Breaking News English Lesson: Turbulence

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Turbulence forces plane into emergency landing (4th July 2024)

The Reading / Listening - Turbulence - Level 3

Severe turbulence forced an airplane into an emergency landing on Monday. Nearly 40 people were injured on the Air Europa Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane. It was flying from Spain to Uruguay. Turbulence hit the plane over the Atlantic, as it neared South America. Air traffic controllers told the pilot to make an emergency landing in Natal, in north-eastern Brazil. Many of the injured were treated at a hospital in Natal. Other injured people completed their journey to Uruguay's capital city Montevideo by bus. Air Europa sent a new plane from Madrid on Monday. It flew passengers who chose not to take the bus to their final destination. The turbulence is the latest in a string of mid-air occurrences to injure many people.

Turbulence is the violent or unsteady movement of air. Modern aircraft are designed to survive strong winds and dangerous pockets of air. It is extremely rare for turbulence to damage an airplane. It is even rarer for it to cause a plane to crash. The biggest danger to passengers comes from not wearing a seat belt. Anyone standing up in the airplane, or not wearing a seat belt while seated, can be thrown around the cabin. They can suffer bad injuries by hitting their head on overhead lockers or on the plane's ceiling. Scientists from Reading University in the UK reported that severe turbulence is getting worse because of climate change. They said incidents increased by 55 per cent between 1979 and 2020.

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

Turbulence - Level 0, Turbulence - Level 1 or Turbulence - Level 2

Sources

https://abcnews.go.com/International/air-europa-flight-turbulence/story
https://nypost.com/2024/07/01/world-news/at-least-30-injured-after-air-europa-flight-hits-turbulence/
https://news.sky.com/story/dozens-injured-after-air-europa-flight-hit-by-severe-turbulence-13162073

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. TURBULENCE: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about turbulence. 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?
turbulence / emergency / landing / flying / pilot / hospital / journey / injuries / bus /
violent / air / damage / passengers / cabin / overhead lockers / climate change
Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.
3. SEAT BELTS: Students A strongly believe people should wear seat belts on all forms of transport; Students B strongly believe the opposite. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
4. FLYING: How can these things be improved? How will this make things better? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

	Improvements	Better?
Check-in
Departure Gate
Seat
In-flight entertainment
Food
Cabin crew

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

Airplane
Train
Motorbike
Bus
Bicycle
E-scooter
Car
Subway

Vocabulary

Paragraph 1

1.	severe	a.	When a plane comes down to the ground.
2.	landing	b.	Taken care of, especially when sick or hurt.
3.	injured	c.	Came closer to.
4.	neared	d.	Hurt or having damage to your body.
5.	treated	e.	Very bad or serious.
6.	journey	f.	A person (not the driver) who is traveling in a vehicle like a car, bus, or plane.
7.	passenger	g.	A trip from one place to another.

Paragraph 2

8.	violent	h.	The top, inside part of a room.
9.	extremely	i.	Using strong force or causing hurt.
10.	rare	j.	To feel pain or hurt.
11.	cabin	k.	Something that happens, often something bad.
12.	suffer	l.	Not common or not happening often.
13.	ceiling	m.	A small room on a ship or plane where people stay.
14.	incident	n.	Very, very much.

Before reading / listening

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

More than 40 people were injured on an airplane because of turbulence. T / F
The airplane was flying from Uruguay to Spain. T / F
Some passengers finished their journey by bus. T / F
More people have been injured recently because of turbulence. T / F
Modern planes are rarely damaged by severe turbulence. T / F
The biggest risk for passengers is wearing a seat belt. T / F
Scientists say climate change is worsening turbulence. T / F
Incidents from turbulence have increased by 80% since 2020. T / F

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

injured
neared
treated
journey
latest
designed
rare
danger
incidents
increased

made
trip
risk
approached
rose
hurt
occurrences
most recent
looked after
uncommon

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

Turbulence hit the plane
Air traffic
the injured were treated
take the bus to
the latest in a string of mid-
Turbulence is the violent or unsteady
strong winds and dangerous
not wearing
They can suffer bad injuries
getting worse because

pockets of air
their final destination
of climate change
movement of air
over the Atlantic
at a hospital
by hitting their head
air occurrences
a seat belt
controllers told the pilot

Gap fill

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.

injured
mid-air
journey
neared
final
forced
flew
treated

Severe turbulence (1) _____________________ an airplane into an emergency landing on Monday. Nearly 40 people were (2) _____________________ on the Air Europa Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane. It was flying from Spain to Uruguay. Turbulence hit the plane over the Atlantic, as it (3) _____________________ South America. Air traffic controllers told the pilot to make an emergency landing in Natal, in north-eastern Brazil. Many of the injured were (4) _____________________ at a hospital in Natal. Other injured people completed their (5) _____________________ to Uruguay's capital city Montevideo by bus. Air Europa sent a new plane from Madrid on Monday. It (6) _____________________ passengers who chose not to take the bus to their (7) _____________________ destination. The turbulence is the latest in a string of (8) _____________________ occurrences to injure many people.

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.

wearing
lockers
winds
increased
movement
worse
rarer
cabin

Turbulence is the violent or unsteady (9) _____________________ of air. Modern aircraft are designed to survive strong (10) _____________________ and dangerous pockets of air. It is extremely rare for turbulence to damage an airplane. It is even (11) _____________________ for it to cause a plane to crash. The biggest danger to passengers comes from not (12) _____________________ a seat belt. Anyone standing up in the airplane, or not wearing a seat belt while seated, can be thrown around the (13) _____________________. They can suffer bad injuries by hitting their head on overhead (14) _____________________ or on the plane's ceiling. Scientists from Reading University in the UK reported that severe turbulence is getting (15) _____________________ because of climate change. They said incidents (16) _____________________ by 55 per cent between 1979 and 2020.

Listening — Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1) landing on Monday. Nearly 40 ______
     a. people were injury
     b. people were injuries
     c. people were endured
     d. people were injured
2) Turbulence hit the plane over the Atlantic, as it ______
     a. neared South America
     b. nearly South America
     c. marred South America
     d. nears South America
3) Other injured people ______
     a. completed there journey
     b. completed their journey
     c. completed them journey
     d. completed they journey
4) It flew passengers who chose not to take the bus to ______
     a. their finally destination
     b. their final destination
     c. their vinyl destination
     d. their fine all destination
5) The turbulence is the latest in a string of mid-air occurrences to ______
     a. injure many peoples
     b. injure many peopled
     c. injure many person
     d. injure many people

6) Turbulence is the violent or unsteady ______
     a. movement off air
     b. movement of air
     c. movement of fair
     d. movement off fair
7) Modern aircraft are designed to survive strong winds and dangerous ______
     a. pocket soft air
     b. pockets off air
     c. pockets of air
     d. pocket of air
8) It is even rarer for it to cause a ______
     a. plane too crash
     b. plane to clash
     c. plane to crash
     d. plane to crush
9) Anyone standing up in the airplane, or not wearing a seat ______
     a. belt while seat it
     b. belt wire seated
     c. belt whine seated
     d. belt while seated
10) Reading University in the UK reported that severe turbulence ______
     a. is getting worse
     b. is getting verse
     c. is getting worth
     d. is getting worms

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

Severe turbulence (1) ____________________ into an emergency landing on Monday. Nearly 40 people (2) ____________________ the Air Europa Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane. It was flying from Spain to Uruguay. Turbulence hit the plane over the Atlantic, as it neared South America. Air (3) ____________________ the pilot to make an emergency landing in Natal, in north-eastern Brazil. Many of the injured (4) ____________________ a hospital in Natal. Other injured people completed (5) ____________________ Uruguay's capital city Montevideo by bus. Air Europa sent a new plane from Madrid on Monday. It (6) ____________________ chose not to take the bus to their final destination. The turbulence is the latest in a string of mid-air occurrences to injure many people.

Turbulence (7) ____________________ or unsteady movement of air. Modern aircraft are designed to survive strong winds and dangerous pockets of air. It (8) ____________________ for turbulence to damage an airplane. It is even rarer for it to cause a plane to crash. The (9) ____________________ passengers comes from not wearing a seat belt. Anyone standing up in the airplane, or not wearing (10) ____________________ while seated, can be thrown around the cabin. They can suffer bad injuries by (11) ____________________ on overhead lockers or on the plane's ceiling. Scientists from Reading University in the UK reported that severe turbulence is getting worse because of climate change. They (12) ____________________ by 55 per cent between 1979 and 2020.

Comprehension questions

How many people were injured on board the airplane?
Where did the plane begin its journey?
Who told the plane to make an emergency landing?
In which Brazilian city did the plane land?
How did some passengers get to Montevideo?
What are modern airplanes designed to survive?
What must passengers wear on an airplane?
What might passengers hit their head on besides the plane's ceiling?
Why are incidents of severe turbulence increasing?
By how much have incidents of severe turbulence increased since 1979?

Multiple choice quiz

1) How many people were injured on board the airplane?
a) just over 40
b) around 40
c) exactly 40
d) nearly 40
2) Where did the plane begin its journey?
a) France
b) Spain
c) Brazil
d) Uruguay
3) Who told the plane to make an emergency landing?
a) the cabin crew
b) the passengers
c) a CEO
d) air traffic controllers
4) In which Brazilian city did the plane land?
a) Brasilia
b) Rio
c) Natal
d) Sao Paolo
5) How did some passengers get to Montevideo?
a) by ship
b) by train
c) by helicopter
d) by bus

6) What are modern airplanes designed to survive?
a) cyber attacks
b) lightning strikes
c) severe turbulence
d) bumpy landings
7) What must passengers wear on an airplane?
a) a seat belt
b) shoes
c) ID tags
d) a shirt
8) What might passengers hit their head on besides the plane's ceiling?
a) other passengers
b) the windows
c) overhead lockers
d) the TV screens
9) Why are incidents of severe turbulence increasing?
a) hurricanes
b) climate change
c) faster airplanes
d) the Gulf Stream
10) By how much have incidents of severe turbulence increased since 1979?
a) by 55%
b) by 65%
c) by 75%
d) by 85%

Role play

Role A – Airplane
You think airplane is the best form of transport. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their forms. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): bicycle, car or train.

Role B – Bicycle
You think bicycle is the best form of transport. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their forms. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): airplane, car or train.

Role C – Car
You think car is the best form of transport. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their forms. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): bicycle, airplane or train.

Role D – Train
You think train is the best form of transport. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their forms. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): bicycle, car or airplane.

After reading / listening

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

'turbulence'

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

and 'airplane'.
________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

• 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:

forced

neared

pilot

treated

journey

string

pockets

damage

crash

standing

ceiling

climate

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 - Turbulence

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

What did you think when you read the headline?
What images are in your mind when you hear the word 'turbulence'?
What do you think of flying?
How dangerous is it to fly?
How can we make flying safer?
Do you worry about travelling?
What do air traffic controllers do?
How would you help someone who is afraid of flying?
What causes turbulence?
What will flying be like in the future?

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

Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
What do you think of when you hear the word 'airplane'?
What do you think about what you read?
Is flying the best way to travel?
Should we wear seatbelts on airplanes, trains and buses?
What are the good and bad things about flying?
What do you think of your national airline?
Would you like to be a pilot?
How might climate change affect flying?
What questions would you like to ask experts on turbulence?

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)

Severe turbulence (1) ____ an airplane into an emergency landing on Monday. Nearly 40 people were injured (2) ____ the Air Europa Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane. It was flying from Spain to Uruguay. Turbulence hit the plane over the Atlantic, as it (3) ____ South America. Air traffic controllers told the pilot to make an emergency landing in Natal, in north-eastern Brazil. Many of the injured were treated at a hospital in Natal. Other injured people (4) ____ their journey to Uruguay's capital city Montevideo by bus. Air Europa sent a new plane from Madrid on Monday. It (5) ____ passengers who chose not to take the bus to their final destination. The turbulence is the latest in a (6) ____ of mid-air occurrences to injure many people.

Turbulence is the violent or unsteady movement of air. Modern aircraft are designed to survive strong winds and dangerous (7) ____ of air. It is extremely rare for turbulence to damage an airplane. It is even rarer for it to (8) ____ a plane to crash. The biggest danger to passengers comes from not wearing a seat belt. Anyone standing up in the airplane, or not wearing a seat belt while (9) ____, can be thrown around the cabin. They can suffer bad injuries by hitting their head on (10) ____ lockers or on the plane's ceiling. Scientists from Reading University in the UK reported that severe turbulence is (11) ____ worse because of climate change. They said incidents increased (12) ____ 55 per cent between 1979 and 2020.

Which of these words go in the above text?

(a) force (b) forcing (c) forced (d) forces
(a) on (b) at (c) of (d) by
(a) neared (b) closed (c) nearly (d) closeted
(a) completed (b) competed (c) contested (d) composted
(a) flying (b) flier (c) flied (d) flew
(a) thread (b) rope (c) twine (d) string
(a) pockets (b) boxes (c) bags (d) containers
(a) course (b) because (c) case (d) cause
(a) seated (b) seat (c) seat (d) sit
(a) overheard (b) overhead (c) underhand (d) underground
(a) gets (b) getting (c) gotten (d) got
(a) by (b) at (c) of (d) on

Spelling

Paragraph 1

evesre turbulence
air iafctrf controllers
Many of the nujrdei
It flew asspergnes
take the bus to their final onisattnied
a string of mid-air esornceuccr

Paragraph 2

the ineoltv or unsteady movement
dangerous oepkcst of air
It is emtrxelye rare
They can suffer bad reuiisnj
the plane's ecgliin
tiednsnci increased by 55 per cent

Put the text back together

(...) around the cabin. They can suffer bad injuries by hitting their head on overhead lockers or on the plane's
(...) the Atlantic, as it neared South America. Air traffic controllers told the pilot to make an emergency
(...) winds and dangerous pockets of air. It is extremely rare for turbulence to
(..1..) Severe turbulence forced an airplane into an emergency landing on Monday. Nearly 40 people were
(...) bus. Air Europa sent a new plane from Madrid on Monday. It flew passengers who chose not to take the bus to their final
(...) injured on the Air Europa Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane. It was flying from Spain to Uruguay. Turbulence hit the plane over
(...) landing in Natal, in north-eastern Brazil. Many of the injured were treated at a
(...) worse because of climate change. They said incidents increased by 55 per cent between 1979 and 2020.
(...) damage an airplane. It is even rarer for it to cause a plane to crash. The biggest danger to passengers comes from not
(...) hospital in Natal. Other injured people completed their journey to Uruguay's capital city Montevideo by
(...) ceiling. Scientists from Reading University in the UK reported that severe turbulence is getting
(...) Turbulence is the violent or unsteady movement of air. Modern aircraft are designed to survive strong
(...) wearing a seat belt. Anyone standing up in the airplane, or not wearing a seat belt while seated, can be thrown
(...) destination. The turbulence is the latest in a string of mid-air occurrences to injure many people.

Put the words in the right order

forced airplane an an landing . emergency Turbulence into
Atlantic . Turbulence hit the plane the over
at of Many injured the were treated hospital .
bus . who the chose Passengers not to take
a of occurrences . latest in The string mid-air
violent air . The movement of unsteady or
aircraft winds . designed are to survive strong Modern
for plane cause a to it Rarer crash .
bad their head . suffer injuries hitting They by
getting because is climate Turbulence change . worse of

Circle the correct word (20 pairs)

Severe turbulence forced an / the airplane into an emergency landing on Monday. Nearly 40 people were injury / injured on the Air Europa Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane. It was flying / flight from Spain to Uruguay. Turbulence hit the plane under / over the Atlantic, as it neared / nearly South America. Air traffic controllers told the pilot to / for make an emergency landing in Natal, in north-eastern Brazil. Many of the injured were treated / treating at a hospital in Natal. Other injured people completed / competed their journey to Uruguay's capital city Montevideo by bus. Air Europa sent a new plane from Madrid on Monday. It flew passengers who choice / chose not to take the bus to their final destination. The turbulence is the latest in a string / thread of mid-air occurrences to injure many people.

Turbulence is the violent / violence or unsteady movement of air. Modern aircraft are designed to survive strong / strongly winds and dangerous pockets of air. It is extreme / extremely rare for turbulence to damage an airplane. It is even rarer on / for it to cause a plane to crash. The biggest danger to passengers come / comes from not wearing a seat belt. Anyone standing up in the airplane, or not worn / wearing a seat belt while seated, can be thrown around the cabin. They can suffer bad injuries by / at hitting their head on overhead lockers or on the plane's sealing / ceiling. Scientists from Reading University in the UK reported that several / severe turbulence is getting worse / worsen because of climate change. They said incidents increased by 55 per cent between 1979 and 2020.

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)

S_v_r_ t_rb_l_nc_ f_rc_d _n __rpl_n_ _nt_ _n _m_rg_ncy l_nd_ng _n M_nd_y. N__rly 40 p__pl_ w_r_ _nj_r_d _n th_ __r __r_p_ B___ng 787 Dr__ml_n_r pl_n_. _t w_s fly_ng fr_m Sp__n t_ _r_g__y. T_rb_l_nc_ h_t th_ pl_n_ _v_r th_ _tl_nt_c, _s _t n__r_d S__th _m_r_c_. __r tr_ff_c c_ntr_ll_rs t_ld th_ p_l_t t_ m_k_ _n _m_rg_ncy l_nd_ng _n N_t_l, _n n_rth-__st_rn Br_z_l. M_ny _f th_ _nj_r_d w_r_ tr__t_d _t _ h_sp_t_l _n N_t_l. _th_r _nj_r_d p__pl_ c_mpl_t_d th__r j__rn_y t_ _r_g__y's c_p_t_l c_ty M_nt_v_d__ by b_s. __r __r_p_ s_nt _ n_w pl_n_ fr_m M_dr_d _n M_nd_y. _t fl_w p_ss_ng_rs wh_ ch_s_ n_t t_ t_k_ th_ b_s t_ th__r f_n_l d_st_n_t__n. Th_ t_rb_l_nc_ _s th_ l_t_st _n _ str_ng _f m_d-__r _cc_rr_nc_s t_ _nj_r_ m_ny p__pl_.

T_rb_l_nc_ _s th_ v__l_nt _r _nst__dy m_v_m_nt _f __r. M_d_rn __rcr_ft _r_ d_s_gn_d t_ s_rv_v_ str_ng w_nds _nd d_ng_r__s p_ck_ts _f __r. _t _s _xtr_m_ly r_r_ f_r t_rb_l_nc_ t_ d_m_g_ _n __rpl_n_. _t _s _v_n r_r_r f_r _t t_ c__s_ _ pl_n_ t_ cr_sh. Th_ b_gg_st d_ng_r t_ p_ss_ng_rs c_m_s fr_m n_t w__r_ng _ s__t b_lt. _ny_n_ st_nd_ng _p _n th_ __rpl_n_, _r n_t w__r_ng _ s__t b_lt wh_l_ s__t_d, c_n b_ thr_wn _r__nd th_ c_b_n. Th_y c_n s_ff_r b_d _nj_r__s by h_tt_ng th__r h__d _n _v_rh__d l_ck_rs _r _n th_ pl_n_'s c__l_ng. Sc__nt_sts fr_m R__d_ng _n_v_rs_ty _n th_ _K r_p_rt_d th_t s_v_r_ t_rb_l_nc_ _s g_tt_ng w_rs_ b_c__s_ _f cl_m_t_ ch_ng_. Th_y s__d _nc_d_nts _ncr__s_d by 55 p_r c_nt b_tw__n 1979 _nd 2020.

Punctuate the text and add capitals

severe turbulence forced an airplane into an emergency landing on monday nearly 40 people were injured on the air europa boeing 787 dreamliner plane it was flying from spain to uruguay turbulence hit the plane over the atlantic as it neared south america air traffic controllers told the pilot to make an emergency landing in natal in northeastern brazil many of the injured were treated at a hospital in natal other injured people completed their journey to uruguays capital city montevideo by bus air europa sent a new plane from madrid on monday it flew passengers who chose not to take the bus to their final destination the turbulence is the latest in a string of midair occurrences to injure many people

turbulence is the violent or unsteady movement of air modern aircraft are designed to survive strong winds and dangerous pockets of air it is extremely rare for turbulence to damage an airplane it is even rarer for it to cause a plane to crash the biggest danger to passengers comes from not wearing a seat belt anyone standing up in the airplane or not wearing a seat belt while seated can be thrown around the cabin they can suffer bad injuries by hitting their head on overhead lockers or on the planes ceiling scientists from reading university in the uk reported that severe turbulence is getting worse because of climate change they said incidents increased by 55 per cent between 1979 and 2020

Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

SevereturbulenceforcedanairplaneintoanemergencylandingonMon
day.Nearly40peoplewereinjuredontheAirEuropaBoeing787Dreamli
nerplane.ItwasflyingfromSpaintoUruguay.Turbulencehittheplaneov
ertheAtlantic,asitnearedSouthAmerica.Airtrafficcontrollerstoldthep
ilottomakeanemergencylandinginNatal,innorth-easternBrazil.Man
yoftheinjuredweretreatedatahospitalinNatal.Otherinjuredpeopleco
mpletedtheirjourneytoUruguay'scapitalcityMontevideobybus.AirEu
ropasentanewplanefromMadridonMonday.Itflewpassengerswhocho
senottotakethebustotheirfinaldestination.Theturbulenceisthelatesti
nastringofmid-airoccurrencestoinjuremanypeople.Turbulenceisth
eviolentorunsteadymovementofair.Modernaircraftaredesignedtosu
rvivestrongwindsanddangerouspocketsofair.Itisextremelyrarefortu
rbulencetodamageanairplane.Itisevenrarerforittocauseaplanetocra
sh.Thebiggestdangertopassengerscomesfromnotwearingaseatbelt.
Anyonestandingupintheairplane,ornotwearingaseatbeltwhileseated
,canbethrownaroundthecabin.Theycansufferbadinjuriesbyhittingth
eirheadonoverheadlockersorontheplane'sceiling.ScientistsfromRea
dingUniversityintheUKreportedthatsevereturbulenceisgettingworse
becauseofclimatechange.Theysaidincidentsincreasedby55percentb
etween1979and2020.

Free writing

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

_____________________________________________________________________________

Academic writing

Seat belts should be on all forms of transport. 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 this news story. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.
3. TURBULENCE: Make a poster about turbulence. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?
4. SEAT BELTS: Write a magazine article about making the wearing of seat belts compulsory on all forms of transport. 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 turbulence. Ask him/her three questions about it. Give him/her three of your ideas on how to improve air safety. 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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