With longer days and nicer weather, we all want to spend more time outdoors, enjoying the sunshine and making the most of nature. For this reason, we want to raise awareness of how important protecting the environment is. To do that, we have prepared some activities for B2 First and C1 Advanced to encourage our students to discuss the topic of climate change. Our B1 Preliminary students can also practise their speaking and use of English while they learn about nature. We have designed some fun activities for A2 Key and A2 Flyers that will give them some ideas to reduce, reuse and recycle. Finally, the younger ones will learn about geography, weather and clothes. Happy teaching!

1. 1
May
With longer days and nicer weather, we all want to spend more time outdoors, enjoying the
sunshine and making the most of nature. For this reason, we want to raise awareness of how
important protecting the environment is. To do that, we have prepared some activities for B2
First and C1 Advanced to encourage our students to discuss the topic of climate change. Our
B1 Preliminary students can also practise their speaking and use of English while they learn
about nature. We have designed some fun activities for A2 Key and A2 Flyers that will give
them some ideas to reduce, reuse and recycle. Finally, the younger ones will learn about
geography, weather and clothes. Happy teaching!
1. Climate change ................................................................................................................................2
2. Myth or reality?.................................................................................................................................6
3. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle ................................................................................................................9
3. What’s the weather like?...............................................................................................................11
4. References......................................................................................................................................13

2. 2
1. Climate change
Level: B2 First / C1 Advanced
Skills: speaking, reading, listening and writing
Interaction: whole class, in pairs and individual activity
Classroom equipment: digital board
Time: 95 minutes
Warm up (10’) – whole class activity
• What is climate change?
• Do you think that climate change is real? Why (not)?
• What are the effects, if any, of climate change?
• Do you think it is possible to stop climate change? If so, how?
Lead in (10’) – in pairs and whole class activity
I am going to show you some pictures and data. I would like you to comment on them and
explain what you can see and what relation there may be between them. You are going to
work in pairs and then we will discuss your ideas.

3. 3

4. 4
Listening (15’) – whole class, individual and in pairs activity
You are going to listen to Leonardo DiCaprio giving a speech to the United Nations.
• Can you tell me three pieces of information about Leonardo DiCaprio?
• Do you think he is a climate champion? Why (not)?
• What ideas do you think he will mention?
You are going to listen twice. You will be able to compare your answers with the person next
to you.
Comprehension questions
1. What connection can Leonardo DiCaprio see between his job and how humans have
dealt with climate change?
2. Can you write three consequences of climate change according to Leonardo DiCaprio?
3. Can you write one measure that Leonardo DiCaprio mentions to stop climate change?
4. What does Leonardo DiCaprio say is at stake if we do not fight against climate change?
Reading into writing (60’) – individual activity
You are going to read the first part of a blog about climate change. The author suggests a two-
step plan. The first one is to connect with nature and she suggests taking some time to enjoy
the beauty of nature. I would like you to contribute to her blog by uploading some photos of
you, friends or family connecting with nature and by writing a short text about how young
people can carry out the second part of her plan: take personal responsibility for what you can
control as an individual. Write between 140 and 190 words.

5. 5
KEY – Listening activity
1. Leonardo DiCaprio pretends for a living, he plays fictitious characters often solving
fictitious problems and he thinks that mankind has looked at climate change as if it was
fiction, as if pretending that climate change wasn’t real would make it somehow go
away.
2. He mentions droughts, acidifying oceans, extreme weather events and melting ice.
3. He suggests putting a price tag on carbon emissions and eliminating government
subsidies for coal, oil and gas companies.
4. The survival of humanity is at stake.
Check your piece of writing before posting it with Write&Improve.

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2. Myth or reality?
Level: B1 Preliminary
Skills: speaking, reading and use of English
Interaction: whole class and individual activity
Time: 20 minutes
Warm up! (10’) – whole class activity
How much do you know about the Earth? Are these statements true or false?
1. The Earth is not flat, but it’s not perfectly round either.
2. The duration of days has not changed.
3. The Earth’s continents have come together and separated several times.
4. Only microscopic and simple organisms lived about 600 to 800 million years ago,
during which time the Earth experienced several ice ages.
5. NASA astrobiologists travel to extreme environments to look for microorganisms,
hoping to learn how life might exist on other planets.
6. Gravity in the Himalayas is stronger.
7. Due to climate change the Earth’s sea level has never been higher.
8. In about 5 billion years the sun will exhaust its supply of oxygen and die.
9. There are two asteroids which are very close to the Earth.
10. The calm before the storm is a myth.
Check your answers here
Use of English (10’) – individual activity
For each question, write the correct answer.
Write one word for each gap.

7. 7
Fire below, ice above: volcanoes, glaciers and sea level rise
The movement of continents is far slower (0) than a snail’s pace. It’s more like
watching your fingernails grow.
But speed (1) ______ the movie over tens of millions of years and it begins to look
(2) ________ a demolition derby. Riding over Earth’s mantle on strong but flexible
plates, the continents smash together and tear themselves apart, creating rugged
mountain chains or deep ocean trenches.
Hot magma from below the crust can rise toward the surface, like a blister pushing
up below the skin. These gas and liquid-rich rocks create volcanoes. And they (3)
______ created by hot spots – buoyant material that rises from more than 400 miles
(660 kilometers) down, or even as deep as the core-mantle boundary. The ocean
crust and continental plates glide over these hot spots through time, leaving scars
over millions of years (4) _______ reveal the plates’ paths.
New seismic data and analysis, along (5) ______ mechanical modeling capabilities,
are allowing scientists to (6) ______ to know these previously cryptic features a little
better. And they are turning out to be potentially important (7) ______ it comes to
predicting how quickly the glaciers of Greenland and Antarctica will flow into the sea,
reducing ice mass in the polar regions and raising sea levels.
The heat welling up from Earth’s interior beneath ice sheets and glaciers has nothing
to do with the relatively rapid change in climate over recent decades, driven mainly
by human emissions of greenhouse gases that warm the atmosphere. Heat sources
from the deep Earth can remain steady for 50, 90 or 100 million years; human-driven
climate change is occurring over mere decades and centuries.

8. 8
KEY – Warm up activity
1. The Earth is not flat, but it’s not perfectly round either. T
2. The duration of days has not changed. F
3. The Earth’s continents have come together and separated several times. F
4. Only microscopic and simple organisms lived about 600 to 800 million years ago, during which time
the Earth experienced several ice ages. T
5. NASA astrobiologists travel to extreme environments to look for microorganisms, hoping to learn how
life might exist on other planets. T
6. Gravity in the Himalayas is stronger. T
7. Due to climate change the Earth’s sea level has never been higher. F
8. In about 5 billion years the sun will exhaust its supply of oxygen and die. F
9. There are two asteroids which are very close to the Earth. T
10. The calm before the storm is a myth. F
KEY – Use of English activity
1. UP
2. LIKE
3. ARE
4. THAT
5. WITH
6. GET
7. WHEN

9. 9
3. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Level: A2 Flyers / A2 Key
Skills: listening, speaking
Content: modal verbs, materials vocabulary, linking
words, environment vocabulary
Interaction: whole class, in pairs and in groups activity
Pre-teaching: passive voice
Classroom equipment: digital board, flashcards, realia
Time: 35 minutes
Warm up (10’) – whole group activity
• Do you know what this symbol means?
• How can you reduce rubbish?
• Do you reuse objects? If so, which ones?
• Do you recycle? If so, what objects do you recycle?
• What objects go in the recycling bins below?
Listening (10’) – in pairs
Now you are going to watch a short video about recycling. You are going to listen twice. First
read the questions. Now we are going to watch the video and answer the questions.
1. How much of the rubbish can be recycled?
2. How many times can we recycle glass?
3. How much plastic rubbish do families produce per year?
Compare your answers with the person next to you. Now you can listen again.

10. 10
Matching (15’) – in groups of three or four and whole class activity
Each group should have a flashcard of each material and object. There should also be realia
of each of the objects. The flashcards should have different colours (for each of the groups).
Use some adhesive material to stick the flashcards to the walls. The students are going to
work in groups and they should put the object flashcard together with the material flashcard
and with the realia.
When the students have finished, you will correct the activity together. Then, they should
decide if these objects can be recycled and in which recycling bin they should be thrown. If
they cannot be recycled, they could suggest ways in which they could reuse them (giving
them to charity, to a dog shelter, etc.).
KEY – Listening activity
1. Up to 60%
2. Again and again
3. 40 kg. per year
aluminium paper
card wool
glass plastic
cotton wood
oil

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3. What’s the weather like?
Level: Pre-A1 Starters, A1 Movers
Skills: speaking, listening and writing
Content: weather vocabulary, seasons vocabulary,
clothes vocabulary, imperative, activities, modal verbs
Interaction: whole class and in pairs activity
Classroom equipment: digital board
Time: 35 minutes
Warm up (10’) – whole class activity
1. What’s the weather like today?
2. What was the weather like during the Easter holidays?
3. What’s your favourite kind of weather? Why?
4. What are you wearing today?
5. What do you do when it’s…?
Speaking (10’) – whole class activity
1. What’s the weather like in…?
2. What clothes can you wear in…?
3. What activities can you do in…?
Cambridge Auckland
Mexico City
4. Where are these cities?
You can use Google Maps to check where these or other cities
are and explain how the weather and the seasons change
depending on the city’s location.

12. 12
Collaborative work (15’) – in pairs
Your students can choose a city and create a poster. They can include their location in the
world using a world map, they can also draw and write what today’s weather is like in that city,
the clothes one could wear there and the activities they could do if they lived there.
They can share their ideas using Penfriends

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4. References
BBC Weather. (2019). Santiago - BBC Weather. [online] Available at:
https://www.bbc.com/weather/3871336 [Accessed 22nd
April 2019].
Brenan, P. (2019). Fire below, ice above: volcanoes, glaciers and sea level rise. [online].
Global Climate Change. Available at https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2844/fire-below-
ice-above-volcanoes-glaciers-and-sea-level-rise/ [Accessed 16th
April 2019].
Cambridge English (n.d.). Write&Improve. Available at: https://writeandimprove.com/
[Accessed: 15th
April 2019].
Fancycrave.com (2019). Shallow Focus of Yellow Flowers. [image/jpeg]. Available at:
https://www.pexels.com/photo/close-up-clouds-country-countryside-351773/
[Accessed 22nd
April 2019].
Global Climate Change (2016). 10 Interesting things about Earth. [online] Available at:
https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2469/10-interesting-things-about-earth/ [Accessed 22nd
April 2019].
Global Climate Change (2019). Facts. [online] Available at: https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/
[Accessed 16th
April 2019].
Global Climate Change (2019). Facts. [online] Available at: https://climate.nasa.gov/scientific-
consensus/ [Accessed 16th
April 2019].
Google Maps (2019). Imágenes. [image]. Available at:
https://www.google.com/maps/@40.1696737,-
21.9019766,6976923m/data=!3m1!1e3 [Accessed 22nd
April 2019].
Kristoffer Brink Jonsson (2019). Body of Water Under Gray Clouds. [image/jpeg]. Available
at: https://www.pexels.com/photo/body-of-water-under-gray-clouds-1647220/
[Accessed 22nd
April 2019].
Leonardo DiCaprio (UN Messenger of Peace) at the opening of Climate Summit 2014. (2014).
[video]: United Nations. Available at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTyLSr_VCcg. [Accessed 17th
April 2019].
Pixabay (2019). Pile of Covered Books. [image/jpeg]. Available at:
https://www.pexels.com/photo/pile-of-covered-books-159751/ [Accessed 22nd
April
2019].
Quang Nguyen Vinh. (n.d.). Asian Children Bridge Children Clouds. [image/jpeg]. Available
at: https://www.pexels.com/photo/asian-children-bridge-children-clouds-2132062/.
[Accessed 22nd
April 2019].

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Recycling Facts for Kids – Why is Recycling important? (2018) [video]: Learning Mole.
Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0769pw2_pY [Accessed 16th
April
2019].
Singkham (2018). Clear Light Bulb Planter on Gray Rock. [image/jpeg]. Available at:
https://www.pexels.com/photo/clear-light-bulb-planter-on-gray-rock-1108572/
[Accessed 22nd
April 2019].
Tenenbaum, L. F. (2014). We get it – the climate is changing. So what can we do about it?
[blog]. Ask NASA Climate. Available at https://climate.nasa.gov/blog/1063/ [Accessed
15th
April 2019].
Univerity of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (2019). Penfriends. Available at:
https://penfriends.cambridgeenglish.org/ [Accessed: 22nd
April 2019].