A Green Future British English Teacher

HEAAADERLOGORIGHT
GENERAL ENGLISH · PRACTICAL ENGLISH · PRE-INTERMEDIATE (A2-B1)
A GREEN
FUTURE
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1 Warm up
These pictures show vocabulary that we use to talk about renewable energy.
1. Which two items produce energy from the movement of water and wind?
2. Which two items describe how energy systems work in a house?
3. Which two items describe how well an energy system works?
4. Which two items use heat or light to produce energy?
solar panels ground source heating hydropower wind turbines
install a system produce electricity reliable break down
1. Have you installed solar panels in your home, or do you use other types of renewable energy to
produce electricity?
2. Does your country produce lots of energy from the sun, wind or water?
3. How reliable do you think these types of energy are?
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PRE-INTERMEDIATE (A2-B1)
A GREEN FUTURE
2 Listen
Listen to a podcast, "Energy of the future" and put these topics in the order that you hear about them.
fossil fuels
ground source heating
hydropower
solar panels
wind turbines
Listen again and decide if these sentences are true or false.
1. There are three differences between fossil fuels and renewable energy.
2. Solar panels have become much less expensive since the year 2000.
3. There are no problems with using wind turbines.
4. Ground source heating is perfect for producing electricity in cities.
5. Climate change can have a negative effect on hydropower.
3 Language point
Study the sentences and answer the questions below.
We can connect two ideas in one sentence using conjunctions. These words explain the
relationship between the two ideas: we may be adding a similar piece of information,
contrasting the second idea with the first, or expressing cause and effect (reason and result).
Part 1
• 1) If it stops raining and rivers or lakes dry out, there’s not enough water to move the turbines.
• 2) Ground source heating is very reliable because it almost never breaks down.
• 3) You need a lot of land to heat one home, so ground source heating is not very useful in cities.
Answer these questions:
1. What is the relationship between the two ideas in sentences 1-3?

2. A clause is a piece of a sentence with a subject and a verb. How many clauses does each sentence
contain?
3. Circle the subjects and underline the verbs in both clauses of the sentences.
4. What’s the difference between so and because?
5. Which sentences use a comma to separate the clauses?
6. How is this sentence different to sentence 2? Because the price is now so low, it seems like a
great future source of energy.
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A GREEN FUTURE
Part 2
• 4) Renewable energy, like solar power, will never run out, but there is a limited amount of fossil
fuels.
• 5) Fossil fuels cause global warming or climate change while renewable energy is cleaner and safer.
• 6) Wind turbines are cheap to operate although they can be noisy.
1. What is the relationship between the two ideas in sentences 4-6?

2. How many clauses does each sentence contain?
3. Circle the subjects and underline the verbs in both clauses of the sentences.
4. Which sentence uses a comma to separate the clauses?
5. We can change the order of the clauses in sentences 5 and 6. While they can be noisy, wind
turbines are cheap to operate. Although they can be noisy, wind turbines are cheap to operate.
When we change the order of the clauses, what other change do we need to make?
Part 3
• 7) Solar power works in many parts of the world, and the cost of solar panels has gone down by
80% in the last 20 years.
1. What is the relationship between the two ideas in sentences 7?

2. How many clauses does the sentence contain?
3. Circle the subjects and underline the verbs in both clauses of the sentence.
4. Do we use a comma to separate the clauses?
5. Why don’t we need a comma in this sentence? "Solar panels don’t produce electricity at night and
take up a lot of space."

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A GREEN FUTURE
This diagram can help you remember how to use these conjunctions.
4 Practice
Find and correct mistakes in some of these sentences. If the sentence is correct, put a tick Xnext to
it.
1. If you don’t have a lot of space ground source heating energy isn’t a good option.
2. Solar panels can’t work at night, so they aren’t as productive as other types of renewable energy.
3. Hydropower is a very old idea so it’s reliable.
4. Because wind turbines can be dangerous to birds, so many people don’t like them.
5. In the future, we will not have any more fossil fuels, but renewable energy will always be available.
6. Hydropower works 24/7 but it is expensive to build.
7. While wind turbines look beautiful to some people, they make a lot of noise.
8. Although climate change means there may be less rain in the future, hydropower won’t always
work.
9. Although solar power works in most parts of the world, takes up a lot of space.
10. There isn’t always enough wind to move the turbines, and some people think they’re ugly.

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A GREEN FUTURE
5 Writing
Scientists are also looking for new types of fuel that we can use in our cars. Look at the table to find
out about three types of biofuels.
name how it is made positives negatives
ethanol made from sugar cane Countries can become People use their land
or corn more independent by to produce fuel
making their own fuel. instead of growing
It reduces some types food. People cut
of pollution. down forests to grow
plants to produce
fuel. It’s expensive.
biodiesel made from vegetable It makes your car It can damage some
oil or animal fats engine last longer. It parts of your car. It’s
reduces some types expensive.
of pollution.
green diesel made from algae, It can be used in many It’s expensive. It
simple small plants other types of needs a lot of water
that grow in the products. It can grow to produce.
water. in many different
places.
Words to help
• damage: harm or hurt something so that it breaks or doesn’t work well.
• pollution: dirty air or water
• reduce: make something become smaller in quantity.
Work in A/B pairs. Work alone to write 5 sentences about biofuels using the conjunctions you are
given. Then share your sentences with your partner. Check each other’s sentences for grammar and
punctuation.
Student A Student B
if but
and so
while and
but because
because although

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A GREEN FUTURE
6 Extra practice/homework
Read the sentences and add a missing conjunction from the box. You should also add a comma in the
correct place, if you need one.
although / and / because x 2 / but / if / so /

while
1. We need to find new types of fuel for our cars .............. fossil fuels cause climate change.
2. There are several new types of biofuel .............. they are all expensive.
3. .............. countries produce their own biofuel they will become more independent in some ways.
4. .............. we can produce lots of vegetable oil biodiesel seems like a renewable resource.
5. People cut down forests to produce plants to make ethanol .............. many animals lose their homes.
6. Biodiesel is made from vegetable oils .............. green diesel is made from algae.
7. .............. green diesel can grow in many different places it needs a lot of water.
8. We need to find more types of biofuel .............. we need to make these less expensive to produce.
7 Optional extension
Look at the picture. Use this information and the words you are given to give a simple explanation of
how solar panels work.
1. roof / collect
2. carry / in the house
3. uses some / sends some
4. stores / later
Why is the battery so important?

HEAAADERLOGORIGHT
TEACHER MATERIALS · PRE-INTERMEDIATE (A2-B1)
A GREEN FUTURE
Transcripts
2. Listen
Presenter: Hi everyone, and welcome to another episode in our mini podcast series, For Beginners.
In the last podcast we discussed climate change. Following on from that, this episode
is about how we can produce energy in the future. We’re talking to Elliott Barnes,
a renewable energy expert. Elliott, what’s the difference between fossil fuels and
renewable energy?
Elliott: There are two main differences. Renewable energy, like solar power, will never run out,
but there is a limited amount of fossil fuels. In other words, we can completely use up all
the oil and coal in the world, but we can never use all the sun’s energy.
Presenter: What’s the second difference?
Elliott: The second difference is that fossil fuels cause global warming or climate change while
renewable energy is cleaner and safer.
Presenter: Great. So, you mentioned solar energy. Tell us more about that.
Elliott: Solar energy uses panels to catch sunlight and convert it to electricity. Solar power works
in many parts of the world, and the cost of solar panels has gone down by 80% in the last
20 years. Because the price is now so low, it seems like a great future source of energy.
Presenter: Hold on! There’s one big problem with solar energy! It doesn’t work at night.
Elliott: You’re right. Luckily, there are other types of renewable energy. Wind turbines can
produce energy 24/7. These are cheap to operate, although they can be noisy.
Presenter: I’ve seen those. I kind of like the way they look. Are there any other options?
Elliott: Another type of energy that works all the time is ground source heating, which uses heat
from the earth.
Presenter: I think I’ve heard of that. My neighbour installed a system like that for heating her house.
Elliott: Yes, it’s becoming very popular. It’s very reliable because it almost never breaks down.
Presenter: Are there any problems?
Elliott: Well, yes, there are. You need a lot of land to heat one home, so it’s not very useful in
cities. Before we finish, let me just talk about hydropower.
Presenter: In other words, using moving water to produce electricity.
Elliott: Yes. This is a very old idea, and it’s safe and reliable. The problem is that climate change
can affect how well hydropower works.
Presenter: In what way?
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A GREEN FUTURE
Elliott: Well, if it stops raining and rivers or lakes dry out, there’s not enough water to move the
turbines.
Presenter: Interesting. We’re out of time now, so we’re going to have to stop talking and say good-
bye. Thanks so much for listening.
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Key
1. Warm up
5 mins.
Call attention to the words and images and work with the whole class to answer the four questions. You could
elicit or explain the meaning of renewable (easily used and replaced) but this will be explored in the listening. Drill
pronunciation of all items. Pose the follow-up questions. Keep answers brief, as these issues will be explored in
the listening.
1. Hydropower and wind turbines
2. Install a system and produce electricity
3. Reliable and break down.
4. Solar panels and ground source heating
2. Listen
10 mins.
Explain the context and go over the instructions for the first listening activity, first checking the pronunciation of
fuels /’fju:.@lz/. Play the recording and then check answers. For the second listening activity, students will recover
more detailed information from the recording. Give students a minute to work in pairs and recall/predict if the
sentences are true or false. Then play the recording again for them to check. They can listen twice if they need
to. Check answers and ask students to justify their response with information from the podcast. If you have time
after you check answers, students could read the transcript out loud in pairs.
1. fossil fuels 2. solar panels
3. wind turbines 4. ground source heating
5. hydropower
Second listening:
1. F - there are two differences: fossil fuels will run out, and they also cause climate change.
2. T - 80% cheaper.
3. F - they can be noisy.
4. F - you need a lot of room
5. T - if it stops raining, then there won’t be enough water in lakes or rivers to make hydropower work.
Sources:
https://www.paradisesolarenergy.com
https://www.power-technology.com
https://www.nationalgeographic.com
https://www.solarreviews.com
3. Language point
10 mins.
Go over the introductory information about conjunctions. You may need to elicit, explain or translate the meaning
of contrast (to show how something is different to another thing). If you have used lesson 13 from this course plan,
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students will already be familiar with how conditionals express cause & effect/reason & result. Otherwise, make
sure they understand these concepts.
Tackle each of the three sections one by one. Go over the examples and questions/tasks in each section, which
deal with meaning, grammar and punctuation. It is very important that students understand the concept of a
clause, as this is a key grammatical unit, as well as the theme of this block of four lessons in the course plan.
Conclude each stage by drilling all the example sentences. Students may need support with the spelling and
pronunciation of although /O:lD@U/.
The final diagram summarises the information in the language point and will be useful for students in the next
activities.
Part 1: 1-3 sentences:

1. cause and effect (reason and result)
2. Two clauses
3. Subjects: 1 it/rivers or lakes, there; 2 ground source heating, it; 3 you, ground source heating. Verbs: 1 stops/dry
out, is; 2 is, breaks down; 3 need, is.
4. So introduces the effect or result and because introduces the cause or reason.
5. 1 (a zero conditional) and 3 (with so).
6. It starts with the reason clause (because) which means that we need a comma. We don’t need a comma if
because comes in the middle.
Part 2: 4-6 sentences

1. contrasting the second idea with the first
2. Two clauses
3. Subjects: 4 renewable energy, there; fossil fuels, renewable energy; 6 wind turbines, they. Verbs: 4 run out, is;
5 cause, is; 6 are, can be.
4. 4 (but).
5. We add a comma when the clause with although/while comes first.
Part 3: 7th sentence

1. Adding similar information; here there are two positive points about solar energy.
2. Two clauses.
3. Subjects: solar power, cost; Verbs: works, has gone down.
4. Yes.
5. Because there is only one clause with the subject solar panels. The two verbs (don’t produce/take up) have the
same subject.
4. Practice
10 mins.
Go over the instructions and do the first one as an example with the class, making sure students consider meaning,
grammar and punctuation. Students work alone and then check answers in pairs, and then with the whole class.
NOTE: If students are finding this difficult, skip the speaking stage and do the extra practice/homework exercises
in class for additional support.
1. The comma is missing after space. 2. Correct.
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3. The conjunction is wrong. These ideas are not related 4. We can’t use because and so in the same sentence;
by cause and effect. A better choice of conjunction choose one or the other.
would be and or but.
5. Correct. 6. We need a comma before but.
7. Correct 8. The conjunction is wrong. These ideas are not
related by contrast. A better choice of conjunction
would be because.
9. The second clause is missing the subject: it. 10. Correct.
5. Writing
13 mins.
In this stage, students will activate the vocabulary and grammar from the lesson in a writing activity. Make sure
students understand the aim of the activity is to practise the target language and that they will have to use critical
thinking skills.
Go over the table and the words to help. Then set up A/B pairs and give the instructions. They need to use the
information in the positives and negatives column. If your class needs support, you could do the first items from
the A and B lists as a demonstration. Monitor and support as necessary. Encourage students to refer back to the
diagram in the language point. They should aim to write at least three sentences.
After around ten minutes, students share their sentences in pairs, reading them out loud or showing them to each
other. If they read out loud, they should say where the comma goes. Monitor and support, offering correction
where necessary. Collect the writing for marking.
If there isn’t enough time for students to finish, ask them to complete the writing for homework. Remember to
collect the writing for marking. Early finishers could write more sentences from the other A or B prompts.
6. Extra practice/homework
2 mins to explain.
For some sentences, more than one answer is possible. These exercises can be assigned for homework or used
instead of the speaking activity if the class needs more support. If you use these for homework, make sure that
you mark the exercises in a future class, or collect them from students and mark them yourself outside class. If
you prefer, you can make the answers available to students and they can check their own answers.
Answers:
We need to find new types of fuel for our cars because fossil fuels cause climate change. (no comma)
There are several new types of biofuel,but they are all expensive. (add a comma)
If countries produce their own biofuel, they will become more independent in some ways. (add a comma)
Because we can produce lots of vegetable oil, biodiesel seems like a renewable resource. (add a comma)
People cut down forests to produce plants to make ethanol, so many animals lose their homes. (add a comma)
Biodiesel is made from vegetable oils while/although green diesel is made from algae. (no comma)
Although/while green diesel can grow in many different places, it needs a lot of water. (add a comma)
We need to find more types of biofuel, and we need to make these less expensive to produce. (add a comma)
7. Optional extension
10 mins.
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A GREEN FUTURE
These exercises are designed as a cooler activity if you have time in your lesson. In this activity, students examine
a diagram and formulate a simple explanation of how solar panels work. Do the first sentence with the whole class
as an example, and then students could work in pairs to write the other three sentences. Monitor and support
students and offer correction as needed. Pose the follow-up question. Students may be interested to know that
this is a simplified version of a common task on the IELTS writing exam, part 1.
1. Solar panels on the roof collect sunlight/energy. 2. Wires carry the energy to the controller in the house.
3. The controller uses some energy and sends some 4. The battery stores some energy to use later.
energy to the battery.
Why is the battery so important?

-Because it stores energy for use at night, when the panels are not collecting sunlight.
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HEAAADERLOGORIGHT

GENERAL ENGLISH · PRACTICAL ENGLISH · PRE-INTERMEDIATE (A2-B1)

solar panels ground source heating hydropower wind turbines

install a system produce electricity reliable break down

FOOOOTERRIGHT Learn without forgetting! 1/6

ground source heating

Listen again and decide if these sentences are true or false.

Answer these questions:

1. What is the relationship between the two ideas in sentences 1-3?

FOOOOTERLEFT Learn without forgetting! 2/6

Answer these questions:

1. What is the relationship between the two ideas in sentences 4-6?

Answer these questions:

1. What is the relationship between the two ideas in sentences 7?

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name how it is made positives negatives

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although / and / because x 2 / but / if / so /

Why is the battery so important?

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Presenter: What’s the second diﬀerence?

Presenter: Are there any problems?

Presenter: In other words, using moving water to produce electricity.

Presenter: In what way?

Part 1: 1-3 sentences:

Part 2: 4-6 sentences

Part 3: 7th sentence

Why is the battery so important?

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