The Environment Do we really care?

Natural Disasters: Vocabulary Exercises and Conversation Questions

Natural Disasters
Deck of Cards
Matching Exercise
Speaking: having all students speak at the same time can prove a bit chaotic and stressful, so I would suggest dividing the class into As and Bs and assigning the first question to As and the second to Bs. The third can be done as a whole class with the teacher asking for volunteers to answer the question. Don't forget to give students some thinking time to organise their ideas.
VIDEO REPOSITORY: National Geographic Explains Natural Disasters.

Homework: students choose a natural disaster from the National Geographic site above and watch the video, or read about it, taking notes in order to share it with the class the next day.

Man-Made Disasters

Speaking: what are you eco-guilty of?

VIDEO: OIL SPILL IN MAURITIUS

CLEVER PARROT: Working on Pronunciation. Choose 10 words from the transcript you want your students to learn/revise and write them on the board. Tell students you are going to pronounce them and they should only repeat after you if they think the pronunciation is correct. If they think you are mispronouncing the word, they should remain silent. Repeat and reinforce pronunciation of all the words on the board.

Transcript here
  • Note taking: Ask students, in pairs, to write down a summary of the news they have just heard.
  • In pairs, list actions (long and short term) that must be taken to deal with the oil spill
Environment Vocabulary.

Study the following "Environment Terms" using Flashcards and then use the different games to further reinforce and revise the terms.

Environment Terms and Meanings
Conversation questions using vocabulary

In this activity where students are asked to use the vocabulary in the slides, it is essential that they are allowed to have some time to organise their ideas and structure what they want to say. Again, I would suggest dividing the class into As and Bs and assigning each a different question.

As: Can you describe any environmental disasters that have occurred in the last decade or so?
  • man-made disasters
  • oil spills
  • habitat
  • minimize
  • ecosystem
Bs: How would you reduce our environmental impact? What alternative energy sources can you think of?
  • green transport
  • energy/efficient transport
  • carpooling
  • fossil fuels
  • renewable energy
  • carbon footprint
  • light pollution/noise pollution
As: Do you know any endangered species of animals or plants? Why are they in danger? What could we do to prevent them from dying out?
  • organic farming
  • atmosphere
  • ecosystem
  • natural disasters
  • climate change
  • ice melting
Bs: How do you think the world will look in a hundred years? What environmental damage can you think of?
  • landfills
  • energy efficient transport
  • recycling
  • sustainable energies
  • ozone layer
As:What do you think the growing list of endangered species says about humankind?Do you think humans will ever be an endangered species?
  • to die out
  • species on the verge/brink of extinction
  • endangered species
  • tropical rainforest
Bs: Do you recycle? If so, what kinds of things do you recycle?
What do you do to conserve energy? For example, do you turn the lights off when you leave the room?
  • deforestation
  • the three Rs Rule: recycle, reuse, reduce
  • save energy
  • deplete natural resources
  • harm the environment/marine life/wildlife
One last set of questions. You can do it as a whole class debate
As: How can you save some energy in your everyday life?Which type of energy is the most environmentally friendly? Do you use this type of energy? Why or why not?
  • wind farm
  • emissions
  • energy sources
  • renewable energy
  • global warming
  • ozone layer
  • air pollution
These are some things we could do as individuals to help reduce global warming. Order them from most to least important.
  • Recycle everything you can.
  • Use less heating and air conditioning
  • Use energy efficient light bulbs.
  • Use biodegradable and compostable plastics
  • Drive less and use more public transport.
  • Plant a tree.
  • Use less hot water.
  • Switch off lights/appliances when they are not in use.
BACK TO THE BLOG

anchorLinkCopied