Tag Archives: Environment

Nature, well-being & poetry

St George is around the corner and this year we will focus on our Erasmus + project about nature and well-being. 

Connecting with nature is known to have lots of positive effects on our mental health and well-being. It could mean growing plants, tending to vegetables, going for a walk, relaxing in a local green space and generally embracing it!

Poets from all centuries have found inspiration in nature to create their poems and express their feelings. Poetry helps express emotions and creates a connection with the reader. 

I. This year, you will have to create a calligram. Do you know what a calligram is? What is the name of a famous poet who created calligrams?

…

A calligram is made of two words (calli = beautiful, gram = message). They use the design and shape of the letters, the ink color, the paper quality, and the frame, to deliver a combined effect and communicate something beyond the message of the letters themselves.

II. Observe examples of calligrams:

Source: https://jenikirbyhistory.getarchive.net

Source: https://jenikirbyhistory.getarchive.net

What do you think this poem is about, just looking at the form? What do you think the poet’s mood and feelings were when he wrote it? This is a poem by Gillaume Apollinaire and the original language is French. Click here to check out an English version. What do you think it is about?

What about this other one? What is it? Read the poem. What feeling do you get?

III. Now it’s your turn to be a poet. Follow the steps to write your calligram. First you write the poem and then you will design the form.

STEP 1. Think about the topic (it must be related to nature and well-being)

STEP 2. Brainstorm ideas. Use the dictionary to find words that you may need. How does the topic you chose make you feel? Think about adjectives, actions that you may use to express your feelings.

Cambridge Dictionary / Wordreference

STEP 3. Write your poem. Remember that every line in a poem is called a VERSE. Is your poem going to rhyme? Check the following document to see some rhetorical devices you can use.

STEP 4. Design the shape and create your calligram!

Students’ worksheet

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Plastic Ocean

I. Name 20 things that are made of plastic.

II. Do you recycle plastic at home? Have you ever found plastic in the sea when you go to the beach in the summer?

III. Watch the video and fill in the gaps with the missing words (up to 1:16)

  • The world produces more than ______________________ tons of plastic every year including billions of plastic bottles and __________________ plastic bags.
  • Plastic is wonderful because it’s ____________________ and plastic is terrible because it is _________________. Almost every piece of plastic ever made is still on the planet in some form or another.
  • Half of all the plastic produced will be used just once and then thrown away. By _______________, when the population explodes to almost _______________ people, it’s expected that plastic production will triple. 
  • The problem with that is that today only _______________ of the plastic that we produce is recycled.The rest ends up in our environment and it’s coating our lands and our oceans like a disease.

IV. Listen to the rest of the video and say if this sentences are true or false (correct the false ones)

T F
1. Garbage thrown away in the USA can make its way to Asia.
2. There is one ocean current that pulls plastic into the center of massive gyres.
3. Seabirds pick up plastic off the surface of the ocean and they feed it to their chicks. 
4.This provides scientific data in terms of where the plastic comes from, its distribution and how it breaks up on the ocean surface.
5. The plastic found in the stomach of the bird accounts for 5% of its body mass. In human terms it is equivalent to having 2 to 3 kilos of plastic inside our stomach.
6. 90% of birds have swallowed plastic at some point in their lives.
7. There is an equivalent of a large garbage truck every hour of every day dumping plastic into the ocean.

V. Discuss. What are the consequences of using plastic?

Student’s worksheet

Teacher’s worksheet

 

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The tragedy of the commons

“Is it possible that overfishing, super germs, and global warming are all caused by the same thing? In 1968, a man named Garrett Hardin sat down to write an essay about overpopulation. Within it, he discovered a pattern of human behavior that explains some of history’s biggest problems. Nicholas Amendolare describes the tragedy of the commons.”

Go to TedEd to watch the video and do the activities. You’ll need to sign in with your name and surname to complete them.

STEPS: 

  1. Click on WATCH and watch the whole video.
  2. Click on THINK and do the exercises. You can stop the video any time you wish.

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