Teaching Strategies, Tactics, and Methods

Seasons are distinct divisions of the meteorological year based on how the weather, climate, ecology, and daylight hours change in the United States. They can also be found in astronomical patterns, such as solstices and equinoxes.Top of Form

When do Certain Seasons Start?

Season	Start date	End date
Winter	December 1	Feb 28 (29 in a leap year)
Spring	March 1	May 31
Summer	June 1	Aug 31
Fall	Sep 1	Nov 30

The above chart details the start of each season from a meteorological sense! Of course, different astronomical movements claim the titles of “first day of spring or summer or winter, etc.” but for the case of explaining the scientific aspects of the seasons, we will operate under the above dates!

For most of this article, we’ll focus on the northern hemisphere when discussing timeframes, months, and seasons since the United States is in the northern hemisphere.

Also, the United States is a temperate region. The U.S. experiences moderate rainfall, occasional mild drought, warm summers, and cooler winters. Because the United States is such a large landmass, this will vary between states. However, in a meteorological sense, the country’s whole is classed as temperate.

What are the Four Seasons?

We experience four distinct seasons. These are winter, spring, summer, and fall.

Winter

In the United States, winter tends to see people wrapped in thick coats, scarves, hats, and gloves. The air brings a chill, and many regions experience cold snaps where snow and ice are expected.

Animals can change the way they live to adapt to their harsher environments. Some may hibernate, store food, or even change the color of their fur to survive. On the other hand, humans will heat their homes, light the fire, and enjoy some winter holiday celebrations.

The coldest months in the Northern Hemisphere (where the United States is situated) tend to be December and January. Temperatures can dip below 32 degrees Fahrenheit (that’s the temperature when water starts to freeze!), and frost can occur.

As you get closer to the equator, temperatures rise, and the climate becomes less varied. Seasons are more subtle, and people living on the equator may not notice a change between meteorological winter, spring, summer, and fall.

Spring

In spring, the bare tree branches come to life again with greenery. Seeds take root, vegetation and plants begin to grow, and spring flowers emerge. Those hibernating animals will awaken and rely on some of the food they stored before hibernation to increase their body weight quickly.

Humans can transition from their thicker winter coats to something a little light. However, rainfall can still be pronounced throughout spring, and while milder, spring days can still carry quite the chill.

You will mainly see a lot of rain in April, as “April showers tend to bring May flowers!” Therefore, taking an umbrella with you on outings is a must, especially if you live in a region where the weather can be unpredictable.

Summer

Summer is the warmest season of the year. However, with our increased understanding of global warming and climate change, scientists notice that our summers are getting even hotter! Temperatures can hit record highs, and it’s not unusual to experience days, if not weeks, of temperatures over 86 degrees Fahrenheit!

If temperatures become too high, they can cause animal, plant, and human issues. In addition, droughts can cause water shortages, and the old and vulnerable can dehydrate. Forest fires have also been recorded in states like California as the heat becomes unbearable and the land becomes so dry that the threat of brush fires increases.

With the warmest weather and the most hours of daylight comes the most abundant plant, vegetation, and flower growth. Gardens look beautiful and colorful, and scents can fill the air. Plants can grow incredibly quickly, and homegrown vegetables ripen ready to be picked.

Fall (Autumn)

As temperatures cool once more, the trees can change color, leaves start to change colors and fall, and animals begin storing food for the winter. Some animals, such as birds, migrate to warmer climates so they don’t have to adapt to chiller climates.

More crops tend to ripen, ready to be harvested, while daylight hours decrease slowly. Humans tend to celebrate the harvest with festivals traditionally. Americans, in particular, visit farms, especially pumpkin farms or apple orchards, during October for Halloween, and Thanksgiving in November is the culmination of the fall month harvest!

What Causes The Seasons?

If you’ve ever wondered, “why do we get to summer and winter?” we need to look at the astronomical seasons to discover what causes them.

The seasonal cycle is dictated by the Earth’s position concerning the sun. Our planet rotates around an axis. We can’t see this axis, but we know it’s there!

The northern or southern hemispheres will be closer to the sun, depending on the time of the year. As a result, the most relative hemisphere to the sun will experience summer, while the hemisphere the farthest away from the sun will experience winter. This picture can help you understand the seasons a little easier.

While the meteorological definition of the seasons is based solely on dates, the astronomical definition looks at the position of the Earth and its distance from the sun.

Winter and summer seasons have the shortest and longest days of the year. The shortest day of the year occurs in the winter in the United States because this is when the northern hemisphere is furthest from the sun. Winter solstice appears on December 21 or 22 and is classed as the first day of astronomical winter.

The longest day of the year occurs in the summer when daylight hours are longer because the northern hemisphere is closest to the sun. The summer solstice occurs around June 20 or 21 and is classed as the first day of astronomical summer.

It would make sense that when the northern hemisphere experiences its winter solstice, the southern hemisphere experiences its summer solstice and vice versa.

What is an Equinox?

While the solstices mark the shortest and longest days in the United States, equinoxes occur when the axis that the Earth rotates around becomes almost parallel to the Sun. As a result, the day and night of the equinox are practically equal.

The vernal or spring equinox occurs in the United States around March 20. The autumnal equinox occurs around September 22. Therefore, when the northern hemisphere is experiencing its autumnal equinox, the southern hemisphere is experiencing its vernal equinox and vice versa.

What is the Difference Between Spring and Summer?

The seasons of spring and summer differ for several reasons. These are mainly due to the position of the Earth with the Sun at these points of the year.

From March until the end of May, the Earth is mid-way between the extremes of winter and summer. As a result, it is often seen as a transitional season, where the weather becomes milder, but it isn’t as warm, and there aren’t as many daylight hours as in the summer.

In summer, the Earth is at the closest point in its orbit around the Sun. So in terms of weather, climate, ecology, and temperature make the season more extreme.

For humans, our moods can also shift between spring and summer. For example, the dawn of more daylight hours can boost our sense of positive well-being. It is why it’s so important to get outdoors when the weather is warm and balmy.

With the appropriate sun safety measure such as sun cream, a hat, and sunglasses, your kids can enjoy days out over summer break at the park or on the beach!

Facts About The Seasons

• Plants and trees lose their leaves in response to the shortening days and cooler temperatures of fall.
• The winter is often a difficult season for animals, and food is scarce. As a result, many animals hibernate or migrate during these colder months.
• Some trees remain green in all four seasons. These trees are called evergreen trees.
• In tropical or subtropical places, there are two seasons: rainy (monsoon) and dry. That’s why the rain changes more than the temperature.

Main Vocabulary when Talking about The Seasons

• Axis. An axis is a pole that fits inside a wheel. Imagine an imaginary pole inside the earth.
• Climate. The weather conditions for a given location over some time.
• The Equator. An imaginary line around the Earth, another planet, or a star that runs east-west at 0 degrees latitude.
• Equinox. The time when the plane of Earth’s equator passes through the geometric center of the Sun.
• Globe. The Earth.
• Pole. The extreme north or south point of the Earth’s axis.
• Rotate. To turn around a center point or axis.
• Tilt. Slide back and forth.

Silence: a teacher’s greatest enemy. And although you’d imagine that a silent classroom must be the sweetest sound in the world to teachers, without 30 or so children screaming ‘miss’ into your ear (an image we can all relate to), silence is the last thing you want in an ESL classroom.

Getting the conversation flowing and learners interacting is essential so children can develop their speaking and listening skills. It also makes children feel more at ease in the classroom and more comfortable engaging in the lesson. Finally, it helps to create a positive learning environment where everyone feels they can contribute.

So how to break this impenetrable wall of silence? By having a store of handy English conversation class topics for teaching. We’ve gathered some great topic ideas that you can use to start conversations for adults or children in your ESL conversation lessons.

These are great for breaking through silences and helping your learners to develop their conversational vocabulary and speaking skills. So, check out these 35 different English conversation class topics for teaching with questions you can use as prompts to give your learners.

35 English Conversation Class Topics for Teaching

1. Family

• What family members do you live with?
• What family members are you close to?
• Do you have any siblings?

1. Friends

• Who is your best friend?
• What do you and your friends do together?
• What’s your favorite memory you’ve shared with a friend?

1. Holidays

• Where is your favorite place to go on holiday?
• Where would you go if you could go worldwide for a holiday?
• What is your favorite holiday experience?

1. Games

• What are your favorite games to play at home?
• Do you prefer video games or board games?
• Do you think playing games are good for you? If so, why?

1. Shopping

• What is your favorite thing to buy?
• How often do you go shopping?
• Do you like/dislike shopping? Why?

1. Home Town

• What’s your area like?
• Do you like where you live? Why?
• What’s the best/worst thing about where you live?

1. Future

• Where do you see yourself in ten years?
• What do you think will change in the next 100 years?
• What do you most want to achieve in your life?

1. School

• What’s your favorite subject? Why?
• What’s your least favorite subject? Why?
• What’s the best thing about going to school?

1. Jobs

• What do you think the best job is? Why?
• What jobs do your family members have?
• What job do you think you’ll have when you’re older?

1. Food

• What’s your favorite food?
• What’s your least favorite food?
• What would you choose as your last meal?

1. Environment

• What’s bad for the environment?
• What can we do to help improve our environment?
• Why do people care about the environment? Why is it important?

1. Health

• Have you ever been ill? How did it feel?
• What things can we do to stay healthy?
• What happens when you’re ill? Who looks after you, and how?

1. Restaurants

• What’s your favorite restaurant? What kind of food does it serve?
• Describe a bad restaurant experience.
• If you had your restaurant, what would it be like?

1. Sports

• Do you enjoy playing sports? Why?
• What’s your favorite/most minor favorite sport?
• Do you enjoy watching sports? Why/why not?

1. Superpowers

• What superpower would you have if you could have any?
• What would the world be like if there were real superheroes?
• Would you rather be a superhero or a supervillain?

1. Money

• What would you buy if you had all the money in the world?
• Is money important? Why?
• Can money be a bad thing?

1. Would You Rather

• Would you rather be an astronaut or an actor?
• Would you instead learn how to fly a plane or a rocket ship?
• Would you rather live under the sea or in space?

1. Gifts

• What’s the best gift you’ve ever received?
• What’s the worst?
• Do you enjoy giving gifts? Why?

1. Weather

• Do you prefer it when it’s warm or cold?
• Do you like the snow? Why?
• What’s your favorite summer memory?

1. Films

• What’s your favorite film genre? Why?
• What’s your favorite film?
• Who would you choose if you could pick any film character?

1. Books

• Do you enjoy reading? Why?
• What’s your favorite type of book?
• Why is reading perfect for you?

1. Celebrations

• Do you celebrate your birthday? How?
• What is your favorite festival/celebration?
• What would it be for if you could create your own national holiday/festival/celebration? What would happen?

1. Feelings

• When was the happiest you’ve ever been?
• When was the angriest you’ve ever been?
• What scares you the most?

1. Aliens

• Do you think aliens exist?
• If aliens made contact with you, what would you do?
• Would you rather live in space with aliens or stay here on Earth?

1. Seasons

• What’s the best season?
• What’s the worst season?
• Describe the differences between each season.

1. Hobbies

• What do you like to do in your spare time?
• If you could take up a new hobby, what would it be?
• What hobby have you had in the past that you don’t do anymore? Why don’t you do it?

1. Television

• What’s your favorite TV show?
• What do you like about watching TV?
• Who is your favorite TV show character?

28. Desert Island

• Who would it be if you lived on a desert island with one person?
• Which three items would you take to a desert island and why?
• What would be the hardest thing about living on a desert island?

29. Music

• Do you enjoy listening to music? What kind?
• How does listening to music make you feel?
• Who is your favorite artist/singer?

30. Birthdays

• Do you enjoy celebrating your birthday? Why?
• How did you spend your last birthday?
• How would you spend your next birthday if you could choose to do anything in the world?

31. Dreams

• What’s the last dream that you can remember? What happened to it?
• What’s the weirdest dream you’ve ever had?
• What’s the best dream you’ve ever had?

32. Animals

• What’s your favorite animal, and why?
• If you could be any animal, which would it be, and why?
• Would you rather be an animal or a human? Why?

33. The Supernatural

• Do you believe in ghosts? Why/why not?
• Do you know any good ghost stories?
• If you were a ghost, where would you haunt?

34. Celebrities

• Do you have a favorite celebrity? Who is it, and why?
• Do you think celebrities are essential? Why?
• Would you like to be a celebrity? Why/why not?

35. Fears

• What are you most afraid of and why?
• Can you describe a time when you faced fear?
• Why do you think we develop fears of certain things? Why don’t we all have the same worries?

A common noun is a type of noun or naming word. It refers to general objects, places, people, and animals that don’t have specific names.

Unlike a proper noun, a common noun does not need a capital letter unless they are at the start of a sentence. In English, all nouns fall into one of these categories, along with concrete nouns, which refer to physical objects like a dog, a building, or a tree, and abstract nouns, which are intangible concepts such as love, justice, and fear.

People’s names are proper nouns, as are the names of specific places, days of the week, and the names of particular companies and products. Proper nouns are always capitalized, not dependent on where they are in the sentence. Sometimes pronouns are used instead of nouns in sentences.

Examples of common nouns are:

• city;
• car;
• hat;
• butterfly;
• orange;
• bread;
• cat;
• cheese;
• toy;
• child;
• pet;
• world.

Common Noun Example Sentences

“The butterfly landed on the young girl’s hand.”

In this example, the common noun butterfly is used. We can tell it’s a common noun because it isn’t capitalized and doesn’t refer to a specific person, place, day, or name.

Can you spot the other common nouns in the sentence above?

The nouns girl and hand are also common nouns used in the sentence. But if the sentence used the girl’s name, for example, “the butterfly landed on Laura’s hand,” then this would be an example of a proper noun.

“On Tuesday, she bought a new hat.”

This sentence uses the familiar noun hat. The sentence also includes the noun Tuesday, which refers to a specific day and must be capitalized.

“The car broke down when he was on his way to work.”

This sentence includes the typical noun car and the typical noun work. There are no proper nouns in this example.Top of Form

When should you use common nouns?

So, now you know what common nouns are, when should you use them? Well, common nouns are used to describe a specific group of objects or a concept. Therefore, it can be classified as a common noun since it is a ‘thing’ in a general sense.

Let’s go through some examples of things that are common nouns:

Professions or Jobs

When describing any job, the name of the said job is classified as a common noun. For example, doctors, teachers, chemists, singers, chefs, nurses, lawyers, etc.

• The lawyer paced around her office.
• The doctor looked over his notes carefully at the end of the day.
• The singer went through a series of vocal warm-ups every night before performing.
• The nurse was late for his shift because he missed the bus.

People

Generally speaking, people are referred to as common nouns. However, this excludes when they are called by name, as all names require capitalization as they are proper nouns. Instead, common nouns are used when referring to people using a title. For example, familial words like father, mother, sister, etc., are all common nouns.

• My father works in another country, so I only see him during the holidays.
• The girl ran to her friend’s house to tell her the good news.
• My mother is the most important woman in my life.
• The boy tore apart his bedroom, searching for his favorite jumper.

There are some instances in which common nouns like mother and father become proper nouns. For example, this happens to the word ‘mother’ when it is used to address someone or as a name directly. It can also be the case for words like ‘sister’ etc.

• The girl cleared her throat, “Mother, would you please pass me the salt?”
• Tommy handed Sister Thompson his homework at the end of the lesson.

Objects

Common nouns are used to refer to objects. For example, trousers, cars, plates, fences, chairs, etc.

• The boy packed up his car for university.
• Jenny loaned her favorite pair of jeans to her best friend but never got them back.
• The boat rocked from side to side because of the strong winds.
• Mrs. Brown’s neighbors came over to help her paint her garden fence.

Concepts and Ideas

In addition to describing specific objects, common nouns can be used to tell more abstract things like concepts, ideas, and emotions. For example, love, guilt, peace, kindness, hate, etc.

• All of the world leaders met together to discuss how to achieve world peace.
• As soon as you walked into the room, the feeling of love was overwhelming.
• The teenagers were heavily invested in popular culture.
• It was essential to the mother that her children learned empathy from a young age.

How to recognize a common noun?

Now that you know what common nouns are and when to use them, it should be pretty easy for you to recognize them. So let’s put your knowledge to the test with a few practice sentences.

Sarah chose to do her research project on Mother Theresa, a Catholic nun, missionary, and saint known to have performed two miracles.

• For her project, Sarah asked her mother to take her to the library so that she could pick out some books.

The word mother is used in both of these sentences, but in one case, it is capitalized, and in the other, it is not. Do you know why this is? Can you spot which of these is a proper noun and which is a common noun?

Let’s look at some instances when words can be both proper and common nouns, depending on their context. This is the case for jobs which, as mentioned before, are common nouns. However, it becomes a proper noun if you use a position to refer to someone’s specific title. For example:

• Professor Jane Reid was the head of the English department at the university.
• Constable Henry Smith wanted to work in law enforcement since he was five.
• Her colleagues congratulated Doctor Amy Winston after a very successful surgery.

Let’s look at how these job titles can be written as common nouns.

• Jane Reid was the professor in charge of the English department at the university.
• Henry Smith worked hard to become a constable in the police force.
• The other doctors congratulated Amy Winston after she performed a very successful surgery.

For the most part, the rule is that common nouns are general names, and unless they are part of a title or at the beginning of a sentence, they do not require a capital letter.

Place value is how much each digit in a number is worth and relates to its position, or place, in that number. For example, 627 comprises 600, 20, and 7, or 6 hundred, 2 tens, and 7 ones – rather than six, two, and seven. If you swap these digits around, their place value changes. For example, 762 is made of the same three numbers, but each has a different value now.Top of Form

As you may have noticed, places further to the left are worth more, getting smaller as you move to the right. It doesn’t only start at hundreds; you can keep going higher by adding more and more digits for thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, and so on. It also doesn’t end at the ones. After a decimal point, you’ll keep going down in size with tenths, hundredths, and thousandths. Again, these can carry on infinitely.

How do we know that 600 is more significant than 60 or six? After all, zero means that there is nothing there, so surely they’re all the same. Of course, that’s not the case. Zero is a placeholder, telling us the place value of the other digits in a number. The same goes for 0.5 and 0.05 or 0.005. The zeros tell us that the numeral 5 is worth something different in each and that these numbers are getting smaller.

What is a place value holder?

You may hear this term mentioned when teaching place value to your children, so you might wonder, “What is a place value holder?”

A place value holder is a numeral – 0 – used to ensure all other digits are in the correct place. It has no value and helps us identify which number is in the ones, tens, or hundreds column.

When considering place value holders, it’s best to look at an example. So let’s look at the number 308. We can look at this as 3 × 100, 0 × 10, and 8 × 1.

But why is there a number in that column if there are no tens?

In this instance, the 0 in the tens column of 308 is a place value holder. We know there are no tens in this number, but we still need a 0 – a place value holder – in that column. Otherwise, we’d end up with 38, which is a different number.

Can you spot the place value holder in each of these numbers?

• 10,683
• 20.55
• 2.01
• 203

Why do we use place value in Maths?

We use place value to understand how to read numbers, recognizing strings of digits as the specific numbers they represent. But we don’t know we’re doing it until we step back and think about it. Further use of place value requires much more thought, which is partitioning. It is where we take a conscious look at place value and split numbers into their different units, just like we did above to show that 627 = 600 + 20 + 7.

To clarify this, we can use place value columns or grids like the one below, where the constituent digits are placed according to whether they’re ones, tens, hundreds, etc.

Using a grid allows children to understand the different values of digits when separated and acts as a great visual representation. Try giving children a number and ask them to split it into the correct columns. The more confident a child becomes, the bigger the number they can try. This skill is vital for much of the Maths work they’ll be doing in primary school.

A secure understanding of place value provides the essential number knowledge needed to complete calculations, including addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. It also lets us work with decimals and understand how to round numbers.

Place value and the four operations

A sum like 842 + 531 would be tricky to do straight away; we certainly can’t start taking 531 leaps on a number line. That’s where partitioning and place value come in to make things easier. We can split complicated questions into more straightforward calculations by breaking up the numbers and taking each place value in turn.

For example, we can work out this addition problem by adding the ones, the tens, and the hundreds, then putting it all together. 2 + 1 = 3, 40 + 30 = 70, and 800 + 500 = 1300, making the total 1373. Place value makes multi-digit calculations easier with manageable chunks.

Subtraction works in a very similar way. For 842 – 531, we can take away the numbers by their place value. So, 2 – 1 = 1, 40 – 30 = 10 and 800 – 500 = 300. Then, we have our answer, 311.

Multiplication and division have a few more steps for numbers this large, as we need to times or divide the whole number by the entirety of the other number, not just the ones by the ones or the tens by the tens. But let’s look at an example with 3-digit and 1-digit numbers to see how the same idea applies.

We can break down 972 × 3 into 900 × 3 = 2700, 70 × 3 = 210 and 2 × 3 = 6. Adding these together gives us 2916.

972 ÷ 3 works the same way. 900 ÷ 3 = 300, and 70 ÷ 3 = 20, with ten left over to add to the final sum. 10 + 2 = 12, and 12 ÷ 3 = 4. When we add those up, we get 324.

Place value is vital for children to use the four operations with large numbers. It lets them follow more manageable steps to reach their answer. There are helpful ways to make this even more accessible, including the column method for addition, subtraction, and multiplication and the bus stop method for division. They all rely on looking at the different digits and understanding how their place value affects the overall result.

Even when a calculation has a number that seems easy to use, like ten, 100, or 1000 (the powers of ten), we have to ensure we’re always aware of place value. So, for example, we need to focus on the tens column when we add or take ten from a number. Then, we can use the zeros at the end of these numbers for multiplication and division to determine the answer.

10 has one zero, so to multiply by then, we move everything one space over to the left and put a zero in the one’s space. If we’re working with decimals, this space will already be filled by the digit in the tenth column, and we don’t need to worry about the final step. 100 has two zeros, so we move everything two spaces to the left and put a zero in any empty places. Getting the hang of it?

For division, we go the opposite way and move the number however many spaces to the right as there are zeros. Sometimes this will mean using decimal places we weren’t using before, so don’t forget to include the decimal point if you need to.

Remember, this only works when the first digit is 1. So if we wanted to multiply or divide by 20, for example, we couldn’t use this method, but the place value would still be significant.

Decimal place value names

So, now that we’ve covered the basics of place value and decimals, what are the decimal place value names? Initially, it can be a little confusing, and the names themselves are tricky to pronounce! If you’d like a summary to hand while you’re teaching this, then here’s a helpful table of decimal place value names for you:

Decimal	Fraction	Name
0.1	1 ⁄ 10	One tenth
0.01	1 ⁄ 100	One hundredth
0.001	1 ⁄ 1,000	One thousandth
0.0001	1 ⁄ 10,000	One ten-thousandth

It’s unlikely that you’ll ever need to use a decimal smaller than one ten-thousandth. To give you an idea of how small one ten-thousandth is, a single human hair usually weighs about 0.0003-0.0006 grams (that’s three to six ten-thousandths). Many high-tech lab equipments can’t handle measurements as small as this!

Of course, this raises a tricky question: What’s its name if we’ve got a number like 1.032? Well, luckily, there’s a handy formula to help make this easier:

1. Write the number before the decimal point, just as you usually would.
2. Then, write the decimal point as “and”.
3. After this, you’ll need to consider how many decimal places there are. Again, the example above tells us that we’re dealing in thousandths.
4. Since there are 32 thousandths, we arrive at the following name:

One and thirty-two thousandths

It’s that simple!

Place value and rounding numbers

Many tests, including the NAPLAN Numeracy test, will ask for answers to be rounded. Whether we’re rounding decimals or whole numbers, we rely on place value once again. Children must understand which digit to look at when rounding to a certain number of decimal places, or the nearest ten, hundred, thousand, etc.

They’ll have to look at the appropriate column and the one to the right. If it’s lower than five, they round down, changing the remaining places to zero or removing them if the placeholder isn’t needed. If it’s five or higher, they round up, adding one to the place value column they’re rounding to and, again, dealing with any placeholders they may need.

Here are a couple of examples. To round 8437.52 to the nearest ten, you look at the tens column, which has the numeral 3, and the column to the right with the numeral 7. It is higher than five, so we add one to the tens column, making 8440. If we were rounding the same number to one decimal place, we’d look at the tenth column (5) and the one to its right (2). This time, the digit is minor than five, so we round down to 8437.5.

A sub-heading is a mini-headline given to a subsection or paragraph within a central piece of writing.

What does Sub-Heading Mean?

A sub-heading is a mini-headline given to a subsection or paragraph within a central piece of writing. Subheadings are smaller than the main heading but more extensive than the paragraph text of the article.

Subheadings often appear in non-fiction writing, such as instruction or informational texts. They capture the reader’s attention to keep them reading down the page, following each sub-heading.

Without sub-headings, texts would be long paragraphs of text. That isn’t easy to read through!

Importance of Using Sub-Headings

The primary purpose of sub-headings is to grab the reader’s attention. They’re meant to stand out, which is why they’re written in a large font and are snappy.

Some sub-headings are purely informational. Subheadings act as a guide to serve the reader through the page until they’ve found what they’re looking for.

For example, if you’re reading a recipe, you might scan to find the ‘Ingredients’ sub-heading so that you can read what ingredients you need.

You might also find sub-headings listed on the contents page of a non-fiction text. It allows the reader to find the right page based on the sub-heading.

Interesting sub-headings are used in texts such as newspaper articles or blog posts. They encourage the reader to keep reading and help break the text into manageable chunks.

Subheadings are like hooks – they get the reader to stop, look, and read through the information.

How to Write Interesting Sub-Headings

When writing a sub-heading, it’s essential to know what content will be written in the paragraph underneath. So, first, establish what the section is about and the most critical part of the paragraph.

Sub-headings should ideally be:

• Useful – To benefit the reader;
• Unique – To share information that the reader may not be aware of;
• Ultra-Specific – To ensure the reader knows what is being said;
• Urgent – To get the reader’s attention.

Heading and Sub-heading Examples

Subheadings and headings have similar functions, but there’s one key difference between them.

Headings appear once at the beginning of the text, whereas multiple sub-headings can occur throughout the text. The header is the title, and the sub-headings split the text into sections or paragraphs.

Subheadings are sometimes called mini-titles. It can be helpful to think of them that way because they provide titles for specific text sections.

Here are some heading and sub-heading examples: the header is highlighted in red, and the sub-heading is in blue.

Example 1 (Fact File)

Ocean Creatures

Clownfish and Anemones: Friends for Life

Clownfish have a symbiotic relationship with anemones.

Blue Whales: The Largest Mammal on Earth

Not only are blue whales the most notable species of whale, but they’re also the largest mammal on Earth.

Example 2 (List)

Countries in Europe

A-C

• Albania
• Andorra
• Armenia
• Austria
• Azerbaijan
• Belarus
• Belgium
• Bosnia
• Bulgaria
• Croatia
• Cyprus
• Czechia

D-F

• Denmark
• Estonia
• Finland
• France

Example 3 (Biography)

The Life of Santa Claus

Father Christmas’ Early Years

When Father Christmas was a little boy.

A Fateful Meeting with Rudolph

On one fateful day, Santa came across a reindeer different from any other.

Example 4 (Contents Page)

The Most Delicious Pastries in the World

• Paris’ Best Croissants (1-2)
• Japan’s Mouthwatering Mochi (3-4)
• Dreamy Brazilian Sonho (5-6)
• Crunchy Cannoli from Italy (7-8)

How many sub-headings should you use?

How many sub-headings you use usually depends on your writing content and how much of it there is.

Subheadings help break up a text and make it more manageable to read and scan. So, if the text is short, it might not even need sub-headings at all.

On the other hand, longer writing pieces may need many more sub-headings. It varies from text to text.

Generally, however, sub-headings should be used to break up text sections. For example, if the next paragraph moves onto an entirely different subject, it would be a good idea to use a sub-heading above it to signal that you’re moving on to something else.

The thought process is similar to when to start a new paragraph, but you don’t always need a sub-heading for every new paragraph. Instead, subheadings should group linked paragraphs and separate the general sections of a piece of work.

For example, suppose you were writing a non-chronological report about mammals that live in the Amazon rainforest. In that case, you might have sub-headings for each mammal or each rainforest layer.

What is inheritance?

Inheritance is the way that parents pass traits onto their offspring. It happens in plants, animals, and, yes, even humans!

You might have noticed that family members look similar, even though they’re not identical. It might be that someone’s hair and eyes are the same color as their parents, or their face has the same shape. These are inherited characteristics that you don’t have any control over.

Environmental characteristics also have nothing to do with what’s passed on from a parent to a child. Think about how you style your hair, clothes, scars, or piercings.

What are some examples of inherited characteristics?

Examples of Inherited Characteristics in Humans

Some characteristics that are passed down from parent to child in humans include:

• Eye color
• Hair color and texture
• Skin tone
• Blood group (A, B, AB, O)
• Freckles
• Colour blindness
• Dominant hand
• Dimples
• Earlobe attachment
• Hairline shape

Some of these can be seen physically, like the color of your eyes or whether you have freckles. Others are invisible to the human eye, as your blood will look the same as anyone else’s, even if you have a different blood group, and people who are color-blind can’t be identified by sight alone.

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of other inherited characteristics we don’t know about because they’re hidden in our genetic code or DNA.

Examples of Inherited Characteristics in Animals

Like humans, animals take many physical characteristics from their parents. Though there are a lot of species to cover, here are just a few key inherited traits that will come up again and again:

• Eye color
• Fur color and pattern (e.g., patches, spots)
• Height and length
• Ear size and shape
• Tail size and length
• Scale color and pattern

This is how you get recognizable cat and dog breeds, like Russian Shorthairs or Golden Retrievers. People raising these animals sometimes carefully select inherited traits to occur in the next generation.

Examples of Inherited Characteristics in Plants

All living things share characteristics with their parents. Even plants! Think about these traits found in flowers, trees, and shrubbery:

• Flower color and shape
• Seed shape (round or wrinkled)
• Seed color
• Pod color and shape
• Leaf pattern
• Stem height
• Flower position

 

Both animals and plants can undergo selective breeding. Farmers look for specific inherited characteristics to increase their crops’ yield or make them hard enough to survive harsh weather or diseases.

How are inherited characteristics passed on?

Inherited traits are carried in your genes. In the past, people thought that inherited characteristics were passed on through our blood, but that can’t be the case. Red blood cells have no DNA in them! Everything from your hair color to whether you are left, or right-handed must be coded in these twisty double-helix shapes.

What are environmental characteristics?

Unlike inherited characteristics, environmental characteristics are not passed down from parent to child. These can include:

• Hobbies
• Favorite genres of music
• Languages spoken
• Religion
• Fashion sense
• Pierced ears
• Ability to ride a bike
• Favorite color
• Preference for dogs or cats (or any other pet!)

Did you know a few plants change color based on the type of soil they’re planted in? In these cases, flower color isn’t an inherited trait but closer to an environmental one!

How can you tell if a trait is inherited or environmental?

It’s tricky. Environmental characteristics can be misleading, especially if shared across multiple family members.

One way to describe the difference between inherited and environmental traits is nature vs. nurture.

A helpful example is ‘pierced ears’ because you can see it in someone’s physical appearance. You might have had your ears pierced to wear earrings like your mother and grandmother before, but when you were a baby, your ears weren’t naturally pierced.

Even though this trait is shared over different generations, it isn’t inherited. Instead, piercing your ears happens after you are born due to contact with the environment.

If you grew up in a place where piercing ears were not a common thing to do, you might not have them pierced.

Consider the example of ‘knowing how to ride a bike. What if you grew up in a place where there were no bikes? This trait is influenced by your environment rather than inherited, so you would not be able to instinctively know how to ride a bike – not without practice, at least.

How do we know about inherited characteristics?

We know about inherited characteristics because of the work of Gregor Mendel, an Austrian man born in 1822 who is sometimes known as the ‘Father of Genetics’.

When he became a friar, Mendel went to live in an abbey. Here, he continued his education by studying the plants in the garden. Afterward, he became a priest, and although he originally intended to become a high school teacher, he could not pass the tests required.

As a priest in the abbey, he studied pea plants closely – over 30,000 of them! As a result, he was the first to recognize that baby pea plants could look similar or different from their parent plants. In addition, some of the physical traits they could inherit were more common than others. These included dominant (more powerful) and recessive (less powerful) traits.

No one knew how vital Gregor Mendel’s work was until years later, when scientists created the field of genetics.

Fun Experiments about Inheritance

One of the best ways to demonstrate inherited characteristics in humans is to look around the classroom. These time-tested experiments are a classic way of showing children how it affects their daily lives.

First, collecting information about how many people in the class have what eye color is a fun statistical experiment. It’s an excellent opportunity to show how science and maths go hand-in-hand. How many students have brown eyes, green eyes, or blue eyes? You can do the same for hair color, too!

As a homework task, children could compare their eye color or hair color to siblings, parents, or grandparents, trying to track inherited characteristics through the generations.

Another good one is to see who can roll their tongue and who can’t, but this one comes with a caveat. Although it’s a ‘traditional’ example of an inherited trait, scientists now believe this is a myth! At the very least, it also has environmental factors. Nevertheless, trying it out in class is still a good way for learners to explore the subject’s history and how we’re still learning more about inheritance daily.

Possessive Apostrophe

A possessive apostrophe is a kind of apostrophe that demonstrates that something belongs to or is connected to something else. Forinstance, Linda’s bag or the Queen’s hat.

How to use apostrophes correctly

When children learn to apply possessive apostrophe rules, it can get a little unclear. Still, hopefully, this guide will give you some great examples to use when explaining possessive apostrophes for your children.

Read the rules and possessive apostrophe examples to understand how this punctuation works.

Firstly, deciding when to use a possessive or standard apostrophe can vary. It depends on the type of noun you’re making into a possessive. Here is a general rule of thumb for singular nouns and plural nouns:

1. When using singular nouns, add apostrophe + s. For example:

• The dog’s leash.
• The writer’s desk.
• The planet’s atmosphere.

1. For most plural nouns where the word ends in ‘s’ (when you have multiple subjects you’re discussing), add only an apostrophe after the noun. For example:

• The dogs’ leashes (various dogs).
• The writers’ desks (multiple writers).
• The planets’ atmospheres (different planets).

1. For possessive pronouns (e.g., yours, theirs, mine), do not use apostrophes to form possessives.

A great way to remember the possessive apostrophe rules is to remember these three things:

• For single nouns, add an apostrophe and an ‘s’.
• For plural nouns, add an apostrophe after the ‘s’.
• If it’s a personal possessive pronoun, it doesn’t need an apostrophe.

Even though these rules will show you how to use apostrophes correctly in most cases, there are still exceptions in English. For example, if you encounter a singular noun that ends in s (class, Jess), you should use the plural noun rule and add an apostrophe. For a plural noun that doesn’t end in s, use the singular noun rule and add an apostrophe and ‘s’.

How to use apostrophes correctly — Common exceptions

English comprises several source languages, from Germanic and Scandinavian to Latin, Spanish, and French. Due to this, there are often exceptions to standard grammatical rules; sometimes, it can feel like there are more exceptions to the rules than words that follow the rules.

Here is how to use apostrophes correctly in a few different commonly found exceptions:

Which is correct — children’s or childrens?

Placing the apostrophe in words like ‘children’ can be difficult. It’s a plural, but it doesn’t look like one because it doesn’t end in ‘s’.

To show possession, you add an apostrophe to the end of ‘children’ and then finish with an ‘s’: children’s. For example:

• children’s clothes;
• children’s books.

Shared or Individual Possessives

In some sentences, two or more subjects are shown to possess something. When do you use apostrophes, then?

1. Joint Possession

A single apostrophe shows joint (or shared) possession on the last subject.

• It was Luna and Tilly’s idea.
• We’re going to Mum and Dad’s house.

1. Individual Possession

Apostrophes show individual possession of each subject.

• Carly’s and Lucy’s dogs are so cute.
• Grandma’s and Grandad’s presents should be arriving soon.

Using Apostrophes after a Name

We can use the apostrophe when referring to a person or writing a name to indicate possession of that person. However, we can run into the same exceptions. Some names end in ‘s’.

For names that don’t end with an ‘s’, we would add an apostrophe and an ‘s’ afterward. Here are some examples:

• Lucy’s
• Seren’s
• Charlie’s
• Sid’s
• Ramana’s

We add an apostrophe to the end for names that already end with an ‘s’.

• James’
• Chris’
• Alexis’
• Travis’
• Lucas’

Even though they’re proper nouns, they follow the same rules as regular nouns.

Adding apostrophes to surnames can also be confusing. Here’s why:

• We can use surnames to talk about a single person in a household (May — e.g., Mrs. May — drives a red car)
• We can use surnames to refer to the whole family unit (The May’s house is down the road)
• Some surnames can also end in ‘s’, which muddles things further.

Let’s take a look at some examples.

• The Smiths’ house belongs to the family whose surname is ‘Smith’. There are multiple family members, so ‘Smith’ is plural. Since it’s now plural with an ‘s’ at the end, we add an apostrophe to show possession.
• Smith’s house — The singular ‘Smith’ suggests we’re just talking about one person here. It’s an individual rather than a group of people in a family, so we follow the singular noun rule for possessive apostrophes by adding the apostrophe and then the ‘s’.

Using Apostrophes for Contractions

When it comes to using apostrophes with contractions, it’s about placement. First, you will always use letters to combine the two words when you form contractions. Then, it would help if you placed an apostrophe in the order of these lost letters.

For examples:

• you + have = you’ve (you took out ‘ha’)
• can + not = can’t (you took out ‘no’)
• they + will = they’ll (you took out ‘wi’)

There is, however, one exception to this rule, which is otherwise universal. The exception applies to the word ‘won’t’, formed from ‘will + not’. In this case, a new word is formed by adding letters and omitting them.

Using Apostrophes with Surrounding Punctuation

When an apostrophe is added, it becomes part of the word it has been attached to. Therefore, it should never be separated from that word. Likewise, it applies when the apostrophe is surrounded by other punctuation.

For example:

• “When were you born, darlin’?” asked the man. Mary thought briefly and replied, “Around the late ’90s.”
• “Why are you wearing that awful jumper?”, exclaimed the girl. “‘Cause my mum forced me to”, moped the boy.

Using Apostrophes to Show Plural Possession

When it comes to regular nouns, the plural form is made by adding either the letter s or es.

For example:

• Girl — girls
• Friend — friends
• Actress — actresses
• Church — churches

To show possession in the plural form, you must put an apostrophe after the s.

For example:

• Girls — girls’ (girl + s + apostrophe)
• Friend — friends’ (friend + s + apostrophe)
• Actress — actresses’ (actress + es + apostrophe)
• Church — churches’ (church + es + apostrophe)

Common Mistakes

One of the biggest mistakes people make when showing possession with plural nouns is placing the apostrophe before the s.

For example:

• The girl’s bathroom was always packed at lunchtime.

The sentence is incorrect because placing the apostrophe before the s implies that the bathroom belongs to one girl instead of girl. Instead, it should be written as:

• The girls’ bathroom was always packed at lunchtime.

Another common mistake when making a regular noun plural is using an apostrophe + s to create the plural form.

For example:

Correct: Computers are costly nowadays.

Incorrect: Computer’s are very expensive nowadays.

Correct: Generally speaking, actresses are paid less than actors.

Wrong: Generally speaking, actress’s are paid less than actors.

The only exception to this rule is that sometimes an apostrophe + s is added when creating the plural form of a word that is not usually a noun.

For example:

• Have a look at these do’s and don’ts.

This is not a universal technique for creating the plural form of words that aren’t typically nouns, but some writers use it because they feel its adds clarity.

Using Apostrophes with Plural Irregular Nouns

In the English language, there is a range of irregular nouns which change their spelling entirely in the process of becoming plural.

For example:

• Child — children
• Foot — feet
• Woman — women
• Person — people

To show possession with these irregular nouns, you must add an apostrophe + s after the odd word.

For example:

• On the school trip, all children’s hats were bright red to make them easy to identify.
• The city center was busy on Saturday because of the women’s march.

Instead of this, people often put the apostrophe after the s.

For example:

Incorrect: On the school trip, all children’s hats were bright red to make them easy to identify.

Incorrect: The city center was super busy on Saturday because of the women’s march.

Things get more complicated regarding possessive plurals of proper names ending in s, ch, and z.

For examples:

• Hernandez
• Lloyds
• Birch

Usually, when putting a proper noun, such as Smith, in the plural possessive form, you add an s + apostrophe; this would give you Smiths’. However, this isn’t the case for proper nouns ending in s, ch, and z.

If someone’s name ends in s, ch, or z, to make it plural, you must add es.

For example:

• Hernandez — Hernandezes
• Lloyds — Lloydses
• Birch — Birches

Then, to show possession, you add an apostrophe.

For examples:

• The Hernandezes’ party is this Saturday at 10 pm.
• The Lloydses’ dog just had a litter of puppies.
• The Birches home just underwent massive renovations.

It can often look strange, but it is technically correct.

Using Apostrophes with Singular Compound Nouns

In terms of showing possession with singular compound nouns, such as father-in-law, you must add an apostrophe + s at the end of the word.

For example:

• My father-in-law’s car is very fancy.
• The passer-by’s expression was one of confusion.
• The girl ruined her step-sister’s favorite jumper at the birthday party.

To show possession in the plural form for a compound noun, all you have to do is form the plural first and then add an apostrophe + s.

For example:

• My two sisters-in-law’s houses are on the same street.

What is a tiger’s habitat?

Tigers can live in many habitats, depending on where they live and what kind of tiger they are.

Here we will explore all the different habitats that a tiger might live in, but before we do this, let’s have a quick look at the different types of tigers first, shall we?

Different kinds of tiger

Tigers are the most prominent members of the cat species, and their particular species name is Panthera Tigris. There are nine subspecies of tigers. However, three of them are extinct now. Tigers also make up one of the big four that can roar!

Did you know: Each tiger’s stripes are unique and individual, just like human fingerprints; no two are the same!

Here are the nine different types of tigers:

The Amur/ Siberian tiger. These tigers are the largest of the remaining subspecies, with males growing more than 10.5 feet (from head to tail) and weighing up to 660 pounds. Females are smaller but can still rise to an impressive 8.5 feet (head to bottom) and weigh up to 370 pounds.

Siberian tigers are characterized by their brown, as opposed to black, stripes. In addition, they have white bellies and a white ruff of fur around their necks. Their orange hair is paler than the other tiger sub-species too.

Siberian tigers are primarily in Eastern Russia, though some are located in China and Noth Korea.

The Bengal/ Indian tiger. This category of tiger boasts the most significant number of subspecies. Despite this, they are still endangered on the IUCN Red List. However, they are probably the most well-known and widely recognized out of all the tigers.

The Bengal tiger can be identified by their yellow to light orange coat, and its stripes range from dark brown to black. Their tales are orange with black rings. Some Indian tigers also possess a recessive gene, which can cause their fur to appear cream or white. These ‘white’ or ‘albino’ tigers are rarely found in the wild but can be found in captivity.

Bengal tigers live in India, and they are the national animal of India and Bangladesh.

The South China Tiger. The South China tiger is listed as Critically Endangered on the Red List, one level above Endangered. The WWF report that these tigers are functionally extinct, as most only exist in captivity.

The exact number of South China tigers in the wild, if any at all, is largely unknown. It is because 40 years ago, the Chinese Government declared them as pests. With only 4,000 remaining at the time, they were believed to be hunted and killed.

South China tigers, compared to their subspecies, are smaller. They also have broader stipes that are spaced further apart. In addition, they possess lots of distinct markings around their face.

The Malayan Tiger. The Malayan Tiger used to be categorized with the Indo-Chinese tiger until 2004. They are very similar, except the Malayan tiger is smaller.

The Malayan tiger can be found in the tropical and subtropical forests in Southern Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia.

Malayan tigers also have orange-colored fur and black stripes, with white hair on their eyes, cheeks, and bellies. The black lines are generally thinner than the other types of tigers and help provide the perfect camouflage out in the jungle.

The Malayan Tiger is the national symbol of Malaysia, and it can be found on the coat of the Malaysian Army uniform.

These tigers live remotely in hilly and mountainous terrain, so very little is known about their numbers. They are also listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List.

The Sumatran Tiger. The law protects these tigers in Indonesia, and poachers face harsh jail sentences if they defy these laws. Despite this, tigers are still hunted, and their body parts and skin remain in high demand.

The Sumatran Tiger has the darkest coat out of all the tigers. They can be characterized by their broad black stripes, which are closely spaced and sometimes doubled. The Sumatran tiger also has striped forelegs, unlike the Siberian tiger.

These tigers can only be found on the Indonesian Island of Sumatra.

The Bali Tiger. Sadly, this tiger is now reported as extinct, with the last sighting of the Bali tiger recorded in Western Bali in the late 1930s.

The cause of extinction was mainly due to poaching and their loss of safe habitat, resulting in a loss of prey. There are no Bali Tigers in captivity, either.

The Javan Tiger. These tigers, unfortunately, are also extinct. Their last record is from Java’s Meru Betrir National Park in 1976.

Again, these tigers were hunted out of existence, and their habitat was converted for human use.

The Capsian Tiger. The last of our nine big cats, and also now extinct. The Capsian Tiger was declared extinct in the 1970s.

Before their extinction, Caspian tigers were one of the largest subspecies of tigers, with a muscular physique, wide paws, and massive claws. They fed on wild boar and sometimes red deer, roe deer, and dogs too.

Like the other extinct tigers, the Caspian Tiger was heavily hunted in the early twentieth century. As a result, they also suffered from a loss of natural habitat and loss of prey. Capsian Tigers were native to Turkey, Iran, Asia, Afghanistan, and China.

What is a habitat?

A habitat is a place where any organism makes its home. For a habitat to thrive, it needs to meet a particular set of requirements so that the organism can survive. For tigers, there must be the right weather conditions, enough food in the form of prey, and plenty of mating opportunities.

As such, the main factors that indicate the suitability of habitat are; shelter, food, water, and space. A habitat is said to be appropriate when it has the right balance of all of these. Sometimes it might be the case that an area meets only some criteria but not all. Or, a habitat may start meeting all the requirements but become inhabitable over time. This can be due to natural causes, climate change, or human activity and interference.

Different kinds of habitats for a tiger:

As we can see, many types of tigers live worldwide. Of course, they will live in different conditions, too, from the sun to the snow. It seems that tigers can weather it all.

Though we have briefly touched upon where each tiger can be found, we can now take a more in-depth look at the question of what is a tiger’s habitat.

Perhaps the most striking of habitats for a tiger is Russia’s, Birch Forest. These tigers’ habitat is home to the Siberian Tiger, which has a far harsher northern climate than the other tigers. Here you will find long, cold, and dark winters accompanied by mild summers that bring tropical storms and typhoons. Winds from Siberia bring in more relaxed, dry air, causing lots of snow. January can reach temperatures as low as -20 degrees; yikes!

However, the advantage of this habitat is that the forests see a much lower human population than other tigers’ habitats. As a result, tigers are less likely to face threats from human interference and hunting. In addition, the vast woodlands allow the tiger lots of room to roam and provide a healthy ecosystem.

 

However, Asia hosts the most tigers, offering a home to the Bengal. Bengal tigers can be found throughout India. Smaller tigers, such as the Malayan and the Indo-Chinese tiger, tend to live in southern, warmer countries such as Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia.

Tigers can live in a variety of environments. Here are some more facts about tigers’ habitats:

1. Evergreen Forests: Made up of evergreen trees, they exist in a range of climates and can contain acacia, banksia, and eucalyptus trees in more temperate zones. Because there is no seasonal loss of leaves, the trees provide excellent shade and cover for tigers to evade hunters and stalk their prey.
2. Mangrove Swamps: Formed by mangrove trees in slightly salty tidal waters, mangrove swamps are found in coastal areas. They help to create a diverse ecosystem that is rich in wildlife. The Sundarbans Mangrove area between India and Bangladesh is the home of the Bengal tiger.
3. Tropical Rainforests: Found near the Earth’s equator, the world’s largest tropical rainforests receive about 150 cm to 400 cm of rain per year. The combination of moisture and warmth makes them the most biodiverse places on the planet. Rich in wildlife, tropical rainforests are an excellent habitat for the carnivorous tiger.
4. Savannahs: Characterized by grasses and trees spread out so they do not create a canopy, the savannah has rainfall in one season of the year. It provides a large area for the tiger to roam.
5. Grasslands: Offercontinuous covering of grasses and fewer taller plants, like trees and shrubs; grassland areas are the most common in the world. They’re home to larger mammals which are the tigers’ prey.
6. Mountains: With steep sides and exposed bedrock, mountains are elevated areas of the Earth’s crust. Amazingly, some tigers inhabit mountain regions. In 2010, a population of Bengal tigers was found at 13,000 feet in the Himalayas.

The vast array of habitats a tiger can thrive in demonstrates what an adaptable creature they are. Though tigers are not naturally found in Africa, Europe, America, or in captivity, they have been known to survive remarkably well in these places.

What do tigers eat?

For tigers to get on in their habitat, there must be an abundance of food to keep them alive. It may be no surprise to hear that all tigers are carnivores; they eat meat. Therefore, most tigers’ diets consist of large prey, like deer, rhinos, elephant calves, or pigs.

To kill their prey, tigers will attempt to clamp down on the subject’s neck with their jaws to suffocate the animal. The teeth of a tiger possess pressure-sensing nerves, so they know exactly where to deliver the fatal blow. Tigers are strong and fierce animals but only succeed in 10% of their hunts.

Threats to a tiger’s habitat:

Over the years, the number of tigers has dramatically decreased, with three subspecies becoming extinct and the other six classed as endangered or critically enlarged. As a result, the future of our tigers is uncertain.

As a form of conversation, many tigers now live in captivity. But this is far from ideal, and tigers bred in captivity have little to no chance of survival in the wild. Tigers in captivity are also often subjected to cruelty and abuse. At best, they cannot flourish as they would in the wild; at worst, they are killed for entertainment.

Tigers should remain in their natural habitats. However, they face multiple threats to their homes in the form of:

Human Action or Interference. Covers a wide range of activities, from poaching to inhabiting the land to destroying areas for commercial purposes.

Poaching or Hunting. Despite local laws and conservation efforts, many tigers are still hunted and killed.

Lack of Prey. As the population of tigers decreases, so are the numbers of other species. With less food to eat, tigers become at risk of starvation.

Climate Change. Climate change can affect the amount of water and shelter available to tigers.

As we have already discussed, the lack of food, water, shelter, and mating opportunities will affect a tiger’s habitat.

A rhetorical question is a figure of speech that comes in the form of a question that makes a point instead of seeking an answer. A rhetorical question may have a clear answer, which the person asking it probably already knows, but the questioner asks it to emphasize the point.

In literature, a rhetorical question is evident and used for style as an impressive persuasive device. Rhetorical questions are often used in persuasive texts as they directly appeal to the reader’s agreement and usually discuss well-known facts.

Different Types of Rhetorical Questions

Before we can look at a few examples and analyze rhetorical question effects in writing, there are three primary rhetorical questions that your little ones can learn to use in writing. These include:

Anthypophora: Anthypophora is also sometimes referred to as hypophora.

Erotesis: Erotesis is a kind of rhetorical question that we most commonly see in speeches and other persuasive writing.

Epiplexis: These rhetorical questions are used to revoke the credibility of the fact of point of view.

While children won’t need to, or be expected to, know these tricky terms, it’s still beneficial for them to know that we can ask rhetorical questions in several different ways!

What is an Example of a Rhetorical Question?

Now that we understand what rhetorical questions are and some of the different forms they can take, check out these examples of rhetorical questions for kids. They should give you an idea of rhetorical question effects in a piece of writing:

• ‘Who cares?’
• ‘Who wouldn’t want to be a millionaire?’
• ‘Do we want our planet to survive?’
• ‘Is this supposed to be some kind of joke?’
• ‘Are you serious?’
• ‘Do you just think money grows on trees?’
• ‘Wouldn’t you feel happier if you could wear what you wanted to school?’

The easiest way to write a rhetorical question is by forming a question right after a statement to mean the opposite of what you said. These are called rhetorical tag questions, for example:

The dinner was good, wasn’t it?

It encourages the reader or listener to agree with the statement before the question.

Examples of Rhetorical Questions in Literature

Writers use rhetorical questions in works of literature to evoke reflection

Rhetorical Question Effects: Why do we Use Rhetorical Questions?

Although we now know a bit about rhetorical questions, you may wonder, “what’s the point of asking questions to which we know the answer?”. Rhetorical questions can be employed to have a range of exciting impacts and effects on our writing. Here are eight different rhetorical question effects:

• To raise doubt.
• To challenge the listener or reader.
• To emphasize an idea.
• To demonstrate that a previously asked question was obvious or incorrect.
• Make the listeners think about specific topics.
• Subtly draw attention and emphasize specific points.
• Introduce topics and ideas.
• Engage the audience.

Rhetorical Question Effects on Persuasive Writing

To help us understand these rhetorical question effects a bit more, let’s look at how we can use them in persuasive writing.

1. Ridicule another person’s argument:

For example, when trying to make another politician’s ideas sound ridiculous, you often hear rhetorical questions like this:

“And where will you get the money to pay for a new hospital? The magic money tree?”

Here, the rhetorical question is used to convey and create a sarcastic tone to make another politician sound silly because everyone knows there’s no such thing as a ‘magic money tree.

It can be an effective way to persuade your audience that the person who you’re arguing against isn’t very credible. You do have to take care with this; otherwise, as in the example above, you can sound a bit mean!

2. Get your audience to think:

Martin Luther King Jr. utilized rhetorical questions to get the listener to stop and think about his point. For example, in his I have a dream speech, he said:

“Now, what does all of this mean in this great period of history? It means that we’ve got to stay together. We’ve got to stay together and maintain unity.”

Here, the rhetorical question invites the audience to pause for a minute and ponder what has just been said in the speech. As there is no obvious answer to this question, it provides an excellent opportunity for King to present his ideas of togetherness as the only answer to a highly complex question.

3. Inspire your audience to take action:

Another rhetorical question effect is that they can persuade your audience to act. For example, in a speech about feminism and women’s rights, Emma Watson said:

“If not me, who? If not now, when? The reality is, if we do nothing, it will take 75 years, or for me to be 100 before women can expect to be paid the same as men for the same work.”

Here the rhetorical question is being used because there is no obvious answer. It is intended to inspire people by making them think about how important it is to take action immediately.

How do you Create a Rhetorical Question?

So far, we have learned what rhetorical questions are, explored the rhetorical question effects, and seen some great examples of them in action. It is time for your children to learn how to write independently. But how do you create a rhetorical question?

First, they must think of something they are confident about or passionate about. Then, it will help them generate rhetorical questions that make their readers feel about that topic.

Next, they will need to use something called rhetorical tag questions. These are questions that force the reader or audience to agree with them. The easiest way to write a rhetorical question is by forming a question right after a statement to mean the opposite of what you said.

A possessive noun is a noun that shows ownership of something. Possessive nouns are commonly created with the addition of an apostrophe and ‘s’ at the end of a noun. For example:

• This is the cat’s toy.

This sentence shows that the cat owns the toy, making the noun cat possessive by adding an apostrophe and an ‘s’. Therefore, because of the apostrophe and the ‘s’, we can see that the toy belongs to the cat.

How do you know if a noun is possessive?

A possessive noun is represented through an apostrophe, the letter ‘s’, or both. So, when trying to figure out if it’s a regular or possessive noun, look out for the apostrophe and the ‘s’.

However, an apostrophe and an ‘s’ on some nouns can also represent a contraction – two words squashed together to make one word. For example, ‘The girl’s could be a possessive noun, or it could mean ‘The girl is.

In this case, you should see whether a second noun follows the noun – the second noun is usually what the first noun has. If a verb or adverb follows the noun, it’s not possessive.

First Noun (Possessive)

Second Noun

The

girl’s

hat

was blue.

The

dog’s

tail

is wagging.

The

bike’s

tires

are flat.

It is why it’s essential to take care when writing possessive nouns – they’re similar to contractions, which is where it can get confusing. However, as long as children take the time to learn the differences between them and the uses of both, they should master possessive nouns and contractions.

What is a possessive noun example?

Now that we know how to spot a possessive noun, can you spot the possessive nouns in these sentences?

1. Is this Brandon’s book on the table?
2. On our trip to the zoo, we saw lots of colorful animals. The parrot’s feathers were in lots of different colors.
3. We have been invited for tea at Sarah’s house
4. The trainer flipped a fish into the walrus’ open mouth.
5. The chicken’s eggs were taken by the farmer early in the morning.

Singular Noun

Possessive Noun

Example Sentence

Cat

Cat’s

Don’t touch the cat’s toy.

Brittany

Brittany’s

This is Brittany’s essay.

Computer

Computer’s

The computer’s hard drive is full.

What is a possessive plural noun?

Plural nouns can be transformed into possessive nouns too.

When plural nouns end in an ‘s’, you must add an apostrophe to form a possessive noun.

Plural Noun

Possessive Plural Noun

Example Sentence

Plants

Plants’

The plants’ home is in my backyard.

Windows

Windows’

The windows’ glass was broken.

Eggs

Eggs’

The eggs’ colors differed significantly.

Cats

Cats’

The cats’ treats are in the cupboard.

Houses

Houses’

The houses’ doors are all painted red.

Of course, many plural nouns in English are irregular and don’t end in ‘s’. Check out this example of a plural possessive noun in a sentence:

• The children’s clothes were brand new.

The plural of ‘child’ isn’t ‘childs’ – it’s ‘children’. Although plural, it doesn’t end in an ‘s’. So, to make it possessive, we add an apostrophe and an ‘s’.

Here are a few more examples of plural possessive nouns.

Plural Noun

Possessive Plural Noun

Example sentence

Women

Women’s

Women’s right to vote took 100 years to achieve.

Cattle

Cattle’s

The cattle’s field was enormous.

Geese

Geese’s

The geese’s eggs were hidden.

What is an abstract possessive noun?

We have focused on indicating possession of a physical feature or object. Now it’s time to step it up a gear into the abstract.

Sometimes the idea of possession is more abstract. For example, when you talk about how long you’ve been doing something, you can use an apostrophe to claim that time as a possession.

• I have three years’ experience working as a shop assistant.

However, you can also write this differently using the word ‘of’ instead of the apostrophe.

1. I have three years of experience working as a shop assistant.