People are talking about how to help our planet in a big meeting in Dubai. They say we should not use so much oil and gas because it makes the air dirty. We need to use more clean energy from the sun and wind. This clean energy is growing fast and could make a lot of our electricity soon. But sometimes we need other ways to make power when there is no sun or wind.

Cars that you plug in to charge are also a good idea. Cars that use gas make the air dirty, but electric cars are much cleaner. More people are buying electric cars now. We also need to stop a gas called methane from getting into the air because it can make the planet very hot. People from many places want to make less methane gas.

We need to take bad air out of the sky to keep our planet from getting too hot. Trees and oceans help clean the air, but they are getting sick because of bad things we do. We can try to fix nature and use machines to clean the air too. But these machines are new and cost a lot of money. If we make the air too dirty, it might be very hard to clean it all up.

Original news source: Are the solutions to fight climate change making progress? (BBC)

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Vocabulary:

Group or Classroom Activities

Warm-up Activities:

– Charades
Instructions: Divide the class into small groups. Give each group a set of cards with different environmental actions or words related to the article (e.g. solar energy, electric car, tree planting). One person from each group will act out the word or action without speaking, and the rest of the group has to guess what it is.

– Vocabulary Pictionary
Instructions: Divide the class into pairs. Give each pair a set of environmental vocabulary words from the article. One person from each pair will draw a picture to represent a word, while the other person tries to guess the word. They can use gestures or simple English words to describe the word, but cannot say the word directly.

– Think-Pair-Share
Instructions: Have the students read the article individually. Then, ask them to think about one thing they learned or found interesting from the article. Pair the students up and have them share their thoughts with their partner. After sharing, ask a few pairs to share their thoughts with the whole class.

– Keyword Hangman
Instructions: Write down a few keywords from the article on the board, leaving out some letters. Divide the class into small groups and have them take turns guessing the missing letters to complete the keywords. Each group can earn points for each correct letter guessed, and the group with the most points wins.

– Future Predictions
Instructions: Divide the class into pairs. Ask each pair to discuss and make predictions about the future of clean energy and environmental conservation based on the information from the article. They can discuss questions like “What do you think will happen if we don’t use more clean energy?” or “How do you think electric cars will change in the future?”. After discussing, ask a few pairs to share their predictions with the class.

Comprehension Questions:

1. What are people talking about in Dubai?
2. Why should we use less oil and gas?
3. What kind of energy should we use more of?
4. What are cars that you plug in called?
5. Why are electric cars cleaner than cars that use gas?
6. What gas do we need to stop from getting into the air?
7. How can we clean the air?
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Listen and Fill in the Gaps:

People are talking about how to help our (1)______ in a big meeting in Dubai. They say we should not use so much oil and gas because it makes the air dirty. We need to use more clean (2)______ from the sun and wind. This clean energy is growing fast and could make a lot of our electricity soon. But sometimes we need other ways to make power when there is no sun or wind.

Cars that you (3)______ in to charge are also a good (4)______. Cars that use gas make the air dirty, but electric cars are much cleaner. More people are buying electric cars now. We also (5)______ to stop a gas called methane from getting into the air because it can make the planet very hot. People from many places (6)______ to make less methane gas.

We need to take bad air out of the sky to keep our planet from getting too hot. Trees and oceans help clean the air, but they are getting sick because of bad things we do. We can try to fix nature and use machines to clean the air too. But these machines are new and cost a lot of (7)______. If we (8)______ the air too dirty, it might be very hard to clean it all up.
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Discussion Questions:

Students can ask a partner these questions, or discuss them as a group.

1. What is a big meeting?
2. How would you feel if the air was dirty?
3. Do you like the idea of using clean energy from the sun and wind? Why or why not?
4. What is a good idea for cars to use?
5. How would you feel if the planet got very hot?
6. Do you think it’s important to make less methane gas? Why or why not?
7. What do trees and oceans do to help clean the air?
8. Have you ever seen a machine that cleans the air? What did it look like?
9. How would you feel if the air was too dirty to clean?
10. Do you think it’s important to fix nature? Why or why not?
11. What is something bad we do that makes trees and oceans sick?
12. Have you ever seen a car that you plug in to charge? What did it look like?

Individual Activities

Vocabulary Meanings:

Match each word to its meaning.

Words:
1. power
2. electricity
3. gas
4. planet
5. air
6. trees
7. oceans
8. machines
9. clean
10. dirty

Meanings:
(A) Big plants that grow outside and have leaves and branches
(B) Things that help us do work, like cars and computers
(C) Not clean
(D) A type of energy that makes lights turn on and machines run
(E) The big ball in the sky that we live on
(F) Huge areas of water like the ocean
(G) Energy that makes things work
(H) The stuff we breathe that is all around us
(I) To make something not dirty
(J) A type of fuel that makes cars go
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Multiple Choice Questions:

1. What are people talking about in the big meeting in Dubai?
(a) How to help our planet
(b) How to make more money
(c) What to eat for dinner
(d) How to play video games

2. Why should we not use so much oil and gas?
(a) It makes the air clean
(b) It makes the air smell good
(c) It makes the air dirty
(d) It makes the air disappear

3. What kind of energy should we use more of?
(a) Dirty energy from oil and gas
(b) Clean energy from the sun and wind
(c) No energy at all
(d) Energy from the moon and stars

4. What are cars that you plug in to charge?
(a) Gas cars
(b) Bicycle cars
(c) Train cars
(d) Electric cars

5. Why are electric cars a good idea?
(a) They are cleaner than gas cars
(b) They are louder than gas cars
(c) They are slower than gas cars
(d) They are more expensive than gas cars

6. What gas can make the planet very hot?
(a) Oxygen gas
(b) Methane gas
(c) Carbon dioxide gas
(d) Helium gas

7. What helps clean the air?
(a) Cars and buildings
(b) Computers and phones
(c) Toys and books
(d) Trees and oceans

8. Why might it be very hard to clean the air if we make it too dirty?
(a) Because it is too easy to clean
(b) Because it is too fun to clean
(c) Because it costs a lot of money
(d) Because it is too fast to clean

Go to answers ⇩

True or False Questions:

1. Trees and oceans worsen the air quality due to bad things we do.
2. People are talking about how to help our planet in a big meeting in Dubai.
3. Machines cannot help clean the air, and they are expensive.
4. Methane gas can make the planet very hot, so we need to stop it from getting into the air.
5. Clean energy from the sun and wind is growing fast and could make a lot of our electricity soon.
6. Using too little oil and gas makes the air dirty.
7. Electric cars are much cleaner than cars that use gas.
8. Fewer people are buying electric cars now.
Go to answers ⇩

Write a Summary:

Write a summary of this news article in two sentences.

Writing Questions:

Answer the following questions. Write as much as you can for each answer.

1. What are people talking about in the big meeting in Dubai?
2. Why should we not use so much oil and gas?
3. What kind of energy should we use more of?
4. Why are cars that you plug in to charge a good idea?
5. How can we help clean the air?

Answers

Comprehension Question Answers:

1. What are people talking about in Dubai?
They are talking about how to help our planet.

2. Why should we use less oil and gas?
Because it makes the air dirty.

3. What kind of energy should we use more of?
We should use more clean energy from the sun and wind.

4. What are cars that you plug in called?
They are called electric cars.

5. Why are electric cars cleaner than cars that use gas?
Electric cars are cleaner because they don’t make the air dirty like cars that use gas.

6. What gas do we need to stop from getting into the air?
We need to stop methane gas from getting into the air.

7. How can we clean the air?
We can clean the air by planting trees, taking care of the oceans, and using machines to clean the air.
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Listen and Fill in the Gaps Answers:

(1) planet
(2) energy
(3) plug
(4) idea
(5) need
(6) want
(7) money
(8) make
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Vocabulary Meanings Answers:

1. power
Answer: (G) Energy that makes things work

2. electricity
Answer: (D) A type of energy that makes lights turn on and machines run

3. gas
Answer: (J) A type of fuel that makes cars go

4. planet
Answer: (E) The big ball in the sky that we live on

5. air
Answer: (H) The stuff we breathe that is all around us

6. trees
Answer: (A) Big plants that grow outside and have leaves and branches

7. oceans
Answer: (F) Huge areas of water like the ocean

8. machines
Answer: (B) Things that help us do work, like cars and computers

9. clean
Answer: (I) To make something not dirty

10. dirty
Answer: (C) Not clean
Go back to questions ⇧

Multiple Choice Answers:

1. What are people talking about in the big meeting in Dubai?
Answer: (a) How to help our planet

2. Why should we not use so much oil and gas?
Answer: (c) It makes the air dirty

3. What kind of energy should we use more of?
Answer: (b) Clean energy from the sun and wind

4. What are cars that you plug in to charge?
Answer: (d) Electric cars

5. Why are electric cars a good idea?
Answer: (a) They are cleaner than gas cars

6. What gas can make the planet very hot?
Answer: (b) Methane gas

7. What helps clean the air?
Answer: (d) Trees and oceans

8. Why might it be very hard to clean the air if we make it too dirty?
Answer: (c) Because it costs a lot of money
Go back to questions ⇧

True or False Answers:

1. Trees and oceans worsen the air quality due to bad things we do. (Answer: False)
2. People are talking about how to help our planet in a big meeting in Dubai. (Answer: True)
3. Machines cannot help clean the air, and they are expensive. (Answer: False)
4. Methane gas can make the planet very hot, so we need to stop it from getting into the air. (Answer: True)
5. Clean energy from the sun and wind is growing fast and could make a lot of our electricity soon. (Answer: True)
6. Using too little oil and gas makes the air dirty. (Answer: False)
7. Electric cars are much cleaner than cars that use gas. (Answer: True)
8. Fewer people are buying electric cars now. (Answer: False)
Go back to questions ⇧