Assessment for Adjective Clauses

Practice (15 mins):

Once the instructional part done, I would have my tutees read a
passage from an academic text found in the textbook Grammar
Explore 3B that talks about human brain growth. However, I would
have them looking specifically for noun clauses (bottom up) and
complete the first task below. Once they found all the noun clauses I
would have them read the questions below and read the text again.
Task 1
1. Research shows
our brains grew most rapidly about 1.8
million years ago.
2. Researches are trying to explain
this happened.
3. Other scientists wonder
the cooking theory is right.
4. Some of them arent sure
people were cooking over
one million years ago.
Reflective questions:
1. What is one advantage of cooking food?
2. Why doesnt a raw-food diet support brain growth?
3. Why do some scientists doubt the cooking theory?

The Power of a Hot Meal

The human brain is considerably larger than the brain of most
animals. In fact, our brains have about three times as many neurons
as those of gorillas and chimpanzees. Scientists believe that the
human brain grew faster than the brains of other animals.
Research shows that our brains grew most rapidly about 1.8
million years ago. Researchers are trying to explain why this
happened.
Biological anthropologist Dr. Richard Wrangham thinks that the brain
began to grow rapidly when humans first learned to cook.
Cooking made it easier and faster for humans to digest food and gain
energy.
Neuroscientist Suzanna Herculano-Houzel supports the cooking theory.
One of her studies looked at the effect of raw food on the body. Her
findings showed that a raw-food diet doesnt provide enough
energy for significant growth.
Other scientists wonder if the cooking theory is right. Some of
them arent sure whether or not people were cooking over one million
years ago. Thats because there is no evidence of fire being used for
food preparation until much later. Scientists also point out the

importance of the greater variety of foods that early humans began to

eat, which included more protein and fat.
Perhaps we will never know exactly what caused the rapid growth
of the brain. However, continuing scientific research brings us closer
to the truth all the time.
Read the text about prehistoric peoples use of spices. Find and
correct five more errors with noun clauses. (Top down).

Ancient Foodies?
Researchers have found if (that) ancient Europeans were cooking with
garlic mustard seeds over 5000 years ago. The findings come from
archeological sites in Denmark and Germany, where the seeds were
found inside pieces of pottery. Archeologists think people used the
seeds in their cooking. Because the seeds have no nutritional value,
archaeologists are convinced that (they) were used to add flavor to
other foods.
The researchers have explained why are their findings important.
Although other examples of ancient spices have been found, these
seeds are the first to be linked to cooking. In earlier studies, scientists
werent sure if (whether) or not these spices had been used in
cooking. Experts believed that prehistoric people simply ate the food
for energy without caring about its taste. Until the garlic mustard seed
discovery, they had no idea how much did early humans think about
their food preparation. Now scientists realize that flavor was important
to people long ago. In the future, researchers would like to find out
what other spices did early humans use, but it wont be an easy task.
Once the all the mistakes are found, use noun clauses with phrases in
the box to answer the questions and share your answers with a
partner.
Example:
I think (that)
/ whether.
I believe (that)
if/whether.

Im (not) concerned (that)

I dont know if

Im (not) sure (that)

I wonder

1. Is solar cooking a good idea?

2. Why do you believe that some people choose to become
vegetarians?
3. Are you worried about our food varieties disappearing?
4. Are you concerned about eating food that has chemicals in it?
5. A lot of food is wasted. Do you think this is a big problem? Why,
or why not?