What should you do in a lightning storm?

You are going to 

• listen to a short radio interview about lightning
• look at vocabulary connected with storms, thunder and lightning and extreme weather
• do a comprehension exercise

1) Discuss

Public domain

• What kinds of extreme weather do you have in your country?
• What are the most dangerous kinds of weather?
• What is lightning?
• Are you afraid of it?
• Have you ever been struck by lightning?
• Do you know anyone who has been struck by lightning?
• What should you do in a lightning storm?
• Should you swim in the sea?
• Are you safe in a car?
• What are "wellies" and is it OK to wear them in a thunderstorm?
• What happens when lightning strikes a plane?
• Can lightning strike twice in the same place?
• What's a myth? Can you think of any examples?

Suggested examples of extreme / dangerous weather (students may have more).
Highlight below
tornado  hurricane  blizzard  thunderstorm  flood  hurricane  drought  lightning  ice  fog  heatwave  gales / high winds monsoon






2) Listen
Listen to lightning engineer Rhys Phillips on BBC Radio 4's PM program talking about lightning. 
How many of the questions above do you hear the answers to?

listen to ‘Thunderbolts of lightning, very very frightening’ on Audioboo

Listen again.
A) Do the vocabulary match and listen again.
Then do the comprehension exercise below.

B) Now fill in the gaps in the summary.

Download exercises here




3) Discuss

• What other dangerous kinds of weather are there? Think of some examples. 
• What should you do to avoid being hurt?

4) Write
Turn the information about lightning into an advice leaflet.
or
Make an advice or information leaflet about weather in your country.





5) Check Vocabulary
Can you explain the meaning of these words?

More
Weather forecast Elementary, Intermediate, Listening, Upper Intermediate, Weather 

The Truth About British Rain - The Great British W...Advanced, Describing a cycle, IELTS, Life in the UK, Listening, Upper Intermediate, Weather, Writing

Suggestions and Advice (Why don't you...? / Have you tried?) Advice, Intermediate, Modal Verbs, Suggestions

Giving Advice - should / ought to / had better / must / have to / can't. Advice, Intermediate, Modal Verbs, Pre-Intermediate 




More on lightning

What is lightning? https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/science-schools-%E2%80%93-electricity-lightning-workshop-what-lightning

Lightning protection of aircraft https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/science-schools-%E2%80%93-electricity-lightning-workshop-aircraft-design

Making a news report https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/science-schools-electricity-lightning-workshop-making-a-news-report

The Truth About British Rain - The Great British Weather

You are going to 

• watch a clip about British weather
• look at some True / False sentences
• look at a paragraph which describes a process / cycle and do a vocabulary gap-fill
• look at an IELTS task 1 question

Discuss

What do you think is the typical weather in the UK?
Do you think the UK has a lot of rain?
Why is it so rainy?

Before you watch

Decide if these sentences are true or false

1. The UK has 189 days of rain a year.



The Lake District in the UK

2. All our rain comes from the Atlantic Ocean
3. Much of our rain starts 4000 miles away in the Atlantic
4. Every drop of our fresh water comes from the oceans
5. It's a never ending cycle
6. Swansea is the wettest city in the UK
7. The Lake District gets 69 inches of rain a year
8. It rains on average 111 days a year there
9. Rainguage Cottage is probably the wettest cottage in England
10. Emily Pratt feels proud of living in the wettest place
11. The floods of 2009 happened after 5 days of heavy rain
12. It was described as a once in a thousand year weather event
13. The power of the great British weather should never be under-estimated.

Now watch the clip to find out

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00jd19w


Now do the true or false exercise

Correct sentences. Highlight below
1. The UK has 199 days of rain a year.
7. The Lake District gets 79 inches of rain a year
8. It rains on average 211 days a year there

11.The floods of 2009 happened after 3 days of heavy rain

Watch again

Fill in the gaps in the text. Watch the clip (0:39 - 1:18) and listen again to check.

Printable worksheet here

Find out more

about UK weather here http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/
Is it raining in the UK today? Look here http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/uk_forecast_weather.html

More weather practice 

here http://efllecturer.blogspot.com/2011/09/bbc-weather-forecast.html

Writing for academic IELTS task 1

IELTS Task 1 practice - Describe the picture in 150 words
Try this question from ielts-simon.com 
http://ielts-simon.com/ielts-help-and-english-pr/2011/04/ielts-writing-task-1-water-cycle-essay.html

IELTS Writing Task 1: "Water Cycle" essay

The diagram below shows the water cycle, which is the continuous movement of water on, above and below the surface of the Earth.

Source http://ielts-simon.com/

BBC Weather forecast - Weather vocabulary

You are going to

• discuss weather
• watch 2 weather forecasts and do a comprehension exercise
• practise weather vocabulary
• describe weather in your country

 


Discuss
What’s the weather like in your country?
What’s your favourite type of weather?
What do you think these symbols mean?

Answers - highlight here = Signs feature; Sunny, Cloudy, Sunny intervals, Rain, Light rain, Heavy rain, Snow, Thunder and Lightning

Watch clip 1

What's the weather forecast for the UK?
Make a list of any weather words you see or hear.

Answers (highlight below)
showery (a), brightness (n), brighten up (v), bright (a), breezy, (a) rain (n), showers (n), thunder (n), sunshine (n), fresh(er) (a), chilly (a), light (a) winds (n) degrees (n)

Think of some more weather vocabulary. Write a list.
Note if they are adjective (a), noun (n), or verb (v)
Add them to the columns below the headings in the graph below

Cold (a)	Hot (a)	Rain (n)	Wind (n)	Sky (n)	In General
Cool (a)		Shower (n)		Clear (a)

Before you watch clip 2

You are going to see a weather forecast for Europe.
How many European countries and cities do you know?

Watch clip 2

Look at the questions
1) What is the weather in

• Iberia (Spain and Portugal)? 
• France?
• Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, Denmark)?

2) What are the temperatures in these cities on Wednesday?

• Seville
• Madrid
• Paris
• Berlin

On Thursday?

• Moscow
• Kiev

On Saturday?

• Rome
• Athens

Note; There are many expressions here you may not understand. Try to look and listen for the weather information only.
European weather forecast on June 14, 2011

Add any weather words you hear to your list


Highlight below to see suggested answers. If you can think of more add them to the list.

Cold (a)	Hot (a)	Rain (n)	Wind (n)	Sky (n)	In General
Cool (a)	Scorching (a)	Shower (n) Showery (a)	Breezy (a)	Clear (a)	Changeable (a)
Chilly (a)	Boiling (a)	Drizzle (n)	Strong (a)	Blue (a)	Fine (a)
Subzero (a)	Mild (a)	Pouring (v)	Gale (n)	Bright (a) Brightness (n)  Brighten up (v)	Dry (a)
Freezing (a)	Humid (a)	Bucketing down (v)	Windy (a) Wind (n)	Overcast (a)	Unsettled (a)
Fresh (a)	Heat (n)	Thunder / Thunderstorm (n)	Light (a)	Grey (a)	Lively (a)
		Wet (a)		Cloud (n)	Degrees (n)
		Heavy (a)		Sunshine (n)
		Thundery (a)		Foggy (a) Misty (a) Hazy (a)

Now answer the questions in the quiz

How much vocabulary can you remember? Try this word matching exercise

Printable version here

Discuss

What is the typical weather where you live?
Is it the same all the year round or is each season different?
Describe the weather in spring, summer, autumn and winter.

Games

Now play a game here http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/language-games/monkey-squash/weather 
or here BBC Weather games http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/multimedia/games/

Find out

What's the weather like today? http://news.bbc.co.uk/weather/
What's it like in your country?

Writing

Describe the weather for today in your country or area

More

Find out more about British weather here
http://efllecturer.blogspot.com/2011/09/the-truth-about-british-rain-great.html