The Reading / Listening - Early Risers - Level 3

Early risers are people who naturally wake up early in the morning. Their body clock causes them to get up while most of us are still in deep sleep. Researchers at the University of California said early risers could have some shared DNA from Neanderthals – our ancestors who lived over 40,000 years ago. Neanderthals lived in northern parts of Europe and Asia. They woke up earlier to hunt for or gather food as the sun rose. Researcher Dr Tony Capra said: "At higher latitudes it is beneficial to have a body clock that is better able to anticipate and change to match the changing seasonal light levels." He added: "Having a 'faster' body clock…makes individuals more likely to rise early."

Scientists have spent a long time looking at why some people are early birds, while others are night owls. They looked at a medical database with genetic information for hundreds of thousands of people. They compared the DNA of people who said they were early risers with the Neanderthal DNA. Their research found more examples of Neanderthal DNA existed in the early risers. However, it is likely that the Neanderthal gene is not so strong in many people. The effect of the Neanderthal DNA may be weakening as the centuries pass. Our modern lifestyles mean many of us prefer sleeping in to leaving the comfort of our bed. Nevertheless, it may still be true that the early bird catches the worm.

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

    Early Risers - Level 0,  Early Risers - Level 1   or  Early Risers - Level 2

Sources
  • https://edition.cnn.com/2023/12/14/health/early-risers-neanderthal-dna-scn/index.html
  • https://gizmodo.com/neanderthal-genes-humans-morning-person-early-riser-1851098940
  • https://www.boredpanda.com/early-risers-can-have-neanderthals-dna/


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. EARLY RISERS: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about early risers. 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?
       early risers / wake up / morning / deep sleep / ancestors / hunt / body clock / light /
       birds / database / genes / DNA / Neanderthals / centuries / modern lifestyles / worms
Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.
3. DAWN: Students A strongly believe everyone should wake up at the crack of dawn; Students B strongly believe otherwise. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
4. RISING EARLY: What could people do by getting up at 5 a.m.? Would you like to do this? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

 

Things People Could Do

Me

Exercise

 

 

Walking

 

 

Studying

 

 

Hobbies

 

 

Studying

 

 

Housework

 

 
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. CLOCK: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "clock". Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.
6. MODERN LIFESTYLES: Rank these with your partner. Put the things most likely to stop you sleeping at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

  • Work
  • Studying
  • Movies
  • Smartphones
  • Social life
  • Housework
  • Gaming
  • Stress

 

Vocabulary

    Paragraph 1

      1. ancestors a. Think of as probable; expect or predict.
      2. hunt b. Follow a wild animal to kill it (for food or sport).
      3. gather c. Regions, especially with reference to their temperature and distance from the equator.
      4. latitudes d. People in our family who are from our great-grandparents and go back thousands of years.
      5. beneficial e. Individual people.
      6. anticipate f. Collect plants, fruits, etc., for food.
      7. individuals g. Resulting in good things.

    Paragraph 2

      8. early bird h. Estimated, measured, or noted the similarity or dissimilarity between.
      9. night owl i. A set of data and information held in a computer.
      10. database j. A unit of biological information which is transferred from a parent to their children.
      11. compared k. A person who wakes up, arrives, or acts before the usual or expected time.
      12. existed l. A person who is active or awake at night.
      13. gene m. Periods of hundreds of years.
      14. centuries n. Was real.

 

Before reading / listening

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

  1. The article says early risers set an alarm clock to wake up.     T / F
  2. The researchers found DNA at the University of California.     T / F
  3. Neanderthals were on Earth 40,000 years ago.     T / F
  4. Researchers said a slower body clock means we wake up earlier.     T / F
  5. Owls share a similar kind of DNA to Neanderthals.     T / F
  6. Scientists compared Neanderthal DNA with DNA in a medical database.   T / F
  7. The Neanderthal DNA could be becoming weaker.     T / F
  8. The article says the early worm catches the bird.     T / F

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

  1. ancestors
  2. gather
  3. beneficial
  4. anticipate
  5. rise
  6. information
  7. existed
  8. likely
  9. pass
  10. comfort
  1. probable
  2. details
  3. get up
  4. luxury
  5. predict
  6. collect
  7. go by
  8. forebears
  9. was found
  10. advantageous

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

  1. people who naturally wake
  2. most of us are still in
  3. our ancestors who
  4. hunt for or gather
  5. body
  6. some people are early
  7. a medical database with genetic
  8. DNA may be weakening
  9. leaving the comfort
  10. the early bird
  1. information
  2. lived over 40,000 years ago
  3. of our bed
  4. birds
  5. catches the worm
  6. up early in the morning
  7. as the centuries pass
  8. food
  9. deep sleep
  10. clock

Gap fill

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
shared
latitudes
ancestors
individuals
naturally
seasonal
deep
rose

Early risers are people who (1) _____________________ wake up early in the morning. Their body clock causes them to get up while most of us are still in (2) _____________________ sleep. Researchers at the University of California said early risers could have some (3) _____________________ DNA from Neanderthals – our (4) _____________________ who lived over 40,000 years ago. Neanderthals lived in northern parts of Europe and Asia. They woke up earlier to hunt for or gather food as the sun (5) _____________________. Researcher Dr Tony Capra said: "At higher (6) _____________________, it is beneficial to have a body clock that is better able to anticipate and change to match the changing (7) _____________________ light levels." He added: "Having a 'faster' body clock…makes (8) _____________________ more likely to rise early."

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
gene
centuries
genetic
prefer
owls
effect
worm
examples

Scientists have spent a long time looking at why some people are early birds, while others are night (9) _____________________. They looked at a medical database with (10) _____________________ information for hundreds of thousands of people. They compared the DNA of people who said they were early risers with the Neanderthal DNA. Their research found more (11) _____________________ of Neanderthal DNA existed in the early risers. However, it is likely that the Neanderthal (12) _____________________ is not so strong in many people. The (13) _____________________ of the Neanderthal DNA may be weakening as the (14) _____________________ pass. Our modern lifestyles mean many of us (15) _____________________ sleeping in to leaving the comfort of our bed. Nevertheless, it may still be true that the early bird catches the (16) _____________________.

Listening — Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1) Their body clock causes them to get up while most of us are still ______
     a.  indie sleep
     b.  in deeps sleep
     c.  in deep sleep
     d.  in deep sleeps
2)  early risers could have some shared DNA from Neanderthals – ______
     a.  hour ancestors
     b.  our ancestorial
     c.  our ancestors
     d.  our ancestry
3)  At higher latitudes, it is beneficial to have ______
     a.  a bodily clock
     b.  a body clock
     c.  a body cloak
     d.  a body crook
4)  better able to anticipate and change to match the ______
     a.  changing season all light
     b.  changing season a light
     c.  changing seasonal light
     d.  changing seasonal lite
5)  Having a 'faster' body clock…makes individuals more likely ______
     a.  to rise early
     b.  to arise early
     c.  to riser early
     d.  to raise early

6)  spent a long time looking at why some people are early birds, while others ______
     a.  are night owls
     b.  are night towels
     c.  are nigh towels
     d.  are night outs
7)  Their research found more examples of Neanderthal ______
     a.  DNA exited
     b.  DNA existed
     c.  DNA exalted
     d.  DNA ex listed
8)  The effect of the Neanderthal DNA may be weakening as ______
     a.  the centuries past
     b.  the centuries pass
     c.  the centuries parse
     d.  the centuries passe
9)  Our modern lifestyles mean many of us prefer sleeping in to ______
     a.  leaving the come fort
     b.  leaving the comforter
     c.  leaving the comfy
     d.  leaving the comfort
10)  Nevertheless, it may still be true that the early bird ______
     a.  catches the worn
     b.  catches the worm
     c.  catches the wham
     d.  catches the warm

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

Early risers are people who (1) ____________________ early in the morning. Their body clock causes them to get up while most of us are still in deep sleep. Researchers at the University of California said early risers could have some shared DNA from Neanderthals – our (2) ____________________ over 40,000 years ago. Neanderthals lived (3) ____________________ of Europe and Asia. They woke up earlier to hunt for or gather food as the sun rose. Researcher Dr Tony Capra said: "(4) ____________________, it is beneficial to have a body clock that is better (5) ____________________ and change to match the changing seasonal light levels." He added: "Having a 'faster' body clock…makes individuals more (6) ____________________ early."

Scientists have spent a long time looking at why some people are early birds, while others (7) ____________________. They looked at a medical database with genetic information for (8) ____________________ of people. They compared the DNA of people who said they were early risers with the Neanderthal DNA. Their research found (9) ____________________ Neanderthal DNA existed in the early risers. However, it is likely that the Neanderthal gene is not so strong in many people. The effect of the Neanderthal DNA may be (10) ____________________ centuries pass. Our modern lifestyles mean many of us prefer sleeping in to leaving (11) ____________________ our bed. Nevertheless, it may still be true that the early bird (12) ____________________.

Comprehension questions

  1. What causes early risers to wake up early?
  2. What university do the researchers work at?
  3. How long ago did Neanderthals live?
  4. What did Neanderthals do as the sun rose?
  5. What seasonal thing can early risers anticipate?
  6. What might you be if you are not an early bird?
  7. What did a database contain that the researchers looked at?
  8. What did the article say might be weakening?
  9. What makes many people prefer sleeping in?
  10. What gets the worm?

Multiple choice quiz

1) What causes early risers to wake up early?
a) chickens
b) stress
c) their body clock
d) their alarm clock
2) What university do the researchers work at?
a) the University of California
b) the University of London
c) the University of Sleep
d) the University of Neanderthals
3) How long ago did Neanderthals live?
a) over 40,000 years ago
b) fewer than 40,000 years ago
c) around 40,000 years ago
d) exactly 40,000 years ago
4) What did Neanderthals do as the sun rose?
a) pray
b) hunt for and gather food
c) tidy their bed
d) yawn
5) What seasonal thing can early risers anticipate?
a) how much sleep is best
b) food
c) temperature
d) seasonal light levels

6) What might you be if you are not an early bird?
a) a late bird
b) a night owl
c) a cat
d) a bat
7) What did a database contain that the researchers looked at?
a) genetic information
b) sleep information
c) worms
d) details about body clocks
8) What did the article say might be weakening?
a) sleeplessness
b) our body clocks
c) the effect of Neanderthal DNA
d) our modern lifestyles
9) What makes many people prefer sleeping in?
a) noisy birds
b) the threat or worms
c) genes
d) our modern lifestyle
10) What gets the worm?
a) the early bird
b) a fisherperson
c) a mouse
d) a bear

Role play

Role  A – Work
You think work is the thing that affects our sleep most. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their things aren’t as bad. Also, tell the others which is the thing that least affects sleep of these (and why): studying, stress or gaming.

Role  B – Studying
You think studying is the thing that affects our sleep most. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their things aren’t as bad. Also, tell the others which is the thing that least affects sleep of these (and why): work, stress or gaming.

Role  C – Stress
You think a stress is the thing that affects our sleep most. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their things aren’t as bad. Also, tell the others which is the thing that least affects sleep of these (and why): studying, work or gaming.

Role  D – Gaming
You think gaming is the thing that affects our sleep most. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their things aren’t as bad. Also, tell the others which is the thing that least affects sleep of these (and why): studying, stress or work.

After reading / listening

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

'early'

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

    • and 'bird'.

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

    • • 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:

    • naturally
    • deep
    • lived
    • hunt
    • better
    • light
    • time
    • information
    • examples
    • strong
    • prefer
    • true

    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 - Early Risers

    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 'early'?
    3. What are the good things about being an early riser?
    4. What do you know about Neanderthals?
    5. What do you know about your body clock?
    6. What do you know about DNA?
    7. What do you do when you wake up early?
    8. How do you feel when you wake up late?
    9. What's the best time to wake up?
    10. Would you prefer to live in higher or lower latitudes?

    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 'bird'?
    3. What do you think about what you read?
    4. Are you a night owl or an early bird?
    5. Why do some people prefer mornings?
    6. Is it healthier to wake up when the sun rises?
    7. How has technology changed our sleeping patterns?
    8. How comfortable is your bed?
    9. Does the early bird catch the worm?
    10. What questions would you like to ask the scientists?

    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)

    Early risers are people who (1) ____ wake up early in the morning. Their body clock causes them to get up while most of us are still in (2) ____ sleep. Researchers at the University of California said early risers could have some (3) ____ DNA from Neanderthals – our ancestors who lived over 40,000 years ago. Neanderthals lived in northern parts of Europe and Asia. They woke (4) ____ earlier to hunt for or gather food as the sun rose. Researcher Dr Tony Capra said: "(5) ____ higher latitudes, it is beneficial to have a body clock that is better able to anticipate and change to match the changing seasonal light levels." He added: "Having a 'faster' body clock…makes individuals more (6) ____ to rise early."

    Scientists have spent a long time looking at why some people are early birds, while others are night (7) ____. They looked at a medical database with genetic information for hundreds of thousands of people. They compared the DNA of people who said they were early risers (8) ____ the Neanderthal DNA. Their research found more examples of Neanderthal DNA (9) ____ in the early risers. However, it is likely that the Neanderthal gene is not so strong in many people. The effect of the Neanderthal DNA may be weakening (10) ____ the centuries pass. Our modern lifestyles mean many of us prefer sleeping (11) ____ to leaving the comfort of our bed. Nevertheless, it may still be true that the early bird catches the (12) ____.

    Which of these words go in the above text?

    1. (a)     natural     (b)     naturally     (c)     nature     (d)     naturalize    
    2. (a)     depth     (b)     deep     (c)     deepen     (d)     deeps    
    3. (a)     shaved     (b)     shamed     (c)     shaped     (d)     shared    
    4. (a)     in     (b)     up     (c)     down     (d)     on    
    5. (a)     Off     (b)     At     (c)     To     (d)     As    
    6. (a)     lively     (b)     lovely     (c)     likely     (d)     lamely    
    7. (a)     gowns     (b)     howls     (c)     owls     (d)     bowels    
    8. (a)     by     (b)     at     (c)     with     (d)     on    
    9. (a)     exalted     (b)     exited     (c)     exerted     (d)     existed    
    10. (a)     as     (b)     has     (c)     was     (d)     is    
    11. (a)     in     (b)     on     (c)     of     (d)     up    
    12. (a)     sleep     (b)     bed     (c)     worm     (d)     ball

    Spelling

    Paragraph 1

    1. people who uranltlya wake up early
    2. our tcaesnors who lived over 40,000 years ago
    3. it is licniaeefb to have a body clock
    4. at higher tatileuds
    5. match the changing eanslaso light levels
    6. ivdniiaulds more likely to rise early

    Paragraph 2

    1. a medical ebaastda
    2. inegtce information
    3. They aredmcpo the DNA of people
    4. DNA xtisdee in the early risers
    5. Neanderthal DNA may be nwkgniaee
    6. as the seecnrtui pass

    Put the text back together

    (...)   clock causes them to get up while most of us are still in deep sleep. Researchers
    (...)   comfort of our bed. Nevertheless, it may still be true that the early bird catches the worm.
    (...)   for or gather food as the sun rose. Researcher Dr Tony Capra said: "At higher
    (...)   Scientists have spent a long time looking at why some people are early birds, while others are night
    (...)   at the University of California said early risers could have some shared DNA from Neanderthals – our ancestors who
    (...)   that the Neanderthal gene is not so strong in many people. The effect of the Neanderthal DNA may be
    (  1  )   Early risers are people who naturally wake up early in the morning. Their body
    (...)   latitudes, it is beneficial to have a body clock that is better able to anticipate and change to match the changing seasonal
    (...)   DNA. Their research found more examples of Neanderthal DNA existed in the early risers. However, it is likely
    (...)   weakening as the centuries pass. Our modern lifestyles mean many of us prefer sleeping in to leaving the
    (...)   lived over 40,000 years ago. Neanderthals lived in northern parts of Europe and Asia. They woke up earlier to hunt
    (...)   of people. They compared the DNA of people who said they were early risers with the Neanderthal
    (...)   light levels." He added:   "Having a 'faster' body clock…makes individuals more likely to rise early."
    (...)   owls. They looked at a medical database with genetic information for hundreds of thousands

    Put the words in the right order

    1. early   .   up   wake   people   risers   who   Early   are
    2. body   them   Their   causes   up   .   get   clock   to
    3. DNA   .   some   have   shared   risers   Early   could
    4. of   northern   parts   lived   in   Europe   .   Neanderthals
    5. levels   .   changing   the   seasonal   match   to   Change   light
    6. have   spent   time   long   a   Scientists   looking   .
    7. in   The   strong   people   .   Neanderthal   so   isn't   gene
    8. effect   is   weakening   .   of   the   DNA   The   Neanderthal
    9. sleeping   we   lifestyles   in   .   prefer   Our   mean   modern
    10. True   bird   catches   the   the   that   worm   .   early

    Circle the correct word (20 pairs)

    Early risers are people who natural / naturally wake up early in the morning. Their body clock causes them to get up while most of us are still in depth / deep sleep. Researchers at the University of California said early risers could have some shared / shaved DNA from Neanderthals – our ancestors / ancestral who lived over 40,000 years ago. Neanderthals lived in northern parts off / of Europe and Asia. They woke up earlier to hunt / hunting for or gather food as the sun arose / rose. Researcher Dr Tony Capra said: "At higher latitudes, it is beneficial to / for have a body clock that is better able to anticipate and change / charge to match the changing seasonal light levels." He added:  "Having a 'faster' body clock…makes individuals more lively / likely to rise early."

    Scientists have spent a long / length time looking at why some people are early birds, while another / others are night owls. They looked at a medical database with genetic / genetically information for hundreds of thousands of people. They compared / comparison the DNA of people who said they were early risers with the Neanderthal DNA. Their research found more example / examples of Neanderthal DNA existed in the early risers. However, it is likely that the Neanderthal gene is not so strengthen / strong in many people. The effect / affect of the Neanderthal DNA may be weakening as the centuries past / pass. Our modern lifestyles mean many of us prefer sleeping on / in to leaving the comfort of our bed. Nevertheless, it may still be true / truly that the early bird catches the worm.

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

    Insert the vowels (a, e, i, o, u)

    __rly  r_s_rs  _r_  p__pl_  wh_  n_t_r_lly  w_k_  _p  __rly  _n  th_  m_rn_ng.  Th__r  b_dy  cl_ck  c__s_s  th_m  t_  g_t  _p  wh_l_  m_st  _f  _s  _r_  st_ll  _n  d__p  sl__p.  R_s__rch_rs  _t  th_  _n_v_rs_ty  _f  C_l_f_rn__  s__d  __rly  r_s_rs  c__ld  h_v_  s_m_  sh_r_d  DN_  fr_m  N__nd_rth_ls  –  __r  _nc_st_rs  wh_  l_v_d  _v_r  40,000  y__rs  _g_.  N__nd_rth_ls  l_v_d  _n  n_rth_rn  p_rts  _f  __r_p_  _nd  _s__.  Th_y  w_k_  _p  __rl__r  t_  h_nt  f_r  _r  g_th_r  f__d  _s  th_  s_n  r_s_.  R_s__rch_r  Dr  T_ny  C_pr_  s__d:  "_t  h_gh_r  l_t_t_d_s  _t  _s  b_n_f_c__l  t_  h_v_  _  b_dy  cl_ck  th_t  _s  b_tt_r  _bl_  t_  _nt_c_p_t_  _nd  ch_ng_  t_  m_tch  th_  ch_ng_ng  s__s_n_l  l_ght  l_v_ls."  H_  _dd_d:    "H_v_ng  _  'f_st_r'  b_dy  cl_ck…m_k_s  _nd_v_d__ls  m_r_  l_k_ly  t_  r_s_  __rly."

    Sc__nt_sts  h_v_  sp_nt  _  l_ng  t_m_  l__k_ng  _t  why  s_m_  p__pl_  _r_  __rly  b_rds,  wh_l_  _th_rs  _r_  n_ght  _wls.  Th_y  l__k_d  _t  _  m_d_c_l  d_t_b_s_  w_th  g_n_t_c  _nf_rm_t__n  f_r  h_ndr_ds  _f  th__s_nds  _f  p__pl_.  Th_y  c_mp_r_d  th_  DN_  _f  p__pl_  wh_  s__d  th_y  w_r_  __rly  r_s_rs  w_th  th_  N__nd_rth_l  DN_.  Th__r  r_s__rch  f__nd  m_r_  _x_mpl_s  _f  N__nd_rth_l  DN_  _x_st_d  _n  th_  __rly  r_s_rs.  H_w_v_r,  _t  _s  l_k_ly  th_t  th_  N__nd_rth_l  g_n_  _s  n_t  s_  str_ng  _n  m_ny  p__pl_.  Th_  _ff_ct  _f  th_  N__nd_rth_l  DN_  m_y  b_  w__k_n_ng  _s  th_  c_nt_r__s  p_ss.  __r  m_d_rn  l_f_styl_s  m__n  m_ny  _f  _s  pr_f_r  sl__p_ng  _n  t_  l__v_ng  th_  c_mf_rt  _f  __r  b_d.  N_v_rth_l_ss,  _t  m_y  st_ll  b_  tr__  th_t  th_  __rly  b_rd  c_tch_s  th_  w_rm.

    Punctuate the text and add capitals

    early risers are people who naturally wake up early in the morning their body clock causes them to get up while most of us are still in deep sleep researchers at the university of california said early risers could have some shared dna from neanderthals  our ancestors who lived over 40000 years ago neanderthals lived in northern parts of europe and asia they woke up earlier to hunt for or gather food as the sun rose researcher dr tony capra said at higher latitudes it is beneficial to have a body clock that is better able to anticipate and change to match the changing seasonal light levels he added having a faster body clockmakes individuals more likely to rise early

    scientists have spent a long time looking at why some people are early birds while others are night owls they looked at a medical database with genetic information for hundreds of thousands of people they compared the dna of people who said they were early risers with the neanderthal dna their research found more examples of neanderthal dna existed in the early risers however it is likely that the neanderthal gene is not so strong in many people the effect of the neanderthal dna may be weakening as the centuries pass our modern lifestyles mean many of us prefer sleeping in to leaving the comfort of our bed nevertheless it may still be true that the early bird catches the worm

    Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

    Earlyrisersarepeoplewhonaturallywakeupearlyinthemorning.Theirb
    odyclockcausesthemtogetupwhilemostofusarestillindeepsleep.Res
    earchersattheUniversityofCaliforniasaidearlyriserscouldhavesomes
    haredDNAfromNeanderthals–ourancestorswholivedover40,000yea
    rsago.NeanderthalslivedinnorthernpartsofEuropeandAsia.Theywok
    eupearliertohuntfororgatherfoodasthesunrose.ResearcherDrTonyC
    aprasaid:"Athigherlatitudes,itisbeneficialtohaveabodyclockthatisbe
    tterabletoanticipateandchangetomatchthechangingseasonallightle
    vels."Headded:"Havinga'faster'bodyclock…makesindividualsmoreli
    kelytoriseearly."Scientistshavespentalongtimelookingatwhysomep
    eopleareearlybirds,whileothersarenightowls.Theylookedatamedical
    databasewithgeneticinformationforhundredsofthousandsofpeople.
    TheycomparedtheDNAofpeoplewhosaidtheywereearlyriserswiththe
    NeanderthalDNA.TheirresearchfoundmoreexamplesofNeanderthal
    DNAexistedintheearlyrisers.However,itislikelythattheNeanderthalg
    eneisnotsostronginmanypeople.TheeffectoftheNeanderthalDNAma
    ybeweakeningasthecenturiespass.Ourmodernlifestylesmeanmany
    ofusprefersleepingintoleavingthecomfortofourbed.Nevertheless,it
    maystillbetruethattheearlybirdcatchestheworm.

    Free writing

    Write about early risers for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

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    Academic writing

    Everyone should get up early in the morning. 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. EARLY RISERS: Make a poster about early risers. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?
    4. 6 AM: Write a magazine article about everyone getting up at 6 a.m. 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 early risers. Ask him/her three questions about them. Give him/her three of your opinions on getting up early. 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

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    Answers

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

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