dictionary skills: giant Pacific octopus
Learning Objective
We are learning how to use the first three or four letters of a word to check its meaning and spelling in a dictionary.
Context: giant Pacific octopus
Credit: BBC Earth. This clip may not work on some devices; please see our Help page.
Clip Description
Although octopuses are most famous for having eight regenerative, suckered arms, these alien-like creatures have many other fascinating features: they have three hearts, blue blood, the ability to squirt ink and can squeeze in (or out) of very tight spaces.
In this captivating clip, a giant Pacific octopus demonstrates why it is one of the most intelligent creatures in the ocean. When a fisherman casts his crab pot over the side of his boat, the octopus soon puts its large brain to good use. What strategies do you think it will deploy to get the crabs that are inside the crab pot? Watch the clip to find out.
Word Challenge
The sound ‘shus’ is often represented by the letters ‘cious’ or ‘tious’ when it comes at the end of a word. How many words ending in this sound can you list that relate in some way to the crab-eating octopus? Once you have created your list, explain to your talk partner each word’s connection.
e.g. suspicious (the suspicion of the fisherman that an octopus is responsible for the crab shells in his crab pot), nutritious (the tasty crabs that give the octopus its sustenance), …