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Pre-Intermediate Instant Lesson™

Navy Helicopters and Birds

Pre-Reading Activities

A: Predicting

(i) Answer this question:

Which birds from this list are land birds or sea birds?

seagull; ostrich; albatross; penguin; sparrow; crow.

Now put the birds in the correct place in the table:

Land Birds Sea Birds





 


 


 


 


 


 


If you know other land birds or sea birds, add them to the list.

(ii) Draw a picture of a penguin and a sparrow in the boxes below.

 



(iii) Now work in pairs and write sentences to answer these questions:

Question 1: In what ways are penguins similar to sparrows? (Think of at least three similarities.)

1.__________________________________________________________

2.__________________________________________________________

3.__________________________________________________________

Question 2: In what ways are penguins different to sparrows? (Think of at least three differences.)

1.__________________________________________________________

2.__________________________________________________________

3.__________________________________________________________

 

B: Vocabulary

With a partner read the following paragraph and fill in each space with the correct word from this list:

hatch; wings; birds; eggs; feet; breed; beak; incubate; feathers.
Birds have two _______ that can help them fly or swim and two _______ that can help them stand or swim. A _______ helps them eat and _______ keep them warm. Like all other _____, penguins _________ by laying ________. They sit on or ________ their eggs until the eggs ________.

 

Reading Activities

A: Vocabulary 

Match the words (shown in bold type) in the sentences with their meanings.

  1. The scientists were intrigued to hear that the penguins watched helicopters and planes flying over them.
  2. Some scientists are skeptical about reports of penguins falling over backwards when watching planes in the sky.
  3. The scientists are concerned that low-flying aircraft could cause stress among these birds.
  4. Helicopters are going to fly at different altitudes above the penguins.
  5. Scientists think that low-flying aircraft could cause a reduction in the penguins' breeding performance.
  6. Aircraft fly over the penguins that live in South Georgia.

    Meanings

    1. planes, jets and helicopters.
    2. fall. (n)
    3. heights.
    4. not sure or doubt that something is true.
    5. worried.
    6. very interested.

 

B: Gap Fill

Read through the article at least twice. Then cover the article over. Your teacher will now give you a gap fill activity.


Penguin Plane Spotters Intrigue Scientists

LONDON Thursday November 2 (Reuters) - Do penguins fall over backwards when watching aircraft fly overhead?

Two British scientists are traveling to South Georgia in the south Atlantic to find answers to that question and others from a study of the island's 400,000 King Penguins.

Scientists have usually been skeptical about reports of penguins falling over backwards to watch aircraft flying above them.

But a senior officer on the British navy ship HMS Endurance, which is taking the scientific team to South Georgia, said he believed the reports. "The penguins always look up at the helicopters and follow them all the way until they fall over backwards," Stuart Matthews, the ship's operations officer, told the Daily Telegraph.

Dr Richard Stone of the British Antarctic Survey told Reuters that scientists were concerned that low-flying aircraft could cause stress among penguins and affect their breeding performance.

"There may be an increase in heart rate as helicopters fly over," Stone said.

"The worst possible effect is that there would be a reduction in their breeding performance. If they were incubating eggs this could be quite devastating for them."

Stone said helicopters from HMS Endurance would fly at different altitudes over the penguins to help in the research.
Article © 2000 Reuters Limited. Lesson © 2000 www.english-to-go.com

C: Comprehension

Use the article to answer these questions.

  1. Where is the study of the penguins going to take place?
  2. Are the scientists only studying what happens to the penguins when aircraft fly overhead?
  3. What type of penguins will the scientists study?
  4. How are the scientists traveling to get to the penguins?
  5. How do you think the scientists will prove if penguins fall over backwards when watching aircraft fly overhead?
  6. What do scientists think is the worst possible thing that might happen to the penguins when aircraft fly overhead?
  7. How do you think the aircraft flying overhead affect penguins that have eggs ?

 

D: True or False?

Use the article to decide if these sentences are true or false.

  1. The scientists are only worried about the penguins falling over backwards.
  2. Low-flying aircraft do stress penguins.
  3. As part of the study, helicopters will be used to fly at different heights over the penguins.
  4. Scientists are studying penguins that live in the Pacific Ocean.
  5. Scientists are worried that penguins will not breed as well if they are stressed when aircraft fly low over them.

 

E: Language

Abbreviations

An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or phrase. In the article an abbreviation is used: "HMS" stands for "Her/His Majesty's Ship". ("USS" stands for "United States Ship".)

Often the names of countries and cities are abbreviated by using the first letter in the word. For example, the country "New Zealand" has the abbreviation "NZ".

See if you can abbreviate the following words:

  1. New York
  2. His Royal Highness
  3. United States of America
  4. Great Britain
  5. Prisoner of War
  6. Prime Minister
  7. Kilogram
  8. International Olympic Committee
  9. United Nations
  10.  British Antarctic Survey

Add other abbreviations that you know.

 

Post-Reading Activities
You may do one or more of these.

A: Poster or letter writing

Imagine that scientists have proven that it is stressful for penguins when aircraft fly low over them.

Make a poster or write a letter to your local newspaper saying that aircraft should not be allowed to fly low over penguin breeding grounds.

 

B: Research

  1. There are different kinds of penguins. Can you name any?
  2. What is the largest kind of penguin called?
  3. Most birds lay their eggs in nests. There is one kind of penguin that does not. Instead, the male penguin holds the one egg on his feet. Find out which kind of penguin does this and why they do it.
  4. In which parts of the world do penguins live?
  5. What do penguins eat?
  6. What is a penguin colony called?
  7. Who controls South Georgia?

 

C: Stress Survey

What things make you feel stressed? Make a list and discuss it with your partner. Do a class survey to find out what things make most people feel stressed.

 

TEACHERS' NOTES AND ANSWER KEY

Pre-Reading Activities

A: Predicting - Notes

(i) If your students are unable to come up with other kinds of birds you could help with the suggested answers below. There is a difference between sea birds and shore birds. Seabirds come ashore only to nest whereas shore birds feed at the sea's edge. This difference however is not important for the purpose of the activity.

(ii) Once students have finished their drawings give them copies of the pictures of the sparrow and penguin below. If students have no idea of what these birds look like you can give them the drawings straight away instead of asking them to do their own pictures.

A: Predicting - Pictures to be given to students after they have done their drawings

(ii)

A penguin

A sparrow

 

A: Predicting - Answers

(i)

Land Birds
Sea Birds

ostrich

seagull

sparrow

albatross

crow

penguin

 

Suggested Additional Answers

Land Birds: peacock; thrush; swallow; parrot; owl.
Sea Birds: cormorant; gannet; sea eagle; pelican, shag.

(iii)

Question 1 (Suggested Answers)

Three possible similarities

  1. They both have wings.
  2. They both have feathers.
  3. They both have beaks.

Question 2 (Suggested Answers)

Three possible differences

  1. The beak of the sparrow is short but the beak of the penguin is more pointed. (This is because sparrows eat seeds and penguins eat fish.)
  2. Penguins are bigger than sparrows and stand more upright but sparrows are short and quite close to the ground.
  3. Penguins have lots more feathers than sparrows because they usually live where it can get very cold.

A couple of other differences which arise because the penguin swims and the sparrow does not are :

Penguins have webbed feet like ducks.
Penguins have flipper-like wings.

B: Vocabulary - Answers

Birds have two wings that can help them fly or swim and two feet that can help them stand or swim. A beak helps them eat and feathers keep them warm. Like all other birds, penguins breed by laying eggs. They sit on or incubate their eggs until the eggs hatch.

Reading Activities

A: Vocabulary - Answers

  1. f
  2. d
  3. e
  4. c
  5. b
  6. a

B: Gap Fill - Notes

Students read through the article twice and once they have done this you give them the following gap fill activity. Make sure they do not look at the article while they are doing this.

B: Gap Fill - (Text to be copied and given to students)

Here are three paragraphs from today's article. Fill the gaps in the paragraphs using the words from the list below. You may use some words more than once.

 

LONDON Thursday November 2 (Reuters) - Do penguins fall 1________ 2________ when watching aircraft fly 3________?

Two British scientists are traveling 4________ South Georgia 5________ the south Atlantic to find answers 6________ that question and others 7________ a study 8________ the island's 400,000 King Penguins.

Scientists have usually been skeptical 9________ reports 10________ penguins falling 11________ 12________ to watch aircraft flying 13________ them.

above; of; over; to; in; about; backwards; overhead; from

 

B: Gap Fill - Answers

1. over; 2. backwards; 3. overhead; 4. to; 5. in; 6. to; 7. from; 8. of; 9. about; 10. of; 11. over; 12. backwards; 13. above.

C: Comprehension - Answers

  1. South Georgia in the South Atlantic.
  2. No, they are also studying other questions that they have about the penguins.
  3. King Penguins.
  4. The scientists are traveling on a ship called the HMS Endurance.
  5. They will watch what happens when helicopters fly over the penguins at different heights.
  6. Scientists think that aircraft flying overhead might affect the penguins' breeding performance.
  7. If the aircraft cause the penguins to fall over backwards, they might fall off their eggs. This could mean that the eggs do not hatch because they are not kept warm. Another answer could be that the penguins get stressed and leave their nests.

D: True/False - Answers

  1. False
  2. False (The study has not been completed yet so it is not a fact.)
  3. True
  4. False
  5. True

E: Language - Answers

  1. NY
  2. HRH
  3. USA (of is not abbreviated)
  4. GB
  5. POW (of is abbreviated)
  6. PM
  7. Kg
  8. IOC
  9. UN
  10. BAS
Post-Reading Activities

A: Poster or Letter writing - Notes

If you have access to any, display some other posters. (For example, posters from the organization Greenpeace) If students are writing letters to the newspaper, it would be good to show students some examples of other letters to the editor from a newspaper.

B: Research - Answers

  1. Macaroni penguins, Chinstrap penguins, Emperor penguins, Adelie penguins and Gentoo penguins are just some of the many species of penguins.
  2. The Emperor penguin.
  3. The Emperor penguin does this so that the egg does not freeze on the ice. Instead the male holds the egg on top of his feet under his stomach fold. This keeps the egg warm. Unlike other penguins, the Emperor penguins breed over the winter months.
  4. All over the world including the Antarctic, southern Africa, south Australia, New Zealand, the Galapagos.
  5. Fish.
  6. Rookery.
  7. The United Kingdom (UK).

C: Stress - Notes

There have been newspaper reports about people feeling stressed living near airports because of the noise of planes taking off and landing. You might find some information on the Internet.

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