How to Make a Seashell - Just Add Water! – YouTube Dictation Transcript & Vocabulary
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Interactive Transcript & Highlights for Dictation
1.Living creatures are amazing at building their homes from just about anything
2.But creatures are : , algae, and giant snails engineer their own building material, like magic, by pulling two dissolved chemicals -- calcium and carbonate -- out of the water to form solid shells of, surprise, calcium carbonate
3.The reason those shells don't dissolve back into calcium and carbonate as soon as they're built is that ocean water is already holding as much calcium and carbonate as it can, so the mineral forms much more easily than it dissolves
4.At least, that's the way it works near the surface, where the shell-builders live
5.But at greater depths, water isn't quite as saturated with calcium and carbonate, and thus calcium carbonate is easier to dissolve
💡 Tap the highlighted words to see definitions and examples
Key Vocabulary (CEFR C2)
sea-dwelling
B1A B1-level word commonly used in this context.
Example:
"But sea-dwelling creatures are particular wizards: microscopic coccolithophores, coral-building"
particular
A2A small individual part of something larger; a detail, a point.
Example:
"But sea-dwelling creatures are particular wizards: microscopic coccolithophores, coral-building"
microscopic
B1Of, or relating to microscopes or microscopy; microscopal
Example:
"But sea-dwelling creatures are particular wizards: microscopic coccolithophores, coral-building"
coccolithophores
B1Any of many minute mostly marine planktonic biflagellated organisms with brown chromatophores and complex calcareous, less commonly siliceous, shells.
Example:
"But sea-dwelling creatures are particular wizards: microscopic coccolithophores, coral-building"
coral-building
B1A B1-level word commonly used in this context.
Example:
"But sea-dwelling creatures are particular wizards: microscopic coccolithophores, coral-building"
stabilize
A2To make stable.
Example:
"Basically, chemistry in the deep ocean stabilizes the concentrations of calcium and carbonate"
molecules
A2The smallest particle of a specific element or compound that retains the chemical properties of that element or compound; two or more atoms held together by chemical bonds.
Example:
"molecules combine with water to form what's called carbonic acid, which in turn combines"
decreases
A2An amount by which a quantity is decreased.
Example:
"Simply put, when carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increases, carbonate in the ocean decreases"
wizards
A2Someone, usually male, who uses (or has skill with) magic, mystic items, and magical and mystical practices.
Example:
"But sea-dwelling creatures are particular wizards: microscopic coccolithophores, coral-building"
account
A2A registry of pecuniary transactions; a written or printed statement of business dealings or debts and credits, and also of other things subjected to a reckoning or review.
Example:
"Except, we forgot to take into account the chemistry of another key part of the ocean"
| Word | CEFR | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| sea-dwelling | B1 | A B1-level word commonly used in this context. |
| particular | A2 | A small individual part of something larger; a detail, a point. |
| microscopic | B1 | Of, or relating to microscopes or microscopy; microscopal |
| coccolithophores | B1 | Any of many minute mostly marine planktonic biflagellated organisms with brown chromatophores and complex calcareous, less commonly siliceous, shells. |
| coral-building | B1 | A B1-level word commonly used in this context. |
| stabilize | A2 | To make stable. |
| molecules | A2 | The smallest particle of a specific element or compound that retains the chemical properties of that element or compound; two or more atoms held together by chemical bonds. |
| decreases | A2 | An amount by which a quantity is decreased. |
| wizards | A2 | Someone, usually male, who uses (or has skill with) magic, mystic items, and magical and mystical practices. |
| account | A2 | A registry of pecuniary transactions; a written or printed statement of business dealings or debts and credits, and also of other things subjected to a reckoning or review. |
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