Great white sharks are back at the beaches in Cape Town, South Africa, after not being seen for more than four years. There are special people called shark spotters who watch the water from the mountains. They look out for sharks and help keep people safe when they swim. They also put a net in the water every morning to make a safe place for swimming and take it out at night to keep sea animals safe.
There are new ways to keep sharks away from swimmers without hurting the sharks. One idea is to make a fake underwater forest that sharks don't like to swim through. It also has magnets because sharks don't like those either. But this idea is still new and needs more work before it can be used all the time.
Sharks can be dangerous, and sometimes people have been hurt by them. But the people watching for sharks and the new ideas are trying to keep everyone safe, both the sharks and the swimmers. Sharks are important for the ocean, and people who care about animals are happy to see them back. They help keep everything in the ocean working right.
Original news source: South Africa's shark spotters back in action as great whites return (BBC)
π§ Listen:
π Vocabulary:
Group or Classroom Activities
Warm-up Activities:
– News Summary
Instructions: Have the students read the article and then work together in pairs or small groups to write a summary of the main points. Encourage them to use their own words and keep it concise. Afterwards, have each group share their summary with the class.
– Opinion Poll
Instructions: Divide the class into two groups, one in favor of the shark spotters and the other against. Give each group some time to discuss and come up with reasons to support their opinion. Then, have each group present their arguments to the class and conduct a poll to see which opinion is more popular among the students.
– Vocabulary Pictionary
Instructions: Write down some key vocabulary words from the article on small pieces of paper. Distribute the papers randomly to the students. One by one, each student should come to the front of the class and draw a picture to represent the word on their paper, while their classmates try to guess what it is. Encourage the use of English words and phrases during the activity.
– Keyword Hangman
Instructions: Choose several important keywords from the article and write blanks on the board to represent each letter of the word. Have the students take turns guessing letters to try and fill in the blanks and correctly guess the word. If a student guesses a wrong letter, start drawing the hangman. The game continues until the word is guessed or the hangman is complete.
– Future Predictions
Instructions: Ask the students to think about the future of shark safety measures. In pairs or small groups, have them discuss and make predictions about what new ideas or technologies may be developed in the future to protect both swimmers and sharks. Encourage them to use future tenses and provide reasons for their predictions. Afterwards, have each group share their ideas with the class.
π€ Comprehension Questions:
The special people who watch the water for sharks are called shark spotters.
The shark spotters keep people safe by watching out for sharks and warning them if there is a shark in the water.
The shark spotters put a net in the water every morning to make a safe place for swimming and take it out at night to keep sea animals safe.
One new idea is to make a fake underwater forest that sharks don't like to swim through.
Sharks do not like the fake underwater forest because it is not a good place for them to swim through.
Sharks do not like magnets because they don't feel comfortable around them.
People are happy to see the sharks back at the beaches because they are important for the ocean and help keep everything in the ocean working right.
π§βοΈ Listen and Fill in the Gaps:
Great white sharks are back at the beaches in Cape Town, South Africa, after not being seen for more than four years. There are special called shark spotters who watch the water from the . They look out for sharks and keep people safe when they swim. They also put a net in the water every morning to a safe place for swimming and take it out at night to keep sea animals safe. There are new to keep sharks away from without hurting the sharks. One idea is to make a fake underwater forest that sharks don't to swim through. It also has magnets because sharks don't like those either. But this idea is still new and needs work before it can be all the time. Sharks can be dangerous, and sometimes people have been hurt by them. But the people for sharks and the new ideas are trying to keep everyone , both the sharks and the swimmers. Sharks are important for the ocean, and people who care about animals are happy to see them back. They help keep everything in the ocean right.
π¬ Discussion Questions:
1. What is a shark spotter and what do they do?
2. How would you feel if you saw a great white shark at the beach?
3. Do you like swimming in the ocean? Why or why not?
4. What do you think about the idea of a fake underwater forest to keep sharks away?
5. Why do you think it's important to keep sharks and swimmers safe?
6. Have you ever seen a shark before? How did you feel?
7. What do you think would happen if there were no shark spotters at the beach?
8. Do you think it's important to protect sea animals? Why or why not?
9. How do you think sharks help keep everything in the ocean working right?
10. Have you ever been hurt while swimming? What happened?
11. What is your favorite thing about the ocean?
12. Do you think you would be brave enough to swim in the ocean if there were sharks nearby? Why or why not?
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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