Where do they live?
Vocabulary
Learning goals:
Keywords
Describing a range of environments and
weather conditions
Environments:
beach, desert, environment, forest,
jungle, mountains
Writing a description of their local
environment
Contents
Aims
Year 7
Lesson 11
Weather:
cloud, rain, snow, sun, wind
Adjectives:
cold, cool, dark, dry, hot, warm, wet
Language Analysis
Environment /ɪnˈvaɪrəmənt/ – all the physical conditions that influence the places where people live and
work
Places: beach /biːtʃ/, mountains /ˈmaʊntɪnz/, desert /ˈdezə(r)t/, fores /ˈfɒrɪst/t, jungle /ˈdʒʌŋɡ(ə)l/,
environment /ɪnˈvaɪrəmənt/
Be careful about the following pair of words:
desert /ˈdezə(r)t/ – an area of land with little water vs dessert /dɪˈzɜː(r)t/ – food (generally sweet) you eat
after the main dish
beach /biːtʃ/ – an area beside the sea vs bitch /bɪtʃ/ – a female dog or an insulting term for a woman
Adjectives:
wet /wet/, dry /draɪ/, warm /wɔː(r)m/, cool /kuːl/, dark /dɑː(r)k/
Cold vs cool – both of them mean that it is not warm: cool usually implies it is positive and the
atmosphere is pleasant whereas cold suggests discomfort and very often means close to freezing.
Hot vs warm – similarly to the above, both mean it is not cold: warm usually implies it is positive while
hot would suggest discomfort.
Also be careful about the other meaning of the word cool e.g.: A cool person (good, fashionable) vs a
cold person (not friendly).
Weather /ˈweðə(r)/ (conditions, temperature, rain etc.) vs whether (used to suggest two possibilities)
/ˈweðə(r)/ vs water (liquid that we drink) /ˈwɔːtə(r)/
Alaska /aˈlᴂska/
Extension: For advanced students you could digress about the way Alaska is pronounced and compare
with: I’ll ask her when in connected speech and pronounced quickly/fluently.
© Young Digital Planet 2014 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Procedure
Lead-in
Audio 1:
Beach
Audio 2:
Mountains
Audio 3:
Forest
Audio 4:
Desert
Audio 5:
Jungle
Key:
The picture shows the map of the world. Students
drag the labels from the bottom of the screen to
the appropriate picture.
Extension: Teacher should ask students to listen
and repeat the words. Ask students to give names
of a few very famous mountains or deserts. If you
can use a map, ask students to show more
examples of deserts, mountains or jungles.
Provide the names in English where appropriate.
© Young Digital Planet 2014 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Main input
Audio 1:
Girl: My name is Bayka, and I live in Mongolia.
There is a desert here, and it is dry and very hot,
but only in the summer. In the winter, it is very,
very cold. People usually think that deserts are
always hot, but not in Mongolia!
Audio 2:
Boy: Hi, my name is Bernardo, and I live in Costa
Rica. We have a lot of jungle in Costa Rica. It’s a
hot place, but it’s also wet, because it rains most
days. It’s very green, but also dark, because
there are so many trees. You don’t need
sunglasses there!
Audio 3:
Boy: Hello, my name is Kasun, and I live in Sri
Lanka. I’m very lucky because I live on the
beach! So of course the weather is warm, and we
have white sand and blue sea. I can go swimming
every day, it’s great!
Audio 4:
Girl: Hi, I’m Maria, and I’m from Romania. In
Romania there are some beautiful forests. They
are green in summer, and in winter they are
covered with snow, so they become white. But my
favourite time is autumn, because it’s cool and the
trees turn yellow, orange and red. It looks
wonderful!
There are five pictures that students match with
the other five pictures attached to the audios.
Extension: Point to a picture and ask student to
name the place. You can also ask them to use
adjectives to describe the place.
For stronger groups cover the box at the bottom
of the screen. Practise reading the words with
students.
Audio 5:
Girl: Hi, my name’s Kim and I live in Alaska.
Alaska has some beautiful mountains. In the
winter you can see the mountains. They look
black and are covered with white snow. It’s cold
but I love it here.
© Young Digital Planet 2014 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Key:
© Young Digital Planet 2014 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Practice 1
Audio 1:
Girl: My name is Bayka, and I live in Mongolia.
There is a desert here, and it is dry and very hot,
but only in the summer. In the winter, it is very,
very cold. People usually think that deserts are
always hot, but not in Mongolia!
Audio 2:
Boy: Hi, my name is Bernardo, and I live in Costa
Rica. We have a lot of jungle in Costa Rica. It’s a
hot place, but it’s also wet, because it rains most
days. It’s very green, but also dark, because there
are so many trees. You don’t need sunglasses
there!
Audio 3:
Boy: Hello, my name is Kasun, and I live in Sri
Lanka. I’m very lucky because I live on the beach!
So of course the weather is warm, and we have
white sand and blue sea. I can go swimming
every day, it’s great!
Audio 4:
Girl: Hi, I’m Maria, and I’m from Romania. In
Romania there are some beautiful forests. They
are green in summer, and in winter they are
covered with snow, so they become white. But my
favourite time is autumn, because it’s cool and the
trees turn yellow, orange and red. It looks
wonderful!
Audio 5:
Girl: Hi, my name’s Kim and I live in Alaska.
Alaska has some beautiful mountains. In the
winter you can see the mountains. They look
black and are covered with white snow. It’s cold
but I love it here.
There are six true or false questions. Ask
students to work in pairs first, then check the
answers.
Extension: For the false sentences, ask students
to provide the correct answers:
1 The desert is only hot in the summer.
2 The jungle is wet because it rains most days.
3 You don’t need sunglasses in the jungle, there
are a lot of trees.
6 In the winter Alaska is black and white.
Key:
(From left to right)
1 false 2 false 3 false 4 true 5 true 6 false
© Young Digital Planet 2014 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Practice 2
Key:
(From left to right)
1 mountain 2 dark 3 forest 4 wet 5 beach 6 dry
7 jungle 8 desert 9 warm 10 cool
Students choose the correct words to describe
pictures.
Extension: Distribute the Handout.
Ask students to read the words in the box, check
if they know them. Give students a few minutes to
read the text and complete it with the missing
words.
© Young Digital Planet 2014 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Key:
1 desert 2 hot 3 rains 4 trees 5 sand 6 ocean 7
covered 8 become 9 autumn 10 beautiful
© Young Digital Planet 2014 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Practice 3
Key:
The mountain is dark. The mountain is cool.
The forest is cool.
The beach is dry. The beach is warm.
The jungle is dry. The jungle is wet.
(Random order)
Give the students these instructions for the
Memory game. The aim of the game is to make
pairs.
On the screen you will see two sets of cards ‘face
down’.
Click on one card from each set to make a pair.
If it is a pair, the cards will fly off the screen. If it is
not a pair, the cards will turn over again.
Try and remember where the pictures and words
are.
Choose two more cards to make a pair.
Continue until you have matched all the pairs.
© Young Digital Planet 2014 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Practice 4
Key:
Students group words into three categories.
© Young Digital Planet 2014 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Practice 5
Audio 1:
Harry: Is the desert wet?
Emma: No, it isn’t. It’s dry.
Audio 2 :
Harry: Is the jungle dark?
Emma: Yes, it is.
Audio 3:
Harry: Does it snow in the mountains?
Emma: Yes, it does.
Audio 4:
Harry: Is the beach cool?
Emma: No, it isn’t. It’s warm.
Audio 5:
Harry: Does it rain in the forest?
Emma: Yes, it does.
Audio 6:
Harry: Does it snow on the beach?
Emma: No, it doesn’t. It’s sunny.
Audio 7:
Harry: Is it hot in the mountains?
Emma: No, it’s not. It’s cold.
Audio 8:
Harry: Does it rain in the desert?
Emma: No, it doesn’t. It’s sunny.
Students select the words needed to complete the
questions and only then they can listen to the
audio. The screen aims to practise present
simple: is/are questions and do/does questions.
Extension: Ask students to practise the short
dialogues in pairs.
Key:
(From left to right)
Harry: [Is / Does] the desert wet?
Emma: No, it [isn’t / doesn’t]. It’s dry.
Harry: [Is / Does] the jungle dark?
Emma: Yes, it [is / does].
Harry: [Is / Does] it snow in the mountains?
Emma: Yes, it [is / does].
Harry: [Is / Does] the beach cool?
Emma: No, it [isn’t / doesn’t]. It’s warm.
© Young Digital Planet 2014 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Harry: [Is / Does] it rain in the forest?
Emma: Yes, it [is / does].
Harry: [Is / Does] it snow on the beach?
Emma: No, it [isn’t / doesn’t]. It’s sunny.
Harry: [Is / Does] it hot in the mountains?
Emma: No, it [isn’t / doesn’t]. It’s cold.
Harry: [Is / Does] it rain in the desert?
Emma: No, it [isn’t / doesn’t]. It’s sunny.
© Young Digital Planet 2014 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
English to take away
Key:
mountain
dark
forest
wet
beach
dry
jungle
desert
warm
cool
The screen focuses on vocabulary.
© Young Digital Planet 2014 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Handout: reading
Complete the text with the missing words.
autumn
desert
sand
beautiful
hot
sea
become
rains
trees
covered
My name is Bayka, and I live in Mongolia. There is a (1)____________ here, and it is dry and very
(2) ____________, but only in the summer. In the winter, it is very, very cold. People usually think that
deserts are always hot, but not in Mongolia!
Hi, my name is Bernardo, and I live in Costa Rica. We have a lot of jungle in Costa Rica. It’s a hot place,
but it’s also wet, because it (3) ____________ most days. It’s very green, but also dark, because there
are so many (4) ____________. You don’t need sunglasses there!
Hello, my name is Kasun, and I live in Sri Lanka. I’m very lucky because I live on the beach! So of
course the weather is warm, and we have white (5) ____________ and blue (6)____________. I can go
swimming every day, it’s great!
Hi, I’m Maria, and I’m from Romania. In Romania there are some beautiful forests. They are green in
summer, and in winter they are (7) ____________ with snow, so they (8) ____________ white. But my
favourite time is (9) ____________, because it’s cool and the trees turn yellow, orange and red. It looks
wonderful!
Hi, my name’s Kim and I live in Alaska. Alaska has some (10) ___________ mountains. In the winter
you can see the mountains. They look black and are covered with white snow. It’s cold but I love it here.
© Young Digital Planet 2014 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide