Live Lesson Notes

Science
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What you will learn:

Useful links to tools

Warm up questions

Essential vocabulary

Collocations

Kinds of Science

Idiomatic expressions

Model Answers

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Some useful Links
Great source of collocations is

http://www.ozdic.com/collocation-dictionary/science

Great source of sample sentences for any word/phrase

https://www.english-corpora.org/bnc/

Click to get a complete Mock IELTS Test.

https://takeielts.net/the-path-to-success-in-the-ielts-test/

Use the CODE: keith10 to get a 10% discount.

Find a teacher on italki so you can start practicing all the language you
are learning here. Practice is the key!

https://bit.ly/IELTSSpeakingitalki

Collect my free materials here

https://keithspeakingacademy.com/ielts-speaking-free-live-lessons/

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Introduction
In this free IELTS Speaking lesson on the topic of science, you will learn
how to talk about different branches of science, and what kind of
science you like.

Watch the complete video about this topic of science here.

Warm up
These are the kind of questions on this topic of science that you might
find in IELTS Speaking.

Speak out your answer to the following questions!


Do you like science?

What kind of science are you interested in?
Where can we find science in our everyday lives?

Essential Vocabulary
It is essential to build your vocabulary and also to start activating it.

That means you should try making some phrases with the vocabulary
below.

Remember to always learn the collocations of new words.

Science (n.)

Scientific (adj.) discoveries, breakthroughs, articles, journals, research

A scientist (n. - Person)

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MORE COLLOCATIONS

Popular science

= making science popular,

educating the layman about science (everyday man in the street)

An exact science

= precise science

Hard science

= strong scientific evidence

The science behind______ is interesting

The science behind painting / printing / forecasting / plastic surgery /

body language / sociology / homeopathy

Examples

I don’t understand you, can you say that in layman’s terms?

Painting is not an exact science
There is no hard science proving that this method works.
I am not sure about the science behind Covid 19

Science is all around us.

Here are some other ways of saying this….

It’s with us 24/7

It’s omnipresent

It’s ubiquitous

We are surrounded by science, whether it is in the kitchen or in the

bathroom

It’s more a question of where can we not find science?

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Kinds of science
Natural science includes both,

•Life Science
•Physical Science

We also have

Social Sciences which studies human behaviour in fields like,

Education, anthropology, economics, history, political science and

sociology

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Branches_of_science

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_life_sciences

A branch of science

A field of science

When you see “ology” this means ‘the study of or knowledge about
something’

Biology = the study of life

Sociology = the study of society

Criminology = the study of criminal behaviour

(TV series like CSI look into how crimes are committed)

Cardiology = Study of the heart

Philology = Study of language

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1. Biology

DNA strings or strands

Cloning (Dolly the Sheep was a sheep cloned by scientists in the UK)

To clone = to replicate (make one exactly the same)

A clone (n.)

Darwin’s Theory of Evolution - shows how humans have evolved!

Find out more about Biological studies and discoveries below

https://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/student-advice/what-to-
study/ten-famous-biological-discoveries

An interesting story for science students!

http://www.uvm.edu/~jdion/personal/rabbitandherthesis.html

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2. Chemistry

Nuclear power plants

Some people say nuclear power is dangerous, especially after the

disasters at Chernobyl and another recent one in Japan.

Brewing beer - We can use science to do home-brewing

Food science - e.g. plant-based beef. Nowadays, we can buy

hamburgers made of vegetables with the same texture as beef.

GM Food
Genetically modified food. This is widely used around the world. One
important reason is to help provide enough food for nations where risk
of starvation is a problem

https://www.popsci.com/tags/chemistry/

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3. Physics

Stephen Hawkings

A cosmologist. He made breakthroughs to help us understand the

origin of the universe.

The Big Bang Theory gives one explanation of how the universe began
(it is also the name of a popular TV comedy series)

https://www.brainscape.com/blog/2015/06/greatest-modern-
physicists/

Brian Cox

A British Physicist.

He has popularised science in the UK and has a podcast where he

discusses science with a comedian and a panel of guests, in a very
light-hearted way.

The Infinite Monkey Cage (Brian’s Podcast)

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https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000d720

Isaac Newton

Another British Physicist from the 17th Century.

I learnt about Newton at school and I just remember he created the

laws of motion.

These were later replaced (or superseded) by Einsteins’ Law of

Relativity

Other related branches of science

Astronomy -

The First Man (film about Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon)

Away (Series on Netflix about a voyage to Mars)

The Martian (film directed by Ridley Scott about a botanist living on

Mars)

Botany / Geology

Plant Earth

David Attenborough

https://www.youtube.com/user/BBCEarth

Examples

A branch of science I am interested in is______

I’ve always been intrigued by______
(=fascinated in, interested in…)

A whistle stop tour = a quick look

This has been a whistle stop tour of the world of science

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Idioms
It’s not rocket science
= It’s not difficult

We are on the same wavelength

= we think in the same way, we agree

There is no need to reinvent the wheel

= don’t do something that someone else has already done

You are trying to blind me with science

= You are try to impress me or confuse me

Can you tell me in Layman’s terms?

= Can you say it in a simple way?

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Model Answers
Q1. Describe a scientific subject that you learned about in high
school, and explain how this subject helped you in your life.

A1. So, when I was at high school, we studied physics.

It was a mandatory subject, in fact we had to study all different sciences:

physics, chemistry and biology.

but I do remember my physics classes specifically.

On the one hand, because we had a fantastic teacher. He was so creative

and innovative and he would have us doing experiments in the classroom

we just found it, it was a really great way to engage us, to get us interested in
physics,

but not only that, the kind of the different experiments and topics we studied
in physics, were kind of relevant to our lives

whether it was talking about how you build bridges or how you build a
building or whether it was about electronic circuits and how electricity
works in the house

and I was fascinated, I was intrigued by electricity and how that worked.

Now, as I left school, I began learning to play the guitar and I played the
electric guitar and I would often take apart my amplifier and my electric
guitar, to see how it worked, to see how I could change the sound,

and I kind of drew on my knowledge of basic physics from the school, from
the classes we had, about how circuits worked, how you could open and
close circuits

and I just found it really interesting to take apart my guitar or the amplifier
and put it back together and see what the result was .

I guess it made me into a kind of mini-scientist doing mini-research

projects but I found it fascinating and that’s one way, I guess it kind of
helped in my future life with my music as well.

Science and music, two unlikely friends. but there they were.

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Q 1. Why are boys more interested in science than girls?

A2. Well, to be honest, I think it’s a bit of a myth that boys are more
interested in science than girls.

I think there are lots of girls who are really interested in science and a lot,
especially if they were given the chance, would study science and maybe
become scientists,

but I think it’s a very chauvinistic career and it’s very difficult for women to
break into this career because it’s a male-dominated career, by and large.

So, I am not sure it is necessarily true. I think there is a stereotype of boys

being more interested in science because they are more practical and
hands on whereas women are more emotional,

but again, I think we are guilty of stereotyping there.

For example, I know in my country, the government has a big, big push and
a campaign to encourage girls to study science

and to take up science subjects like chemistry, biology or physics

and it’s been met with a very ,very good attitude, a positive attitude by girls
who are interested in science.

So, I am not sure I really agree with your question.

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