Environmental Issues

►Some Opinions on Problems (easy)
►Children at Work
►The Danger of Ozone
►Holding a Simple Conversation on the Topic 
►Environmental Problems
►The Dangers of Pollution

Websites of Interest:   

► l' Institut Francais de l'Environnement (IFEN) produces and publishes data on all aspect of the Environment. You can access the website by theme (eg: le réchauffement climatique or les déchets) and find generic and statistical information on the particular theme.  Please note: a very comprehensive "Lexique Francais-Anglais" is available, this glossary lists hundreds of words and phrases on the topic Environment.  

►l' Agence de l'Environnement et de la Maîtrise de l'Energie (ADEME) offers practical advice (Exemples à Suivre) to be environmentally friendly, tips on how to find the right products (Trouver le Bon Produit) as well as Quizzes on renewable energies and links to Tests (both provide short explanation to each answer in simple French)

La Marée Noire: Florence Lyons (Matamata College) has adapted a text from a past exam paper to create a "fill in the gaps" activity for the Interactive Whiteboard ( IWB ) . 

Aux Arbres Citoyens!

A Unit of Work for L8 students which fits in the theme "Environment" and provides opportunities to attain AOs 8.2, 8.4 and 8.5.

Based on Yannick Noah's 2007 hit song "Aux Arbres Citoyens" (a play on words from La Marseillaise), Patsy Hall (Hamilton High School for Girls) has created and developed a range of comprehension activities, including relevant vocabulary, word recognition, sentence building and an indepth step by step study of the meaning of the song.  The unit also includes key phrases to give advice, and a comprehensive "tool box" full of useful phrases.  The student's work culminate to produce a writing piece on "a famous French person", which is aided by a list of guidelines to write effectively.  You may choose to give your students the included self evaluation form.  Last but not least, all answers to all activities are provided.  Patsy invites you to go over the Teacher's Outline that she has also kindly shared, before your class launches into the tasks.

Energie: Chasse au Gaspi

This video clip, sent by Florence Lyons (Matamata College), is a 3 min 40 cartoon illustrating common ways to be more energy savvie.  It can be exploited in many ways in the French classroom.  A suggestion: after vocabulary acquisition and initial viewing, students can identify the different issues, and work in small group to create a step by step pamphlet based on the scenario to promote energy savings both at home and at the place of work.

  Vert de Colère by Pierre PERRET

Siobhán McSweeney (Whangarei Boys High School) sent on the PPT below.  Pierre Perret is a straight talking French artist who,  in this recent song,  illustrates his anti-pollution stance.  A good resource to reinforce understanding and vocabulary on this topic with your students.

Vert de Colère- Lyrics

Vert de Colère- Video Clip

A Trial Integrated Unit: L'Environnement

Frédéric Dichtel (Aquinas College), Shirley Bain and Lyn Rogers (Waikato University - School Support Services) wanted to experiment with a Unit of Work that would allow students to increase their environmental awareness while extending their French. As there was only six weeks, they decided to focus on the issue of global warming in particular, in terms of symptoms, causes and solutions. When it came to green electricity as a solution to global warming, Fred, Shirley and Lyn chose to focus on the two most viable alternatives: solar panels versus wind farms. They also used resources in English to present background information as it was too hard to launch directly into French.

From a language perspective,  this unit aims at enabling students to express a view point as well as persuading the reader. The grammar focus is the subjunctive and some complex negatives (eg: ne..guère)

The authors wish to thank the following Aquinas College Year 13 students who helped create the activities and kindly accepted to be the guinea pigs: Aidan, Spencer, Patrick, Sean, Natasha, Jasmeene, Olivia and Nicole.

Find below the documents and resources required to deliver this Integrated Unit of Work: