This document provides lesson plans and activities for teaching English related to natural disasters and tragedy. For higher level students, there are activities analyzing documentaries about volcanoes and discussing dark tourism. Middle level students reflect on choosing tourist destinations that involve tragedy and make model volcanoes. Younger students learn about volcanoes through video and instructions to build an erupting volcano model using common household materials. The document offers a variety of listening, speaking, reading and writing exercises to engage students at different levels while exploring how people experience and respond to natural disasters.

1. 1
October
Natural disasters and tragedy are a part of life, and they attract attention and persist in people’s
memory. People also react to them in different ways. This is the topic of this month’s activities.
Our C1 Advanced and C2 Proficiency students will find out about an explosive documentary
while they stretch their listening skills and practise their speaking and writing. B1 Preliminary
and B2 First students will reflect on the choice of some tourist destinations. Our A2 Flyers and
A2 Key students can have fun while they learn about volcanoes and make their own! Happy
teaching!
1. Chasing fire......................................................................................................................... 2
2. Dark Tourism ...................................................................................................................... 7
3. Volcanoes ......................................................................................................................... 11
4. References........................................................................................................................ 14

2. 2
1. Chasing fire
Level: C1 Advanced / C2 Proficiency
Skills: speaking, writing and listening
Interaction: whole class and individual activity
Equipment and materials: computer, speakers, screen
Time: 60 minutes
Warm up! (15’) – whole class activity
• Are you interested in natural disasters? Why (not)?
• Do you enjoy watching documentaries, films or TV series about natural disasters? Why
(not)?
• What is your opinion of people who take risks to witness extreme weather conditions
or other dangerous situations? Why?
• Do you think the media coverage of natural disasters or accidents is exaggerated or
do you think it is enough to keep the general public informed? Why (not)?
• You are going to watch the trailer for the documentary ‘Into the Inferno’. What do you
think the documentary is about?
• Have you seen it already? If so, did you find it interesting? Why (not)?
Listening (10’) – individual activity
You are going to watch the trailer for the documentary ‘Into the Inferno’ directed by Werner
Herzog. You are going to watch it twice. For questions 1 to 6, complete the sentences with a
word or short phrase.

3. 3
“…the sun dimmeth, the land sinketh…
Gusheth forth steam, and gutting fire.
To the (1) __________ soar the hurtling flames…
Of the mighty gods the engulfing (2) __________”
It is hard to take your eyes off the fire that burns (3) ___________.
This was a monstruous volcanic eruption, one of the largest in all of (4) ___________history.
Obviously, there was a scientific side to our journey but what we were really chasing, was the
magical side, (5) ___________ how strange things might eventually get.
It is a fire that wants to burst forth, and it could not (6) __________ less about what we are
doing up here.
Follow up (15’) – whole class activity
• What is the documentary ‘Into the Inferno’ about?
• What is the source of the opening lines of the trailer?
• Is there any visual aspect that draws your attention?
• What might the connection be between the eruption of a volcano and an army
marching or a church?
• Trailers usually try to impress and encourage us to watch the full film. In your opinion,
has it been successfully achieved here? Why (not)?
• What linguistic, visual and sound aspects serve the purpose of impressing and inviting
viewers to watch the documentary?
Listening (10’) – individual activity
You are going to listen to a short interview with Werner Herzog on shooting ‘Into the Inferno’.
Listen and answer questions 1 to 5.

4. 4
1. What is the documentary ‘Into the Inferno’ about?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
2. Where has Herzog filmed over the last forty years?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
3. What does Herzog say about his experience filming in Antarctica?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
4. What did Herzog and his team manage to obtain in North Korea that was extremely
difficult?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
5. What was Herzog’s impression of North Korea?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Listening (10’) – individual activity
You are going to listen to an extract of an interview with Herzog by the Hollywood Reporter
about his filming experience. Listen and answer questions 1 and 2.
You should only listen from 00’50 to 4’00.

5. 5
1. Can you summarise Herzog’s anecdote about filming in North Korea?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
2. What are the two most dangerous situations he has experienced?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
KEY
Listening 1
“…the sun dimmeth, the land sinketh…
Gusheth forth steam, and gutting fire.
To the (1) heavens soar the hurtling flames…
Of the mighty gods the engulfing (2) doom”.
It is hard to take your eyes off the fire that burns (3) deep under our feet.
This was a monstruous volcanic eruption, one of the largest in all of (4) Earth’s history.
Obviously, there was a scientific side to our journey but what we were really chasing was the
magical side (5) no matter how strange things might eventually get.
It is a fire that wants to burst first. It could not (6) care less about what we are doing up here.
Listening 2
1. What is the documentary ‘Into the Inferno’ about?
‘Into the Inferno’ is about volcanoes but it also draws together some of the themes
that have featured in Herzog’s work over the last years.

6. 6
2. Where has Herzog filmed over the last forty years?
He’s filmed in North Korea, Ethiopia, the Caribbean and Antarctica.
3. What does Herzog say about his experience filming in Antarctica?
He filmed an active volcano and he met a volcanologist with whom he made a film.
4. What did Herzog and his team manage to obtain in North Korea and that was
extremely difficult?
They managed to obtain an official permit.
5. What was Herzog’s impression of North Korea?
He believes that everything is surprising and different. He highlights that the
population does not have access to what happens outside North Korea. He describes
it as strange and fascinating.
Listening 3
1. Can you describe the anecdote told by Werner Herzog about filming in North Korea?
Werner Herzog and his team were filming at the crater of a volcano. There were 6 secret
service agents (3 male and 3 female). One of the male agents started tickling one of the
female agents, who started laughing. Herzog and his team captured that moment but they
were asked to delete it, which proved impossible ‘for data management reasons’. Herzog
promised he would not include it in his film and the agent accepted his promise.
2. What are the two most dangerous situations he has experienced?
One was in Sumatra (Indonesia), Herzog and his team were filming a volcano, which had
been semi-dormant. However, when they arrived there, there were signs that it was
becoming active. They decided to leave the location and a few days later the volcano
erupted and killed seven people in the same spot where Herzog and his team had been
filming. The second one was in La Souffrière - there was the imminent threat of a huge
eruption and one of his collaborators asked what exactly would happen if the eruption took
place. Herzog replied ‘we’ll be airborne’, to which his colleague nervously answered ‘I’m
with you!’.

7. 7
2. Dark Tourism
Level: B1 Preliminary / B2 First
Skills: speaking, reading and writing
Interaction: whole class, group, in pairs and individual
activity
Time: 50 minutes
Warm up! (10’) – whole class activity
 What type of places do you like travelling to? Why?
 Have you ever been to Pompeii? If so, what was your experience like? If you haven’t,
would you like to? Why (not)?
 Have you ever been to Auschwitz? If so, what was your experience like? If you haven’t,
would you like to? Why (not)?
 Are you familiar with the term ‘dark tourism’?
 Some people are interested in going to places which have been hit by tragedy. Why
do you think that is?
Reading (20’) – individual activity (B2 First) / in pairs (B1 Preliminary)
You are going to read an article published by National Geographic in 2019 and updated in
2021. For questions 1 – 8, read the text below and think of the word which best fits each gap.
Use only one word in each gap. There is an example at the beginning (0).

8. 8
Dark tourism: when tragedy meets tourism
The likes of Auschwitz, Ground Zero and Chernobyl are seeing increasing
numbers of visitors, sparking the term 'dark tourism'.
Days (0) after 71 people died in a London
tower block fire last June, something
strange started to happen in the streets
around it. Posters, hastily drawn by
members of the grieving community of
Grenfell Tower, appeared (1) ______
fences and lamp posts in view of the
building's blackened husk.
'Grenfell: a Tragedy not a Tourist
Attraction' one read. Grenfell Tower had
become a site for 'dark tourism', a loose
label for any sort of tourism that involves
visiting places that owe their notoriety to
disaster or what can also loosely (2)
______ termed 'difficult heritage'. Dark
tourism is a phenomenon that's on the rise
as established sites (3) _______ as
Auschwitz and the September 11 Museum
in Manhattan enjoy record visitor numbers.
Meanwhile, demand is rising among those
more intrepid dark tourists who want to
venture to the fallout zones of Chernobyl
and Fukushima, as well as North Korea.
Along the increasingly crowded dark-
tourist trail, academics, tour operators and
the residents of many destinations are
asking searching questions about the
ethics of modern tourism (4) ______ the
age of the selfie and about where we
should draw the boundaries.
The term 'dark tourism' is far newer (5)
______ the practice, which long predates
Pompeii's emergence as a morbid
attraction. The Roman Colosseum is
considered by some experts (6) ______
be one of the first dark tourist sites, where
people travelled long distances to watch
death as sport.
It was only in 1996 that 'dark tourism'
entered the scholarly lexicon when two
academics in Glasgow applied it while
looking at sites associated with the
assassination of JFK.
Those who study dark tourism identify
plenty of reasons (7) ______ the growing
phenomenon, including raised awareness
of it as an identifiable thing. Access to
sites has also improved with the advent of
cheap air travel. If the Auschwitz-Birkenau
memorial and museum weren’t so close to
Krakow’s international airport, it would be
hard to imagine the impressive two million
visitors it welcomes each year. Peter
Hohenhaus, a widely-travelled dark tourist
based in Vienna, also points to the
broader rise in off-the-beaten track
tourism, beyond (8) ______ territory of
popular guidebooks and TripAdvisor
rankings. Also, like any tourism, dark
tourism at its best is thought-provoking
and educational, and may serve to keep
the memory of the disaster alive.
Adapted from: Usborne (2021)

9. 9
Questions
Now read the article again. Write an answer for questions A – C.
a. What was the reaction of neighbours and people affected by the Grenfell tragedy
when it became a tourist attraction?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
b. Is dark tourism a recent phenomenon? Why (not)?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
c. Why is dark tourism popular? Mention at least two of the reasons that appear in the
text.
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Follow up (10’) – whole class activity / in groups
• What is your opinion on dark tourism? Why?
• Some residents of cities which are big tourist destinations have a negative opinion of
tourism. Why do you think that is?
• How would you feel if your city became a big tourist destination? Why?
• What aspects make a great tourist destination? Why?
Speaking (10’) – in pairs / in groups of 3
Now, I’d like you to talk about something together for about two minutes.
What do you think are the key aspects that make a great tourist destination? Discuss and
agree on five. Then, consider these together and think about why they are relevant.
Now you have about a minute to decide which two are the most important for young people.
What aspects make a great
tourist destination?

10. 10
KEY
Dark tourism: when tragedy meets tourism
The likes of Auschwitz, Ground Zero and Chernobyl are seeing increasing numbers of
visitors, sparking the term 'dark tourism'.
Days (0) after 71 people died in a London
tower block fire last June, something
strange started to happen in the streets
around it. (a) Posters, hastily drawn by
members of the grieving community of
Grenfell Tower, appeared (1) on fences
and lamp posts in view of the building's
blackened husk.
'Grenfell: a Tragedy not a Tourist
Attraction,' one read. Grenfell Tower had
become a site for 'dark tourism', a loose
label for any sort of tourism that involves
visiting places that owe their notoriety to
disaster or what can also loosely (2) be
termed 'difficult heritage'.
Dark tourism is a phenomenon that's on
the rise as established sites (3) such as
Auschwitz and the September 11 Museum
in Manhattan enjoy record visitor numbers.
Meanwhile, demand is rising among those
more intrepid dark tourists who want to
venture to the fallout zones of Chernobyl
and Fukushima, as well as North Korea.
Along the increasingly crowded dark-
tourist trail, academics, tour operators and
the residents of many destinations are
asking searching questions about the
ethics of modern tourism (4) in the age of
the selfie and about where we should
draw the boundaries.
(b) The term 'dark tourism' is far newer (5)
than the practice, which long predates
Pompeii's emergence as a morbid
attraction. The Roman Colosseum is
considered by some experts (6) to be one
of the first dark tourist sites, where people
travelled long distances to watch death as
sport.
It was only in 1996 that 'dark tourism'
entered the scholarly lexicon when two
academics in Glasgow applied it while
looking at sites associated with the
assassination of JFK.
Those who study dark tourism identify
plenty of reasons (7) for the growing
phenomenon, c) including raised
awareness of it as an identifiable thing.
Access to sites has also improved with the
advent of cheap air travel. If the
Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial and
museum weren’t so close to Krakow’s
international airport, it would be hard to
imagine the impressive two million visitors
it welcomes each year. Peter Hohenhaus,
a widely-travelled dark tourist based in
Vienna, also points to the broader rise in
off-the-beaten track tourism, beyond (8)
the territory of popular guidebooks and
TripAdvisor rankings. Also, like any
tourism, dark tourism at its best is thought-
provoking and educational, and may serve
to keep alive the memory of the disaster.

11. 11
3. Volcanoes
Level: A2 Flyers and A2 Key for Schools
Skills: reading, speaking, writing and listening
Interaction: individual, whole class and in pairs
Content: instructions
Time: 35 minutes
Warm up! (10’) – whole class activity
• Do you like volcanoes? Why (not)?
• Do you think volcanoes are dangerous? Why (not)?
• Can you tell me a place where there is a volcano?
Listening (10’) – individual activity
You are going to watch a video about volcanoes. You are going to watch it twice. For each
question 1 – 4, write a short answer.
1. What is the name of liquid rock when it is under the Earth’s surface?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
2. What creates the pressure that produces the eruption?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
3. Where does the word ‘volcano’ come from?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

12. 12
4. Where is the tallest volcano in the solar system?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Reading and listening (15’) – in pairs / groups of three
Follow the instructions and make your own erupting volcano!
How to make an erupting volcano
For the volcano model:
• Two A3 sheets of card
• 200 ml plastic bottle
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Tape
• Paint and paintbrushes
For the eruption:
• Small bowl
• Cup
• 1 tbsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
• 1 tbsp washing up liquid
• 2 tbsp water
• ½ cup vinegar
• 1 tbsp red food colouring

13. 13
1. Place your bottle upside down in the centre of a sheet of card and draw a small circle
around the neck.
2. Cut a straight line through the card to the middle of the circle and cut it out. In the middle
of the card, draw around the bottleneck and cut out the circle.
3. Overlap the two sides of the card to make a cone shape. Tape this into place, leaving a
hole where you cut out the circle. Cut around the base of the cone so that it sits flat, but make
sure that it is still taller than your bottle.
4. Place the cone over the bottle. Tape the top of the paper cone to the neck of the bottle so
it does not move. Tape the base of the cone to the other sheet of card.
5. Use paint to decorate the cone and make it look like a volcano. Allow your model to fully
dry. Cut away the card at the base of the cone so that it sits flat
6. In a bowl, combine the bicarbonate of soda and washing up liquid. Add the water and mix
well. Pour this mixture into your volcano.
7. In a cup, mix together the vinegar and food colouring.
8. When you're ready, pour the vinegar into the bottle with the bicarbonate. Wait for it to erupt
and watch how the lava flows.
9. Experiment with different amounts of bicarbonate and vinegar and see how the volcano's
eruption changes. Stand back and watch your volcano erupt.
Take care when handling the eruption ingredients and stand back when watching the eruption
to make sure you don't get any in your eyes. Make sure you are working in a well-ventilated
area.
To make cleaning up easier, it's best to stand your model on a wipe-clean surface.
Adapted from: Osterloff (n.d.)
KEY
1. What is the name of liquid rock when it is under the Earth’s surface?
It’s called magma.
2. What creates the pressure that produces the eruption?
The water, which has become steam.
3. Where does the word ‘volcano’ come from?
The word volcano originally comes from the name of the Roman god of fire, Vulcan.
4. Where is the tallest volcano in the solar system?
It’s on Mars.

14. 14
4. References
Eggbank (2020). No title [image/jpeg]. Available at: https://unsplash.com/photos/gtySYFUP0ls
[Accessed 1st October 2021].
Entertainment Weekly (2016). Werner Herzog on Shooting ‘Into the Inferno’ in North Korea.
Youtube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytc5FmteZSw [Accessed
28th September 2021].
Jacober, W. (2018). Green Trees [image/jpeg]. Available at:
https://www.pexels.com/photo/green-trees-1411440/ [Accessed 1st October 2021].
Netflix (n.d.). Into the Inferno. Official Trailer [video]. Youtube. Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoSmPkWmG4k [Accessed 28th September
2021].
Osterloff, E. (n.d.). How to make a volcano [video]. Natural History Museum. Available at:
https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/how-to-make-a-volcano.html [Accessed 28th
September 2021].
Peekaboo Kidz (n.d.). Volcano. The Dr. Binocs Show. Learn Videos for Kids [video]. Youtube.
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAmqsMQG3RM [Accessed 28th
September 2021].
Pura, J. A. (2020). Volcano at Night [image/jpeg]. Available at:
https://www.pexels.com/photo/volcano-at-night-1185330/ [Accessed 1st October
2021].
The Hollywood Reporter (n.d.). Werner Herzog ‘Into the Inferno’ North Korea Secret Service
& Erupting Volcanoes. Youtube. Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUK-pMxoJIU [Accessed 29th September 2021].
Tyutina, M. (2016). White and Gray Airplane [image/jpeg]. Available at:
https://www.pexels.com/photo/white-and-gray-airplane-249581/ [Accessed 1st
October 2021].
Usborne, S. (2021). Dark tourism: when tragedy meets tourism. National Geographic.
Available at: https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel/2018/02/dark-tourism-when-
tragedy-meets-tourism [Accessed 29th September 2021].
Volk, J. (2020). Rough volcanoes in mountainous valley against gray sky [image/jpeg].
Available at: https://www.pexels.com/photo/rough-volcanoes-in-mountainous-valley-
against-gray-sky-5272970/ [Accessed 1st October 2021].
Yudin, A. (2020). Brown and White Mountain Under Blue Sky [image/jpeg]. Available at:
https://www.pexels.com/photo/landscape-desert-mountain-high-4023661/ [Accessed
1st October 2021].