• Reading, watching, speaking, writing

• Eco-hypocrisy, environment, lifestyle

• C2

• Individually, groupwork

• 145 minutes

Climate change has never been more present than it is now. In order to fight this, more and more people try to minimalize their ecological footprint. Recycling, eating vegetarian, taking the bike… The list of things you can do to help the climate goes on and on. This learning activity zooms in on eco-hypocrisy. An eco-hypocrite is someone who never wastes an opportunity to tell the rest of us how the world is going to hell thanks to inappropriately disposed batteries and energy-sucking light bulbs, while often breaking eco-rules themselves. In a vocabulary, reading and watching assignment students learn and discuss about environmental impact. Lastly, students write a self-assessment about their own eco-hypocrisy: to which extent do they define themselves as an eco-hypocrite?

Activities

Click here for the assignments.

This learning activity starts with assignment 69, in which students reflect on their own ecological footprint. Students form groups and discuss the following question: ‘Are you an eco-hypocrite (sometimes)?’ Let them challenge each other’s answers by asking why or why not. In assignment 70 students expand their vocabulary by looking up words in an English–Dutch dictionary. They put these newly learned words into practice by completing the sentences. Assignment 71 helps students prepare for their English exam. They read the text ‘Are you an eco-hypocrite?’ and answer questions about it. Subsequently, they compare and discuss their answers with those of a fellow student. In assignment 72, students watch a video about going green and decide whether the statements made about the video are true or false. Speaking is practiced in assignment 73, in which students form groups and discuss statements about both the text and the video. Let them challenge each other’s answers by asking for the reasoning behind their responses. In assignment 74, students write an essay about their own eco-hypocrisy. In this self-assessment they reflect on the things they know they should improve to reduce their ecological footprint but don’t for diverse reasons. Lastly, in assignment 75, students exchange their essay with a fellow student. They give feedback on each other’s work and improve their own essay based on the given feedback.

This article was published in WaspReporter issue 18.4 (April 2020). Are you interested in purchasing a single issue or a year-round subscription? Click here.