Not only humans can
make tools!
Consolidation
Learning goals:
Keywords
Consolidation of syllabus vocabulary and
grammar of the previous lessons through
the context and language of the BBC
video clip about crows and their smart
tricks
Video key words: brainy, canny,
claim, crack, grub, measure, outwit,
poke, target, tool, trick, twig, wily
Contents
Aims
Year 11
Lesson 63
Syllabus words: beaver, bluebird,
dove, few, fox, loyalty, majority of, owl,
wisdom
CLIL terminology: chimpanzee,
evidence, grassland, habitat, hammer,
species, watering hole
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.
Some interesting suffixes
The Follow-up 1 screen looks at how we can changes some nouns to adjectives and includes some
common suffix endings. When we form a noun with these suffix endings, the new word denotes the
quality or state of the original adjective.
-dom: this suffix denotes a state, realm or condition
wise → wisdom
king → kingdom
free → freedom
bored → boredom
-ness: this suffix denotes a state or quality of the original adjective
clever → cleverness
happy → happiness
weak → weakness
-ity: this suffix also denotes a state or quality of the original adjective
able → ability
stable → stability
varied → variability
© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Procedure
Lead-in
Key:
Rubric 1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
owl – wisdom
bluebird – happiness
dog – loyalty
dove – peace
fox – cleverness
lion – strength
elephant – memory
beaver – hard work
Rubric 2
wisdom
Put students in pairs and tell them to look at the
photos. Ask them to match the animals or birds
with the nouns they are usually associated with.
Then ask students if the associations are different
in their country.
Now explain that the video clip is about the crow.
Tell students that one of the listed words is
usually used to describe crows – which one do
they think it is?
© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Video Part 1
Video:
Problem-solving ability is a recognised sign of
intelligence. So are these crows just following an
instinct to find food or are they really smart? If
you’re driving around in Japan, a stop at the red
light might not be a boring hold-up. You might just
get to see some of these guys in action. The
crows don’t crack these nuts by themselves
because they’re too hard so they’ve learnt to drop
them in front of cars when they stop. The lights go
green, and hey-presto – a perfectly cracked nut.
This looks smart, like they’ve worked it out. But it
might have just been luck.
Key:
Rubric 1
canny, smart, wily, wise
Rubric 2
1c2b3a4a5b6c
Tell students to watch Part 1 of the video clip. Ask
them to choose the words that are used to
describe the crow.
Now ask students to watch the video and choose
the right answers.
© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Video Part 1
Video:
Problem-solving ability is a recognised sign of
intelligence. So are these crows just following an
instinct to find food or are they really smart? If
you’re driving around in Japan, a stop at the red
light might not be a boring hold-up. You might just
get to see some of these guys in action. The
crows don’t crack these nuts by themselves
because they’re too hard so they’ve learnt to drop
them in front of cars when they stop. The lights go
green, and hey-presto – a perfectly cracked nut.
This looks smart, like they’ve worked it out. But it
might have just been luck.
Key:
1F2T3F4T5F
Ask students to watch Part 1 of the video clip and
choose True or False. Then tell them to check
their answers in pairs.
© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Video Part 2
Video:
If you decide to travel to Norway, on a fishing trip
– you’d better watch out. Ravens here watched
ice fishermen bathe their lines and go away to
return the next day for their fish. The ravens learnt
that they could hold up the lines and claim a fish
supper for themselves. So it seems like these
ravens really do have a problem-solving
intelligence. They are thinking ahead and can
imagine the solution to a problem, just like the
Japanese crows worked out how to crack a nut.
Only fish are so much bigger than nuts.
Another measure of intelligence is tool-use. Not
long ago, we humans thought we were the only
creatures to make and use tools but we were
wrong. This is the south Pacific island of New
Caledonia and these are the clever crows that live
there. The dead trees are full of juice grubs, with
biting mouth parts. The crows make tools for fish
the grubs. They poke and annoy them, the grub
bites on the twig and …hello lunch!
But if you want to see some of the cleverest
crows of all, travel no further than the Rocky
Mountains of North America. Ravens make a
great home for themselves here. They are the
largest members of the crow family, they pair for
life and are sociable birds, and just like smart kids
they can be very naughty. If you leave your snow
mobile unattended, you can kiss your picnic
goodbye. These canny … have learnt exactly
where their eats are. And it’s not just us humans
they target, they … with this poor dog using
teamwork.
Put students in pairs and tell them to look at the
photos. Ask them to think about which order they
should be in.
Then tell students to watch the video clip to check
their answers.
It’s natural for us to compare animal behaviour to
our own, especially when we’re the ones doing
the measuring. And one thing humans do, like lots
of brainy animals, is play and ravens are no
exception. So crows aren’t the bird brains we
might have thought – they solve difficult problems,
use tools, learn how to steal food and know how
to party.
© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Key:
Picture 1 – the crow finds a twig
Picture 2 – the crow has the twig in beak at an
angle
Picture 3 – the crow enters a hole with twig in
mouth
Picture 4 – the crow gets the grub with the twig
Picture 5 – the crow eats the grub
© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Video Part 2
Video:
If you decide to travel to Norway, on a fishing trip
– you’d better watch out. Ravens here watched
ice fishermen bathe their lines and go away to
return the next day for their fish. The ravens
learnt that they could hold up the lines and claim
a fish supper for themselves. So it seems like
these ravens really do have a problem-solving
intelligence. They are thinking ahead and can
imagine the solution to a problem, just like the
Japanese crows worked out how to crack a nut.
Only fish are so much bigger than nuts.
Another measure of intelligence is tool-use. Not
long ago, we humans thought we were the only
creatures to make and use tools but we were
wrong. This is the south Pacific island of New
Caledonia and these are the clever crows that live
there. The dead trees are full of juice grubs, with
biting mouth parts. The crows make tools for fish
the grubs. They poke and annoy them, the grub
bites on the twig and … hello lunch!
But if you want to see some of the cleverest
crows of all, travel no further than the Rocky
Mountains of North America. Ravens make a
great home for themselves here. They are the
largest members of the crow family, they pair for
life and are sociable birds, and just like smart kids
they can be very naughty. If you leave your snow
mobile unattended, you can kiss your picnic
goodbye. These canny … have learnt exactly
where their eats are. And it’s not just us humans
they target, they … with this poor dog using
teamwork.
Ask students to watch Part 2 of the video clip and
listen for the words in the box. Then tell them to
match them with their definitions.
It’s natural for us to compare animal behaviour to
our own, especially when we’re the ones doing
the measuring. And one thing humans do, like
lots of brainy animals, is play and ravens are no
exception. So crows aren’t the bird brains we
might have thought – they solve difficult
problems, use tools, learn how to steal food and
know how to party.
© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Key:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
measure
tool
grub
poke
twig
target
outwit
brainy
© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Video Part 2
Video:
If you decide to travel to Norway, on a fishing trip
– you’d better watch out. Ravens here watched
ice fishermen bathe their lines and go away to
return the next day for their fish. The ravens learnt
that they could hold up the lines and claim a fish
supper for themselves. So it seems like these
ravens really do have a problem-solving
intelligence. They are thinking ahead and can
imagine the solution to a problem, just like the
Japanese crows worked out how to crack a nut.
Only fish are so much bigger than nuts.
Another measure of intelligence is tool-use. Not
long ago, we humans thought we were the only
creatures to make and use tools but we were
wrong. This is the south Pacific island of New
Caledonia and these are the clever crows that live
there. The dead trees are full of juice grubs, with
biting mouth parts. The crows make tools for fish
the grubs. They poke and annoy them, the grub
bites on the twig and …hello lunch!
But if you want to see some of the cleverest
crows of all, travel no further than the Rocky
Mountains of North America. Ravens make a
great home for themselves here. They are the
largest members of the crow family, they pair for
life and are sociable birds, and just like smart kids
they can be very naughty. If you leave your snow
mobile unattended, you can kiss your picnic
goodbye. These canny … have learnt exactly
where their eats are. And it’s not just us humans
they target, they … with this poor dog using
teamwork.
Put students in pairs and tell them to complete the
sentences. Then get them to watch Part 2 of the
video clip and check their answers.
It’s natural for us to compare animal behaviour to
our own, especially when we’re the ones doing
the measuring. And one thing humans do ,like lots
of brainy animals, is play and ravens are no
exception. So crows aren’t the bird brains we
might have thought – they solve difficult problems,
use tools, learn how to steal food and know how
to party.
© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Key:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
creatures
tools
island
clever
grubs
cleverest
Ravens
smart
naughty
steal
© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Follow-up 1
Key:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
intelligence
wise
perfection
boring
juice
cleverness
difficulty
Read the words able and ability to the class.
Explain how they both have the same word root
but are different parts of speech. Then tell
students to complete the rest of the gaps with the
correct noun or adjective.
Extension: Give out a copy of the Handout. Ask
students to look at the words in the box and find
their adjective forms in the wordsearch.
© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Content and language consolidation
Key:
1
2
3
4
5
plenty of
the most similar
The majority
few
much
Ask students to read the text and complete the
sentences with the words from the box.
© 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 and
then make a list of the advantages and
disadvantages of keeping wildlife in zoos.
Extension: Choose some pairs to share their
ideas with the class. Ask the rest of the class
whether they agree or disagree. Encourage them
to give reasons for their answers.
© 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:
Watch the slideshow. Then work in pairs and
discuss the statement.
Now make notes and then write a paragraph to
give your opinion.
Extension: Choose some pairs to read their
paragraphs to the class.
© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Handout
intelligence  wisdom  perfection  boredom
juice  cleverness  difficulty  ability
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© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
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© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
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