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By Clare Lavery
Theme: National Science week, Spring and climate change in the UK
Lexical area: The seasons and vocabulary for talking about the weather. Words associated with Spring and nature.
Cross curricular links: Geography, Cultural studies.
Instructions for language assistants in Italics
Introduction
Looking at the weather or recording the changes that Spring brings are just two ways to make people think about science in every day life. In recent years there have been more science programmes on television with fun activities for viewers. Science and technology exhibitions in museums are more interactive. You can try experiments and touch the machines and models in museums. This is all part of a trend to make people more interested in science and technology. There is growing concern that the UK is not producing enough scientists to meet demand and this starts with not enough young people wanting to study sciences.
- Pictures of the UK during Springtime would be a good way to introduce the topic to all levels. Describing the pictures and careful questioning could help you teach essential vocabulary: to flower, to blossom, to come out of hibernation, to bloom, to grow etc.
The plants, insects and trees mentioned in the spring table can be found on the official website for National Science Week. You may wish to download a copy of the official table for higher levels but keep things simple for lower levels.
You could develop a short Spring quiz for groups to do as a lead in. You will find quiz questions and ideas on the NSW site.
1. Word associations
This can be a quick pair or small group task for higher levels. You may wish to give students the use of dictionaries to work out the meanings of words. If you have got pictures you could put them up and number each one. Then get pairs to match the words to the right picture. Describe Spring in your home town in the UK and bring photos if you have any. Mention the types of plant, tree or animals to preview key words.
What time of year do you associate with these words?
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| blossom |
frog spawn |
| flowers |
new lambs |
| song birds |
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What other changes in your environment do you associate with this time of year?
2. What's your favourite season?
The complexity of response can depend on the level. Get a class show of hands for the favourite season after pairs ask each other.
- You could give each group a different season and get them to describe it using your model.
Weather preferences are also an opportunity for higher levels to expand and say something more detailed about themselves.
- ' I'm the sort of person who hates the cold as I like walking outdoors and wearing shorts.'
- 'I hate staying inside when the weather is bad so I like sunnier climates'.
- Give examples for yourself and compare to family members and friends who are different. Then get pairs or small groups to compare their tastes. When discussing the final question ask if there are 4 distinct seasons. Tell them what you noticed.
Find out about your partner's favourite season.
- What's your favourite season?
- Why is it special?
- Think of:
- places you visit
- people you see
- activities or sports you do.
- Do you prefer hot or cold weather?
- What's the best season in your area?
- Does everyone in your class agree?
3. Spring in to science
Focus on the title. Here the word 'spring' is a verb. Ask: 'What does it mean?' Get pairs or an individual student to check in a dictionary if no one can suggest a possible meaning. Demonstrate the meaning by leaping, if appropriate.
- Read through the questions with the whole class before they read. Speculate on how you can record data on and what things might you write down or look for.
Put students in pair then, check the answers around the whole class.
Look at the title of this article. The word spring has two meanings. What are they?
Read and find out:
- Who is recording the arrival of Spring?(People in the UK / the public)
- How are they doing this recording? (They are writing the dates when they see things for the first time in a table)
- Why is this information important? (It is going to help scientists understand changes in the climate)
- What is happening to the UK's climate? (It is getting warmer / hotter and Spring is starting earlier each year)
Spring in to science When does Spring start? That's just what scientists in the UK want to know. Every year scientists involve ordinary people all over the UK in activities to help them enjoy science and help them understand the role that science plays in our every day lives. This year we are celebrating National Science Week from March 12th to March 20th with a Spring challenge. The organisers are asking the public, including school students, to record the first signs of Spring. How do you become a Spring spotter or observer? Just take the National Science Spring chart from the official website and record your dates on it. You can record the day when you first have to cut your grass in the garden or the date when you see your first bee or blackbird. Pick a place to study for March and April. This might be the trees outside your front door, the park near school, the road opposite your classroom or the pond near your house. All these places will change with the arrival of Spring in cities, towns or villages. What happens to the results? When all the charts are completed they can be posted or emailed to the National Science team. Why bother? Well, it can be your contribution to understanding the effects of global warming on the UK's climate. Plants, animals and insects respond to temperature . If the temperature goes up they respond more quickly. Scientists in the UK are concerned about these changes. Our record of Spring dates and times can be compared to previous decades and centuries. These dates will help them predict changes in the natural world and decide how to protect certain plants or animals. Spring is now coming an average of two to three weeks earlier than 40 years ago. Did you know that insects are responding faster to the warmer temperatures than plants and birds? |
4. Recording the arrival of Spring
Find out if your students have ever studied the environment and what do they do in Biology or Geography. Have they ever been on a field trip with the school? If you have experience of this practical approach to science tell them about it briefly.
- Run through the first question with the whole class and then put students in groups to make a chart. Then get them to pass around their charts.
Put students in pairs or groups to talk about changes they may have already noticed. Put prompts on the board to guide questioning:
- Have you seen any blossom yet?'
- Have you noticed any insects yet?
- Has the temperature gone up?
- Have you noticed any changes in the grass or trees?
- Students may wish to record the arrival of Spring with their friends and then you can have a feedback session just before the Easter holidays.
These are some of the species to be recorded on the National Science chart.
Record the first time you see:
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| Horse chestnut leaves |
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a stout tree 30 metres tall, found everywhere |
| Snowdrops |
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white flowers, found in woods, by streams and in shady gardens |
| Frog spawn |
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frogs eggs, found in ponds, slow moving streams |
| Ladybirds |
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red insects with 7 black spots, found everywhere |
| Blackbirds |
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birds with black feathers and a yellow beak, found everywhere |
| Bumble bees |
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a big round hairy cousin of the honey bee, found in gardens |
- Tick those which you can find in your country.
- Make a chart for your area (include plants, birds, trees and insects)
- Ask if anyone has seen these changes yet
- Does your Spring come earlier than Spring in the UK?
5. Climate and national character
This task is best suited to students at intermediate level.
- Put students in groups or pairs to do the final question. You can give an example for the UK: 'You would not normally ask a stranger in a cafe how much money they earn!'
- Put a list of topics on the board to choose from in their group work.
The hotter Summer months and changing climate mean more chances for people to enjoy life outdoors. Eating in the garden and visiting pavement cafes or restaurants are definitely on the increase. However, the UK climate does remain fairly changeable. You can have a hot sunny day but it may rain or become cloudy in a very short space of time. This means that you can never rely on the weather and people are always talking about the changes in the weather. It is difficult to know if a special day will not be spoiled by unexpected rain and drizzle. A new visitor to the UK might notice the preoccupation with the weather. It is always a good conversation opener!
- How much does your climate influence peoples' habits?
- When's the best time for tourists to come?
- Do people talk about the weather to strangers in your country?
- Talking about the weather is a very neutral conversation topic. What other things could you talk about to a stranger on a bus or in a social situation? What types of topic would be too personal?
6. Talking about the weather
- Put students in groups to brainstorm weather vocabulary and pre teach anything they will need for the second part of the task. You can ask pairs to match possible openers to replies but emphasise that there may be more than one logical reply.
- You can make this a more dynamic task if you put openers on slips of paper to give to one half of the class and replies on slips to the other half. Ask a student to say his opening line and see if any students can offer a logical reply. To make this a total class activity get students to read their piece then take in the slips. Then ask the class to circulate to find a partner who matches them.Then they can act out their dialogue exchanges.
- You can focus on intonation. Focus on the tag questions: isn't it? And also focus on the tone of voice for agreeing. Get pairs to act out these exchanges after controlled practice and repetition with the whole class.
- You can use the final two questions to build a simple conversation with lower levels with prompts on the board. With higher levels encourage them in pairs or small groups to develop their own scenarios. You could give them situations to work from: you are in an airport lounge waiting to jet off to Florida and your partner is waiting to fly to Iceland. Make polite conversation while you wait.. These improvisations give useful fluency practice.
Write all the weather words you know. Divide them in to bad weather and good weather.
Here are some conversation openers. Can you match each opener to a suitable reply?
| Openers |
Possible replies |
| It's a lovely day, isn't it? I hope not. |
I hate driving in snow. |
| This cold spell's going on a bit too long |
Yes, it's the hottest day this year. |
| It's boiling, isn't it? |
Yes, it's the warmest Autumn on record. |
- Think of other ways to continue the conversation
- Practise making polite conversation with a stranger
- Act out your conversations for the class
7. Domestic Science
First look at the title 'Domestic science'. Ask: 'What do they think students learn in a domestic science lesson?' Describe the sorts of practical things you did, including any scientific experiments at school.
- Put students in small groups to discuss the questions.If they do not feel they get enough practical work ask them to suggest the types of things they would like to do.
- The NSW website has a domestic science section with experiments for classrooms. If your students are interested give them some of these to look at.
Schools in the UK can receive a resource pack of scientific experiments to do during National Science week. The experiments all follow the theme of science in the home and look at how science works in the kitchen. The pack is called 'Domestic Science'.
Until the 1980s schools in the UK taught a subject called Domestic Science, mainly to girls. Domestic Science was a school subject which covered cookery and all the skills needed for planning meals and running a home. At the same time many schools taught boys Woodwork and Metalwork while the girls did Domestic Science. This practice is now a thing of the past and both sexes are taught a subject called 'Craft, Design and Technology'. This subject includes practical skills like making things, cooking and designing things on computers.
- Do boys and girls study the same subjects in your country?
- Has this always been the case?
- Are girls and boys taught domestic skills at school? How?
- Are girls and boys taught practical skills for design and technology?
- Do girls study the Sciences as much as boys?
- Are they encouraged to study Sciences?
- Do you do enough practical work at school?
8. The boys and girls debate
Put students in pairs or small groups to work through these statements. Then ask them to modify the statements that they do not agree with or which need to be qualified. Then get examples from the class.
Do you agree or disagree with these statements?
- Boys are naturally better at sciences than girls.
- Girls have better brains for languages and the Arts.
- Schools do not encourage girls to study the sciences in the same way as boys.
- Boys and girls are the same. There is no difference in their abilities.
- Girls are naturally better at cooking and domestic skills like sewing.
- All boys should be taught to cook and sew at school.
- Practical skills are as important as academic work.
- There is not enough practical work in science classrooms.
9. Project: Scientists and the Media
Look for adverts and photos from the UK press and magazines to support this topic. If you can get recordings from the TV which will really bring the topic to life. A good example can also come from the BBC science shows which have very trendy young presenters to make science fun.
- Another useful stimulus for this topic would be leaflets for museums and examples of pages from websites like the Natural History Museum. These will give an example of the types of exhibition and activities available in the UK. They might like to describe an exhibition they have seen or a museum they have visited.
The National Science Week organisers are working with the government in the UK to change the image of science and scientists. They believe more people would take an interest in science and more people, particularly girls, would consider science as a career if the image were changed. People have a false image that science is for very clever but boring people who work alone in laboratories. Science is not seen as a trendy or fun subject.
- What image does science have in your country?
- Collect pictures or examples from the Media.
- Are Scientists in adverts usually serious?
- Are they usually seen as men?
- Is there a fair balance between men and women?
- Look at the jobs that people do in TV soap operas or programmes. Do you see enough women involved in jobs related to Science, engineering or technology?
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