Many roads in the UK have big holes in them. People told the government about these holes more than 600,000 times this year. Cars get broken because of these holes, and it costs a lot of money to fix them. The weather is making it worse, and scientists say it's because the world is getting warmer. Some smart people are trying to make roads that can fix themselves and robots that can fix the holes.
Smart people at a big school are using computers and cars to find out where the holes are. They want to know how bad the problem is. Other smart people are trying to make robots that can fix the holes. They are also trying to make roads that don't break easily and can fix themselves. They are even thinking about using special plastic and heat from the ground to keep the roads from getting too cold or too hot.
Original news source: Pothole reports hit a five-year high in 2023 (BBC)
π§ Listen:
π Vocabulary:
Group or Classroom Activities
Warm-up Activities:
– Charades
Instructions: Write down some key words from the article on small pieces of paper. Divide the class into teams. One person from each team will pick a word and act it out without speaking, while their team members try to guess what word they are acting out. The team that guesses correctly gets a point. Repeat with different words and continue until all the words have been used or time runs out.
– Word Association
Instructions: Write down some key words from the article on the board. Have the students take turns saying a word that they associate with each key word. For example, if the key word is "roads", a student might say "cars". Encourage the students to explain why they made that association. Continue until all the key words have been used.
– Vocabulary Pictionary
Instructions: Write down some key words from the article on small pieces of paper. Divide the class into teams. One person from each team will pick a word and draw a picture to represent it on the board, while their team members try to guess what word they are drawing. The team that guesses correctly gets a point. Repeat with different words and continue until all the words have been used or time runs out.
– Pros and Cons
Instructions: Divide the class into pairs or small groups. Give each group a topic related to the article, such as "self-repairing roads" or "robots that fix holes". Have the groups discuss the pros and cons of the topic and write them down. After a few minutes, have each group share their ideas with the class.
– Future Predictions
Instructions: Have the students think about the information in the article and make predictions about the future. For example, they could discuss whether they think self-repairing roads will become common in their country, or if robots will be used to fix roads in the future. Encourage the students to explain their reasoning and have a class discussion about their predictions.
π€ Comprehension Questions:
Cars get broken because the holes in the roads can damage the tires and other parts of the car.
People told the government about the holes in the roads more than 600,000 times this year.
The weather is making the holes in the roads worse because the world is getting warmer, and this can cause the roads to crack and break more easily.
Some smart people are trying to make robots that can fix the holes in the roads. They are also trying to make roads that can fix themselves.
The smart people at the big school are using computers and cars to find out where the holes in the roads are.
The smart people are trying to make the roads out of special plastic that is strong and doesn't break easily.
The smart people are thinking about using heat from the ground to keep the roads from getting too cold or too hot.
π§βοΈ Listen and Fill in the Gaps:
Many roads in the UK have big holes in them. People told the government about these holes than 600,000 this year. Cars get broken because of these holes, and it costs a lot of money to fix them. The weather is making it worse, and scientists say it's because the world is getting . Some smart people are trying to roads that can fix themselves and robots that can fix the holes. Smart people at a big school are computers and cars to find out where the holes are. They to know how bad the problem is. Other smart people are trying to make robots that can fix the holes. They are also trying to make roads that don't break easily and can fix themselves. They are even thinking about using plastic and heat from the ground to the roads from getting too cold or too hot.
π¬ Discussion Questions:
1. What is a hole in the road?
2. Have you ever seen a hole in the road? Where was it?
3. How would you feel if your car got broken because of a hole in the road?
4. Do you like driving on roads with big holes? Why or why not?
5. Do you think it's a good idea to make roads that can fix themselves? Why or why not?
6. What do you think about robots that can fix the holes in the roads?
7. How do you think scientists know where the holes are?
8. Why do you think the weather makes the holes in the roads worse?
9. Do you think using special plastic and heat from the ground is a good way to fix the roads? Why or why not?
10. How do you think the roads can be made so they don't break easily?
11. What other problems do you think the holes in the roads can cause?
12. Why do you think the government needs to know about the holes in the roads?
Individual Activities
ππ Vocabulary Meanings:
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Words
Meanings
π‘ Multiple Choice Questions:
π΅οΈ True or False Questions:
π Write a Summary:
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