The Reading / Listening - Bird Photos - Level 3

It seems we share photos online of everything these days, from what we eat for breakfast to the new shoes we have bought. Researchers have recently published a study about what kinds of bird photos we like on the social media site Instagram. This is a photo and video-sharing social networking service on which uploaded images are viewable for just 24 hours. The researchers are from the University of Konstanz in Germany. They looked into the question: "What makes a great bird photo?" They tried to find the most 'instagrammable' bird. They discovered that the frogmouth is our favourite. This is a nocturnal bird that is found from India, across Southeast Asia to Australia.

The researchers analysed nearly 30,000 bird photos from nine popular bird photography Instagram accounts. They created a special computer algorithm to find which photos attracted the most "likes" on the photo-sharing platform. Ornithologist Tim Snyder suggested the frogmouth was the most liked bird because of its large eyes and wide beak. He said that while most birds' eyes are positioned on the sides of their head, the frogmouth's eyes are more in the centre of its face, which makes the bird appear more "humanlike". Wildlife photographer Graeme Purdy told the BBC: "Anything cute and cuddly evokes something in human nature - and particularly anything with big eyes."

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

    Bird Photos - Level 0,  Bird Photos - Level 1   or  Bird Photos - Level 2

Sources
  • https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-56946165
  • https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/apr/30/researchers-find-frogmouth-is-worlds-most-instagrammable-bird
  • https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-of-the-bird-that-researchers-deemed-most-instagrammable-2021-4


Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice activities, drag and drop activities, sentence jumbles, which word activities, text reconstructions, spelling, gap fills and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

Warm-ups

1. BIRD PHOTOS: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about bird photos. 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?
       share / photos / online / breakfast / social network / 24 hours / birds / favourite /
       photography / computer / algorithm / platform / large eyes / beak / wildlife / cute
Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.
3. SOCIAL MEDIA: Students A strongly believe animals and birds are the best things to post on social media; Students B strongly believe other things are better. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
4. SHARING: What is interesting about these kinds of photos on social media? How interested are you in them? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

 

What Is Interesting?

How Interested Are You?

Birds

 

 

Breakfast

 

 

People's new shoes

 

 

Other people's children

 

 

Puppies and kittens

 

 

Cars

 

 
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. BREAKFAST: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "breakfast". Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.
6. BIRDS: Rank these with your partner. Put the best birds at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

  • Frogmouth
  • Eagle
  • Pigeon
  • Hummingbird
  • Seagull
  • Parrot
  • Ostrich
  • Kiwi

 

Vocabulary

    Paragraph 1

      1. seems a. At a time near to now; not long ago.
      2. recently b. Able to be looked at or inspected.
      3. published c. A picture obtained by a camera, telescope, microscope, or other device, or displayed on a computer or video screen.
      4. image d. Prepared and issued a book, journal, piece of music, or other work for public sale.
      5. viewable e. Gives the feeling or sensation of being something or having a particular quality.
      6. discovered f. Done, occurring, or active at night.
      7. nocturnal g. Found.

    Paragraph 2

      8. analysed h. Put or arranged someone or something in a particular place or way.
      9. popular i. Examined something, especially information, to explain something.
      10. algorithm j. A bird's horny projecting jaws; a bill.
      11. attracted k. Cute and pleasant to hold close to your body.
      12. beak l. A process or set of rules to be followed in calculations or other problem-solving operations, especially by a computer.
      13. positioned m. Caused to come to a place or participate in something by offering something of interest, favorable conditions, or opportunities.
      14. cuddly n. Liked, admired, or enjoyed by many people or by a particular person or group.

 

Before reading / listening

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if 1-8 below are true (T) or false (F).

  1. The article says the most popular photos to put online are of breakfasts.  T / F
  2. The article says some Instagram posts stay online for over 24 hours.     T / F
  3. The research is from a university in Germany.     T / F
  4. Researchers found the most "instagrammable" bird to be the mouthfrog. T / F
  5. Researchers looked at over 30,000 photos of birds in their research.     T / F
  6. Researchers used a special algorithm to find the "best" bird.     T / F
  7. The "winning" bird has big eyes and a narrow beak.     T / F
  8. A photographer said animals with large eyes are cute and cuddly.     T / F

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

  1. seems
  2. study
  3. uploaded
  4. tried
  5. discovered
  6. analysed
  7. popular
  8. suggested
  9. positioned
  10. particularly
  1. examined
  2. found
  3. indicated
  4. especially
  5. paper
  6. located
  7. posted
  8. attempted
  9. well-liked
  10. appears

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

  1. It seems we share photos online of
  2. Researchers have recently published
  3. a photo and video-sharing social
  4. uploaded images are viewable
  5. This is a nocturnal
  6. The researchers analysed nearly
  7. computer
  8. its large eyes and
  9. most birds' eyes are positioned on the
  10. cute and
  1. 30,000 bird photos
  2. networking service
  3. cuddly
  4. bird
  5. wide beak
  6. everything these days
  7. sides of their head
  8. a study
  9. algorithm
  10. for just 24 hours

Gap fill

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
discovered
bought
across
social
question
everything
just
kinds

It seems we share photos online of (1) _____________________ these days, from what we eat for breakfast to the new shoes we have (2) _____________________. Researchers have recently published a study about what (3) _____________________ of bird photos we like on the social media site Instagram. This is a photo and video-sharing (4) _____________________ networking service on which uploaded images are viewable for (5) _____________________ 24 hours. The researchers are from the University of Konstanz in Germany. They looked into the (6) _____________________: "What makes a great bird photo?" They tried to find the most 'instagrammable' bird. They (7) _____________________ that the frogmouth is our favourite. This is a nocturnal bird that is found from India, (8) _____________________ Southeast Asia to Australia.

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
sides
algorithm
particularly
nearly
appear
wide
platform
cute

The researchers analysed (9) _____________________ 30,000 bird photos from nine popular bird photography Instagram accounts. They created a special computer (10) _____________________ to find which photos attracted the most "likes" on the photo-sharing (11) _____________________. Ornithologist Tim Snyder suggested the frogmouth was the most liked bird because of its large eyes and (12) _____________________ beak. He said that while most birds' eyes are positioned on the (13) _____________________ of their head, the frogmouth's eyes are more in the centre of its face, which makes the bird (14) _____________________ more "humanlike". Wildlife photographer Graeme Purdy told the BBC: "Anything (15) _____________________ and cuddly evokes something in human nature - and (16) _____________________ anything with big eyes."

Listening — Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1) It seems we share photos online of ______
     a.  everything this days
     b.  everything thesis days
     c.  everything these days
     d.  everything them days
2)  a study about what kinds of bird photos we like on the social ______
     a.  media site Instagram
     b.  media sight Instagram
     c.  media side Instagram
     d.  media spite Instagram
3)  video-sharing social networking service on which uploaded ______
     a.  image is are viewable
     b.  imagines are viewable
     c.  imageries are viewable
     d.  images are viewable
4)  They discovered that the frogmouth ______
     a.  is hour favourite
     b.  is out favourite
     c.  is ours favourite
     d.  is our favourite
5)  This is a nocturnal bird that is found from India, ______
     a.  abreast Southeast Asia
     b.  across Southeast Asia
     c.  ache cross Southeast Asia
     d.  a cross Southeast Asia

6)  a special computer algorithm to find which photos attracted ______
     a.  the must likes
     b.  the mast likes
     c.  the moist likes
     d.  the most likes
7)  the frogmouth was the most liked bird because of its large eyes ______
     a.  and wide break
     b.  and wide bleak
     c.  and wide back
     d.  and wide beak
8)  He said that while most birds' eyes are positioned on the sides ______
     a.  of their head
     b.  off their head
     c.  oft their head
     d.  oaf their head
9)  the centre of its face, which makes the bird appear ______
     a.  more humane like
     b.  more humane likes
     c.  more human liked
     d.  more humanlike
10)  Anything cute and cuddly evokes something ______
     a.  in humans nature
     b.  in humane nature
     c.  in human nature
     d.  in who man nature

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

It seems we share (1) ____________________ everything these days, from what we eat for breakfast to the new shoes (2) ____________________. Researchers (3) ____________________ a study about what kinds of bird photos we like on the social media site Instagram. This is a photo and video-sharing social (4) ____________________ which uploaded images are viewable for just 24 hours. The researchers are from the University of Konstanz in Germany. They looked (5) ____________________: "What makes a great bird photo?" They tried to find the most 'instagrammable' bird. They discovered that the frogmouth is our favourite. This is a (6) ____________________ is found from India, across Southeast Asia to Australia.

The researchers (7) ____________________ bird photos from nine popular bird photography Instagram accounts. They created a special computer algorithm (8) ____________________ photos attracted the most "likes" on the photo-sharing platform. Ornithologist Tim Snyder suggested the frogmouth was the most liked bird because of (9) ____________________ and wide beak. He said that while most birds' eyes (10) ____________________ the sides of their head, the frogmouth's eyes are more in the centre of its face, which makes the (11) ____________________ "humanlike". Wildlife photographer Graeme Purdy told the BBC: "Anything cute and cuddly evokes something in human nature - (12) ____________________ with big eyes."

Comprehension questions

  1. What two things does the article say we share photos of online?
  2. What have researchers recently published?
  3. For how long do Instagram photos stay online?
  4. In which country is the university that did this research?
  5. When is the frogmouth most active?
  6. How many photos of birds did the researchers look at?
  7. What did the researchers use to analyse the bird photos?
  8. What part of the frogmouth did an ornithologist say was wide?
  9. Where on the frogmouth's face are its eyes?
  10. What did a photographer say evokes something in human nature?

Multiple choice quiz

1) What two things does the article say we share photos of online?
a) puppies and kittens
b) breakfast and new shoes
c) selfies and cars
d) sunrises and sunsets
2) What have researchers recently published?
a) a magazine
b) a book
c) a newspaper
d) a study
3) For how long do Instagram photos stay online?
a) 24 hours
b) 12 hours
c) 2 hours
d) 48 hours
4) In which country is the university that did this research?
a) Italy
b) France
c) Germany
d) Spain

5) When is the frogmouth most active?
a) at the weekend
b) at night
c) on Mondays
d) in the afternoon

6) How many photos of birds did the researchers look at?
a) just over 30,000
b) exactly 30,000
c) nearly 30,000
d) around 30,000
7) What did the researchers use to analyse the bird photos?
a) an opinion poll
b) a microscope
c) a camera
d) a computer algorithm
8) What part of the frogmouth did an ornithologist say was wide?
a) its beak
b) its wingspan
c) its feet
d) its smile
9) Where on the frogmouth's face are its eyes?
a) in the centre
b) at the bottom
c) on the left
d) at the top
10) What did a photographer say evokes something in human nature?
a) a scary bird
b) anything cute and cuddly
c) anything full of colour
d) sounds

Role play

Role  A – Frogmouth
You think a frogmouth is the best bird. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their birds. Also, tell the others which is the least interesting of these (and why): eagle, hummingbird or kiwi.

Role  B – Eagle
You think an eagle is the best bird. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their birds. Also, tell the others which is the least interesting of these (and why): frogmouth, hummingbird or kiwi.

Role  C – Hummingbird
You think a hummingbird is the best bird. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their birds. Also, tell the others which is the least interesting of these (and why): eagle, frogmouth or kiwi.

Role  D – Kiwi
You think a kiwi is the best bird. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their birds. Also, tell the others which is the least interesting of these (and why): eagle, hummingbird or frogmouth.

After reading / listening

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

'bird'

  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________

    • and 'photos'.

  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________

    • • 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:

    • share
    • recently
    • service
    • looked
    • find
    • found
    • nearly
    • special
    • platform
    • wide
    • appear
    • nature

    Student survey

    Write five GOOD questions about this topic 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.

    (Please look at page 12 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

    Discussion - Bird Photos

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

    1. What did you think when you read the headline?
    2. What images are in your mind when you hear the word 'bird'?
    3. What do you think of birds?
    4. What are your favourite birds?
    5. Do you like taking photos of birds?
    6. What do you think of social media?
    7. What kinds of photos do you post on social media?
    8. What do you think of Instagram?
    9. What do you think of the frogmouth?
    10. What do you think of the national bird of your country?

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

    1. Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
    2. What do you think of when you hear the word 'photo'?
    3. What do you think about what you read?
    4. Why do people like ornithology?
    5. Are animals with large eyes cuter than those with small eyes?
    6. What do you think of the name 'frogmouth'?
    7. What are the cutest and cuddliest animals and birds?
    8. Do you think birds are good pets?
    9. What birds don't you like?
    10. What questions would you like to ask an ornithologist?

    Discussion — Write your own questions

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

    (a) ________________

    (b) ________________

    (c) ________________

    (d) ________________

    (e) ________________

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

    (f) ________________

    (g) ________________

    (h) ________________

    (i) ________________

    (j) ________________

    Language — Cloze (Gap-fill)

    It seems we share photos online of everything (1) ____ days, from what we eat for breakfast to the new shoes we have bought. Researchers have recently published a study about (2) ____ kinds of bird photos we like on the social media site Instagram. This is a photo and video-sharing social networking service (3) ____ which uploaded images are viewable for just 24 hours. The researchers are from the University of Konstanz in Germany. They looked into the question: "What (4) ____ a great bird photo?" They tried to (5) ____ the most 'instagrammable' bird. They discovered that the frogmouth is our favourite. This is a (6) ____ bird that is found from India, across Southeast Asia to Australia.

    The researchers analysed (7) ____ 30,000 bird photos from nine popular bird photography Instagram accounts. They created a special computer algorithm to find which photos (8) ____ the most "likes" on the photo-sharing platform. Ornithologist Tim Snyder suggested the frogmouth was the most liked bird because of its large eyes and (9) ____ beak. He said that while most birds' eyes are positioned on the sides of their head, the frogmouth's eyes are (10) ____ in the centre of its face, which makes the bird (11) ____ more "humanlike". Wildlife photographer Graeme Purdy told the BBC: "Anything cute and (12) ____ evokes something in human nature - and particularly anything with big eyes."

    Which of these words go in the above text?

    1. (a)     these     (b)     them     (c)     they     (d)     that    
    2. (a)     such     (b)     much     (c)     what     (d)     that    
    3. (a)     at     (b)     of     (c)     on     (d)     so    
    4. (a)     be     (b)     gives     (c)     does     (d)     makes    
    5. (a)     fund     (b)     fond     (c)     find     (d)     fend    
    6. (a)     sparkle     (b)     nocturnal     (c)     evening     (d)     eternal    
    7. (a)     close     (b)     nearly     (c)     closely     (d)     near    
    8. (a)     downloaded     (b)     attracted     (c)     photographed     (d)     liked    
    9. (a)     width     (b)     widen     (c)     wide     (d)     widens    
    10. (a)     many     (b)     some     (c)     much     (d)     more    
    11. (a)     appeared     (b)     appearing     (c)     appears     (d)     appear    
    12. (a)     cuddles     (b)     cuddle     (c)     cuddled     (d)     cuddly

    Spelling

    Paragraph 1

    1. recently bpehidlus a study
    2. a photo and video-sharing social rotewnikgn service
    3. which uploaded images are eaiwlevb
    4. rherrcsaese are from the university
    5. They viseedcodr that the frogmouth is our favourite
    6. This is a aclrnnuot bird

    Paragraph 2

    1. nine popular bird ghohyprotpa Instagram accounts
    2. a special computer higltmrao
    3. which photos taedtcrta the most "likes"
    4. eyes are dnipotisoe on the sides
    5. Anything cute and ucyddl
    6. arupcrlltayi anything with big eyes

    Put the text back together

    (...)  accounts. They created a special computer algorithm to find which photos attracted the most
    (...)  face, which makes the bird appear more "humanlike". Wildlife photographer Graeme Purdy told the
    (  1  ) It seems we share photos online of everything these days, from what we eat for
    (...)  of bird photos we like on the social media site Instagram. This is a photo and video-sharing social
    (...)  bird photo?" They tried to find the most 'instagrammable' bird. They discovered that the frogmouth
    (...)  positioned on the sides of their head, the frogmouth's eyes are more in the centre of its
    (...)  networking service on which uploaded images are viewable for just 24 hours. The researchers are from
    (...)  is our favourite. This is a nocturnal bird that is found from India, across Southeast Asia to Australia.
    (...)  "likes" on the photo-sharing platform. Ornithologist Tim Snyder suggested the frogmouth was the most
    (...)  BBC: "Anything cute and cuddly evokes something in human nature - and particularly anything with big eyes."
    (...)  breakfast to the new shoes we have bought. Researchers have recently published a study about what kinds
    (...)  the University of Konstanz in Germany. They looked into the question: "What makes a great
    (...)  liked bird because of its large eyes and wide beak. He said that while most birds' eyes are
    (...)  The researchers analysed nearly 30,000 bird photos from nine popular bird photography Instagram

    Put the words in the right order

    1. days   .   photos   online   of   these   share   everything   We
    2. What   we   of   bird   kinds   photos   like   .
    3. just   viewable   are   images   24   Uploaded   hours   .   for
    4. find   tried   most   the   They   to   'instagrammable'   bird   .
    5. in   that   bird   India   nocturnal   found   A   is
    6. bird   The   photos   .   researchers   analysed   nearly   30,000
    7. computer   to   A   find   special   algorithm   photos   .   the
    8. are   on   eyes   birds'   sides   .   the   positioned   Most
    9. humanlike   .   bird   the   makes   more   appear   This
    10. in   cute   Anything   human   something   evokes   nature   .

    Circle the correct word (20 pairs)

    It seems / seem we share photos online of everything these days, from what we eat for / from breakfast to the new shoes we have brought / bought. Researchers have recently published the / a study about what kinds of bird photos we like on the social media sight / site Instagram. This is a photo and video-sharing social networking service on which downloaded / uploaded images are viewable for just 24 hours / hourly. The researchers are from the University of Konstanz in Germany. They looked into the question: "What makes a grate / great bird photo?" They tried to find the most 'instagrammable' bird. They discovery / discovered that the frogmouth is our favourite. This is a nocturnal / nocturne bird that is found from India, across Southeast Asia to Australia.

    The researchers analysed nears / nearly 30,000 bird photos from nine popularity / popular bird photography Instagram accounts. They created a special computer algorithm to fund / find which photos attracted / attractive the most "likes" on the photo-sharing stage / platform. Ornithologist Tim Snyder suggested the frogmouth was the most liked bird because / due of its large eyes and wide beak. He said that while most birds' eyes are positioned / posted on the sides of their head, the frogmouth's eyes are more on / in the centre of its face, which makes the bird appear more "humanlike". Wildlife photography / photographer Graeme Purdy told the BBC: "Anything cute and cuddle / cuddly evokes something in human nature - and particularly anything with big eyes."

    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)

    _t  s__ms  w_  sh_r_  ph_t_s  _nl_n_  _f  _v_ryth_ng  th_s_  d_ys,  fr_m  wh_t  w_  __t  f_r  br__kf_st  t_  th_  n_w  sh__s  w_  h_v_  b__ght.  R_s__rch_rs  h_v_  r_c_ntly  p_bl_sh_d  _  st_dy  _b__t  wh_t  k_nds  _f  b_rd  ph_t_s  w_  l_k_  _n  th_  s_c__l  m_d__  s_t_  _nst_gr_m.  Th_s  _s  _  ph_t_  _nd  v_d__-sh_r_ng  s_c__l  n_tw_rk_ng  s_rv_c_  _n  wh_ch  _pl__d_d  _m_g_s  _r_  v__w_bl_  f_r  j_st  24  h__rs.  Th_  r_s__rch_rs  _r_  fr_m  th_  _n_v_rs_ty  _f  K_nst_nz  _n  G_rm_ny.  Th_y  l__k_d  _nt_  th_  q__st__n:  "Wh_t  m_k_s  _  gr__t  b_rd  ph_t_?"  Th_y  tr__d  t_  f_nd  th_  m_st  '_nst_gr_mm_bl_'  b_rd.  Th_y  d_sc_v_r_d  th_t  th_  fr_gm__th  _s  __r  f_v__r_t_.  Th_s  _s  _  n_ct_rn_l  b_rd  th_t  _s  f__nd  fr_m  _nd__,  _cr_ss  S__th__st  _s__  t_  __str_l__.

    Th_  r_s__rch_rs  _n_lys_d  n__rly  30,000  b_rd  ph_t_s  fr_m  n_n_  p_p_l_r  b_rd  ph_t_gr_phy  _nst_gr_m  _cc__nts.  Th_y  cr__t_d  _  sp_c__l  c_mp_t_r  _lg_r_thm  t_  f_nd  wh_ch  ph_t_s  _ttr_ct_d  th_  m_st  "l_k_s"  _n  th_  ph_t_-sh_r_ng  pl_tf_rm.  _rn_th_l_g_st  T_m  Snyd_r  s_gg_st_d  th_  fr_gm__th  w_s  th_  m_st  l_k_d  b_rd  b_c__s_  _f  _ts  l_rg_  _y_s  _nd  w_d_  b__k.  H_  s__d  th_t  wh_l_  m_st  b_rds'  _y_s  _r_  p_s_t__n_d  _n  th_  s_d_s  _f  th__r  h__d,  th_  fr_gm__th's  _y_s  _r_  m_r_  _n  th_  c_ntr_  _f  _ts  f_c_,  wh_ch  m_k_s  th_  b_rd  _pp__r  m_r_  "h_m_nl_k_".  W_ldl_f_  ph_t_gr_ph_r  Gr__m_  P_rdy  t_ld  th_  BBC:  "_nyth_ng  c_t_  _nd  c_ddly  _v_k_s  s_m_th_ng  _n  h_m_n  n_t_r_  -  _nd  p_rt_c_l_rly  _nyth_ng  w_th  b_g  _y_s."

    Punctuate the text and add capitals

    it seems we share photos online of everything these days from what we eat for breakfast to the new shoes we have bought researchers have recently published a study about what kinds of bird photos we like on the social media site instagram this is a photo and videosharing social networking service on which uploaded images are viewable for just 24 hours the researchers are from the university of konstanz in germany they looked into the question what makes a great bird photo they tried to find the most instagrammable bird they discovered that the frogmouth is our favourite this is a nocturnal bird that is found from india across southeast asia to australia

    the researchers analysed nearly 30000 bird photos from nine popular bird photography instagram accounts they created a special computer algorithm to find which photos attracted the most likes on the photosharing platform ornithologist tim snyder suggested the frogmouth was the most liked bird because of its large eyes and wide beak he said that while most birds eyes are positioned on the sides of their head the frogmouths eyes are more in the centre of its face which makes the bird appear more humanlike wildlife photographer graeme purdy told the bbc anything cute and cuddly evokes something in human nature  and particularly anything with big eyes

    Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

    Itseemswesharephotosonlineofeverythingthesedays,fromwhatwee
    atforbreakfasttothenewshoeswehavebought.Researchershaverece
    ntlypublishedastudyaboutwhatkindsofbirdphotoswelikeonthesocial
    mediasiteInstagram.Thisisaphotoandvideo-sharingsocialnetwor
    kingserviceonwhichuploadedimagesareviewableforjust24hours.Th
    eresearchersarefromtheUniversityofKonstanzinGermany.Theylook
    edintothequestion:"Whatmakesagreatbirdphoto?"Theytriedtofindt
    hemost'instagrammable'bird.Theydiscoveredthatthefrogmouthisou
    rfavourite.ThisisanocturnalbirdthatisfoundfromIndia,acrossSouthe
    astAsiatoAustralia.Theresearchersanalysednearly30,000birdphoto
    sfromninepopularbirdphotographyInstagramaccounts.Theycreated
    aspecialcomputeralgorithmtofindwhichphotosattractedthemost"lik
    es"onthephoto-sharingplatform.OrnithologistTimSnydersuggeste
    dthefrogmouthwasthemostlikedbirdbecauseofitslargeeyesandwide
    beak.Hesaidthatwhilemostbirds'eyesarepositionedonthesidesofthei
    rhead,thefrogmouth'seyesaremoreinthecentreofitsface,whichmake
    sthebirdappearmore"humanlike".WildlifephotographerGraemePurd
    ytoldtheBBC:"Anythingcuteandcuddlyevokessomethinginhumanna
    ture-andparticularlyanythingwithbigeyes."

    Free writing

    Write about bird photos for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

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    Academic writing

    Bird photos on social media are better than breakfast photos. Discuss.

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    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 this news story. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.
    3. BIRD PHOTOS: Make a poster about bird photos. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?
    4. SOCIAL MEDIA: Write a magazine article about making social media companies delete all social media posts 24 hours after they are posted. Include imaginary interviews with people who are for and against this.
    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 bird photos. Ask him/her three questions about them. Give him/her three of your opinions on birds. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

    A Few Additional Activities for Students

    Ask your students what they have read, seen or heard about this news in their own language. Students are likely to / may have have encountered this news in their L1 and therefore bring a background knowledge to the classroom.

    Get students to role play different characters from this news story.

    Ask students to keep track of this news and revisit it to discuss in your next class.

    Ask students to male predictions of how this news might develop in the next few days or weeks, and then revisit and discuss in a future class.

    Ask students to write a follow-up story to this news.

    Students role play a journalist and someone who witnessed or was a part of this news. Perhaps they could make a video of the interview.

    Ask students to keep a news journal in English and add this story to their thoughts.

    Also...

    Buy my 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers eBook. It has hundreds of ideas, activity templates, reproducible activities for:

    • News
    • Warm ups
    • Pre-reading / Post-reading
    • Using headlines
    • Working with words
    • While-reading / While-listening
    • Moving from text to speech
    • Post-reading / Post-listening
    • Discussions
    • Using opinions
    • Plans
    • Language
    • Using lists
    • Using quotes
    • Task-based activities
    • Role plays
    • Using the central characters in the article
    • Using themes from the news
    • Homework

    Buy my book

    $US 9.99

    Answers

    (Please look at page 26 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

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