Lesson Topics: human nature, psychology, animals
Skill Focus: Speaking, Vocabulary, Reading, Listening
Approximate Class Time: 1.75 hours
Lesson Plan Download: grizzly-man-upper-intermediate-062026.docx
Lesson Overview:
- Students first warm up with questions about animals and interacting with animals.
- The lesson has two inputs. First, students read a 320-word passage that describes the life of Timothy Treadwell AKA the "Grizzly Man". The lesson introduces his personal background, his finding his calling in Alaska, and ultimately his death (which is not described in detail). The passage then introduces Werner Herzog's 2005 documentary, and links to a short trailer (2:20m) so students can see some of Treadwell's footage. Overall, Treadwell's story is fascinating and tragic and explores the themes of mental health and animal conservation.
- The passage and trailer are followed by comprehension questions.
- Students then match 12 vocabulary items from phrases in the passage to definitions. This is followed by a sentence transformation exercise which requires students ask questions to each other using some of the new words.
- The lesson has one roleplay scenarios in which a talk show hosts interviews Treadwell. Some sample interview questions are given. (Note that a few of them are bold.)
- The next speaking activity has students consider a program for escaping modernity that can help people improve their well-being and connection with nature. They then select a program to pitch to the government to receive funding.
- After famous quotations, students review vocabulary and the lesson's collocations.
- Finally, the lesson ends with a few final discussion questions.
UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2/C1) Lesson on the Grizzly Man
Warm-up Questions
- What are your favorite kinds of animals?
- Have you ever had a close encounter with a dangerous animal?
- Do you think humans should interact with wild animals? Why or why not?
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This lesson plan was created by Matthew Barton of EnglishCurrent.com (copyright). 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. Claude was used to generate answer keys and some famous quotations. For questions, contact the author.
Comprehension Question Answer Key:
- …
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- "He believed to be" signals that the author is distancing themselves from Treadwell's view — implying that others might not agree that it was truly his calling. It suggests skepticism about Treadwell's self-perception.
- He believed he was protecting them from hunters (and poachers), and in that sense, the animals needed him.
- (Open-ended — no fixed answer. Students might agree, pointing to his reckless behavior and repeated warnings he ignored, or disagree, arguing that no one deserves to be killed for pursuing a passion.)
- Critics suggest Treadwell projected human emotions onto the bears and formed an unhealthy emotional dependency on them. In their view, the relationship was one-sided — Treadwell drew meaning, identity, and purpose from the bears, while the bears were simply indifferent to his presence.
- (Open-ended — no fixed answer. Herzog suggests that Treadwell's footage, despite being about nature, ultimately reveals more about human psychology — our need for connection, meaning, and belonging — than it does about the wild.)
Vocabulary answer key: 1-b, 2-h, 3-e, 4-k, 5-g, 6-d, 7-l, 8-i, 9-a, 10-f, 11-c, 12-j
Collocations: 1-g, 2-a, 3-f, 4-b, 5-c, 6-h, 7-e, 8-d
[1] Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Treadwell; https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/a-bearfaced-liar-6112471.html