US beach town bans balloons to save the ocean

Level 3: Advanced – Teacher’s notes

b. Before reading the article carefully, students
Article summary: The article talks about use some of the key words to fill the gaps in the
a recent ban on balloons in Laguna Beach, sentences to ensure that they understand and know
California, and explains the dangers of how the words are used in other contexts.
balloons on marine life.
Key:
Time: 60 minutes 1. biodegradable
2. exterior
Skills: Reading, Speaking, Writing 3. comprehensive
4. persisting
Language focus: Relative clauses 5. tangled
6. residential
Materials needed: One copy of the
7. catch on
worksheet per student
8. starvation
9. intentional
10. debris
1. Warmer
3. Comprehension check
a. This activity aims to get students to think about if and
when they use balloons to decorate. Have them work a. Students first read the statements and decide
in pairs to fill in the chart, then complete the other whether they are True or False according to the
columns by talking to three classmates. article and correct any that are false. Students may
correct the sentences in different ways, e.g., in item
b. Encourage the pairs or groups to share their ideas 1, they may say, ‘Laguna Beach, a city in California,
and suggestions. Remind students to use descriptive enacted a strict ban on the sale and use of balloons,’
adjectives with suggestions and support their or similar. Suggested answers are provided below.
opinions with reasons.
Key:
2. Key words 1. False. A city in California (Laguna Beach)
recently banned the sale and use of balloons.
a. Ask students to do the exercise individually and Residential homes are exempt.
compare their answers in pairs or small groups. 2. True
You may wish to mention that tangled can be used 3. True
figuratively to describe a difficult and complicated 4. False. Latex balloons are 32 times more likely to
situation, e.g., “He has been lying to his girlfriend, kill seabirds than hard plastic.
and now he’s in a tangled mess.” 5. False. There are no safe balloons to release.
6. True
Key: 7. True
1. marine 9. biodegradable 8. False. There are fewer balloons than plastic
2. violators 10. metallic bags on beaches.
3. residential 11. persisting 9. False. It’s too early to say whether these
4. intentional 12. exterior bans are having an impact, but data is
5. catch on 13. tangled being collected, and there could be more
6. debris 14. legislation answers soon.
7. obstruction 15. comprehensive 10. True
8. starvation 11. True
12. False. Plastic pollution anywhere affects the
ocean everywhere.
D •
TE E E
SI AD L
EB LO B
W N IA

Published by Macmillan Education Ltd. © Macmillan Education Limited, 2023.

M W P
O DO O
FR BE OC

Home >> Adults >> General English >> NEWS LESSONS

T
O
H
AN
•P
C
 US beach town bans balloons to save the ocean
Level 3: Advanced – Teacher’s notes

4. Key language 6. In your own words

a. Students could be asked to do this exercise a. Ask students to imagine they are part of a research
individually and then compare their answers in pairs. team studying the effects of plastic on marine plants
The combined sentences are used in the article, and animals. Ask them to brainstorm some questions
but some have been simplified to keep students’ they have and what area(s) of research they would
attention on the relative clauses. As an extension focus on. Have them use an internet search engine
activity, you could ask students to go back to the text to find more information about current research
and find the original sentences. Ask students to look areas and what their research question(s) would add
for the differences. to this body of knowledge.

Key: b. Students then present their reports to the class.

1. Kara Wiggin is a doctoral researcher who Encourage students to share the facts they’ve
studies microplastics in the marine environment. gathered and their opinions about the issue.
2. There’s the plastic itself, which marine Encourage students to use a few of the phrases from
mammals and sea turtles can eat. the worksheet in their presentations.
3. Manufacturers claim that some latex balloons
are biodegradable.
4. They have added a substance that / which
slows the biodegradation process.
5. It becomes part of the plastic soup that / which
floats through the oceans.
6. A lot of stuff that / which can break down in soil
can’t break down in the ocean at all.
7. There’s also a string attached to balloons,
which can be even more damaging.
8. Strings can wrap around necks and body parts,
which can be deadly and devastating.

b. Allow the class to practise writing sentences with

relative clauses like those they have just covered.
For more support, encourage students to stage this
process by writing two simple sentences and then
combining them. Monitor and assist students as
you walk around the class. Allow time for feedback,
so students can share some of the sentences they
have written.

5. Discussion

a. Students discuss the statements related to the

article and give their reasons and justifications for
each answer, referring to their own experiences
wherever possible.
D •
TE E E
SI AD L
EB LO B
W N IA

Published by Macmillan Education Ltd. © Macmillan Education Limited, 2023.

M W P
O DO O
FR BE OC

Home >> Adults >> General English >> NEWS LESSONS

T
O
H
AN
•P
C