Lesson 14

Environment. Pollution

Aims and objectives:

• practicing basic skills

Equipment: writing paper, handouts

Sequence

I. Warming-up

Quiz "Are you a nature-lover?”

Read the questions and mark the answer that is close to you.

1) If someone asks you to plant a tree in your schoolyard or in front of your house, do you agree to do it?

a) With pleasure. Trees make our streets more beautiful.

b) I’m not sure that I can do it on my own, but I’m ready to help.

c) Sorry, but I’m too young for it.

2) When you go for a walk to the forest or to the park, do you pick up flowers?

a) I ask grown-ups if I may do it.

b) Yes, I do, but not many — three or five.

c) Yes, I always pick up flowers. Anyway, new ones will grow up.

3) What do you do with a candy / ice-cream wrapper?

a) I always throw it in the litter-bin. If I don’t see it around, I put it in my bag.

b) I always try to find a litter-bin. But if there isn’t one around, I just throw it on the ground.

c) I just drop it anywhere. What are yard-keepers for then?

4) Do you throw away your old exercise-books if there are blank pages left?

a) No, I don’t throw them away but use them for my notes or drawings.

b) It depends on how many pages are left.

c) Yes, the greatest pleasure is to start writing in a new exercisebook.

Add up you’re A, D and C scores.

If you get mostly:

As — The Green Peace will send you a thank-you letter.

Bs — You have to take more care of nature. We all are parts of it.

Cs — Such people destroy nature, don’t they?

II. Main part

1. Checking on Homework

Student discuss their interview results — the idea being to come to a joint opinion about the factors that pollute the environment of the students’ region.

In pairs think about 3 possible solutions to these problems appropriate for your region, complete the charts below, share your ideas with the class, and come to a joint decision.

Air pollution —

Water pollution —

Soil pollution —

Noise pollution —

2. Speaking

The teacher gets the students back to pictures of lesson 11.

How would you classify the types of pollution in the pictures on the left? What makes you think so?

Target answers:

• the first picture shows soil pollution because the land seems dead with no vegetation in sight

• the second picture shows air pollution because the air seems not clean from dust and smog

• the third picture shows noise pollution because the musicians seem to be a rock or punk band that always play very loud music

See if you can put the activities below into the appropriate pollution groups.

• burying waste or household trash

• cutting forests

• rock concerts

• car exhaust fumes

• hyperactive fishing

• oil spilt in oceans

• headphones

• no change footwear in schools

• poaching

• airport noise

• smoking

• burning leaves in spring and autumn

• littering and spitting in the schools, streets, and woods

This activity should be done in groups or pairs. Ask students to make a table with the four types of pollution and fill it with the given activities. The answers should be then compared and discussed in class.

Suggested answers

• Water pollution — oil spilt in oceans; hyperactive fishing, poaching;

• Air pollution — cutting forests; car exhaust fumes; smoking; air venting; no change footwear in schools; burning leaves in spring and in autumn.

• Soil pollution — burying waste or household trash; cutting forests; littering and spitting in the schools, streets, and woods, poaching.

• Noise pollution — headphones, rock concerts, airport noise.

The answers may vary greatly, this is why attention should be paid more to the message rather than to the form.

In groups, discuss why the activities given avove may be harmful for the environment. Who should take care of them? Match the problem and the authority to handle it. Sometimes there may be more than one choice.

Global authorities —

Local authorities —

I could do it myself —

Divide the class into groups and have them discuss the proposed questions. A discussion is absolutely necessary.

Suggested answers

1) Global authorities — cutting forests; oil spilt in oceans; hyperactive fishing; air venting.

2) Local authorities — cutting forests; air venting; burning leaves in spring and in autumn; rock concerts; poaching; airport noise; burying waste or household trash; littering and spitting in the schools, streets, and woods; no change footwear in schools; car exhaust fumes; smoking.

3) I could do it myself — burying waste or household trash; littering and spitting in schools, streets, and woods; burning leaves in spring and in autumn; smoking; headphones; no change footwear in schools.

After students have finished matching pairs, have them discuss their results in class. Ask for grounding their opinions. You may come up with the question like "What conclusion can you make by the number of problems to handle for each of the authorities?” (The target answer: "More can be done by ourselves and at the local level”.)

3. Grammar practice

Complete the table.

Remember that we use Present, not Future Tenses after "if”, "when”, "as soon as”.

Think about 3–5 sentences of your own.

The sentences are then discussed in class.

III. Summary

IV. Homework

Look at this picture carefully. It contains several pieces of evidence of pollution you can find in your river.

Task 1. Choose one object and tell how you think it got here and why you think it is the evidence of pollution.

Task 2. As a writer, gather your information, organize it and compose a message to your local authorities suggesting a possible solution for this problem.

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