What does gyroscope mean?
Word: Gyroscope
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Gyroscope means a device with a fast-turning wheel inside a frame, which holds its position even when the frame is moved.
How do you spell gyroscope?
Syllables: gy - ro - scope
Tricky part: The word opens with a j sound and a long i sound, yet neither letter appears. Students write jyroscope or giroscope.
Watch out for: jyroscope, giroscope, gyroskope
Memory tip: Gym gives you the same two opening letters: a soft g, then a y, even though the y sounds different here.
Gyroscope in a sentence
Example 1: The tiny gyroscope inside a smartphone tells it which way it has been turned.
Example 2: Large ships use a gyroscope to help them stay steady in rough seas.
Example 3: Our physics teacher balanced a gyroscope on the tip of a pencil.
Fun Fact
The French scientist Leon Foucault named the gyroscope in 1852, when he used one to show that the Earth turns.
Practise the CREST Way
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
cosypogre
a) telescope
b) gyroscope
c) microscope
d) periscope
Show answer
b) gyroscope. Only one of these has a g and a y, and both are in the jumble.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
The science club built a small gyrascope that stayed upright on a stretched thread.
a) science
b) upright
c) gyrascope
d) stretched
Show answer
c) gyrascope. An o links the two parts of the word, as it does in microscope.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
gyrosscope
a) r
b) p
c) s
d) c
Show answer
c) s. One s is enough before the c.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the correctly spelt word:
a) gyroscope
b) thermomiter
c) seismagraph
d) barometor
Show answer
a) gyroscope. Thermometer has an e after the m, barometer ends in er, and seismograph has an o in the middle.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Where would a gyroscope be most useful?
a) in the controls of an aeroplane
b) in a school pencil box
c) in the door of a fridge
d) in a kitchen water filter
Show answer
a) in the controls of an aeroplane
2. Which toy works on much the same idea as a gyroscope?
a) a wooden jigsaw
b) a paper kite
c) a spinning top
d) a rubber ball
Show answer
c) a spinning top
