Environment - Important Issues

acid rain
aerosol
animal welfare
carbon monoxide
climate
conversation
endangered species
energy
nuclear energy
solar energy
exhaust fumes
fertilizers
forest fires
global warming
greenhouse effect
(non)-renewable resources
nuclear
nuclear fallout
nuclear reactor
oil-slick
ozone layer
pesticide
pollution
protected animal
rain forest
unleaded petrol
waste

nuclear waste
radio-active waste
wildlife

Environment - Natural Disasters

drought
earthquake
flood
tidal wave
typhoon
volcanic eruption

Environment - Politics
environmental group
green issues
pressure group

Environment - Verbs
cut down
destroy
dispose (of)
dump
protect
pollute
recycle
save
throw away
use up
Let's Do Tourism - Part 1
Aim: Discussion, explaining, reasoning, agreeing and disagreeing

Activity: Tourism - Do we need it? Discussion of pros and cons of developing local
tourism
Level: Upper intermediate to advanced
Outline:

Split students into two groups - one group representatives of 'Let's Do Tourism', a
tourism development company. The other group representatives of the residents of
your city and are in opposition to the plans of 'Let's Do tourism'.
Give each student a copy of one of the discussion notes.
Ask students if they have any questions on the explanatory notes.
Give students fifteen minutes to prepare for the discussion in their groups.
Students should discuss the points mentioned and any other points they may come
up with in their groups.
Circulate around the classroom helping students and taking notes on common
language problems.
Have students get back together and try to convince you (or another chosen group
of students) of their reasoning.
Begin the activity follow-up by going over some of the more common mistakes
made by students.
Finish the activity as a class by asking each student to choose one reason either
for or against the project. Each student should then disucuss one of the points in
front of the rest of the class. Ask other students to comment on the arguments
presented.

Your Town, The Next Tourist Paradise?

A company called 'let's Do Tourism' is panning to invest a large amount of money to turn
your town into a major center for tourists. They have made plans to manufacture a
number of hotels and other tourist infrastructure in your town. As well as the hotels, they
have also made plans to radically improve the night life in your town by opening a string
of clubs and bars. They hope that by the year 2004 your town will be a major competitor
within the tourist industry in your country.
Group 1
You are representatives of 'Let's Do Tourism' your aim is to promote the plans of your
company and to convince me that tourism is the best solutions for your city. points to
concentrate on:

The increase in jobs that will come with the increase in investment.
They money that the tourists will bring into the local economy

The progress and development of your city which will result in it becoming more
important with not only your region, but also your country as well.
Better for the young people of your city as there will be much more investment in
leisure industries.
Group 2

You are the representatives of the residents of your city and are in opposition to the plans
of 'Let's Do tourism'. Your aim is to convince me that this is a bad idea for your town.
Points to consider:

Environmental issues - tourists = pollution

Troublemakers - many tourists have no respect for the places they visit and are
only interested in getting drunk and causing trouble.
The rise in tourism will bring about radical changes and will result in the
traditional way of life in your town being lost. Perhaps forever.
Rather than promoting the position of your city in your country, this move will
make your city the laughing stock of your country
Let's Do Tourism - Part 2

Aim: Discussion, use of present perfect, present perfect continuous, second conditional,
presentation skills
Activity: Tourism - Let's Do Tourism - presentation of tourism scheme developed by
student groups
Level: Upper intermediate to advanced
Outline:

Split students into two or more groups - each group is going to compete for a
contract to develop a new tourism center in your town.
Give each student a copy of one of the discussion notes.
Ask students if they have any questions on the explanatory notes.
Give students fifteen minutes to prepare for the discussion in their groups.
Students should discuss the points mentioned and any other points they may come
up with in their groups.
Circulate around the classroom helping students and taking notes on common
language problems as they work through the project.
Once each group has completed their presentation, have each group deliver its
presentation doing its best to convince you of their strategy.
Take notes and try to ask as many probing questions as possible forcing students
to think on their feet in English.

Once students have made their presentations make a decision. I would highly
recommend you make your decision based on the English in the presentations.
This will enable you to make excuses when students disagree with your decision!

Your Town, The Next Tourist Paradise?

Tourism Hits Your Town

The town council has decided that the city is in desperate need of an economic boost.
They believe that by making the city more attractive to tourists they will be able to
achieve their aims.
You are representatives of rival companies who are looking to gain the contract for this
re-development from the council. I want you to give a detailed presentation explaining
why your company is the best one for the job. Your aim is to convince the representative
of the council that your company offers the best solution.

Points to consider
Think of a name for your company.
Preparation, what has your company done so far i.e. raised money, support
(present perfect)
Plans that are in progress. Who you have been talking to, what you have been
trying to do, what you have been building, etc. (present perfect continuous)
Explain the problems that have existed within your town up to this point in time.
i.e. life in your town has been boring for too may years and needs a change, or
that too many people are unemployed and need to find work. (second conditional)
Finally, conclude your presentation with a short account that sells your company
to the council.

The ecological balance was broken by human hands centuries ago, but just
now we can see the results of the deforestation, global warming and
extinction. These ecological disasters have been caused by people's lack of
interest about nature's resources. If we do not do something fast, maybe
we will be the last species in this world, so let's do something now!

How old are you?

Where are you from?

In your opinion, what is the

importance of the tropical
rainforest?

In your opinion, what have people

been doing in order to preserve
nature?
What do you think should be done
to preserve nature?
Do you do anything? If so, what do
you do?
Do you think that global warming
can affect our lives? If so, How?

Did you know that each hour, at

least three species are becoming
extinct? What?s the importance of
biodiversity for us?
When you go to any ecological park,
what do you do to avoid harming
the ecosystem?
The forests around the world have
been destroyed by different causes
such as burnings and deforastation.
Even if you lived far away from the
forests, you would be affected.
What would you do to protect them?