Year 11
Lesson 70
This is rocket
science!
Consolidation
Keywords
Consolidating syllabus vocabulary and
grammar of the previous lessons
through the context and language of
the BBC video clip about Moon
exploration
video key words: ambition, culmination,
desire, explore, inspiration, model,
obsession, rocket, space, travel (n),
tremendously, vividly
Aims
Contents
Learning goals:
Syllabus words: crash, develop, failure,
flame, launch, model, powerful,
programme, smoke (n), soar, success
CLIL terminology: Apollo 11
programme, capsule, chemistry,
countdown, flash (n), ignite, ignition
interior, landing, launch pad, lift off (v) +
(n), payload, plasticine, private
astronaut, washing up liquid bottles
Informal language:
get your hands dirty, heck of a (scene),
keep the torch going, pick up, tinker
around
Language Analysis
Watching and listening to identify, understand and interpret information
The video for this lesson involves watching and listening to some facts. For the video activities it is a
good idea to let students read the questions/prompts first before they watch the video. It is also
sometimes useful to ask students to guess the correct answers before they watch (if appropriate of
course). Students should also be told that they will watch the video two or three times so they don’t have
to feel stressed if they haven’t worked out all the answers during the first viewing.
Language for expressing facts and opinions
Facts
A fact is based on some kind of proof that can be observed and measured. It is considered a ‘true’
statement because there is agreement over it.
The evidence shows …
From this, we can see …
This proves …
It can be seen that …
Opinions
© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
An opinion is an interpretation or belief of reality that is based on personal, subjective values, thoughts,
ideas, etc.
It seems to me …
In my view …
I agree/disagree …
In my opinion …
I think/believe …
© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Procedure
Lead-in
Key:
Rubric 1
Students’ own answers.
Rubric 2
1 space – the whole of the universe outside the
earth's atmosphere
2 rocket – a cylindrical vehicle that travels in
space
3 desire – a strong feeling of wanting to do
something
4 inspiration – a new idea that helps you create
something
5 ambition – something you really want to do that
is often difficult to achieve
6 tremendously – very
7 culmination – the final result of a process or
situation
8 explore – to travel to a place to find out more
about it
9 model – a small copy of something
10 travel – making a journey
11 obsession – something that you are always
thinking about
12 vividly – very clearly
Put students in pairs. Ask them to look at the
photos and guess what the video is going to be
about.
Then ask students to match the words with the
definitions.
Extension: Go around the class and get each
student to say a sentence using one of the words.
Try to get them to use a different word each time
and not have students just repeat the ‘easier’
words in their sentences.
© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Video Part 1
Video:
Steve Bennet’s single obsession in life is a desire
to travel into space. His inspiration, the Apollo 11
moon landing.
‘I think the thing I remember most vividly about
the rocket’s lifting off was the countdown, I used
to get the numbers on the telly and used to kind of
countdown and go backwards. I used to feel
stressed out just to watching them.
‘Nine, ignition sequence started’ six, five, four ...
It was tremendously exciting when Apollo 11 lifted
off. I mean, you could feel that excitement. It
didn’t need to be next to the launch pad to sort of
pick that up. I mean, the Apollo 11 crew were
carrying the hopes and the dreams of many
people from many nations. I mean, the whole
world watched that, that lift-off. You know, it was
one?
We didn’t have a coloured telly … in fact, nobody
in the street had a coloured telly, except one of
the neighbours. I was looking off to see the
launch of Apollo 11 on the neighbours’ television
set. I remember it vividly, the blue sky, the white
rocket and the big orange flames as they soared
into the sky. I don’t think a word was spoken in
the house.
Tell students to watch Part 1 of the video clip and
choose True or False.
It was a pivotal in my life. I wanted to work on
anything to do with opening up the space frontier.
Key:
1T
2F
3F
4T
5F
6F
7T
8T
9T
© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Video Part 1
Video:
Steve Bennet’s single obsession in life is a desire
to travel into space. His inspiration, the Apollo 11
moon landing.
‘I think the thing I remember most vividly about
the rocket’s lifting off was the countdown, I used
to get the numbers on the telly and used to kind
of countdown and go backwards. I used to feel
stressed out just to watching them.
‘Nine, ignition sequence started’ six, five, four …
It was tremendously exciting when Apollo 11 lifted
off. I mean, you could feel that excitement. It
didn’t need to be next to the launch pad to sort of
pick that up. I mean, the Apollo 11 crew were
carrying the hopes and the dreams of many
people from many nations. I mean, the whole
world watched that, that lift-off. You know, it was
one?
We didn’t have a coloured telly … in fact, nobody
in the street had a coloured telly, except one of
the neighbours. I was looking off to see the
launch of Apollo 11 on the neighbours’ television
set. I remember it vividly, the blue sky, the white
rocket and the big orange flames as they soared
into the sky. I don’t think a word was spoken in
the house.
Tell students to watch Part 1 of the video clip and
match the questions with the answers. Then ask
them to work in pairs and check their answers.
It was a pivotal in my life. I wanted to work on
anything to do with opening up the space frontier.
Key:
1 How did Steve feel during countdown?
Stressed out and excited.
2 Where did Steve watch the launch of Apollo 11?
On the neighbour's (colour) television (set).
3 What does he remember most clearly about the
launch?
The colours – the blue sky, white rocket and big
orange flames.
© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
4 When the astronaut Neil Armstrong said, 'It's
one small step for a man, one giant leap for
mankind.' What do you think he meant?
The human race had achieved something
incredible.
5 What is Steve Bennett obsessed with?
Travelling into space.
6 What inspired him to become a rocket scientist?
Watching the Apollo 11 launch.
7 How did this moment affect him?
It made him want to work with rockets.
8 Steve says, 'It was one heck of a scene.' What
do you think that means?
It was an amazing thing to see.
© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Follow-up 1
Key:
1 ignition – the process of making something start
to burn
2 develop – to create something over time
3 soar – to fly high in the sky
4 programme – a plan of activities for achieving
something
5 success – when something works
6 failure – when something doesn't work
7 flash (n) – a short bright light
8 launch pad – the surface from which a space
vehicle goes into space
9 crash – when a vehicle hits something
10 lift-off – when a rocket leaves the ground
Ask students to match the words with their
definitions.
© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Video Part 2
Video:
I remember building models of rockets whether
it’s out of plaster … or washing up liquid bottles of
whatever, tinker around with that sort of thing.
Few years later I was actually getting those
models to fly. I always had an interesting
chemistry and thought, you know, maybe I could
do something with this.
Ignition in five, four, there, two, one.
A little flash and the smoke tells me that had this
been connected to a rocket, the rocket would
have ignited properly and the pad and everyone
would have been happy.
Over the years, Steve has developed bigger and
more powerful rockets. Which he has launched
with varying degrees of success.
Tell students to watch Part 2 of the video clip and
discuss the questions in pairs.
I wanna build a rocket big enough to carry
meaningful payloads into space. But the way to
do it is to do lots and lots of tests. You’ve got to
get your hands dirty.
Extension: Go around the class and ask each
student in turn which fact from the video they
found the most interesting. Encourage them to
give reasons for their answers.
Yeah, here we go! We have a lift-off.
A lot of people said, oh that’s a failure because a
rocket crashed. Towards it wasn’t. The things that
haven’t worked, we find a different way around
those
There’s no way left on the earth to kind of explore
anymore. It’s got to be out there, you know.
Space – the final frontier.
This is my life’s ambition, this is the culmination of
everything I’ve been working towards. This is the
interior of the thunderbird capsule, it’s what we’re
actually go into space in. World’s first private
astronauts will fly a hundred kilometres up.
To me the Apollo programme and landing on the
moon was something very, very special. I mean,
it’s always been special. I’ve just kind of kept the
torch, going, you know, ever since.
Key:
© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Suggested answers:
1 They have become bigger and more powerful.
2 He wants to send big rockets into space.
3 He thinks there is nowhere left to explore on
Earth.
© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Video Part 2
Video:
I remember building models of rockets whether
it’s out of plaster … or washing up liquid bottles of
whatever, tinker around with that sort of thing.
Few years later I was actually getting those
models to fly. I always had an interesting
chemistry and thought, you know, maybe I could
do something with this.
Ignition in five, four, there, two, one.
A little flash and the smoke tells me that had this
been connected to a rocket, the rocket would
have ignited properly and the pad and everyone
would have been happy.
Over the years, Steve has developed bigger and
more powerful rockets. Which he has launched
with varying degrees of success.
I wanna build a rocket big enough to carry
meaningful payloads into space. But the way to
do it is to do lots and lots of tests. You’ve got to
get your hands dirty.
Yeah, here we go! We have a lift-off.
Tell students to watch Part 2 of the video clip and
match the sentence halves.
A lot of people said, oh that’s a failure because a
rocket crashed. Towards it wasn’t. The things that
haven’t worked, we find a different way around
those
There’s no way left on the earth to kind of explore
anymore. It’s got to be out there, you know.
Space – the final frontier.
This is my life’s ambition, this is the culmination of
everything I’ve been working towards. This is the
interior of the thunderbird capsule, it’s what we’re
actually go into space in. World’s first private
astronauts will fly a hundred kilometres up.
To me the Apollo programme and landing on the
moon was something very, very special. I mean,
it’s always been special. I’ve just kind of kept the
torch, going, you know, ever since.
Key:
© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
1 The Thunderbird capsule will / carry private
astronauts into space.
2 To achieve something you have to / do many
tests.
3 If the fuse had been connected to a rocket / it
would have ignited and taken off.
4 Steve thinks / all new exploration will have to be
done in space.
5 As a child, Steve remembers / having to use
play things to make toy models of rockets.
6 Steve has developed / bigger and more
powerful rockets that can fly.
7 Steve has been working towards / the creation
of the Thunderbird capsule all his life.
8 Steve's ambition is to / build a rocket that can
take several people into space.
© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Video Part 2
Video:
I remember building models of rockets whether
it’s out of plaster … or washing up liquid bottles of
whatever, tinker around with that sort of thing.
Few years later I was actually getting those
models to fly. I always had an interesting
chemistry and thought, you know, maybe I could
do something with this.
Ignition in five, four, there, two, one.
A little flash and the smoke tells me that had this
been connected to a rocket, the rocket would
have ignited properly and the pad and everyone
would have been happy.
Over the years, Steve has developed bigger and
more powerful rockets. Which he has launched
with varying degrees of success.
I wanna build a rocket big enough to carry
meaningful payloads into space. But the way to
do it is to do lots and lots of tests. You’ve got to
get your hands dirty.
Ask students to watch Part 2 of the video clip and
choose the correct answers.
Yeah, here we go! We have a lift-off.
A lot of people said, oh that’s a failure because a
rocket crashed. Towards it wasn’t. The things that
haven’t worked, we find a different way around
those
There’s no way left on the earth to kind of explore
anymore. It’s got to be out there, you know.
Space – the final frontier.
This is my life’s ambition, this is the culmination of
everything I’ve been working towards. This is the
interior of the thunderbird capsule, it’s what we’re
actually go into space in. World’s first private
astronauts will fly a hundred kilometres up.
To me the Apollo programme and landing on the
moon was something very, very special. I mean,
it’s always been special. I’ve just kind of kept the
torch, going, you know, ever since.
Key:
© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
1 models
2 experimented
3 a few years
4 ignition
5 success
6 crashes
7 ambition
8 capsule
9 continued
© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Follow-up 2
Key:
Rubric 1
Students’ own answers.
Rubric 2 Part 1
1 ignition – the moment when the fuel starts to
burn
2 interior – the inside
3 chemistry – the science of substances and how
they react with other substances
4 washing-up liquid bottle – a container with liquid
used to wash dishes
5 countdown – the counting of numbers
backwards from 10 to 1 before lift-off
6 lift-off – the moment a rocket leaves the earth
7 plasticine – a soft dough which children play
with
8 capsule – the part of a space vehicle which
people travel in
9 payload – the equipment or people in a space
vehicle
10 landing – the moment when a space vehicle
touches down
Rubric 2 Part 2
1 payload
2 chemistry
3 plasticine
4 washing-up liquid bottles
5 ignition
6 lift-off
7 interior
8 capsule
9 landing
10 countdown
Tell students to look at the photos. Ask them to
think about what the text is going to be about.
Then ask students if they know the meaning of
the words.
Now ask students to read the text and complete
the sentences with the words.
© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Follow-up 3
Key:
1 I can remember building models of rockets /
whether it was out of plasticine … or washing up
liquid bottles.
2 The Apollo 11 crew were carrying the hopes
and the dreams of many people / and the whole
world watched that.
3 Nobody in the street had a colour telly, / except
one of the neighbours.
4 I think the thing I remember most vividly about
the rocket's lifting off / was the countdown.
5 Over the years, Steve has developed bigger
and more powerful rockets, / which he has
launched with varying degrees of success.
6 I remember it vividly, / as they soared into the
sky.
Ask students to match the sentence halves.
7 A little flash and the smoke tells me that had
this been connected to a rocket, / the rocket
would have ignited properly and left the pad.
8 It's one small step for a man, / one giant leap
for mankind.
9 I used to get the numbers on the telly / and
used to kind of countdown.
10 A lot of people said, / oh that's a failure
because a rocket crashed.
© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Content and language consolidation
Key:
1 coordinate
2 coordinate
3 coordinate
4 subordinate
5 subordinate
6 coordinate
7 subordinate
8 subordinate
9 subordinate
10 subordinate
Ask students to label the sentences coordinate or
subordinate.
Extension: Give out a copy of the Handout. Tell
students to write sentences using coordinate or
subordinate clauses to describe what is
happening in each picture. Then tell them to swap
their handout with their partner and ask them to
identify whether the sentence contains a
coordinate or subordinate clause.
© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Lead-out
Key:
Students’ own answers.
Put students in pairs. Tell them to discuss the
questions.
Extension: Set a homework task. Ask students to
imagine they witness the Apollo 11 moon landing.
Tell them to write a letter to a friend to describe
how they felt.
Get students to read out their letters to the class
in the next lesson.
© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Production
Key:
Students’ own answers.
This is a ‘free practice’ stage. The aim is
personalisation. Give students the following
instructions:
Work in pairs and discuss the question. Do you
agree? Why/Why not?
Make notes and write a paragraph answering the
question. Include facts and opinions.
Encourage students to use the expressions in the
box to help them.
Extension: Choose some students to read their
paragraph to the class. Then hold a class
discussion. Ask students:
Do you agree with the statement?
Encourage them to give reasons for their
answers.
© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Handout
© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide