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ENGLISH FOR TEENAGERS · GENERAL ISSUES · INTERMEDIATE (B1-B2)

SAVE
OUR SEAS
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1 Warm up

Look at the pictures and answer the following questions.

Picture A Picture B Picture C

Picture D Picture E Picture F

1. When did you last visit a river / lake / sea / ocean? Where was it? What did you do there?
2. Why are our seas and oceans important? Look at the images and say what you can see.
3. Do you see any conflicts between any of the images?

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2 Focus on vocabulary
Part 1: Match each word or phrase to its correct definition.

Group A

1. ecosystem (n) a. using methods that are not bad for the environment

2. oxygen (n) b. all the animals and plants in a specific area

3. consumption (n) c. when something often happens

4. sustainable (adj.) d. the gas in the air that is needed for life to live on Earth

5. frequent (adj.) e. the act of using products such as energy and food

Group B

1. oil spill (n) a. throw something away, often in a place that is not
suitable
2. dump (v) b. unit of weight equal to 1000 kilograms

3. tonne (n) c. oil that comes out of a ship and into the water; often
causing damage to the environment
4. float (v) d. when a solid substance becomes a liquid due to an
increase in temperature
5. melt (v) e. stay on the surface of the water and not sink

Part 2: Write the correct word or phrase from Part A in each sentence. Do you find any of the
sentences surprising? Is there anything you disagree with?

1. This weighs a ! How did you get it up the stairs by yourself?

2. The trains are quite so one should arrive in a minute or two.

3. There was an near the coast last year and everyone tried to clean up the beach,
but it was awful for some of the seabirds. They were black and could hardly fly.

4. It’s so hot today. It took about 10 seconds for my ice-cream to .

5. I suppose you could say that your back garden is its own .

6. If we catch fish in a more way, there is a better chance that their numbers will
increase.

7. He got arrested by the police for an old washing machine in the countryside.

8. needs to go down to help the environment. We buy and use too many things.

9. How do huge cruise ships manage to on water?

10. Did you know that some trees release much more than others?

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Part 3: Discuss these questions with a classmate. Use the word in bold in your answers.

1. How can an oil spill affect animals that live in the ocean and on the coast?

2. What should happen to companies that dump waste in rivers, lakes, or seas?

3. The marine or ocean ecosystem is one of the main types of ecosystem on Earth. Can you name
any others?

3 Reading comprehension

You are going to read an article titled Save our Seas. First, look at the headings below. What do you
think the article is about? Read the article and write the headings in the correct place. There is one
that you do not need to use.

• Climate change
• Looking for oil
• Increasing sea levels
• Overfishing
• Pollution

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Save our Seas

The biggest problems in our oceans

Our seas and oceans have a huge impact on our everyday lives. 25% of all animal species live under water. Water
covers 71% of the world’s surface. Oceans play a big part in our weather and our climate. Our seas and oceans
absorb more carbon dioxide (CO2) than any other ecosystem, including our forests. Tiny plants in our oceans
produce over half of the world’s oxygen.
But human activity has put life under water under threat. Here are four of the biggest issues in our oceans right
now.
A. People love eating fish but we’re eating too many. Many fish species are in danger and numbers
are extremely low. Humans are putting too much pressure on the natural resources that can be found in our
oceans. We need to reduce our consumption of fish and change how we catch them. If we ate fewer fish, our
oceans would have the time they need to create life, and it would be more sustainable. Alternatively, we could
stop eating fish entirely and look for our protein from plant-based sources.

B. The temperature and chemistry of our oceans are changing, and this has terrible consequences
for life in the water. Due to more CO2 in our seas the water is getting more acidic. This is a big problem for some
animals and plants because they can’t survive in these new conditions.

As water is getting warmer this causes animals to move to cooler environments. Fish and other sea creatures are
moving towards the Arctic and Antarctic. There may be little sea life in warmer waters in the future as it will be
too hot.

C. All types of things are thrown into the sea which causes great damage to the water and the
whole ecosystem. This includes chemicals that flow directly into the sea from factories and farms. There are also
frequent oil spills which pollute our oceans as ships transport oil across the world. All of these disasters kill sea
life under and around the water.

Plastic is also a huge problem in our oceans. We have dumped billions of tonnes of plastic waste in our oceans,
and we now have islands of plastic rubbish that kill life floating around our seas.

D. Global warming is causing the ice caps to melt which means more water in our oceans. This
change not only affects life in the water but also life on land. This threatens areas next to the coast and is causing
frequent floods and will cause towns, cities, and whole islands to disappear under water. Whole countries, such
as the Maldives, may soon disappear. This will have huge consequences not only for animal life but also for people
as millions will need to move away from places in danger.

What can we do?

We are already too late to stop much of what is happening in our oceans but if we all take action now, we can
prevent some of the worst consequences from becoming a reality. What can you do to save our seas?

Sources: The Conversation, National Geographic, threhugger.com

Glossary:
ice cap (n) - a layer of ice permanently covering parts of the earth
acidic (adj.) - containing acid

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Read the statements below. Which part of the article are they connected to? Write Overfishing (O),
Pollution (P), Rising Sea Levels (R) or Climate Change (C). There might be more than one answer.

1. This issue affects ecosystems on land as well as in the water.

2. Action that people can take to make our seas more sustainable.

3. Moving to different locations.

4. Dangerous liquids are being added to our seas and oceans.

5. Extreme weather events.

6. Doing something less.

Which of the four issues do you think is most important? Which do you think we can do something
about?

4 Focus on grammar: second conditional

Part 1: Look at the sentence below from the article on page four.

"If we ate fewer fish, our oceans would have the time they need to create life."

This is an example of the second conditional. We use the second conditional to talk about things that
are unlikely to happen. The writer of the article thinks that it is unlikely that people will eat fewer fish.

There are two parts in conditional sentences: the if clause and the main clause. How do we create the
second conditional?

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• If clause = IF + PAST SIMPLE

• Main clause = WOULD + THE INFINITIVE

Like with all conditional sentences we can invert the sentence so it is also possible to write:

"Our oceans would have the time they need to create life if we ate fewer fish."

Note: When we use the verb ’to be’ in the second conditional, we can use were instead of was for the
subjects I, he, she, and it. For example: If I were rich, I’d buy a big house. If I were you, I’d stop eating
fish.

Part 2: Look at the words below and write sentences using the second conditional.

1. If I (have) enough money, I (buy) an island.

2. If you (got) better marks, you (be) able to go to a good university.

3. He (walk) to school if the bus (do not) arrive.

4. They (come) to the party if you (give) them an invitation.

5. If it (not rain) all the time, we (play) outside more often.

6. What (buy) if you (win) the lottery?

Part 3: Ask a classmate the questions below and use the second conditional in your answers.

1. What would you do if your best friend won an Olympic medal?

2. If you were an animal, which one would you be?
3. What would you do if you saw an alien?
4. If you could eat anything you wanted right now, what would it be?
5. What would you do if your parents said you were moving to Australia?
6. If you could be a famous person, who would you be?

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5 Listening: language in context

You are going to watch a video. While you watch, write down the issues from the article above that
are mentioned in the video.

Glossary:
geothermal vent (n) - holes that allow natural heat from rock deep in the ground to come out
Fahrenheit (n) - a scale of temperature that is mainly used in the United States
the greenhouse effect (n) - the problem of increasing temperatures in the earth’s atmosphere, caused by an
increase of gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2) in the air around the earth, which catches the heat of the sun

Look at the following lines from what you just heard. What do you think the words in bold mean?

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Tip

1. Use the words that come before and after the word you are learning to help you
understand.
2. Use your own knowledge of the topic to help understanding.

1. They not only serve as the planet’s largest habitat, but also help to regulate the global climate.

a. a place where a type of animal or plant is normally found

b. a place where waste products are dumped and is very polluted

2. The ocean is a continuous body of salt water that surrounds the continents.

a. to be next to something

b. to be all around something

3. The ocean contains traces of all chemical elements found on Earth.

a. a very small amount of something

b. a very large amount of something

4. During the past 30 years, sea surface temperature has been consistently higher than at any other
time on record.
a. in a way that changes very little over a long period of time

b. in a way that changes frequently over a long period of time

5. Since 1993, the seas have been rising at a rate that’s twice as fast as the long-term trend.

a. over a short period of time

b. over an extended period of time

6. Even if emissions stop tomorrow, the gases currently in the atmosphere would take decades to
disappear.
a. gas that is produced by forests and the ocean that allows plants and animals to live

b. gas that is sent out in the air; often from cars and factories

Discuss these questions with a classmate and use the word in bold in your answers.

1. What do you think will happen to our seas and oceans in the long-term?
2. What can people do to reduce emissions?
3. Are there any habitats in your country in danger because of climate change?

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6 Speaking task

Everyone can help save our seas and some of the things you can do are really easy. In small groups,
look at the list below. There are ten good ideas and one bad idea. Can you find the bad idea?

1. Don’t touch coral reefs when diving.

2. Choose sun cream without chemicals that harm life in the water.

3. When you order fish at a restaurant, always ask: "Is the fish from a
sustainable source?"
4. When on a boat, don’t throw things in the water.

5. Don’t eat fish.

6. Bring your own reusable water bottle and cups when you go to the
beach.
7. Learn about where our fish comes from and how it is caught to make
a better choice on consumption.
8. Volunteer to help clean up local beaches or rivers.

9. Eat other meats instead of fish.

10. Don’t use plastic bags.

11. When you enjoy the view and experience on the beach, always leave
nothing behind. Collect your rubbish and recycle it.

Look at the list again and rank the ideas from the easiest for you to do to the most difficult to do.

Decide what action your group is going to take to #SaveOurSeas. Tell the rest of the class.

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7 Writing: Save our Seas

Write a short essay (150-200 words) about one issue that is affecting our oceans today. You could
write about:

• overfishing • climate change • rising sea levels • pollution

In your essay, you should include:

• what is happening at the moment

• why it is happening
• what will happen in the future
• action people can take to stop it from happening

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