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  1. English
  2. Year 5
  3. Word Structure
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Know Your Suffixes: -ology

In this worksheet, students learn and practise spelling words ending in the suffix -ology.

'Know Your Suffixes: -ology' worksheet

Key stage:  KS 2

Curriculum topic:   Reading: Word Reading

Curriculum subtopic:   Root Word Awareness

Difficulty level:  

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Worksheet Overview

QUESTION 1 of 10

Many words in English are based on the same root words, and knowing what these mean can help us with spellings.

The suffix ‘ology’ means ‘the study of something'.

for example: biology, zoology

silhouette pictures of different animals

Match each of the terms with its definition.

 

Look at the way the words are spelt as you will be practising them in later questions!

Column A

Column B

biology
the study of crime and criminal behaviour
criminology
the study of the relationship between living thing...
ecology
the study of plant and animal life
psychology
the study of people's minds and behaviour

Match each of the terms with its definition.

 

Look at the way the words are spelt as you will be practising them in later questions!

Column A

Column B

archaeology
the study of the origin, history and structure of ...
climatology
the study of climates and weather conditions
geology
the study of human life and culture in the past
zoology
the study of the structure and characteristics of ...

Complete the following sentence. Think carefully about how to spell the word!

 

The study of people's minds and behaviour is called __________.

Complete the following sentence. Think carefully about how to spell the word!

 

The study of the origin, history and structure of the earth is called __________.

Complete the following sentence. Think carefully about how to spell the word!

 

The study of plant and animal life is called __________.

Complete the following sentence. Think carefully about how to spell the word!

 

The study of crime and criminal behaviour is called __________.

Complete the following sentence. Think carefully about how to spell the word!

 

The study of the relationship between living things and their environment is called __________.

Complete the following sentence. Think carefully about how to spell the word!

 

The study of climates and weather conditions is called __________.

Complete the following sentence. Think carefully about how to spell the word!

 

The study of human life and culture in the past is called __________.

Complete the following sentence. Think carefully about how to spell the word!

 

The study of the structure and characteristics of animals is called __________.

  • ANSWERS
  • Question 1

Match each of the terms with its definition.

 

Look at the way the words are spelt as you will be practising them in later questions!

CORRECT ANSWER

Column A

Column B

biology
the study of plant and animal lif...
criminology
the study of crime and criminal b...
ecology
the study of the relationship bet...
psychology
the study of people's minds and b...
EDDIE SAYS
Look at the start of each word. Think about which job they could relate to. Remember you can use a dictionary to help you.
  • ANSWERS
  • Question 2

Match each of the terms with its definition.

 

Look at the way the words are spelt as you will be practising them in later questions!

CORRECT ANSWER

Column A

Column B

archaeology
the study of human life and cultu...
climatology
the study of climates and weather...
geology
the study of the origin, history ...
zoology
the study of the structure and ch...
EDDIE SAYS
Again here look at what the root word would be. For example 'zoo'. As we know that a 'zoo' is where wild animals are kept, this gives us a clue as to which option is most likely to be the meaning of 'zoology'.
  • ANSWERS
  • Question 3

Complete the following sentence. Think carefully about how to spell the word!

 

The study of people's minds and behaviour is called __________.

CORRECT ANSWER
psychology
EDDIE SAYS
Super effort! To spell this correctly just add the suffix 'ology'. Remember this means the study of something.
  • ANSWERS
  • Question 4

Complete the following sentence. Think carefully about how to spell the word!

 

The study of the origin, history and structure of the earth is called __________.

CORRECT ANSWER
geology
EDDIE SAYS
Again here you just need to add the suffix 'ology' onto the root word 'geo'. Keep it up super star!
  • ANSWERS
  • Question 5

Complete the following sentence. Think carefully about how to spell the word!

 

The study of plant and animal life is called __________.

CORRECT ANSWER
biology
EDDIE SAYS
The trick here is to remember what the root words would be. 'Bio' is the profile of a person. Adding the suffix 'ology' changes the meaning to the study of plants and animals.
  • ANSWERS
  • Question 6

Complete the following sentence. Think carefully about how to spell the word!

 

The study of crime and criminal behaviour is called __________.

CORRECT ANSWER
criminology
EDDIE SAYS
You've got this! Take the root word 'criminal' drop the 'al' and replace it with the suffix 'ology'.
  • ANSWERS
  • Question 7

Complete the following sentence. Think carefully about how to spell the word!

 

The study of the relationship between living things and their environment is called __________.

CORRECT ANSWER
ecology
EDDIE SAYS
You getting the hang of this! Keep identifying the root word and add the suffix 'ology'.
  • ANSWERS
  • Question 8

Complete the following sentence. Think carefully about how to spell the word!

 

The study of climates and weather conditions is called __________.

CORRECT ANSWER
climatology
EDDIE SAYS
Fantastic effort! Remember you can use a dictionary to help you.
  • ANSWERS
  • Question 9

Complete the following sentence. Think carefully about how to spell the word!

 

The study of human life and culture in the past is called __________.

CORRECT ANSWER
archaeology
EDDIE SAYS
High five! This is a tricky one but 'arche' is a Greek word meaning origin or first cause. This links with the idea of studying 'human life and culture in the past'.
  • ANSWERS
  • Question 10

Complete the following sentence. Think carefully about how to spell the word!

 

The study of the structure and characteristics of animals is called __________.

CORRECT ANSWER
zoology
EDDIE SAYS
Excellent effort! Well done! To create the word for the study of animals we just add the suffix 'ology' onto the root word 'zoo'.
---- OR ----

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