Climate Change (Upper-Intermediate EFL Lesson Plan)

ESL/EFL Level: Upper-Intermediate
Lesson Topic: causes, effects, and solutions related to climate change
Skill Focus: Speaking, Reading, Vocabulary
Approximate Class Time: 1.75 hours
Lesson Plan Download: climate-change-upper-intermediate-122022.docx
Lesson Overview:

  • The reading passage begins by presenting the causes and effects of climate change. It follows with a list of possible solutions, with a focus on energy, and ends by mentioning recent protests by climate change activists.
  • Post-reading activities include a presentation on a solution to reduce carbon emissions, three roleplay scenarios, and some famous quotations related to environmentalism.
  • All lessons come with warm-up questions, comprehension questions, a vocabulary section, and discussion questions.

A polar bear standing on melting ice cubes

UPPER-INTERMEDIATE Lesson on a Climate Change

Warm-up Questions (Pair Work)

  1. Is climate change a major concern for you?
  2. How is climate change affecting the environment where you live?
  3. What do you think can be done to manage the effects of climate change, if anything?

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-- Lesson plan on Climate Change & Global Warming by Matthew Barton of EnglishCurrent.com (copyright). Sections of the reading passage and some comprehension questions were initially created by OpenAI’s text-davinci-003 tool (chatGPT) though they were later revised. Site members may photocopy and edit the file for their classes. Permission is not given to rebrand the lesson, redistribute it on another platform, or sell it as part of commercial course curriculum. For questions, contact the author.

Possible comprehension question answers:

  1. “Climate change is caused by increasing levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, primarily due to human activities such as burning fossil fuels, deforestation and industrial processes.”
  2. The effects include rising sea levels, displacement of human populations, heatwaves, droughts, floods, and wildfires.
  3. …
  4. … (Could be due to short-sightedness, population increase, and the energy crisis that resulted from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine).
  5. The purpose of the example is could be to show the immensity of the challenge (replacing fossil fuels). Another purpose could be to show the inefficiency of oil-based power.
  6. It mentions that critics argue renewables cannot consistently supply power to meet our baseload energy demands.
  7. …

 Vocabulary Answers: 1-g, 2-b, 3-d, 4-i, 5-f, 6-a, 7-e, 8-j, 9-h, 10-c

 Endnotes

  • [1] https://www.gatesnotes.com/Energy/2022-State-of-the-Energy-Transition
  • [2] https://www.npr.org/2022/11/01/1133041550/the-activist-who-threw-soup-on-a-van-gogh-explains-why-they-did-it
  • [3] https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/27/arts/pearl-earring-vermeer-climate-activists.html