Teaching notes and key Level: intermediate/upper-intermediate (B1/B2). Aims: to learn vocabulary for describing animals to practise scanning and detailed reading to practise IELTS-style reading and writing activities (tasks 4.3 and 5) to discuss and research the answers to a quiz. Timing: approximately one and a half hours, excluding the optional quiz in task 6. Preparation The accompanying article from the Health & Science page of The Week magazine can be downloaded from www.teachitworld.com. An interactive version of task 6 is also available. Lead-in Speaking: pets As a warm-up activity, you could ask students to discuss the most unusual pets they have owned or heard about. You could have a class vote on the most unusual they come up with. Task 1 Vocabulary: animals Students could do the labelling in pairs then check their answers as a whole class. 1 deer; 2 tarantula; 3. bobcat; 4. racoon; 5. opossum; 6. python. Task 2 Vocabulary: reptiles and mammals Students should pool their knowledge for writing the definition of a mammal. If you have access to the internet or reference books, they could then check their definition themselves or give it to another group to check. A reptile breathes air. It is a vertebrate (i.e. it has a backbone or spine) and it is cold-blooded. Most reptiles lay eggs with shells and their skin is covered in scales. A reptile either has four limbs, or is descended from ancestors with four limbs. Suggested answer: A mammal breathes air. It is a vertebrate (i.e. it has a backbone or spine) and it is warm-blooded. Most mammals give birth to live young and their skin is often covered in fur. Female mammals produce milk to feed their young. Task 3 Reading: scanning Allow students only two minutes for this task to stop them reading in detail. all are mentioned except tarantula. www.teachitworld.com 2012 17668 Page 1 of 7
Task 4 Reading: detailed reading Part 1 Words with positive connotations include: love; pets. Words with negative connotations include: trickier; discarded; dominate; extinction. Overall, pythons are having a negative effect. Part 2 a. rose; e. soared c. plummeted; d. declined; f. dropped; g. fell b. remained stable Part 3 This activity can be used as practice for the IELTS Academic Reading exam. a4; b5; c3; d2; e1. Task 5 Writing: describing graphs This activity can be used as practice for Task 1 of the IELTS Academic Writing exam. students own answers. Task 6 Speaking: quiz This can be used as a filler at the end of the lesson or to keep early finishers occupied. Alternatively, it could be set as a research task for homework. An interactive version is available on www.teachitworld.com. 1T 2T 3F (There are estimated to be between 2,400 and 2,900 species.) 4T 5F (They do not have external ears, but they have internal hearing organs.) 6F (Most snakes have about 100 teeth; venomous (poisonous) ones also have two large, sharp teeth (fangs).) 7T 8F (Snakes are thought to have evolved from lizards about 100 million years ago.) 9T 10F (The only poisonous snake in Britain is the adder.) www.teachitworld.com 2012 17668 Page 2 of 7
Worksheet Task 1 Vocabulary: animals Label the pictures with the names from the box. bobcat deer opossum python racoon tarantula 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. www.teachitworld.com 2012 17668 Page 3 of 7
Task 2 Vocabulary: reptiles and mammals A snake is a reptile. Reptiles share a number of characteristics, described below. Put the words from the box into the spaces. air cold limbs limbs shells scales vertebrate A reptile breathes... It is a... (i.e. it has a backbone or spine) and it is... -blooded. Most reptiles lay... eggs with... and their skin is covered in... A reptile either has four..., or is descended from ancestors with four... A bobcat is a mammal. Work in small groups to write a definition of a mammal. Task 3 Reading: scanning Look quickly through the text and underline/highlight the animals from task 1. Task 4: Reading: detailed reading Part 1 Read the first paragraph again in more detail. Put all the words with positive connotations in the left-hand column, and all the words with negative connotations in the right-hand column. Positive connotations Negative connotations Overall, are the pythons having a positive or negative effect in Florida? www.teachitworld.com 2012 17668 Page 4 of 7
Part 2 Look at the verbs below. Draw: an upwards arrow for verbs which indicate an increase a downwards arrow for verbs which indicate a decrease a horizontal arrow for verbs which indicate no change. a. rose b. remained stable c. plummeted d. declined e. soared f. dropped g. fell Now read the second paragraph again in more detail. Part 3 Label the bar charts with the information from the box. 1. bobcats 2. opossums 3. racoons 4. Number of reptiles kept as pets in 2011 (in millions) 5. Percentage reduction in sightings between 2000 and 2011 www.teachitworld.com 2012 17668 Page 5 of 7
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Task 5 Writing: describing graphs Write a description of the bar charts in Task 4. Write at least 150 words. Try to use a variety of verbs. You should also include figures from the graph. Task 6 Speaking: quiz Decide whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F): 1. Snakes have no eyelids. 2. The black mamba can travel at speeds of up to 12 miles per hour. 3. There are 1,000 species of snakes in the world. 4. About 12 people die from snake bites in the USA each year. 5. Snakes are deaf. 6. Snakes have only two teeth. 7. The study of reptiles and amphibians is called herpetology. 8. There have been reptiles on Earth for 200 million years. 9. The green anaconda can weigh as much as 220 kilos. 10. The British grass snake is poisonous. www.teachitworld.com 2012 17668 Page 7 of 7