Lesson 27 – How green are you?

Warm up

1. Ask students how much of their rubbish they recycle and what kinds of things they recycle. 
2. Write the questions below on the board. Tell them they have two minutes to talk to their neighbors and guess the answers. 

• How much rubbish does a person in Britain throw away every year (in tonnes)? 
• What percent of their rubbish do people in Britain recycle? 
• How many drinks cans do they use every year? 
• What percent do they recycle? 
• How many glass containers do people in Britain throw away every year?
  Ask for their guesses and write the highest and lowest values for each question on the board.

Main Activity

Listening

1. 1. Tell students they are going to hear a short talk about recycling. Tell them they will hear it twice and to listen and check their guesses. Tell them to answer this question too, and  write it on the board: 

   Why is recycling important? 

   1. Play the recording twice, and then ask if they want to hear it again. 
   2. Check their answers: 

   Answer key

   1 Half a tonne a year each. 2 Ten percent. 3 Five billion. 4 About 42 per cent. 5 Six billion. 6 Recycling saves energy and stops pollution

Speaking

1. Tell students they are going to see some examples of other ways people waste energy and tell them to do task section A. 
2. Tell students to work with a partner and find 12 examples of ways people waste energy. 
3. Ask how many examples they have found and tell them to describe the problems 
4. Tell students they are going to see all 12 answers and give out the photocopies of section B. 
5. Tell students to look at the differences between the pictures in A and Band and find the 12 ways the people are saving energy in B. Tell them they have ten minutes to say what we should and should not do to save energy. 
6. Go around and help them to work out all 12 ways:

Answer key

Picture 1: recycle bottles, papers, cans, clothes. Picture 2: showers not baths, save water, not wash things under the tap, use a bowl, save water; turn off lights and TV close doors. Picture 3: cycle more; travel by bus more; drive smaller cars, not drive alone, travel together

 Check their answers using should/shouldn’t.

A

B

Follow up

• In groups of four, students design their own How green are you? questionnaire and exchange them with other groups or ask other classes.