The Panama Canal is a very important water path that ships use to move things from one place to another. But now, it doesn't have enough water because it hasn't rained much. This is bad because the canal needs rainwater to work. Because there's not enough water, fewer ships can go through, and they can't carry as much stuff. This is causing problems for people and businesses all around the world who rely on these ships.
To fix this, the people in charge of the canal are planning to spend a lot of money on projects to save water. They want to use water over again, save more rainwater, and even make fresh water from the sea. They are also thinking about ways to make it rain more. But these ideas will take time and money to start working. Everyone is hoping it will rain soon so more ships can go through, but they know they need to find a good way to make sure the canal can keep working in the future.
Original news source: Can the Panama Canal save itself? (BBC)
π§ Listen:
π Vocabulary:
Group or Classroom Activities
Warm-up Activities:
– Charades
Instructions: Divide the class into small groups. Give each group a word or phrase related to the article (e.g. Panama Canal, rainwater, ships). One person from each group must act out the word or phrase without speaking, and the rest of the group must guess what it is. The group that guesses correctly gets a point. Repeat with different words or phrases.
– News Summary
Instructions: Have the students read the article individually or in small groups. Then, ask them to write a short summary of the main points of the article in their own words. Afterward, have a class discussion where students share their summaries and compare them to check for understanding.
– Opinion Poll
Instructions: Ask students to work in pairs or small groups. Have them discuss and answer questions related to the article, such as "Do you think it's important to have a functioning Panama Canal? Why or why not?" or "What do you think are some possible solutions to the water shortage problem?" Afterward, have a few groups share their opinions with the class.
– Vocabulary Pictionary
Instructions: Write down key vocabulary words from the article on separate pieces of paper or on the whiteboard. Divide the class into two teams. Call out a word and one person from each team must draw a quick picture of the word on the board. The rest of their team must guess what the word is. The team that guesses correctly gets a point. Repeat with different words.
– Future Predictions
Instructions: Have a class discussion about the future of the Panama Canal. Ask students to make predictions about what might happen if the water shortage problem isn't solved, or what could be the possible outcomes if the proposed solutions are successful. Encourage students to use vocabulary and phrases from the article to support their predictions.
π€ Comprehension Questions:
The Panama Canal is a water path that ships use to move things from one place to another.
It's a problem because the canal needs water to work. If there's not enough water, fewer ships can go through and they can't carry as much stuff.
They want to use water over again, save more rainwater, and even make fresh water from the sea.
It's important because people and businesses all around the world rely on these ships to move things from one place to another.
They are thinking about ways to make it rain more, but they haven't said exactly how they will do it.
It takes time and money because they need to plan and build the projects to save water. It also takes time for the rain to come.
People are hoping for rain so that more ships can go through the canal.
π§βοΈ Listen and Fill in the Gaps:
The Panama Canal is a very important water path that ships use to move things from one to another. But now, it doesn't have water because it hasn't rained much. This is bad because the canal needs rainwater to work. Because there's not enough , fewer ships can go through, and they can't carry as stuff. This is causing problems for people and businesses all around the world who rely on these ships. To fix this, the people in charge of the canal are to spend a lot of money on to save water. They want to use water over again, save more rainwater, and even make fresh water from the sea. They are also thinking about ways to make it rain more. But these ideas will take time and to working. Everyone is hoping it will rain soon so more ships can go through, but they know they need to find a good way to make sure the canal can keep working in the future.
π¬ Discussion Questions:
1. What is the Panama Canal?
2. How would you feel if you couldn't go through the Panama Canal because there wasn't enough water?
3. Do you like ships? Why or why not?
4. Do you think it's important to save water? Why or why not?
5. How do you think the people in charge of the canal can save more rainwater?
6. What do you think about the idea of making fresh water from the sea?
7. How do you think they can make it rain more?
8. Why do you think it's important for the canal to keep working?
9. Have you ever seen a ship? What did it look like?
10. What do you think people and businesses will do if the canal can't work anymore?
11. How do you think people will feel if the canal can't work anymore?
12. What would you do if you were in charge of the Panama Canal?
Individual Activities
ππ Vocabulary Meanings:
Click a dot next to a word, then click the dot next to its meaning to draw a line connecting them.
Words
Meanings
π‘ Multiple Choice Questions:
π΅οΈ True or False Questions:
π Write a Summary:
Write a summary of this news article in two sentences.
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