What does geothermal mean?
Word: Geothermal
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Geothermal means to do with the heat deep inside the earth. Geothermal energy uses this underground heat, often in the form of hot water or steam.
Word origin: From Greek ge, 'earth', and therme, 'heat'.
How do you spell geothermal?
Syllables: ge - o - ther - mal
Tricky part: The word is long and said quickly, so letters slip out of the middle; the h after the t is the one most often lost.
Watch out for: geotermal, geothurmal, geothermle
Memory tip: The heat part, therm, is the same one you see in thermometer and thermos flask.
Geothermal in a sentence
Example 1: Iceland heats many of its homes with geothermal energy.
Example 2: The hot springs of Rotorua in New Zealand are a sign of geothermal heat.
Example 3: Our science model showed how a geothermal plant uses underground steam to spin a turbine.
Fun Fact
In 1904, at Larderello in Italy, steam from under the ground was first used to make electricity, lighting a few bulbs.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Makeup
Choose the prefix that completes the word:
____thermal
a) gio
b) gee
c) geo
d) jeo
Show answer
c) geo. Geo means earth and is spelt the same way in geography and geology.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
Countries such as Iceland and Kenya use geothermel power to light thousands of homes and factories.
a) thousands
b) geothermel
c) Countries
d) factories
Show answer
b) geothermel. Thermal ends in al, the same way normal and animal do.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
remathogel
a) thermometer
b) geological
c) hypothermia
d) geothermal
Show answer
d) geothermal. Geological ends in cal and hypothermia starts with hypo, but there is no c or p here, and thermometer is a letter too long.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) turbine
b) geothermal
c) hydroelectrik
d) generator
Show answer
c) hydroelectrik. Hydroelectric ends in c, just like electric.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which of these is a renewable source of energy, just as geothermal is?
a) wind
b) petrol
c) coal
d) natural gas
Show answer
a) wind
2. Which place would suit a geothermal power plant best?
a) a frozen lake in winter
b) a flat sandy desert
c) a region of active volcanoes
d) a busy city market
Show answer
c) a region of active volcanoes
