Environment videos

by Videos & lesson plans

May 26, 2019

1. How long will human impacts last?

(TED-Ed talk by David Biello)

https://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-long-will-human-impacts-last-david-biello

This is an interesting animated video to help students reflect on the impact of humans on the future of planet Earth. The language in the video and the content are complex and high level so this would be suitable for Bachillerato students and above.

0.00 - 0.16 - Get the students to think of the question the video poses: “Imagine aliens land on the planet a million years from now. What will these curious searchers find of us?” Ask them to brainstorm ideas about what humans are leaving behind for future generations.

0.27 – 0.48 - The video says, “The impacts that we humans make have become so pervasive, profound and permanent that some geologists argue we merit our own epoch”. Check understanding of sentence, especially we merit our own epoch. Ask students to reflect on this question and give their opinion.

3.22 – 4.25 - Ask students,

1. How has human activity affected our planet?

2. What are the effects of human activity on the planet mentioned in this section?

3. Are they positive or negative?

4.50 – 5.09 - Ask the students,

1. Is the video optimistic or pessimistic about the future?

2. What can we do differently to make sure humankind has a hopeful future?

2. Can renewable energies power the world?

(TED-Ed talk by Federico Rosei and Renzo Rosei)

https://ed.ted.com/lessons/can-100-renewable-energy-power-the-world-federico-rosei-and-renzo-rosei

This is a great video aimed at Bachillerato-level students and above to get them to reflect on the use of renewable energies in nowadays’ society.

As a pre-watching activity, you could ask students to think about energy sources they know (for example, gas).

0.00 - 0:47 - Watch to check which of their ideas have been mentioned.

1.21 – 1.43 - Ask students, What are electricity and liquid fuels used for? Play the video to check which of their ideas appeared in the video.

1.45 – 2.21 - Ask students to think of renewable energies. (They’ll most likely mention solar power and wind energy). Then, get them to write down the advantages and disadvantages of using solar power. Show the video for students to check which of their ideas have been mentioned.

2.20 – 3.38 - Write, “efficiency” and “energy transportation” on the board. Ask students if they can imagine in what way efficiency and energy transportation can be a problem when using solar power? Play the video and get students to contrast their predictions.

5.03 – 5.38 - Show the last part of the video. It says, “the transition towards all-renewable energies is a complex problem involving technology, economics and politics”. Do the students agree with that?

To what extent is the video hopeful about the use of renewable energies in the future?

How do the students feel about this? What’s their opinion?

3. The Life Cycle of a Plastic Bottle

(TED-Ed talk by Emma Bryce)

https://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-really-happens-to-the-plastic-you-throw-away-emma-bryce

This is a great animation suitable for ESO students to help them realise what happens to the plastic we use and throw away. Although the level of English in the video is quite high, the images deliver a clear message, which makes it accessible for students, especially if you play the video with the subtitles on.

Before you show the video, ask students to think about what happens to plastic after we have used it. For example, a plastic water bottle. Where could it go after it’s thrown away? Brainstorm ideas and vocabulary such as landfill or recycling plant, which will then appear in the video.

0.00 – 1.05 - Play the section and ask students,

1. How are these bottles made?

2. What are monomers, polymers and pellets?

3. What can they remember?

In pairs, they compare their ideas and then share them with their classmates in open class.

0.00 – 1.16 - Play the same section again until 1:16. Where does bottle number 1 end up?

1.16 – 1.47 - Continue playing the video until 1:47 and ask students,

1. What’s leachate?

2. What are its harmful effects?

3. How long could it take bottle number 1 to decompose?

1.54 – 3.11 - Play the video to show the section that talks about what happens to bottle number 2 and ask students,

1. What are the effects of plastic on animals that live near the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?

2. How does this also affect humans?

3. What are microplastics?

3.13 – 3.16 - Show the brief section and ask students, Where is bottle number 3 taken? (To a recycling plant).

3.18 – 3.37 - Show this section with the sound off. Students look at the images and write down the procedure followed in order to recycle the third plastic bottle. This is a great exercise to practise passive forms. Give an example first, e.g., It is squashed flat. Then show the video again with sound for students to compare their answers.

After you have worked on the video the first time, you could get students in pairs to answer the comprehension questions in the “Think” section of the video to see how much they remember from what they have watched.

Finally, as an additional language task, you could give students the transcript and get them to watch the video again (this time, without the subtitles) in order to complete it with the passive forms that appear.

4. A Plastic Ocean

British Council’s Learn English Teens website

http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/study-break/video-zone/plastic-ocean

On this page of the British Council’s website for teenagers, you can find the trailer of the documentary, “A Plastic Ocean”, which could be a great starting point for discussion both for ESO and Bachillerato students.

Before watching the video, ask students what they associate with the ocean. What comes to mind when they think of the sea? Get students to brainstorm ideas in small groups and then share them with the class.

0.43 – 0.46 - Show this short clip of the video with the sound off. Are the images on the video similar to what they had in mind?

0.29 – 0.32 - Show the earlier clip (again, with sound off). How do these images make them feel?

1.30 – 1.35 - Play this short section of the video. Ask,

1. What is happening in these scenes?

2. What is the message that the documentary is trying to convey?

0.00 – 2.08 - Finally, show the whole video again until the end and get students to think about the following questions,

1. Why do they think that the documentary is called “A Plastic Ocean”?

2. What is the documentary going to be about?

3. Would you like to watch it?

As a further comprehension task, you could get students to answer the multiple choice questions included in the “Check your understanding” section on the webpage.

As a final follow-up task, you could ask students to discuss the following questions in pairs,

1. Do you use a lot of plastic? Give some examples.

2. What do you think we can do as individuals to help improve the problem of having too much plastic in our oceans?

3. How can we achieve the “wave of change” mentioned in the documentary?

5. Tough Truths about Plastic Pollution

(TED talk by Dianna Cohen)

https://www.ted.com/talks/dianna_cohen_tough_truths_about_plastic_pollution

This video could also be a great stimulus for discussion, both for ESO and Bachillerato students.

Before you play the video, tell students they are going to watch a TED talk by Dianna Cohen, co-founder of the Plastic Pollution Coalition.

0.00 – 1.00 - Play the first minute of the video with the subtitles on. Ask,

1. What can you remember about Dianna?

2. What does she do with the plastic she collects?

3. What did she find out after the first eight years of working with plastic?

1.00 – 2.15 - Play this section and ask,

1. What did Dianna want to do when she first learned about the Pacific Garbage Patch?

2. What did she realize as she was thinking of a possible solution?

Dianna says, “It’s not that just that gyre that I’m concerned about. It’s the gyre of plastic in the supermarket. I go to the supermarket and all my food is packaged in plastic. We need to find a way to turn off the faucet”. And then Dianna adds, “This is a problem we’ve created as consumers and we can solve. We can solve by raising awareness of the issue and teaching people to choose alternatives to single-use plastics.”

Ask students to brainstorm ideas about what they could do to reduce the amount of plastic they use, starting with supermarkets and their homes.

3.57 – 4.32 - Play this section and get students to check which of their ideas were mentioned in the video.

4.36 – 5.11 - Play the last section of the video and ask students to think of ideas to raise other people’s awareness on the issue.

As a follow-up task, students could design a poster to illustrate Dianna’s slogan “Save the oceans, save the planet, save ourselves”.

6. How we will rid the oceans of plastic

(Talk by Boyan Slat)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=du5d5PUrH0I

Write “The Ocean Cleanup” on the board. Have students heard about it? What do they know?

This section of the video (1.54 – 4.26) shows the plastic objects that the people from The Ocean Cleanup found in the ocean last year.

Tell the students they are going to watch a section of the video shows a variety of plastic objects collected from the sea during this project. Ask them to predict some.

1.54 – 4.26 - Watch to compare ideas and answer the question, What was surprising about the objects found in the ocean?

1.54 – 4.26 - Watch the section again and answer the following questions:

1. What’s the first object that Boyan shows? How old is it?

2. What’s the second object? Where is it from? How old is it?

3. What’s the third object? When was it made?

4. Where exactly were these microplastics found?

As a follow-up task, you could get students to look for information about the Ocean Cleanup.

1. What is it?

2. What does it do?

3. What are its aims?