What's the biggest environmental problem in your country?

Level

B1 / B2 (Intermediate / Upper-intermediate)

Age

Teenagers and adults

Time

40-60 mins

Procedure

Preparation

Read this plan, and familiarise yourself with the topic.

Make copies of worksheets and coaching plans.

Download the podcast to play on a phone/tablet (see the downloads section on the right) or listen to it online on the podcast page.

1. Introduction

Tell your students that they are going to listen to the first part of a podcast from the Premier Skills English website. Ask them to listen and try to identify the topic of the podcast.

Play the podcast from 00.00 > 2.19.

Here is the Premier Skills English Podcast: Five ways you can help the environment.

The topic of the podcast is the environment - or five things you can do to help the environment.

2. Worksheet 1

Show your students the vocabulary workshop. Tell them to read the statements at the top and ask them if they are familiar with the vocabulary.

Tell them to complete the matching activity on the worksheet.

3. Brainstorm

Ask your students to work in groups. Tell them that they are going to spend 3 minutes brainstorming ‘threats to the environment’. Ask each group to nominate a writer who will write down anything that the members of the group come up with.

4. Ranking

Ask the groups to spend 2 minutes looking at the list and to come up with the 5 biggest threats, ranked in order of severity.

Next, you want to come up with a class list. If you have quite a small class, you could ask the writers to shout out their lists and you could make a note on the board, eliminating the threats with the fewest mentions. Or you could ask groups to merge and with each merger, refine their list to reflect the ideas on both lists. 

However you do this, when you have the 5 most serious threats, ranked by severity, write them down on the board then cover the list with paper.

5. Podcast

Tell your students that they are going to listen to another part of the Premier Skills English Podcast. In this next section, Rich and Jack talk about the different things football clubs are doing to help the environment. Ask your students to listen and try to hear what Manchester United, Arsenal and Forest Green Rovers are doing to help the environment.

Play the podcast from 3.53 > 8.12.

6. Language focus

In the section of the podcast you listened to, Rich and Jack used some conditional sentences. Hand out worksheet 2 and ask your students to read about the language and then complete the activity.

7. Discussion

Ask your students to work in small groups. Tell them that they are going to come up with things that they can do to help the environment. With stronger groups, you could ask them to be prepared to justify their decisions using first conditional statements. 

8. Ranking

Tell your students that they are now going to select the top 5 things they can do to help the environment and rank them in order of helpfulness. Using the same method as earlier in the class, compile a class list and write it on the board next to the list of threats.

9. Conclusion

Now it is time to see if the threats that your students think are the most severe and the things that your students believe are the most helpful match. Remove the paper covering the threats and ask your students to think about the two lists. If the lists do match up, be sure to congratulate your class.
If they don’t, ask your class if they think that they should change the list. 

10. Homework

In the remainder of the podcast, Rich and Jack talk about 5 things that you can do to help the environment. Ask your students to listen to the podcast to find out if the things that Rich and Jack suggest are the same as the ideas they came up with in class.