Green Energy | Teaching English | British Council

Theme: Renewable energy
Lexical area: Environmental issues and energy sources
Cross curricular links: Science and environmental studies.

Instructions for language assistants in Italics

Classroom materials

Introduction
For a more extensive class this lesson could be combined with parts of the Essential UK lesson on Climate Change. You could easily mix and match activities from both lessons.

Task 1 is based on some simple true or false statements to introduce the topic. Task 2 asks students to think about how much energy they’ve used today. Task 3 is a matching activity to introduce the different energy forms and Task 4 is a Trend UK reading text about designers in the UK who have invented products using renewable energy. Task 5 follows on from task four and asks students to think of another invention that could be powered with renewable energy and Task 6 is a role play based on the theme.

1. Green facts – true or false?
This task is to introduce the topic. Write the statements on the board and go through each one and get students to guess if the statements are true or false. Then ask them to think of a couple of there own facts.

Answers: All the statements are true.

Task 1 Green facts – true or false?

True or false?

2 billion people in the world have no access to electricity.
The earth receives more energy from the sun in one hour than the world uses in a year.
Having a shower uses a third of the hot water of having a bath.
Leaving televisions and computers on ‘stand-by’ wastes a lot of energy.

2. How much energy have you used today?
Ask students to think back to the moment they woke up today. Since that moment how much energy have they used? Although you won’t be able to quantify it you can ask them to make a list of all the activities they have done that have used some form of energy. Give some examples of your own to get them going:

Example.
- I woke up - My alarm clock uses electricity.
- I had a shower - The shower uses gas to heat the water.
- I listened to the radio - The radio uses electricity.
- I had toast for breakfast - The toaster uses electricity.
- I had coffee - The coffee maker uses gas.
- I got the bus to school - The bus to get to school uses petrol.
- I went to class - The classroom uses electricity for the lighting and heating. Etc.

Task 2 How much energy have you used today?

Think of all the activities you have done today that have used energy. Write your list of activities.
Now, compare with your classmates. Who do you think has used the most energy today?

3. Energy options
This is a matching activity to introduce students to the different types of energy sources. As it is it would be more appropriate for intermediate or higher levels. Simplify the definitions to use with low levels. To save paper you could copy one set per group and cut them up. Ask students to match the sources to the definitions.

Answers:

a – 4, b – 7, c – 1, d – 5, e –2, f – 6, g – 3.

When they have completed the matching activity ask students ‘Which of the sources are renewable?’ (c-g) find out how much they know about these sources.

Task 3 Energy options
How much do you know about the different energy sources? Match the definitions on the right with the energy source on the left.

a) Fossil fuels	1) comes from the heat of the sun. You can use panels to trap the energy and it can be saved for cloudy days.
b) Nuclear energy	2) comes from the heat inside the earth. It is good for places with volcanic activity.
c) Solar energy	3) takes energy from flowing water such as rivers, streams and ocean currents.
d) Wind energy	4) are extracted from the earth such as coal, oil and natural gas. When they are burned to make energy they produce carbon dioxide which contributes to global warming.
e) Geothermal energy	5) produces energy by moving blades on a turbine or mill. It is clean energy but it can make a lot of noise.
f) Biomass energy	6) is produced from plant or human waste. Wood is the most common source but now methane gas or vegetable oils are being used to create energy.
g) Hydroelectric energy	7) is produced by splitting atoms. There is a risk of accidents and this form of energy produces dangerous waste that is difficult to dispose of.

Which of the sources are renewable?
Where does the energy you use come from?

4. Reading - How green is your energy?
This is a Trend UK text about how renewable energy designs are catching on in Britain. It was written by Anatole, a member of the British Council’s Trend UK team.

Divide the class into three groups A, B and C and give each member of the group the text that corresponds to their letter. If you have a mixed ability group, ensure you mix up the strong and weak students. With lower levels, pre-teach the vocabulary you think they’ll have problems with.

Ask the students to read their text and monitor to make sure they all understand the new design idea. Then re-group the students so that there is one student A, one student B and one student C working together. Ask them to tell each other about the inventions they read about.

Task 4 Reading - How green is your energy?

Student A

Solar lit handbag

There are many uses for a portable solar panel. You can recharge a number of things such as computer notebooks, torches, even water pumps, with them. The latest design, however, features the handbag. Noticing how often her friends searched for keys and other items at the unseen bottom of their bags, Rosanna Kilfedder, a student at Brunel University, had a bright idea. She designed a handbag with its very own inside light. She called it the Sun Trap, and it works by having a solar cell fitted on the outside. The cell stores solar energy to a battery which lights up the inside of the bag whenever the zip, acting as a switch, is used. What’s more, the handy battery is friendly enough to act as an emergency charger for your mobile phone and other small gadgets

Student B

Sun and wind pair up for radio show

Two radio presenters in Wales will be relying on eco-friendly power to keep their small community radio station going. Broadcasting from a small church in north Pembrokeshire, Preseli FM will use power generated from the wind and the sun to broadcast 24 hours a day for a month-long experiment. Preseli FM is designed for the local community with topics of interest for all ages, including ‘talk show’ spots. But, if all goes well, it is hoped that the signals may have enough puff to reach listeners in other parts of the UK.

Student C

World’s ‘greenest’ football stadium

Manchester wants to become the UK’s most environmentally friendly city. It is planning to introduce the first sports stadium in the world that is powered by renewable energy. The designs feature several renewable systems from wind turbines, to water recycling, and storage of enough solar energy to supply 4,000 homes. All of this is due to be ready by the 2006/ 07football season. It’s not just the sports fans who will benefit: ‘People across Manchester will be able to buy into the 100 per cent renewable energy produced’ says Pete Bradshaw, Social Responsibility Manager for Manchester City Football Club.

Which invention do you think is the most useful?
Do you think any of the inventions would be successful in your country?

5. Our Green invention
This leads on from task four and asks students to think of their own green invention. Less creative students will need lots of support with ideas from you so have a think beforehand so you can give them some ideas to get them started. Put students into small groups for this task.

Task 5 Our Green invention
You are working as part of a design team. You have to think of a new invention that works from a renewable energy source.

Brainstorm ideas with your group and then make notes about your new product. Consider the following questions:

What is it used for?
Who would use it?
How would it work?
Would people buy it?

Then present your ideas to the other groups.

6. Going green: Role play
Divide the class into two groups. Give one group the role card for A and the other group the role for B. Give the students five minutes to gather their ideas and get their arguments prepared. You can offer support with expressions and vocabulary at this time. Then pair up one student from group A with one from group B to have the discussion as student and director. If appropriate for your group, ask a few pairs to perform their role play in front of the class.

Task 6 Going green: Role play

A - You want to convince your school to use more renewable energy. You think that global warming is a big problem and you want to try and reduce the effect your school has on the environment. Try to convince your school’s director that he / she should invest in renewable energy.

B - You are the director of the school. You think it would be a good idea to change to renewable energy but you are worried that changing to renewable energy is very expensive. You want to spend the school’s money on other things.

Internet links

Here you can find more materials relating to the recycling and conservation.
http://www.britishcouncil.org/recycling

This is a BBC article ‘Britain facing large energy gap’.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/

Here you can find information about green energy options.
http://www.good-energy.co.uk

This is an Ecological Footprint quiz to find out how much energy you’re using.
http://ecofoot.org/

Some great downloadable lesson plans for younger students.
http://www.kidsfootprint.org/

Energy Saving Trust. You can do a quiz to check how energy hungry you are.
http://www.est.org.uk/myhome/whatcan/quiz/

Manchester City Council. Manchester’s quest to become the greenest city in the UK
http://www.manchester.gov.uk/news/green

By Jo Budden

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