Hard moa and extinct birds word search
Dinornis, the piopio, Lyall's wren and the swamp at Pyramid Valley: twenty-eight words about New Zealand's extinct birds in an eighteen by eighteen grid. Words run in all eight directions, for history buffs and museum lovers.
- Adzebill
- Archaeology
- Bones
- Canterbury Museum
- Carbon dating
- Dinornis
- Eggshell
- Extinct
- Feathers
- Flightless
- Footprints
- Forest
- Fossils
- Giant
- Gizzard
- Haast's eagle
- Huia
- Laughing owl
- Lyall's wren
- Moa
- Piopio
- Pyramid Valley
- Ratite
- Skeleton
- Swamp
- Talons
- Wingless
- Wingspan
This is the same puzzle as on the printable sheet. Every word you find turns green and is crossed off the list.
Make your own versionMoa and lost birds, extra hard
Name
| I | L | Y | A | L | L | S | W | R | E | N | E | M | Y | T | L | A | T |
| D | N | G | E | N | N | L | T | S | E | R | O | F | S | F | O | T | G |
| I | M | I | T | A | L | O | N | S | B | O | N | E | S | O | M | U | A |
| N | O | Z | I | N | I | A | P | M | A | W | S | Y | F | P | U | B | R |
| O | L | Z | T | P | Y | R | A | M | I | D | V | A | L | L | E | Y | H |
| R | L | A | A | I | N | A | D | Z | E | B | I | L | L | A | S | S | F |
| N | E | R | R | G | X | E | T | O | Y | F | M | F | L | U | U | C | G |
| I | H | D | L | C | R | L | G | I | B | L | Y | G | R | G | M | H | I |
| S | S | E | L | T | H | G | I | L | F | A | L | I | E | H | Y | A | T |
| T | G | G | N | I | T | A | D | N | O | B | R | A | C | I | R | I | H |
| N | G | D | U | C | I | E | E | T | W | F | L | N | I | N | U | U | S |
| I | E | D | A | E | E | S | A | O | C | I | A | T | S | G | B | H | S |
| R | S | K | E | L | E | T | O | N | L | N | N | L | O | O | R | E | E |
| P | D | C | N | R | I | S | T | R | E | O | I | G | S | W | E | S | L |
| T | S | R | E | H | T | A | E | F | T | S | G | T | S | L | T | L | G |
| O | I | P | O | I | P | A | X | T | S | U | G | Y | X | P | N | W | N |
| O | P | A | G | E | N | H | M | O | A | O | M | O | A | E | A | O | I |
| F | N | A | T | Y | E | E | F | O | L | V | M | T | X | T | C | N | W |
Find these words
- Adzebill
- Archaeology
- Bones
- Canterbury Museum
- Carbon dating
- Dinornis
- Eggshell
- Extinct
- Feathers
- Flightless
- Footprints
- Forest
- Fossils
- Giant
- Gizzard
- Haast's eagle
- Huia
- Laughing owl
- Lyall's wren
- Moa
- Piopio
- Pyramid Valley
- Ratite
- Skeleton
- Swamp
- Talons
- Wingless
- Wingspan
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Moa and lost birds, extra hard
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About this word search
Dinornis is the name of the giant moa, which could reach about three and a half metres with its neck stretched up. Many moa bones have been found in swamps such as Pyramid Valley in North Canterbury, the richest moa fossil site in the country, and Canterbury Museum has moa skeletons on display. Other lost birds include the piopio, the huia, whose last confirmed sighting was in 1907, and Lyall's wren, a tiny flightless songbird from Stephens Island that vanished soon after people and cats arrived there in the 1890s.
The grid is eighteen by eighteen and the words go in all eight directions, backwards included. Canterbury Museum is the longest at sixteen letters, written CANTERBURYMUSEUM. Pyramid Valley has thirteen and carbon dating twelve. Moa is the shortest at three letters. Wingless and wingspan both start with WING, so check the end. The Z of adzebill and gizzard is rare and quick to find.
This sheet suits a history or science lesson. Ask students to choose one bird from the list and explain how scientists know it existed, using clues such as bones, feathers and carbon dating.
Ways to use this word search
In the classroom
Print it as a task for early finishers, or to open a lesson on this topic. With the QR code on the sheet, students check their own answers.
At home and on the go
Pack a few printed sheets for the car, the ferry or the bach. A pen is all you need, no screen required.
Play together
Print the sheet twice and race each other. Whoever finds all the words first wins. Or play it online and see who is fastest.
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