Náměty aktivit - anglický jazyk

Topic/theme

What do ants and human beings have in common?

Content aims

Students name the basic facts about ants.
Students list similarities and differences between ants and humans.

Key language

biology lexis, present tense simple

Practiced skills

speaking, listening, reading, writing

Level

B1

Target age group

15 and above

Time

3x45 mins

Preparation/materials

KWL chart (biology_material_1)
Graphic organizer (biology_material_2)
Homes (biology_material_3)
Organs, anatomy, sociology, communication (biology_material_4a, biology_material_4b, biology_material_4c, biology_material_4d)
PC, speakers, data projector 

What to do/procedure

Read out or project this text: We humans like to think that we run the world. But even in the heart of our great cities, a rival superpower thrives. These tiny creatures live all around us in vast numbers, though we hardly even notice them. But in many ways, it is they who really run the show. Some ten thousand types are known. They outnumber us a million to one, and their total weight matches that of the entire human race. What are they? (Source: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/2203crea.html)

Students try to guess what animal it is. Share the KWL chart with the students. Tell them to work individually and write down what they know about ants and what questions they have.

Put students into groups of 4 and have them share their notes. Tell them they are going to work in the groups the whole lesson.  Do a class collection of the students’ information about ants as well as the questions they have on the board. Leave these on the board.

Explain that they are going to explore the world of ants. If you want to motivate students some more, show part of this clip: 

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

Hand out the graphic organizer that they are going to use throughout the whole lesson and introduce the five areas they are going to explore about ants.

First, students study the homes of ants. Give them the text and tell them to read the text individually and draw a picture that would show what the text says. They should be using the graphic organizer to record their answers. After they finish, have students pair up in their groups of 4 and describe their picture with their peers. Then tell them to complete a venn diagram that would show similarities and differences between homes that ants build and homes built by people (what do we have in common with ants?). After they finish, one group shares their answer with the whole class. Other groups listen and add anything that may not have been said. Have a short discussion about the similarities. Ask students what they think we have in common in the other 4 areas: organs, body, communication, sociology.

Now it is time for a jigsaw reading. Regroup students so they form new groups of 4 and give each group a different text. Tell them to read the text and identify the most important information and note it down in their graphic organizer. They work in a group of 4 to help each other.  If needed, they can use a dictionary.

When they are ready to report, tell students to go back to their home groups and tell people in their groups about the various parts of the life of ants. Students complete their graphic organizer as they listen to each other.

Play this video/audio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxmhezYY-zA and tell students to add any information that hasn’t been said in the texts.

Go back to the venn diagrams created in the first part of the lesson. Based on the notes, have students add more information about similarities and differences between humans and ants. Again, discuss these with the class. To stimulate more discussion, you can ask additional questions such as:

• Who has a harder life?
• What fact about ants has surprised you? 

To conclude the lesson, revisit the want to know questions from the very beginning of the lesson. Tell students to see if their questions have been answered and to complete the last column of the worksheet. Elicit questions that still haven’t been answered. These can be explored for homework and shared in the next lesson.