Breaking News English Lesson on Coral Reefs

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Massive coral reef found in Amazon River (25th April, 2016)

The Reading / Listening - Level 6

An international team of scientists has discovered a huge coral reef in the Amazon River. The team from the universities of Georgia in the USA and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil was on an expedition to learn more about Amazon River plumes when it made the discovery. Plumes are the areas close to where a river meets the sea and the river's freshwater mixes with the saltwater of the ocean. The reef system spans an area of 5,800 square kilometres, stretching from the coast of French Guiana to the rainforest of the Brazilian state of Maranhao. The finding has surprised marine biologists because reefs are rarely found in large rivers as the water is usually too muddy and dark, and does not contain enough salt.

The scientists only explored 10 per cent of the reef. They said there were many sponges, creatures and other marine life that had adapted to life in the darker waters. They also recorded 73 species of reef fish, many of them carnivorous. Researcher Dr. Patricia Yager enthused about what she had seen. She said: "We brought up the most amazing and colorful animals I have ever seen on an expedition." Sadly, not all news about the reef is good. The whole area has been earmarked for oil exploration. Dr Yager warned that: "From ocean acidification and ocean warming to plans for offshore oil exploration right on top of these new discoveries, the whole system is at risk from human impacts."

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

Level 4 or Level 5

Sources

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/04/23/world/amazon-river-coral-reef-irpt/
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/04/220416-Amazon-coral-reef-Brazil-ocean-river-fish/
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/apr/22/huge-coral-reef-discovered-at-amazon-river-mouth

Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice, drag and drop activities, crosswords, hangman, flash cards, matching activities and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

The 40 Lesson Activities on the PDF Handout

WARM-UPS

1. CORAL REEFS: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about coral reefs. Change partners often and share your findings.

2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, talk about these topics or words from the article. What will the article say about them? What can you say about these words and your life?

team / scientists / coral / reef / expedition / discovery / area / biologists / muddy / sponges / marine life / darker / species / carnivorous / amazing / exploration / risk

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.

3. EXPLORATION: What are the dangers and benefits of exploring these areas? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

	Dangers	Benefits
Oceans
Volcanoes
Mars
Other galaxies
The human brain
Rainforests

4. OIL AND REEFS: Students A strongly believe all oil exploration near reefs should be banned; Students B strongly believe other wise. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

MY e-BOOK

ESL resource book with copiable worksheets and handouts - 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers / English teachers

See a sample

5. WATER: Rank these with your partner. Put the best water forms at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

• reefs

• rivers

• lakes

• seas

• ponds

• oases

• waterfalls

• puddles

6. RIVER: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "". Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if a-h below are true (T) or false (F).

a.	The research team consisted of two different universities.	T / F
b.	The team originally went to investigate plumes of smoke.	T / F
c.	The reef stretches from French Guiana.	T / F
d.	Reefs rarely form in rivers because of insufficient salt.	T / F
e.	The scientists have explored over half the reef.	T / F
f.	The scientists have found 730 species of fish.	T / F
g.	The article says there is nothing but good news about the reef.	T / F
h.	The reef is at risk from oil exploration.	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

1.	discovered	a.	animals
2.	expedition	b.	discovery
3.	mixes	c.	set aside
4.	finding	d.	meat-eating
5.	enough	e.	unearthed
6.	creatures	f.	entire
7.	adapted	g.	sufficient
8.	carnivorous	h.	journey
9.	earmarked	i.	adjusted
10.	whole	j.	combines

3. PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

1.	An international team	a.	in large rivers
2.	spans an area of	b.	for oil exploration
3.	marine	c.	enough salt
4.	reefs are rarely found	d.	species of reef fish
5.	does not contain	e.	5,800 sq kilometres
6.	adapted to life in	f.	risk from human impacts
7.	They also recorded 73	g.	of scientists
8.	The whole area has been earmarked	h.	warming
9.	ocean	i.	biologists
10.	the whole system is at	j.	the darker waters

GAP FILL

An international team of scientists has discovered a (1) ___________ coral reef in the Amazon River. The team from the universities of Georgia in the USA and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil was on an (2) ____________ to learn more about Amazon River plumes when it made the (3) ____________. Plumes are the areas close to where a river meets the sea and the river's freshwater (4) ____________ with the saltwater of the ocean. The reef system (5) ____________ an area of 5,800 square kilometres, stretching from the coast of French Guiana to the rainforest of the Brazilian (6) ____________ of Maranhao. The finding has surprised marine biologists because reefs are (7) ____________ found in large rivers as the water is usually too muddy and dark, and does not (8) ____________ enough salt.		mixes discovery state huge contain expedition rarely spans
The scientists only (9) ____________ 10 per cent of the reef. They said there were many sponges, (10) ____________ and other marine life that had (11) ____________ to life in the darker waters. They also recorded 73 species of reef fish, many of them (12) ____________. Researcher Dr. Patricia Yager enthused about what she had seen. She said: "We brought up the (13) ____________ amazing and colorful animals I have ever seen on an expedition." Sadly, not all (14) ____________ about the reef is good. The whole area has been earmarked for oil exploration. Dr Yager warned that: "From ocean acidification and ocean warming to plans for (15) ____________ oil exploration right on top of these new discoveries, the whole system is at risk from (16) ____________ impacts."		creatures most human explored carnivorous offshore adapted news

LISTENING - Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1)	An international team of scientists has discovered a ______
	a. huge coral reefs b. huge corral reef c. huge coral reef d. huge corral reefs
2)	Plumes are the areas close to where a river meets the sea and the river's ______
	a. freshwater mixes b. freshwater mix is c. freshwaters mixes d. freshwaters mix
3)	stretching from the coast of French Guiana to the rainforest of the Brazilian ______
	a. statue of Maranhao b. stated of Maranhao c. states of Maranhao d. state of Maranhao
4)	The finding has surprised marine biologists because reefs are rarely ______ rivers
	a. found on large b. found in largely c. fund in large d. found in large
5)	the water is usually too muddy and dark, and does not ______ salt
	a. contains enough b. contain enough c. contained enough d. containing enough
6)	sponges, creatures and other marine life that had adapted to ______ waters
	a. live in the darker b. life on the darker c. life in the darker d. life in the dark are
7)	They also recorded 73 species of reef fish, many of ______
	a. them cavernous b. them coniferous c. them carnivals d. them carnivorous
8)	The whole area has been ______ oil exploration
	a. dog-eared for b. earthed for c. earmarked for d. eared for
9)	From ocean acidification and ocean warming to plans for offshore ______
	a. oil explorations b. oily exploration c. oily explorations d. oil exploration
10)	right on top of these new discoveries, the whole system is at risk ______
	a. from human impacts b. from human compacts c. from human in pacts d. from human repacks

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

An international team of scientists (1) ___________________ huge coral reef in the Amazon River. The team from the universities of Georgia in the USA and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil was (2) ___________________ to learn more about Amazon River plumes when it made the discovery. Plumes are the (3) ___________________ a river meets the sea and the river's freshwater mixes with the saltwater of the ocean. The reef (4) ___________________ area of 5,800 square kilometres, stretching from the coast of French Guiana (5) ___________________ of the Brazilian state of Maranhao. The finding has surprised marine biologists because reefs are rarely found in large rivers as the water is usually too (6) ___________________, and does not contain enough salt.

The scientists (7) ___________________ per cent of the reef. They said there were many sponges, creatures and other marine life that had adapted (8) ___________________ waters. They also recorded 73 species of reef fish, many (9) ___________________. Researcher Dr. Patricia Yager enthused about what she had seen. She said: "We brought up the most (10) ___________________ animals I have ever seen on an expedition." Sadly, not all news about the reef is good. The whole area (11) ___________________ for oil exploration. Dr Yager warned that: "From ocean acidification and ocean warming to plans for offshore oil exploration right on top of these new discoveries, the whole (12) ___________________ from human impacts."

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1.	What kind of team discovered the reef?
2.	What did the team originally set out to study?
3.	How large is the reef?
4.	In which country does the river meet the sea?
5.	What is there usually not enough of in rivers for reefs to develop?
6.	How much of the reef has the team explored?
7.	How many different species of reef fish did the scientists find?
8.	What did the article say about the eating habits of some reef fish?
9.	What has the area been earmarked for?
10.	What did the article say the area system was at risk from?

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ

1.	What kind of team discovered the reef?	6.	How much of the reef has the team explored?
	a) a swimming team b) an international one c) a big team d) a soccer team		a) 10% b) 20% c) 30% d) 40%
2.	What did the team originally set out to study?	7.	How many different species of reef fish did the scientists find?
	a) hues b) dunes c) fumes d) plumes		a) 72 b) 74 c) 73 d) 75
3.	How large is the reef?	8.	What did the article say about the eating habits of some reef fish?
	a) 558,000 sq kms b) 580 sq kms c) 5,800 sq kms d) 55,800 sq kms		a) they are carnivorous b) they are hungry c) they are herbivorous d) they are messy
4.	In which country does the river meet the sea?	9.	What has the area been earmarked for?
	a) French Guiana b) British Guyana c) Brazil d) Colombia		a) conservation b) a surfing competition c) a marine park d) oil exploration
5.	What is there usually not enough of in rivers for reefs to develop?	10.	What did the article say the area system was at risk from?
	a) water b) salt c) fish d) creatures		a) shipping b) bleaching c) human impacts d) plankton

ROLE PLAY

Role A – Reefs

You think reefs are the best watery places. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their places aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the least intersting of these (and why): lakes, waterfalls or oases.

Role B – Lakes

You think lakes are the best watery places. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their places aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the least intersting of these (and why): reefs, waterfalls or oases.

Role C – Waterfalls

You think waterfalls are the best watery places. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their places aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the least intersting of these (and why): lakes, reefs or oases.

Role D – Oases

You think oases are the best watery places. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their places aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the least intersting of these (and why): lakes, waterfalls or reefs.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words 'coral' and 'reef'.

coral

reef

Share your findings with your partners.

Make questions using the words you found.
Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
Ask your partner / group your questions.

3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

5. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall how they were used in the text:

huge
learn
close
mixes
5,800
salt

10
73
amazing
good
plans
human

CORAL REEFS SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about coral reefs in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper.

When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

	STUDENT 1 _____________	STUDENT 2 _____________	STUDENT 3 _____________
Q.1.
Q.2.
Q.3.
Q.4.
Q.5.

Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Change partners often.

Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

CORAL REEFS DISCUSSION

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

1)	What did you think when you read the headline?
2)	What springs to mind when you hear the word 'reef'?
3)	What is the job of reefs?
4)	Why has it taken so long to find this reef?
5)	What would it be like to be on a River Amazon expedition?
6)	How important is the River Amazon?
7)	What do you know about rainforests?
8)	What do marine biologists do every day?
9)	What are the differences between life in rivers and the sea?
10)	What do you think about what you read?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

11)	Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
12)	What is your favourite fish, and why?
13)	What do you think scientists will find in the unexplored 90% of the reef?
14)	What would you like to see up close in the ocean, and why?
15)	What kind of expedition would you like to go on?
16)	What will happen to the reef if oil exploration goes ahead?
17)	What does global warming do to reefs?
18)	How do humans impact coral reefs?
19)	What other reefs do you know about?
20)	What questions would you like to ask the researchers?

DISCUSSION (Write your own questions)

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)
1.	________________________________________________________
2.	________________________________________________________
3.	________________________________________________________
4.	________________________________________________________
5.	________________________________________________________
6.	________________________________________________________

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)
1.	________________________________________________________
2.	________________________________________________________
3.	________________________________________________________
4.	________________________________________________________
5.	________________________________________________________
6.	________________________________________________________

LANGUAGE - CLOZE

An international team of scientists has (1) ____ a huge coral reef in the Amazon River. The team from the universities of Georgia in the USA and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil was (2) ____ an expedition to learn more about Amazon River plumes when it (3) ____ the discovery. Plumes are the areas close to where a river meets the sea and the river's freshwater mixes with the saltwater of the ocean. The reef system (4) ____ an area of 5,800 square kilometres, stretching from the coast of French Guiana to the rainforest of the Brazilian (5) ____ of Maranhao. The finding has surprised marine biologists because reefs are rarely found in large rivers as the water is usually too (6) ____ and dark, and does not contain enough salt.

The scientists only explored 10 per cent of the reef. They said there were many sponges, creatures and (7) ____ marine life that had adapted to life in the darker waters. They also recorded 73 species of reef fish, many of them (8) ____. Researcher Dr. Patricia Yager enthused about what she had seen. She said: "We (9) ____ up the most amazing and colorful animals I have ever seen on an expedition." Sadly, not all news about the reef is good. The (10) ____ area has been earmarked for oil exploration. Dr Yager warned that: "From ocean acidification and ocean (11) ____ to plans for offshore oil exploration right on top of these new discoveries, the whole system is (12) ____ risk from human impacts."

Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1.	(a)	recovered	(b)	discovered	(c)	covered	(d)	unveiled
2.	(a)	in	(b)	on	(c)	at	(d)	of
3.	(a)	been	(b)	had	(c)	did	(d)	made
4.	(a)	spars	(b)	spans	(c)	spats	(d)	spares
5.	(a)	statue	(b)	state	(c)	stately	(d)	stats
6.	(a)	muddles	(b)	mud	(c)	muddy	(d)	muddled
7.	(a)	others	(b)	another	(c)	other	(d)	the other
8.	(a)	coniferous	(b)	carnivals	(c)	carnivorous	(d)	cavernous
9.	(a)	gave	(b)	bought	(c)	took	(d)	brought
10.	(a)	uncut	(b)	every	(c)	all	(d)	whole
11.	(a)	warming	(b)	tepid	(c)	freezing	(d)	boiling
12.	(a)	of	(b)	by	(c)	at	(d)	on

SPELLING

Paragraph 1
1.	An international team of tiecssitsn
2.	on an dntxoeeiip
3.	when it made the codyiesvr
4.	an area of 5,800 uarseq kilometres
5.	the acost of French Guiana
6.	marine goisobtils
Paragraph 2
7.	there were many enpsgso
8.	srreacute and other marine life
9.	73 pscisee of reef fish
10.	many of them ivcsrrouona
11.	oil opnaertxiol
12.	at risk from human icpmats

PUT THE TEXT BACK TOGETHER

Number these lines in the correct order.

( 1 )	An international team of scientists has discovered a huge coral reef in the Amazon River. The team
( )	the sea and the river's freshwater mixes with the saltwater of the ocean. The reef system spans
( )	The scientists only explored 10 per cent of the reef. They said there were many sponges, creatures and other marine
( )	rainforest of the Brazilian state of Maranhao. The finding has surprised marine biologists because reefs are rarely
( )	oil exploration right on top of these new discoveries, the whole system is at risk from human impacts."
( )	from the universities of Georgia in the USA and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil was on an expedition to learn more
( )	found in large rivers as the water is usually too muddy and dark, and does not contain enough salt.
( )	seen. She said: "We brought up the most amazing and colorful animals I have ever seen on an
( )	about Amazon River plumes when it made the discovery. Plumes are the areas close to where a river meets
( )	fish, many of them carnivorous. Researcher Dr. Patricia Yager enthused about what she had
( )	an area of 5,800 square kilometres, stretching from the coast of French Guiana to the
( )	exploration. Dr Yager warned that: "From ocean acidification and ocean warming to plans for offshore
( )	expedition." Sadly, not all news about the reef is good. The whole area has been earmarked for oil
( )	life that had adapted to life in the darker waters. They also recorded 73 species of reef

PUT THE WORDS IN THE RIGHT ORDER

1.	has discovered a huge coral reef A team of scientists .
2.	about expedition more plumes an learn Amazon On to .
3.	are sea river to the meets where areas Plumes the a close .
4.	square an reef kilometres , area system 5,800 of spans The .
5.	and is dark usually too The muddy water .
6.	10 of The explored cent reef only per the scientists .
7.	waters darker the in life to adapted had that life Marine .
8.	, the about news Sadly all not good is reef .
9.	has for area earmarked exploration whole been oil The .
10.	at human The is from system risk impacts whole .

CIRCLE THE CORRECT WORD (20 PAIRS)

An international team of scientists has discovered a hugely / huge coral reef in the Amazon River. The team from the university / universities of Georgia in the USA and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil was on / to an expedition to learn more about Amazon River plumes when it made the discover / discovery. Plumes are the areas close to / at where a river meets the sea and the river's freshwater mixtures / mixes with the saltwater of the ocean. The reef system spans / spars an area of 5,800 square kilometres, stretching from the coast / coats of French Guiana to the rainforest of the Brazilian state of Maranhao. The finding has surprised marine biological / biologists because reefs are rarely found in large rivers as the water is usually too muddy and dark, and does not contain / contents enough salt.

The scientists only explored 10 per cent off / of the reef. They said there were many sponges, creative / creatures and other marine life that had adapted / adopted to life in the darker waters. They also recorded 73 species of reef fish, many of them cavernous / carnivorous. Researcher Dr. Patricia Yager enthused / enthusiasm about what she had seen. She said: "We brought / bought up the most amazing / amazed and colorful animals I have ever seen on an expedition." Sadly, not all / the news about the reef is good. The whole area has been earmarked for oil exploration. Dr Yager warned that: "From ocean acidification / acrid and ocean warming to plans for offshore oil exploration right on top of these new discoveries, the whole system is at / to risk from human impacts."

Talk about the connection between each pair of words in italics, and why the correct word is correct.

INSERT THE VOWELS (a, e, i, o, u)

_n _nt_rn_t__n_l t__m _f sc__nt_sts h_s d_sc_v_r_d _ h_g_ c_r_l r__f _n th_ _m_z_n R_v_r. Th_ t__m fr_m th_ _n_v_rs_t__s _f G__rg__ _n th_ _S_ _nd R__ d_ J_n__r_ _n Br_z_l w_s _n _n _xp_d_t__n t_ l__rn m_r_ _b__t _m_z_n R_v_r pl_m_s wh_n _t m_d_ th_ d_sc_v_ry. Pl_m_s _r_ th_ _r__s cl_s_ t_ wh_r_ _ r_v_r m__ts th_ s__ _nd th_ r_v_r's fr_shw_t_r m_x_s w_th th_ s_ltw_t_r _f th_ _c__n. Th_ r__f syst_m sp_ns _n _r__ _f 5,800 sq__r_ k_l_m_tr_s, str_tch_ng fr_m th_ c__st _f Fr_nch G___n_ t_ th_ r__nf_r_st _f th_ Br_z_l__n st_t_ _f M_r_nh__. Th_ f_nd_ng h_s s_rpr_s_d m_r_n_ b__l_g_sts b_c__s_ r__fs _r_ r_r_ly f__nd _n l_rg_ r_v_rs _s th_ w_t_r _s _s__lly t__ m_ddy _nd d_rk, _nd d__s n_t c_nt__n _n__gh s_lt.

Th_ sc__nt_sts _nly _xpl_r_d 10 p_r c_nt _f th_ r__f. Th_y s__d th_r_ w_r_ m_ny sp_ng_s, cr__t_r_s _nd _th_r m_r_n_ l_f_ th_t h_d _d_pt_d t_ l_f_ _n th_ d_rk_r w_t_rs. Th_y _ls_ r_c_rd_d 73 sp_c__s _f r__f f_sh, m_ny _f th_m c_rn_v_r__s. R_s__rch_r Dr. P_tr_c__ Y_g_r _nth_s_d _b__t wh_t sh_ h_d s__n. Sh_ s__d: "W_ br__ght _p th_ m_st _m_z_ng _nd c_l_rf_l _n_m_ls _ h_v_ _v_r s__n _n _n _xp_d_t__n." S_dly, n_t _ll n_ws _b__t th_ r__f _s g__d. Th_ wh_l_ _r__ h_s b__n __rm_rk_d f_r __l _xpl_r_t__n. Dr Y_g_r w_rn_d th_t: "Fr_m _c__n _c_d_f_c_t__n _nd _c__n w_rm_ng t_ pl_ns f_r _ffsh_r_ __l _xpl_r_t__n r_ght _n t_p _f th_s_ n_w d_sc_v_r__s, th_ wh_l_ syst_m _s _t r_sk fr_m h_m_n _mp_cts."

PUNCTUATE THE TEXT AND ADD CAPITALS

an international team of scientists has discovered a huge coral reef in the amazon river the team from the universities of georgia in the usa and rio de janeiro in brazil was on an expedition to learn more about amazon river plumes when it made the discovery plumes are the areas close to where a river meets the sea and the river's freshwater mixes with the saltwater of the ocean the reef system spans an area of 5800 square kilometres stretching from the coast of french guiana to the rainforest of the brazilian state of maranhao the finding has surprised marine biologists because reefs are rarely found in large rivers as the water is usually too muddy and dark and does not contain enough salt

the scientists only explored 10 per cent of the reef they said there were many sponges creatures and other marine life that had adapted to life in the darker waters they also recorded 73 species of reef fish many of them carnivorous researcher dr patricia yager enthused about what she had seen she said "we brought up the most amazing and colorful animals i have ever seen on an expedition" sadly not all news about the reef is good the whole area has been earmarked for oil exploration dr yager warned that "from ocean acidification and ocean warming to plans for offshore oil exploration right on top of these new discoveries the whole system is at risk from human impacts"

PUT A SLASH ( / ) WHERE THE SPACES ARE

Aninternationalteamofscientistshasdiscoveredahugecoralreefinthe
AmazonRiver.TheteamfromtheuniversitiesofGeorgiaintheUSAandRi
odeJaneiroinBrazilwasonanexpeditiontolearnmoreaboutAmazonRiv
erplumeswhenitmadethediscovery.Plumesaretheareasclosetowher
earivermeetstheseaandtheriver'sfreshwatermixeswiththesaltwater
oftheocean.Thereefsystemspansanareaof5,800squarekilometres,s
tretchingfromthecoastofFrenchGuianatotherainforestoftheBrazilian
stateofMaranhao.Thefindinghassurprisedmarinebiologistsbecauser
eefsarerarelyfoundinlargeriversasthewaterisusuallytoomuddyandd
ark,anddoesnotcontainenoughsalt.Thescientistsonlyexplored10per
centofthereef.Theysaidthereweremanysponges,creaturesandother
marinelifethathadadaptedtolifeinthedarkerwaters.Theyalsorecorde
d73speciesofreeffish,manyofthemcarnivorous.ResearcherDr.Patric
iaYagerenthusedaboutwhatshehadseen.Shesaid:"Webroughtupthe
mostamazingandcolorfulanimalsIhaveeverseenonanexpedition."Sa
dly,notallnewsaboutthereefisgood.Thewholeareahasbeenearmarke
dforoilexploration.DrYagerwarnedthat:"Fromoceanacidificationand
oceanwarmingtoplansforoffshoreoilexplorationrightontopofthesene
wdiscoveries,thewholesystemisatriskfromhumanimpacts."

FREE WRITING

Write about coral reefs for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

ACADEMIC WRITING

All exploration near coral reefs should be banned. Discuss.

_____________________________________________________________________________

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find out more about the Amazon River coral reef. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. CORAL REEFS: Make a poster about coral reefs. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. OIL EXPLORATION: Write a magazine article about oil exploration near coral reefs. Include imaginary interviews with people who are for and against it.

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s).

5. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? Write a newspaper article about the next stage in this news story. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your articles.

6. LETTER: Write a letter to an expert on coral reefs. Ask him/her three questions about them. Give him/her three of your ideas on how to protect them. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE (p.4)

a

T

b

F

c

T

d

T

e

F

f

F

g

F

h

T

SYNONYM MATCH (p.4)

1.	discovered	a.	unearthed
2.	expedition	b.	journey
3.	mixes	c.	combines
4.	finding	d.	discovery
5.	enough	e.	sufficient
6.	creatures	f.	animals
7.	adapted	g.	adjusted
8.	carnivorous	h.	meat-eating
9.	earmarked	i.	set aside
10.	whole	j.	entire

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS (p.8)

1.	An international team
2.	River plumes
3.	5,800 square kilometres
4.	French Guiana
5.	Salt
6.	10%
7.	73
8.	They are carnivorous
9.	Oil exploration
10.	Human impacts

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ (p.9)

1.

b

2.

d

3.

c

4.

a

5.

b

6.

a

7.

c

8.

a

9.

d

10.

c

ALL OTHER EXERCISES

Please check for yourself by looking at the Article on page 2.
(It's good for your English ;-)

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Breaking News English Lesson on Coral Reefs

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Massive coral reef found in Amazon River (25th April, 2016)

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