts about chemistry, biology, and then I found out that. Right. You say I learned or I found out. And like, the more I found out, the greater the interest became. This is a very nice phrase. So the more the better. Yeah. And now I know quite a bit, right. So you found things out and then you know things.

R: And you might not be able to say how the area of science helps you, but you could say specifically it's helping you in your IELTS test. And that is a fact. So it doesn't matter.

M: Yes, I like your sentence, like I wasn't actually sure if it would help me, so OK. I wasn't sure if it would, right? So future in the past, if it would ever help me.

R: And then you've got the question tag and you could say so that's useful, isn't it? Make a little joke with the examiner. So I'm just going to totally mention the fact that it's a test as well, and it's helping me with the test finally. You could also use some subject specific words like thermoregulation. And predatory.

M: Oh, yeah, about dinosaurs.

R: Thermoregulation is just another way of saying it helps them control the temperature. And predatory just means dinosaurs or animals that eat other animals.

M: Yes. Anyway, we want you to choose now a field of science that you want to want to talk about. Again, mathematics, something from natural sciences, biology, ecology, zoology, physics, chemistry, astronomy, robotics. Yeah, you can talk about robotics, you know. And geography, mineral, mineralogy. About stones and minerals. If you are into engineering, so mechanical engineering. Well, anatomy, also like medical sciences. Right, so health sciences. Genetics is a science, medicine, nutrition. There we go. You see. So the study of food and nourishment, so nutrition, if you are into diets, you can talk about nutrition. If you're into forests, you can talk about forestry. Psychology. There we go. I think that's an easy topic to talk about. Psychology is a science, you know. Yeah.

R: You could talk about psychology.

M: I can talk about psychology, you know. Linguistics. Yeah. So linguistic people, you can talk about linguistics. This is the study of language. So it's it's about the humanities. Right. So, yeah.

R: So what you do is pick on, find some subject specific vocabulary, insert the phrases we talked about and Bob is your uncle.

M: Bob's your uncle. Thank you very much for listening. And we'll see you in speaking part three.

R: Where we're going to talk more about science.

M: Yeah. Bye!

R: Bye!

-

Make sure to subscribe to our social media to see some of the “behind the scenes” stuff:

Our Instagram: bit.ly/instagramswi

Our Telegram: bit.ly/telegramswi