Deadly Plants British English Teacher

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GENERAL ENGLISH · ENGLISH IN VIDEO · UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2-C1)
DEADLY
PLANTS
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1 Warm up
Look at the image and answer the questions.
1. Why is this garden unusual?
2. Why do you think this garden exists?
3. Why do people want to visit it?
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UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2-C1)
DEADLY PLANTS
Now look at the plant below and label its parts.
bud bulb/tuber flower fruit/berry
leaf roots seeds stem/stalk
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DEADLY PLANTS
2 Vocabulary
Work in A/B pairs. Complete your vocabulary exercises by choosing the correct option. Share your
answers with your partner and explain your ideas. Make a note of the correct answers.
Student A
1. Learning English is fascinating / fascinated.
2. Don’t drink that - it’s toxic / toxin.
3. If your dog doesn’t want to take his medicine, crush up / crush down the pills and put them in his
food.
4. It’s important to have a good diet in order to maintain / keep your health.
5. This decision had a major result / impact on our customers.
Student B
1. She’s intriguing / intrigued by poisonous snakes and spiders.
2. I burnt myself when I was cooking and now I have a huge bruise / blister on my hand.
3. I’m not sure how to deal about / deal with this problem.
4. Before you start your new job, you have to come in for some training, so you know how we
cooperate / operate.
5. The nurses tend / care their patients day and night.
3 Watch the video

Watch the video about the Poison Garden at Alnwick Castle in England (00:00 - 02:13) and decide if
the sentences are true or false.
1. The majority of the plants in the garden at Alnwick are toxic.
2. There are around one hundred poisonous plants in the garden.
3. The gardeners always wear special protective clothes when they tend the plants.
4. The garden was developed to educate people about poisonous plants.
5. There are lots of poisonous plants in people’s gardens.
6. Most of the visitors to the gardens realise how dangerous plants can be.
7. The gardener actually isn’t very interested in toxic plants.

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DEADLY PLANTS
Now, watch the video again and complete the table below. Write no more than two words from the
video in each space.
4 Language in context
Read these sentences from the recording and use the context to explain the meaning of the words in
bold.
This garden is set in the war garden of the old castle in Northumberland, U.K.
1.
So, it (the poison garden) was the brainchild of the duchess, the Duchess of Northumberland ...
2.
In fact, a lot of them are what we call cottage garden plants, ...
3.

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DEADLY PLANTS
5 Reading 1
Read the information in the box and complete the sentences with words you learned earlier in the
lesson. There are two possible correct answers for each gap, and you may need to change the form
of the word to fit the sentence.
1
Hospital emergency departments hundreds of people every year
2
who have eaten or even just touched the flowers, leaves, , and
3
even underground roots of plants in gardens, parks and the
countryside. These plants are everywhere, and they’re not just unwanted weeds. Many are
grown for their beauty, and they have a wide range of uses, including as medicines and foods.
4
People are by these plants, as evidenced by the popularity of
attractions like the Poison Garden at Alnwick. Local flower shows are also starting to include
special displays about some common but deadly beauties. The aim is to save lives by making
5
people aware of how to safe gardening practices for themselves,
children and pets.
6 Reading 2
Now read the information about six more poisonous plants that are common in England. Work in
pairs or small groups to discuss these questions.
1. Which of these plants are you familiar with?

2. Which plant should English people worry about the most? The least? Why? (Think about how
serious the effects are and how likely a negative event is.)
3. Which plant seems the most useful and why? (Think about how important the benefits are and
how many people could be affected.)
4. Which plant name do you like the most?
5. What’s the most surprising thing you discovered about these plants?
6. What poisonous plants can you find where you live?

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DEADLY PLANTS

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DEADLY PLANTS
7 Final activity
Choose one of these writing activities.
Activity 1
Imagine that you have visited the Poison Garden at Alnwick. Write a review
for a travel website. You should include a description of the garden and an
explanation of the safety rules, and also say what you liked/didn’t like about
your visit.
Activity 2
Imagine that you work for a local gardening society. Create a poster with advice
about keeping safe around poisonous plants for parents or small children, pet
owners and gardeners. Explain two things that each group should or shouldn’t
do and why using examples of common poisonous plants.
8 Optional extension
The skull and crossbones sign appears in the video on the gate to the Poison Garden. Look at these
pictures and say where you would see them and what they mean.
picture 1 picture 2 picture 3 picture 4
In what other contexts have you seen a skull and crossbones?

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TEACHER MATERIALS · UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2-C1)
DEADLY PLANTS
Transcripts
3. Watch the video
Trevor Jones: Atropa belladonna will kill you. Datura will put you to sleep, forever. Aconitum
will kill you. Laurel will produce cyanide and kill you.
Trevor Jones: Every plant here in the Poison Garden is poisonous and has the ability to kill you.
Trevor Jones: My name’s Trevor Jones and I’m the head gardener of Alnwick Garden. This plant
is giant hogweed. It will get up to around about eight foot high. It’s phototoxic,
so it will burn your skin and give you blisters for up to seven years.
Trevor Jones: This garden is set in the war garden of the old castle in Northumberland, U.K.
We’d have around about ninety-five plants and we’re adding to the collection all
the time.
Trevor Jones: This plant is aconitum, or monkshood. Wonderful blue flowers, but the whole of
the plant is poisonous. The berries crushed up and fed to you will kill you. The
leaves themselves will kill you also, as will the root and the stem.
Trevor Jones: We have to obviously maintain the garden, so we have to tend the plants, and
when we do that we have to be very careful of the way we operate, so we have
to cover some of our skin when we deal with particularly dangerous plants.
Trevor Jones: This plant is laurel. It produces cyanide, and we all know what that’ll do to you. So,
it was the brainchild of the duchess, the Duchess of Northumberland, so rather
than having a herb garden, she decided to create more interest and have a poison
garden.
Trevor Jones: They’re very, very common plants. In fact, a lot of them are what we call cottage
garden plants, and they’re grown in many people’s gardens, but people don’t
know how harmful they actually are. This is atropa belladonna.
Trevor Jones: Four berries are enough to kill a child. People are intrigued by poisonous plants.
I’m often very worried when they come out because many of them will be
growing these plants at home, and they don’t realize the powerful impact plants
can have on us as humans.
(off camera voice): Is it something that you find fascinating?
Trevor Jones: Definitely.
(off camera voice): Why?
Trevor Jones: It’s a good way to get rid of your wife. I don’t know.
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Key
1. Warm up
5 mins.
Ask students to look at the image and answer the questions.
Encourage discussion and elicit answers.
1. It contains poisonous plants.

2. Students’ own answers - these might include research, making money, education, enjoyment of natural beauty.
3. Students’ own answers.

The purpose of this stage is to introduce the topic and some useful vocabulary and arouse students’ interest. Give
students a minute to complete the matching task and check answers and pronunciation. Then pose the follow-up
questions and elicit a range of responses from the whole class similar to those given.
1) flower, 2) stem/stalk, 3) seeds, 4) bulb/tuber, 5) roots, 6) fruit/berry, 7) leaf, 8) bud
2. Vocabulary
10 mins.
Students need to know these items to understand the video. Some items may already be familiar, but the challenge
is for them to distinguish between two possible options and explain why one is correct. Students will recycle this
vocabulary in the listening and reading stages.
Answers:
Student A
1. fascinating: fascinating means really interesting and the -ing ending describes an external situation, not a feeling
2. toxic: toxic means poisonous and it’s the adjective form; - toxin is a noun and would need an indefinite article
in front to complete this sentence
3. crush up: crush up is a phrasal verb, the particle up often means completely
4. maintain: maintain and keep are near synonyms but only maintain collocates with health
5. impact: result and impact are also near synonyms but in a sentence with on, result is not possible
Student B
1. intrigued: intrigued means interested by something a bit unusual and strange and the -ed ending describes a
person’s feeling, not an external situation
2. blister: a blister is a small sac on the surface of the skin filled with liquid caused by burning or rubbing while a
bruise is a dark colour under the skin caused by being hit or falling
3. deal with: dealwith is a phrasal verb meaning take action in a problematic situation
4. operate: operate means work normally, there is no reason to use cooperate (work together) in this sentence
5. tend: tend means look after, care would need to be followed by for in this sentence (care for)
3. Watch the video
10 mins.
In this stage students will watch the short video (00:00 - 02:13) twice to activate vocabulary and recover main ideas
and details. The first task is a true/false exercise - give students a minute to look through the sentences before
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DEADLY PLANTS
they listen. Check answers and ask students to explain their responses. The second task is a table completion
exercise of a type which may appear on the IELTS exam. Again, give students a minute to look through and predict
or recall the answers before they listen for a second time.
1. F - every plant is poisonous

2. T - around ninety-five
3. F - they cover some parts of their skin when they deal with particularly dangerous plants
4. F - it was created to be more interesting than a normal garden
5. T - they’re very common and grown in many people’s gardens
6. F - they don’t realise the impact these plants can have
7. F - he finds them fascinating.
Table:
1) forever, 2) kills, 3) giant, 4) blisters, 5) seven, 6) blue, 7) crushed up, 8) stem, 9) four berries
4. Language in context
5 mins.
This is a quick practice in deducing meaning from context, an important skill for students at this level. Go over the
sentences with the whole class and elicit definitions similar to those given. Drill pronunciation as well - garden is
not stressed in these compound nouns.
1. a garden that produced food for the country during a war

2. an original and clever idea
3. an informal traditional garden that combines flowers, fruit and vegetables in a small space and uses lots of
natural materials for the structures. This type of garden is very English.
5. Reading 1
10 mins.
Students read a short introductory text and review vocabulary from earlier in the lesson by completing a gap-fill.
Two correct answers are possible for each gap - you may want to demonstrate with the first item to make the
instructions clear. Students could work in pairs or alone, and then check answers.
1. deal with/tend
2. berries/stems
3. toxic/poisonous
4. fascinated/intrigued
5. operate/maintain
6. Reading 2
15 mins.
Students move on to reading information about six more deadly plants and work in groups to discuss the questions.
Go over the questions they will respond to and call attention to the guidance about how to balance positives and
negatives when making evaluations. Give students a few minutes to read the information and encourage them
to ask questions or use an English-English dictionary if they need support. Set up discussion groups and monitor
and support as necessary. A range of answers will be possible - encourage students to explain their ideas with
reasons and examples.
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7. Final activity
5 mins to explain.
These two options support students to respond to the theme of the lesson and provide practice in writing to a
brief. You could decide which one they do or let them choose. Encourage students to use vocabulary from the
lesson. They can complete the task for homework or during a future lesson. Collect the work for marking and
feedback.
Activity 1: this activity relates to Cambridge exams which can include a review task on the writing paper. You
might set a word count of 180 for B2 and 220 for C1.
Activity 2: this activity is a good opportunity to include modals about advice, necessity and obligation.
8. Optional extension
10 mins.
In this short filler/cooler stage, students identify and explain further contexts where they may encounter the skull
and crossbones symbol. Students can work in pairs to discuss the pictures and then check answers with the class.
Pose the follow-up questions for students to discuss.
1) a pirate flag - danger of attack or criminal activity
2) on a grave, as a symbol of death
3) in a laboratory to show that something is poisonous
4) a country where there has been a war, to say that walking in this place may trigger an explosion
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HEAAADERLOGORIGHT

GENERAL ENGLISH · ENGLISH IN VIDEO · UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2-C1)

1. Why is this garden unusual?

2. Why do you think this garden exists?

3. Why do people want to visit it?

FOOOOTERRIGHT Learn without forgetting! 1/8

Now look at the plant below and label its parts.

bud bulb/tuber ﬂower fruit/berry

leaf roots seeds stem/stalk

FOOOOTERLEFT Learn without forgetting! 2/8

1. Learning English is fascinating / fascinated.

2. Don’t drink that - it’s toxic / toxin.

5. This decision had a major result / impact on our customers.

1. She’s intriguing / intrigued by poisonous snakes and spiders.

5. The nurses tend / care their patients day and night.

3 Watch the video

1. The majority of the plants in the garden at Alnwick are toxic.

2. There are around one hundred poisonous plants in the garden.

4. The garden was developed to educate people about poisonous plants.

5. There are lots of poisonous plants in people’s gardens.

7. The gardener actually isn’t very interested in toxic plants.

FOOOOTERRIGHT Learn without forgetting! 3/8

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1. Which of these plants are you familiar with?

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Choose one of these writing activities.

picture 1 picture 2 picture 3 picture 4

In what other contexts have you seen a skull and crossbones?

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3. Watch the video

(oﬀ camera voice): Is it something that you ﬁnd fascinating?

Trevor Jones: Deﬁnitely.

(oﬀ camera voice): Why?

1. It contains poisonous plants.

3. Students’ own answers.

3. Watch the video

1. F - every plant is poisonous

1. a garden that produced food for the country during a war

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