Category Archives: Climate

Climate Change: We’re Running Out of Ways to Adapt

“Delay means death’: We’re running out of ways to adapt to the climate crisis new report shows. Here are the key takeaways.” R. Ramirez, CNN

ESL Voices Lesson Plan for this post with Answer Key

Dead almond trees lie in an open field after they were removed by a farmer because of a lack of water to irrigate them, in Huron, California, in July 2021. The authors say drought has put a hard limit on adaptation for almond growing. CNN

Excerpt: Delay Means Death By Rachel Ramirez, CNN February 28, 2022

“Climate change is on course to transform life on Earth as we know it, and unless global warming is dramatically slowed, billions of people and other species will reach points where they can no longer adapt to the new normal, according to a major report published Monday.

The UN-backed report, based on years of research from hundreds of scientists, found that the impacts from human-caused climate change were larger than previously thought. The report’s authors say these impacts are happening much faster and are more disruptive and widespread than scientists expected 20 years ago.

Bleaching of the coral reefs around French Polynesia in 2019 CNN

The authors point to enormous inequities in the climate crisis, finding that those who contribute the least to the problem are the worst affected, and warn of irreversible impacts if the world exceeds 1.5 degrees Celsius of global warming.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres called the report ‘an atlas of human suffering and a damning indictment of failed climate leadership,’ and he warned that ‘delay means death.’

A flood defense wall being constructed on the east side of Manhattan in New York City on December 11, 2021.

He also said that “current events” showed the world was too reliant of fossil fuels, calling them ‘a dead end,’ in an apparent reference to the Ukraine conflict and energy crisis…Warming beyond 1.5 degrees could have irreversible consequences…And some changes may be permanent, even if the planet cools back down…With every extreme event, ecosystems are being pushed more toward so-called tipping points beyond which irreversible changes can happen, according to the report…And although the natural world has adapted to changing climates over millions of years, the pace of human-caused global warming is pushing many of the planet’s most critical systems — like rainforests, coral reefs and the Arctic — to the brink. More extreme weather doesn’t just affect humans, it is causing mass die-offs in plants and animals.

A man works in the Swiss Alps at the Rhone Glacier in October 2021, which is partially covered with insulating foam to prevent it from melting due to global warming. CNN

‘What we really wanted to show is that ecosystems and all sectors of human society and human well-being fundamentally depends on water,’ Tabea Lissner, a scientist at Climate Analytics and an author on the report, told CNN… Decision makers also need to be intentional in helping the most disadvantaged communities and countries, so no one gets left behind in the process.”

ESL Voices Lesson Plan for this post

NOTE: Lessons can also be used with native English speakers.

Level: Intermediate – Advanced


Language Skills: Reading, writing, and speaking. Vocabulary and grammar activities are included.


Time: Approximately 60 minutes.


Materials: Student handout (from this lesson) and access to news article.


Objective: Students will read and discuss the article with a focus on improving reading comprehension and improving oral skills. At the end of the lesson students will express their personal views on the topic through group work and writing.

I. Pre-Reading Activities

 Predictions: Analyzing headings and photos

Directions: Examine the titles of the post and of the actual article.  Examine any photos, then create a list of  words and  ideas  that you  and your group members think might be related to this article. 

II. While Reading Activities

Word Inference

Directions: Try to infer the meanings of the words in bold taken from the article. You use a dictionary, thesaurus, and Word Chart for assistance.

  1. Unless global warming is slowed, billions of people and other species will die.
  2. Scientists, found that the impacts of climate change were larger than previously thought.
  3. Scientists  say these impacts are happening much faster and are more disruptive and widespread than 20 years ago.
  4. The facts are undeniable.
  5. This abdication of leadership is criminal.
  6. The world’s biggest polluters are guilty of arson of our only home.
  7. Warming beyond 1.5 degrees could have irreversible consequences.
  8. Scientists have warned for decades warming needs to  stay below 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels.
  9. Greenhouse gas emissions will push warming to 1.5ºC.
  10. With every extreme event, ecosystems are being pushed more toward tipping points.

 

 Grammar Focus: Structure and Usage

Directions: The following groups of sentences are from the article. One of the sentences in each group contains a grammatical  error.  Identify the sentence (1, 2, or 3 ) from each group that contains the grammatical error.

I

  1. At warming of 2 degrees, as many as 18% of all land species will be at high risk of extinction.
  2. Coral reefs in much locations are already beyond tipping points.
  3. We’re running out of ways to adapt.

II

  1. Adaptation are finding ways to live with the change.
  2. A lot of the world’s resources goes toward reducing greenhouse emissions.
  3. The report focuses on the interconnectedness between the Earth’s ecosystems and humans.

III

  1. Humans fundamentally depend on water.
  2. The people who is least responsible are the most affected.
  3. As the climate crisis advances, more people will be forced to relocate.

Reading Comprehension: Identify The  Speakers

Directions: Read the following quotes from the speakers in the article. Then identify the speakers.

  1. This person called the report “an atlas of human suffering and a damning indictment of failed climate leadership,” and he warned that “delay means death.”
  2. “At warming of 2 degrees, for example, as many as 18% of all land species will be at high risk of extinction, according to the report. At 4 degrees, 50% of species are threatened.”
  3. “We have seen that the vast majority of climate finance goes towards mitigation rather than adaptation…So although adaptation is taking place, there is not enough funding, and it is not a high priority, which are then leading to these limits.”
  4. “What we really wanted to show is that ecosystems and all sectors of human society and human well-being fundamentally depends on water.”
  5. “We live in an unequal world…The losses are inequitably distributed among communities, especially those communities that have historically been disadvantaged from decision-making, and now we’re seeing some of that inequality manifest as well in the choices we make to adapt.”
  6. “as climate change worsens, more indigenous people will lose the land, water and biodiversity they depend on.
  7. “When the Earth doesn’t become farmable, the dependence in the livelihood that communities have on farming and on production of food, not only will the incomes be lost, but that food security will be lost.”

WH-How Questions

Directions: Have students use the  WH-question format to discuss or to write the main points from the article.

Who or What is the article about?

Where does the action/event take place?

When does the action/event take place?

Why did the action/event occur?

How did the action/event occur?

Discussion Questions for Comprehension /Writing

Directions: Have  students discuss the following questions/statements. Afterwards,  students share their thoughts as a class. To reinforce the ideas, students can write an essay on one of the topics mentioned.

  1. The following article is about the climate change crisis we are currently experiencing.Have you noticed any changes in the weather in your area in the past two years? For example, does it seem warmer or colder than usual? Does it snow more or less? Are the days getting warmer? Has there been any change in the plant or animal life in your area?
  2. What will happen to the earth if warming goes above 1.5 degrees Celsius?
  3. According to scientists, even if the planet cooled down can the damage be undone?
  4. Explain the ‘lowest emission scenario’.
  5. Provide examples of what will happen if ecosystems are pushed more toward so-called tipping points.
  6. What are researchers saying about coral reefs?
  7. According to the article not only does extreme weather affect humans, what other damage does it cause?
  8. Which people are the most affected by drastic climate change?
  9. Where in the U.S. is water shortage at dangerous levels?
  10. As the climate crisis advances, what happens to the people who depend on farming for survival?
  11. List three new ideas  that you’ve learned about the topic from the reading,  two things that you did not understand in the reading, and one thing you  would like to know that the article did not mention.  Share your responses with your class.

ANSWER KEY

Category: Climate, Culture, Education, Environmental, Health Issues, Marine Animals, Science | Tags:

Why Rachel Carson’s ‘Silent Spring’ Still Matters in 2021

“The Biden administration announced on Wednesday that it is banning a common pesticide, widely used since 1965 on fruits and vegetables, from use on food crops because it has been linked to neurological damage in children. The Environmental Protection Agency said this week it would publish a regulation to block the use of chlorpyrifos on food. One of the most widely used pesticides, chlorpyrifos is commonly applied to corn, soybeans, apples, broccoli, asparagus and other produce.” Coral Davenport, The New York Times, August 18, 2021″

How ‘Silent Spring’ Ignited the Environmental Movement

Illustration by Valero Doval

“Nearly 60 years ago, Rachel Carson shocked the agricultural industry with her critique of indiscriminate pesticide use in the United States. Silent Spring, her book, quickly became a trademark of environmental activism, paving the way for the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency and a plethora of other modern-day protections.” Earthday, September 26, 2019

ESL Voices Lesson Plan for this post with Answer Key

Excerpt: How ‘Silent Spring’ Ignited the Environmental Movement, By Eliza Griswold, The New York Times, September 21, 2021

“On June 4, 1963, less than a year after the controversial environmental classic Silent Spring was published, its author, Rachel Carson, testified before a Senate subcommittee on pesticides. She was 56 and dying of breast cancer. She told almost no one. She’d already survived a radical mastectomy. Her pelvis was so riddled with fractures that it was nearly impossible for her to walk to her seat at the wooden table before the Congressional panel. To hide her baldness, she wore a dark brown wig.

Rachel Carson, 1951.Credit…Brooks Studio, from the Rachel Carson Council.

Every once in a while in the history of mankind, a book has appeared which has substantially altered the course of history,” Senator Ernest Gruen­ing, a Democrat from Alaska, told Carson at the time. Silent Spring was published 50 years ago this month. Though she did not set out to do so, Carson influenced the environmental movement as no one had since the 19th century’s most celebrated hermit, Henry David Thoreau, wrote about Walden Pond.

Carson testifying before a Senate subcommittee on pesticides in 1963.Credit…Associated Press

Silent Spring presents a view of nature compromised by synthetic pesticides, especially DDT. Once these pesticides entered the biosphere, Carson argued, they not only killed bugs but also made their way up the food chain to threaten bird and fish populations and could eventually sicken children. Much of the data and case studies that Carson drew from weren’t new; the scientific community had known of these findings for some time, but Carson was the first to put them all together for the general public and to draw stark and far-reaching conclusions. In doing so, Carson, the citizen-scientist, spawned a revolution.

Silent Spring, which has sold more than two million copies, made a powerful case for the idea that if humankind poisoned nature, nature would in turn poison humankind.

‘Our heedless and destructive acts enter into the vast cycles of the earth and in time return to bring hazard to ourselves,’ she told the subcommittee…We still see the effects of unfettered human intervention through Carson’s eyes: she popularized modern ecology.”

ESL Voices Lesson Plan for this post

NOTE: Lessons can also be used with native English speakers.

Level: Intermediate -Advanced


Language Skills: Reading, writing, speaking and listening. Vocabulary and grammar activities are included.


Time: Approximately 2 hours.


Materials: Student handouts (from this lesson) access to news article, and video.


Objective: Students will read the article with a focus on reading comprehension and new vocabulary. At the end of the lesson students will express their personal views on the topic  of environmental damage.

Excerpt: How Silent Spring Ignited the Environmental Movement, By By Eliza Griswold, The New York Times, September 9, 2012

I. Pre-Reading Tasks

• Stimulating background knowledge:

KWL Chart

Directions: Place students in groups, ask students to think about what they already know about  the topic and  what they would like to learn.  Have students use the KWL chart KWL  chart. Later in the Post- Reading segment of the lesson, students can fill in what they’ve learned about the topic.

Brainstorming

Next, have students look at the pictures in the article and generate ideas/words that may be connected to the article. Students can use the UIE brainstorming chart (sample) for brainstorming the meanings.  Debrief as a class and list these ideas on the board.

II. While Reading Tasks

Vocabulary-Word Inference

Directions: Students are to infer the meanings of the words in bold taken from the article. They may use a dictionary or thesaurus for assistance.

  1. Rachel Carson wrote the controversial environmental classic “Silent Spring”in 1962.
  2. Today, we still see the effects of unfettered human intervention through Carson’s eyes.
  3. Saint Rachel, “the nun of nature,” as she is called, is frequently invoked in the name of one environmental cause or another.
  4. Carson was initially ambivalent about taking on what she referred to as “the poison book.”
  5. Silent Spring begins with a myth.
  6. Carson describes a town in the heart of America where all life seemed to live in harmony with its surroundings.
  7. Carson then asks her readers, “By acquiescing in an act that causes such suffering… who among us is not diminished as a human being?”
  8. In Carson’s view, technological innovation could easily and irrevocably disrupt the natural system.
  9. The control of nature was an arrogant idea, and Carson was against human arrogance.
  10. In 1960…after she found out that her breast cancer had metastasized, her tone sharpened toward the apocalyptic.

Questions  for Reading Comprehension: True / False

Directions:  The following statements were taken from the article.  If  a statement is true, students write (T) if  a statement is false they  write (F)  and  provide the correct answer from the article.

  1. The book “Silent Spring”  was never  controversial.
  2. Carson influenced the environmental movement.
  3. Silent Spring presents a view of nature at its best.
  4. Much of the data and case studies that Carson drew from were new.
  5. Since her book, environmental issues have grown smaller these days.
  6. Initially, Carson was reluctant to investigate material for Silent Spring or as she referred to it “the poison book.”
  7. Carson knew that her target audience of popular readers included scientists, but did not include housewives.
  8. Carson wrote about other pesticides, but it was DDT she focused on the most.
  9. At one point, Carson compared the genetic effects of radiation, to chemicals that were being dispersed in the environment.
  10. Carson also had powerful advocates, among them President Lyndon B Johnson.

Grammar Focus: Identifying Parts of Speech

Directions:  Students are to identify the Nouns in the following paragraph, then use as many of the terms as possible to write their own paragraph concerning environmental issues today.

“On June 4, 1963, less than a year after the controversial environmental classic Silent Spring was published, its author, Rachel Carson, testified before a Senate subcommittee on pesticides. She was 56 and dying of breast cancer. She told almost no one. She’d already survived a radical mastectomy. Her pelvis was so riddled with fractures that it was nearly impossible for her to walk to her seat at the wooden table before the Congressional panel. To hide her baldness, she wore a dark brown wig. “Every once in a while in the history of mankind, a book has appeared which has substantially altered the course of history,” Senator Ernest Gruen­ing, a Democrat from Alaska, told Carson at the time.”

ANSWER KEY

III. Post Reading Tasks

KWL Chart

Directions:  Have students  fill in the last column of the KWL chart  they used one in the pre-reading segment of this lesson.

Discussion/Essay Writing

 Directions:  Have students choose one of the prompts and write a short essay.

  1.  Write an essay describing Rachel Carson’s life as a young girl (e.g., was she rich/poor? who were her parents? did she have siblings? where did she attend school? What prompted her to write her famous book Silent Spring?)
  2. What is the “Green Movement? Describe its philosophy.
  3. Research the following people: Bill McKibben, Elizabeth Kolbert, and Al Gore. Who are they and what role did they play in environmental changes?
  4. The article states, “Though Carson talked about other pesticides, it was DDT — sprayed aerially over large areas of the United States to control mosquitoes and fire ants — that stood in for this excess.” Research DDT and describe its initial function. What other functions did it serve? What were the results of DDT? Why was Rachel Carson so upset by the continued use of this particular chemical?
  5. Do we still use DDT today in 2021?

Information for Group Projects

Directions: As a group review the list of The Biggest Environmental Problems for 2021 (presented by earth.org).  Then review the list of environmental problems during Carson’s time (1960s-70s) presented by Activism in Michigan.  Use the Venn Digram to compare and contrast the  the environmental problems we face today with those during Carson’s time. Write a brief description of your results. Share with the class.

 

AnyChart Documentation

The Biggest Environmental Problems of 2021

“The climate crisis is accelerating at an unprecedented rate, and we are not ready for it. While the crisis has many factors that play a role in its exacerbation, there are some that warrant more attention than others. Here are some of the biggest environmental problems of our lifetime.” EARTH.ORG

• Poor Governance. In a world governed by economics, our society has failed to factor in the value of Nature. …

• Food Waste

• Biodiversity Loss

• Plastic Pollution

• Deforestation

• Air Pollution

• Agriculture

•Global Warming From Fossil Fuels

Biggest Environmental  Problems in the Late 1960s

“During the late 1960s, an ‘environmental crisis’ took shape as a series of environmental catastrophes and revelatory books transformed the American environmental consciousness. Soon before the crisis took its final form, several immensely popular books including Rachel Carson’s 1962 Silent Spring and Ralph Nader’s 1965 Unsafe at Any Speed pushed the public to question the relationship between the government, tasked with protecting the public interest, and industries, incentivized to act in their own economic interests.” Michigan -give Earth-a Chance

  • Chemical toxins such as DDT
  • Oil Spills
  • Air Pollution/smog
  • Pollutants in the drinking supply
  • The Population Bomb

Directions: Go through the list of Environmental Organizations and choose one (or as many as you like). Write a short description of the organization including how does it help the environment. Share your views with the class.

35 Environmental Organizations and Nonprofits For a Sustainable Future (List and Ways You Can Get Involved)

Additional Books By Rachel Carson:  For a complete List of Carson’s books 

 

Category: Climate, Education, Environmental | Tags: , , ,

Improving Our Wildlife Will Improve Our Lives

“Sweden’s announcement that it is to build a series of animal bridges is the latest in global efforts to help wildlife navigate busy roads.” The Guardian, Jan. 23, 2021

Reindeer viaducts in Sweden will keep herds safe from traffic as they roam in search of grazing. Photograph- Pawel Garski.:Alamy

 

ESL Voices Lesson Plan for this post with Answer Key

Excerpt: How creating wildlife crossings can help reindeer, bears – and even crabs, The Guardian, Jan. 2021

“Every April, Sweden’s main highway comes to a periodic standstill. Hundreds of reindeer overseen by indigenous Sami herders shuffle across the asphalt on the E4 as they begin their journey west to the mountains after a winter gorging on the lichen near the city of Umeå.

Red crabs on Christmas Island climb a bridge designed for their protection. Photograph- Chris Bray Photography:Swell Lodg

As Sweden’s main arterial road has become busier, the crossings have become increasingly fractious, especially if authorities do not arrive in time to close the road. Sometimes drivers try to overtake the reindeer as they cross – spooking the animals and causing long traffic jams as their Sami owners battle to regain control.

‘During difficult climate conditions, these lichen lands can be extra important for the reindeer,’ says Per Sandström, a landscape ecologist at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences who works as an intermediary between the Sami and authorities to improve the crossings.

A wildlife overpass in Banff national park, in the Canadian Rockies. Photograph- Ross MacDonald:Banff National Park

This week, Swedish authorities announced they would build up to a dozen “renoducts” (reindeer viaducts) to aid the crossings and allow reindeer herds to reach grazing more easily…The country’s 4,500 Sami herders and 250,000 reindeer have been hit hard by the climate crisis, battling forest fires in the summer and freezing rain in the winter that hides lichen below impenetrable sheets of ice…The renoducts are part of a growing number of wildlife bridges and underpasses around the world that aim to connect fractured habitats. On the Yucatán peninsula in Mexico, underpasses have been used to shield jaguars from traffic.

Mountain lions live in the Santa Monica Mountains.

Natural canopy bridges in the Peruvian Amazon have helped porcupines, monkeys and kinkajous pass over natural gas pipelines…To help save the mountain lion population from local extinction, an $87m (£63m) wildlife bridge is planned over the 101 highway north of LA, which would be the largest in the world… A 2014 study found that fencing off the road and installing wildlife passes had maintained high genetic diversity in black and grizzly bear populations…a big fall in roadkill along the highway, also significantly reducing human mortality from animal collision.”

Key Things to Know About COVID-19 Vaccines CDC (Centers for Disease Control)

 

ESL Voices Lesson Plan for this post

NOTE: Lessons can also be used with native English speakers.

Level: Intermediate – Advanced


Language Skills: Reading, writing, and speaking. Vocabulary and grammar activities are included.


Time: Approximately 60 minutes.


Materials: Student handout (from this lesson) and access to news article.


Objective: Students will read and discuss the article with a focus on improving reading comprehension and improving oral skills. At the end of the lesson students will express their personal views on the topic through group work and writing.

Pre-reading

 Predictions: Using a Pre-reading Organizer

Directions: Examine the title of the post and of the actual article. Next examine  any photos. Write a paragraph describing what you think this article will discuss. A pre-reading organizer may be used.

Pre-reading Organizer By Scholastic

 

II. While Reading Activities

Word Inference

Directions: Try to infer the meanings of the words in bold taken from the article. You use a dictionary, thesaurus, and Word Chart for assistance.

  1. Every year hundreds of reindeer shuffle across the asphalt in Sweden.
  2. The reindeer are overseen by indigenous Sami herders.
  3. They begin their journey west to the mountains after a winter gorging on the lichen near the city of Umeå.
  4. Per Sandström is a landscape ecologist at the Swedish University of Agricultural.
  5. Sometimes drivers try to overtake the reindeer as they cross.
  6. During difficult climate conditions, these lichen lands can be extra important for the reindeer.
  7. Swedish authorities announced they would build up to a dozen “renoducts” (reindeer viaducts) to aid the crossings.
  8. It is hoped the crossings will allow herders to find fresh grazing lands and alleviate traffic jams.
  9. Natural canopy bridges in the Peruvian Amazon have helped porcupines and monkeys.
  10. The wildlife bridges help avert some of the billions of animal deaths that happen on the roads every year.

 

Grammar Focus: Identifying Prepositions

Directions: The following sentences are from the news article.For each sentence choose the correct preposition from the choices listed. Note that not all prepositions listed are in the article.

Some Prepositions: at,as, across, around,by, during,for, from, in, into,of, on,to, over,off, through, up,with, since,

It is hoped the crossings will allow herders___find fresh grazing lands and alleviate traffic jams, and also help moose and lynx ___move around the landscape. The country’s 4,500 Sami herders and 250,000 reindeer have been hit hard___the climate crisis, battling forest fires___the summer and freezing rain ___the winter that hides lichen ___impenetrable sheets ___ice… ___southern California, there have been signs ___inbreeding ___lions___ the Santa Monica Mountains because busy freeways around Los Angeles have isolated populations___ low genetic diversity.

 

Reading Comprehension: Identify The  Speakers

Directions: Read the following quotes from the speakers in the article. Then identify the speakers.

  1. “During difficult climate conditions, these lichen lands can be extra important for the reindeer.”
  2. “When habitat is isolated, we can have impact on individual animals where they might not be able to find water or food. We can also have impact on the genetic diversity of populations.”
  3. “We’re woefully behind the rest of the world. In Europe, it’s become second nature in some areas.”

III. Post Reading Activities

Graphic Organizers: Finding The Main Idea

Directions:  Have students use this advanced organizer from Write Design to assist them with  discussing  or writing about  the main idea and points from the article.

Discussion Questions for Comprehension /Writing

Directions: Have  students discuss the following questions/statements. Afterwards,  students share their thoughts as a class. To reinforce the ideas, students can write an essay on one of the topics mentioned.

  1. Can you think of ways that climate change has affected our wild life in the U.S.?
  2. Why do the Sami herders have to take their reindeer across Sweden’s highway every April?
  3. What are renoducts and what purpose do they serve?
  4. What are some of the climate problems Sami herders have encountered?
  5. According to the article, which animals benefit from these crossings the most?
  6. What other countries have provided protection for their animals from heavy vehicle traffic?
  7. According to the article, approximately how many animal deaths occur on the roads every year world wide?
  8. Why has there been inbreeding among the lion population in the Santa Monica Mountains?
  9. How are humans protected by the animal bridges?
  10. Do you agree or disagree that more animal bridges should be built? Provide a reason for your answer.
  11. What new information have you learned from this article?

3-2-1-Writing

Directions: Allow students 5 minutes to write down three new ideas they’ve learned about the topic from the reading, two things they did not understand in the reading, and one thing they would like to know that the article did not mention. Review the responses as a class.

ANSWER KEY

Category: Animals, Biology, Climate, Environmental | Tags:

While Humans are Sheltered Wild Animals Are Free to Roam

“Goats in Wales; coyotes in San Francisco; rats, rats, everywhere: With much of the world staying home to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, animals have ventured out where normally the presence of people would keep them away.” S. Garcia, The New York Times

ESL Voices Lesson Plan for this post with Answer Key

Goats are seen outside a church in Llandudno, Wales, on March 31, 2020.PHOTO- REUTERS

 

Even lions are enjoying the peace and quiet, a set of new photos from South Africa’s Kruger National Park shows. CNN

 

Excerpt: When Humans Are Sheltered in Place, Wild Animals Will Play, Sandra E. Garcia, The New York Times

“Under the cover of night, in their feathered, silken, cream-colored coats, they trotted into Llandudno, a seaside town in Wales.

On Thursday evening, a herd of Great Orme Kashmiri goats galloped through the desolate streets of the small town looking for food. Some goats got their fill from hedges, others climbed building walls.

‘They are very mischievous,‘ Andrew Stuart, a Llandudno resident who spotted the goats, said in an interview. ‘They seem a bit wary of humans, they wouldn’t go past me at one point and were very cautious.’

Luckily for the goats, there weren’t many humans around.

More than a billion people worldwide are staying at home under guidance from their governments, socially distancing themselves from one another to avoid the spread of the coronavirus, which has claimed over 43,000 lives globally, including 2,300 in Britain…But with the country under lockdown because of the coronavirus, the goats saw an opportunity to get a whiff of their neighboring town and hopped right to it. In the video Mr. Stuart recorded, the goats can be seen running down the middle of a street.

‘They were just racing through the town,’said Mr. Stuart, who called a nonemergency police line. ‘They are in town because it is so quiet, because hardly anyone is about.’

There is also hardly anyone outside in San Francisco — except for the coyotes.

A pack of sleeping coyotes in the middle of a usually busy San francisco-Sacremento Bee

A coyote relaxes in front of the Golden Gate Bridge – Mar 25, 2020 The Sacremento Bee

Residents in San Francisco have been under orders to practice social distancing for two weeks, leaving their homes only to buy groceries, go to pharmacies and participate in other essential tasks. The streets have been left to the coyotes, which seem to be venturing farther into the city because there are so few cars, according to Deb Campbell, a spokeswoman for San Francisco Animal Care and Control…

A group of dolphins swim in the Mediterranean Sea at the Calanques National Park, off the coast of south-eastern France, on March 19, 2020.PHOTO- AFP

Social distancing has not increased wild animals’ populations, but it does seem to have changed their behavior in seeking new food sources, said Jim Fredericks, chief entomologist at the National Pest Management Association…Ever since Louisiana imposed a lockdown, causing restaurants to shut down, the rats in New Orleans are almost certainly wondering where the usual French Quarter crowds — and their trash — have gone.This moment of desperation for the rodents can become an opportunity for communities trying to control the pest population, since rats are more likely to be lured by traps and baits, Dr. Fredericks said.

A puma walks along a street during dawn in a neighbourhood before being captured and taken to a zoo in Santiago, Chile, on March 24, 2020.PHOTO- REUTERS

A wild deer roams in a deserted street during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown in the port city of Trincomalee, Sri Lanka, on March 31, 2020.PHOTO- AFP

Dr. Riegel and her team are taking advantage of that…New York City is known for its large population of already brazen rats, including the notorious Pizza Rat. There has not been a change in behavior from pests in the city, according to Katy Hansen, the spokeswoman for the Animal Care Centers of NYC…

Scopoli’s shearwater birds on the Mediterranean Sea at the Calanques National Park, with Marseille in the background, off the coast of south-eastern France, on March 19, 2020.PHOTO- AFP

But there is a possibility that with the absence of people, and their trash, New York rats become even more brazen in their search for food, as a gang of macaques did in Lopburi, Thailand, last month.

A woman watches monkeys as they search for food in front of her shop near Prang Sam Yod temple in Lopburi, Thailand, on March 17, 2020.PHOTO- REUTERS

The macaques are usually fed by tourists who visit the ancient city, but with an 85 percent drop in tourism, the monkeys became more aggressive in their search for food.

Spotted Malabar civet… A critically endangered mammal not seen until 1990 resurfaces for the first time in India during lockdown.

Squirrels roam undisturbed inside Solari Park, emptied due to the coronavirus emergency lockdown, in Milan, Italy, on March 29, 2020.PHOTO- EPA-EFE

Humans can easily forget that the cities and towns they call home and frequently visit are also home to wild animals, like the Great Orme goats.”

 

ADDITIONAL TEACHING SITES FOR STUDENTS

FUN GAMES TO LEARN ENGLISH (For young ESL Learners)

“The aim of this site is to provide a resource for students to practice English in an engaging and fun way. Other similar sites are more geared towards providing teachers with resources to give to their students, but the intention this site is to be a resource that language learners can use independently…The games are aimed at a relatively low level of English, with pretty much all the content being around elementary level. A lot of the vocabulary content would probably even be more introductory or pre-elementary level.” ~Owen Dwyer~

Owen Dwyer’s site for Kids

 

The English Club:

Learn English : ESL Games :”Try these fun vocabulary games for ESL learners to test your understanding of English words. All games have answers available.”

ALSO:

Coronavirus COVID-19 Vocabulary

https://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/coronavirus-covid19.php?sb

“This glossary of terms related to coronaviruses and COVID-19 in particular is intended for learners of English though it may be of interest to a wider audience. In times of crisis, knowing and understanding the terminology involved may help alleviate some of the fears and even panic that such times breed.”

ESL Voices Lesson Plan for this post

NOTE: Lessons can also be used with native English speakers.

Level: Intermediate – Advanced


Language Skills: Reading, writing, and speaking. Vocabulary and grammar activities are included.


Time: Approximately 2 hours.


Materials: Student handout (from this lesson) and access to news article.


Objective: Students will read and discuss the article with a focus on improving reading comprehension and improving oral skills. At the end of the lesson students will express their personal views on the topic through group work and writing.

 Predictions: Analyzing headings and photos

Directions: Examine the title of the post and the actual article.  Examine each of the photos, Describe what you see in the photo? Notice the background.What do you think the animals are wondering?

Next, create a list of  words and  ideas  that you  and your group members think might be related to this article. 

II. While Reading Activities

Word Inference

Directions: Students are to infer the meanings of the words in bold taken from the article. They may use a dictionary, thesaurus, and Word Chart for assistance.

  1. The goats trotted into Llandudno, a seaside town in Wales.
  2. Some goats got their fill from hedges, others climbed building walls.
  3. They are very mischievous.
  4. People worldwide are staying at home under guidance from their governments.
  5. People are getting a glimpse of what animals do when they are left alone.
  6. The Great Orme goats’ descendants are wild animals that roam and forage in the large park.
  7. The goats saw an opportunity to get a whiff of their neighboring town.
  8. People should only go out to get groceries, go to pharmacies and participate in other essential tasks.
  9. In San Francisco, the streets have been left to the coyotes, which seem to be venturing farther into the city.
  10. Social distancing has not increased wild animals’ populations, but it does seem to have changed their behavior.

Whimsical Vocabulary Organizer by Danielle Mays

Grammar Focus:Identifying Prepositions

Directions: The following sentences are from the news article.For each sentence choose the correct preposition from the choices listed. Note that not all prepositions listed are in the article.

Some Prepositions: at,as, across, around,by, during,for, from, in, into,of, on,to, over,off, through, up,with, since,

Additional Prepositions:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_prepositions

Goats in Wales; coyotes___San Francisco… With much___the world staying home___prevent the spread___the coronavirus, animals have ventured out where normally the presence ___people would keep them away.

Under the cover___night,___their feathered, silken, cream-colored coats, they trotted ___Llandudno, a seaside town in Wales… The goats live ___Great Orme Country Park,___Conwy, Wales. They were a gift___Queen Victoria.

 

Reading Comprehension

Identify The  Speakers

Directions:  Hand out the following quotes from speakers in the article. Group members are to identify the speakers from the article.

  • “They seem a bit wary of humans, they wouldn’t go past me at one point and were very cautious.”
  • “The streets have been left to the coyotes, which seem to be venturing farther into the city because there are so few cars.”
  • “What we are also seeing is that they are looking for food in places they had not before.”
  • “Animals are opportunistic and feed off trash… The restaurants [were] producing a lot of trash, and right now, a lot of that is just gone.”

III. Post Reading Activities

WH-How Questions

Directions: Have students use the  WH-question format to discuss or to write the main points from the article.

Who or What is the article about?

Where does the action/event take place?

When does the action/event take place?

Why did the action/event occur?

How did the action/event occur?

Discussion Questions for Comprehension /Writing

Directions: Place students in groups and have them discuss the following questions/statements. Afterwards, have the groups share their thoughts as a class. To reinforce the ideas, students can write an essay on one of the topics mentioned.

  1. According to the article what effects do less people in the cities have on the wild life?
  2. Are there any wild animals native to your area? Which ones?
  3. Have you seen more wild animals since people have been sheltered?  Which ones?
  4. In your opinion, do  the animals in the photos seem hostile, friendly or afraid? 
  5. Why would wild animals venture into cities when people are not present?
  6. According to Jim fredericks, what has changed in wild animals since humans have been sheltered?
  7. What are the residents in Louisiana going to do about the rat infestation?
  8. Unlike Louisiana what problem does New York City have with their rats?

 

Group Activity: Research and Writitng

Directions:  With group members Choose several wild animals (goats, coyotes, rats, turkeys etc.) and research the animal. Write a brief report on your animal. Provide information such as where did the animals originate, what is their normal diet, how do they act around people (think about the  monkeys in Thailand)

 

3-2-1-Writing

Directions: In 5 minutes to write down three new ideas  you’ve learned about the topic from the reading,  two things  that  you did not understand in the reading, and one thing you  would like to know that the article did not mention. Review the responses as a class.

ANSWER KEY

Category: Animals, Biology, Birds, Climate, Environmental, Marine Animals | Tags:

“We Are Speeding Extinction And Altering the Natural World”

“For a long time, people just thought of biodiversity as saving nature for its own sake,” said Robert Watson, chairman of the group that conducted the assessment. “But this report makes clear the links between biodiversity and nature and things like food security and clean water in both rich and poor countries.” B. Plumer, The New York Times

ESL Voices Lesson Plan for this post with Answer Key

Fishing nets and ropes are a frequent hazard for olive ridley sea turtles, seen on a beach in India’s Kerala state in January. Getty Images

 

Excerpt: Humans Are Speeding Extinction and Altering the Natural World at an ‘Unprecedented’ Pace, By Brad Plumer,

“Humans are transforming Earth’s natural landscapes so dramatically that as many as one million plant and animal species are now at risk of extinction, posing a dire threat to ecosystems that people all over the world depend on for their survival, a sweeping new United Nations assessment has concluded.

The Missouri River encroaches on homes in Sioux City, Iowa, during a 2011 flood Stocktrek Images: Media Bakery

The 1,500-page report, compiled by hundreds of international experts and based on thousands of scientific studies, is the most exhaustive look yet at the decline in biodiversity across the globe and the dangers that creates for human civilization.

A summary of its findings, which was approved by representatives from the United States and 131 other countries, was released Monday in Paris. The full report is set to be published this year.

Moe Flannery of the California Academy of Sciences inspected a dead gray whale in Tiburon, Calif., last month, one of seven whales that have washed up on shore. Huston Chronicle

Its conclusions are stark. In most major land habitats, from the savannas of Africa to the rain forests of South America, the average abundance of native plant and animal life has fallen by 20 percent or more, mainly over the past century. With the human population passing 7 billion, activities like farming, logging, poaching, fishing and mining are altering the natural world at a rate ‘unprecedented in human history.’

Cattle grazing on a tract of illegally cleared Amazon forest in Pará State, BrazilCreditLalo de Almeida for The New York Times.

At the same time, a new threat has emerged: Global warming has become a major driver of wildlife decline, the assessment found, by shifting or shrinking the local climates that many mammals, birds, insects, fish and plants evolved to survive in.

When combined with the other ways humans are damaging the environment, climate change is now pushing a growing number of species, such as the Bengal tiger, closer to extinction.

Volunteers collected trash in March in a mangrove forest in Brazil. MSN.com

As a result, biodiversity loss is projected to accelerate through 2050, particularly in the tropics, unless countries drastically step up their conservation efforts.

The report is not the first to paint a grim portrait of Earth’s ecosystems. But it goes further by detailing how closely human well-being is intertwined with the fate of other species.

Extinction is happening at 1,000 times the normal speed. Quartz

In the next two years, diplomats from around the world will gather for several meetings under the Convention on Biological Diversity, a global treaty, to discuss how they can step up their efforts at conservation. Yet even in the new report’s most optimistic scenario, through 2050 the world’s nations would only slow the decline of biodiversity — not stop it.”

ESL Voices Lesson Plan for this post

NOTE: Lessons can also be used with native English speakers.

Level: Intermediate – Advanced


Language Skills: Reading, writing, and speaking. Vocabulary and grammar activities are included.


Time: Approximately 2 hours.


Materials: Student handout (from this lesson) and access to news article.


Objective: Students will read and discuss the article with a focus on improving reading comprehension and improving oral skills. At the end of the lesson students will express their personal views on the topic through group work and writing.

I. Pre-Reading Activities

 Predictions: Analyzing headings and photos

Directions:  Have students  examine the titles of the post and of the actual article. After they examine the photos, ask students to create a list of  words and  ideas  that they think might be related to this article. 

II. While Reading Activities

Word Inference

Directions: Students are to infer the meanings of the words in bold taken from the article. They may use a dictionary, thesaurus, and Word Chart for assistance.

  1. Extinction is occurring at an unprecedented pace.
  2. As many as one million plant and animal species are at risk of extinction.
  3. The report is the most exhaustive look yet at the decline in biodiversity.
  4. A new threat has emerged, the decline of wildlife.
  5. Biodiversity loss is projected to accelerate through 2050.
  6. The report is not the first to paint a grim portrait of Earth’s ecosystems.
  7. As natural landscapes wither the services they provide to humans have been dwindling.
  8. The devastation of nature has become so severe, wildlife refuges will no longer be sufficient.
  9. All told, three-quarters of the world’s land area has been significantly altered by people.
  10. 85 percent of the world’s wetlands have vanished since the 18th century.

Word Map by Against the Oddstiff

 

Grammar Focus: Word -Recognition

Directions: Students choose the correct word to complete the sentences taken from the article. They are to choose from the options presented.

Humans/Human are produced/producing more food than ever, but land degradation is/are already harming/harmful agricultural productivity on 23 percent of the planet’s land area, the new/knew report said. The decline/declining of wild bees and other insects/insect that help pollinate fruits and vegetables is putting up to $577 billion in annual crop production at risk.

Reading Comprehension: Fill-ins

Directions: Place students in groups and after they have read the entire article, have them complete the following sentencestaken from the article. They can use the words and terms from the list provided, or provide their own terms. They are to find the meanings of any new vocabulary.

The ___rain forest ___immense ___of carbon dioxide and helps slow the pace of ___warming. Wetlands ___drinking water. Coral reefs ___tourism and fisheries in the Caribbean. Exotic tropical___form the basis of a variety of medicines. But as these___ landscapes___ and become less biologically rich, the services they can provide to ___have been dwindling.

WORD LIST: absorbs, sustain, quantities, plants, humans, Amazon, natural, wither, global, purify.

 

Discussion Questions for Comprehension /Writing

Directions: Place students in groups and have them discuss the following questions/statements. Afterwards, have the groups share their thoughts as a class. To reinforce the ideas, students can write an essay on one of the topics mentioned.

  1. According to the article, what activities have increased global biodiversity loss?
  2. Why could it become harder in the future to breed hardier crops and livestock?
  3. The article states that, “in addition to advocating the expansion of protected areas, the authors outline a vast array of changes aimed at limiting the drivers of biodiversity loss.” What will the following groups of people have to learn to do?  Farmers and ranchers; Consumers in wealthy countries;  Governments around the world.

Group Projects

Directions: Have groups visit the  Earth Day Network and do the following:

Make a list of ways each endangered species might be saved.

Create a list of things we can all do to help the environment.

Create  collages, graphs or pictures of endangered species.

3-2-1-Writing

Directions: Allow students 5 minutes to write down three new ideas they’ve learned about the topic from the reading,  two things they did not understand in the reading, and one thing they would like to know that the article did not mention. Review the responses as a class.

ANSWER KEY

Category: Biology, Climate, Environmental
Older Entries →