peter q blackburn - ondec s y ar plusbright ideas 1. explore vocabulary look at the adjectives that...

Secondary PlusINTERMEDIATE 2

AIMS I can understand people talking

about inventions and inventors.

I can discuss and write about innovations.

I can talk about past events and inventions.

Look at the photos. Discuss the questions.

What inventions can you see in the photos? Why were they important?

What do you think the differences are between modern inventions and inventions in the past?

What does it take to be an inventor? Can young people be inventors?

PROJECTGive a group presentation about an invention.

BRIGHT IDEAS

1. EXPLORE VOCABULARY Look at the adjectives that can be used for describing inventions. Check you know the meaning and pronunciation. Use a dictionary if necessary. For each word, write an adjective with the opposite meaning.

clever crazy eco-friendly high-tech innovative intriguing original practical unique

My Practice 1 & 2

1 3. WATCH THE VLOG (PART 1)

Watch the first part of the vlog and check the predictions you made about the photo.

2 4. WATCH THE VLOG (PART 2)

Watch the second part of the vlog and answer the questions.

1. Where did Sam find the gadget he presented?

2. What’s the plastic part on his gadget for?

3. What’s Lucy’s gadget made of?4. How does it help the environment?5. Why did Maria decide to choose

the invention she presented?6. Where did she discover this

invention?

Crazy inventions: Video 1 30,700 ViewsLike (298) Dislike (17)

2. PREPARE TO WATCHAsk and answer the questions.

1. What do you think are the most popular inventions of the past ten years? How would you describe them? Use the adjectives from activity 1.

2. What’s the last gadget that you bought or were given? How would you describe it?

3. Look at the photo. What do you think the young people are talking about?

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CRAZY INVENTIONS

I can understand and use adjectives to describe inventions and innovations.

I can understand a vlog about inventions. I can express my views on different inventions. I can complete a story with a range of past tenses and used to.

5. TALK ABOUT ITWhich invention would you vote for as the best? Why?

6. LOOK AT LANGUAGE Look at example sentences A–E from the video. Observe and identify the verb forms in blue.

A. I found them while I was looking for a birthday present for my mum.

B. I’d gone to a department store and I saw these little beauties.

C. We used to cut our pizza with a knife. D. I didn’t use to think about how my

umbrella could be bad … E. I woke up in the middle of the night.

Match the example sentences (A–E) to the rules (1–4). Write 1–4.

1. We use the past simple to talk about a single event or action in the past.

2. We use the past continuous to talk about something that was in progress around a particular time in the past.

3. We use the past perfect to talk about an action that happened before another action in the past.

4. We use used to or didn’t use to to talk about states or actions that were true or happened in the past, but are no longer true or do not happen now.

My Practice 3

Look at example sentence A again. Circle the correct option to complete the rule.

We often use the past continuous and the past simple tense together. When this happens, the past simple / past continuous describes a longer, background action or situation and the past simple / past continuous describes the action or events that interrupt the situation.

7. PRACTISE Read the story about an invention that happened by chance. Complete each gap with the correct form of the verb in brackets.

In the past, people 1. (use to / add) sugar to their drinks to make them sweeter, but that all 2. (change) at the end of the 19th century when a Russian chemist accidentally 3. (make) a discovery one evening while he 4. (have) dinner. Earlier he 5. (spend) the day at his lab mixing different compounds, but now he was home and he 6. (think) about food, not work. However, when he 7. (put) a piece of bread into his mouth, he was surprised as it had a very sweet taste. He remembered he 8. (not / wash) his hands, so he 9. (know) the sweet taste was from something from his lab. He 10. (run) back to his lab and 11. (taste) everything on his work table until he 12. (find) which product it was. That was the first step to creating artificial sweetener, which is still popular today.

33© British Council | B1.2 01 | V1.2

I can understand and use adjectives to describe inventions and innovations.

I can understand a vlog about inventions. I can express my views on different inventions. I can complete a story with a range of past tenses and used to.

8. READ THE COMMENTSRead the comments about the vlog you watched on page 2. Which invention is each viewer talking about?

Pedro, Mexico 51 minutes ago

Thank you, Lucy! I used to hate getting up in the middle of the night and having to look for the light switch in the dark. I’d seen those very clever slippers online, but I hate buying clothes and footwear online as I always seem to get the size wrong! That’s why I was thrilled when I saw them in a shop and was able to try them on. I bought a pair right away and, like you, I highly recommend them! I don’t care if I look silly. At least they’re useful!

Olga, Russia 24 minutes ago

I really think this is such a cool idea! It rains quite a lot here, so I’m sure that people would find it useful. And I reckon people would love the fact that it’s eco-friendly. The only problem is that I don’t think I can afford one – it’s a bit pricey for me! As you say, though, if you spend more on something, you look after it more carefully. Perhaps I’ll be lucky and someone will give me one for my birthday.

Keiko, Japan 3 minutes ago

I love this invention – I just wish I had known about it before! It was my birthday the other day and I decided to have a party. Mum had helped me to arrange everything to make sure all was perfect. We’d ordered pizza but forgot to ask them to slice all the pizzas! Just imagine, everybody was starving and wanted to eat and I was desperately cutting all the pizzas quickly. The knife I had was useless. What a disaster! I’m definitely going to follow your advice and get this very practical little gadget. Where can I find it?

Like (47)Reply Dislike (2)




I can read and understand comments about innovations and gadgets.

I can guess the meaning of new words from context. I can write a comment about my views on an invention.

9. READ AGAINRead the Exam skills tip. Then read the comments again. Work out the meaning of any words you don’t know. Who says these things? Write P (Pedro), K (Keiko) or O (Olga). Leave blank if nobody says it.

1. This gadget is a bit expensive. 2. I’m sure children would like this

invention. 3. My party wasn’t as successful as

I had wanted. 4. I don’t usually buy clothes or shoes

from websites. 5. I didn’t use to get out of bed at night. 6. I’m sorry I hadn’t heard about this

invention earlier. 7. I really must have one of these. 8. I definitely don’t want to have one

of these. 9. I had already heard of and bought this

invention.

Exam skills Reading Guessing the meaning of unfamiliar words from contextIn Reading exams, you may need to read a text containing unknown words. Work out the meaning of any unknown words by looking at the other words in the sentence.Look at this sentence and choose the correct meaning (a, b or c) of the word in bold.

It was a very good photo, but John couldn’t make out the details until he put on his glasses.

a. see clearly b. take a photo c. describe

My Practice 4

10. WRITE A COMMENTFollow the steps to write your own comment about one of the inventions in the vlog.

1. Choose an invention from the vlog. It can be one you like or one you don’t like. It can be something you now have or something you don’t have.

2. Brainstorm and make notes about the things you want to say about the invention. Think of adjectives you want to use to describe your opinion of it.

3. Look at Olga’s comment on the vlog again. Underline any useful expressions you can use in your comment.

4. Write your own comment (about 80–120 words).

5. Swap your comment with a partner. Check your partner’s work for mistakes.

6. Swap your comments back. Discuss any mistakes and suggestions for improvements.

7. Write your final post.

Do you know?If you have a good idea that you want to protect, you can patent your idea so that no one can say the idea is theirs.

?

Exam skills WritingExpressing opinionsUse a variety of expressions to give your opinion. For example: I really think (that) …I reckon …I believe (that) …

I’m convinced that …In my opinion, …


Project 1Work alone. Research an invention which you think is important. It can be the best, worst or craziest invention you can find. You’ll have one minute to present your invention to the other members of your group.

I can read and understand comments about innovations and gadgets.

I can guess the meaning of new words from context. I can write a comment about my views on an invention.

Young developer Amina Damir talks about her inspiration and aspirations.

MEET AMINA,

INVENTORASPIRING YOUNG

1. PREPARE TO READRead the title and look at the photo. Imagine you’re going to interview Amina. Write five questions you’d like to ask her.

2. READ THE INTERVIEW

See if any of the questions you wrote in activity 1 were answered.

3. READ AGAINAnswer the questions.

1. What problem did the ‘non-slip tray’ solve?

2. Why did Amina not patent this idea?

3. How did Amina use to feel about science?

4. Why can’t Amina say much about her latest invention?

5. What is her latest invention made of?

6. Who helped Amina make her idea come true?

Q: When did you discover that you had this interest in creating new inventions? Were you doing something that suddenly gave you an idea? Or was it something you had been interested in for a long time?A: Well, I guess it all started a few years ago when my grandma was staying with us after an operation. She needed to stay in bed and have all her meals there, on a tray. The problem was the bowls and plates kept moving around and it was hard for my gran to eat. That’s when I had the idea for my first invention: the ‘non-slip tray’. I found a rubber mat and glued it onto the tray. And it worked! After that the plates didn’t move and my gran could eat more easily. Dad thought it was brilliant and said I had to patent the idea. I did some research, but discovered the idea already existed. However, it made me think – anyone can be an inventor. Just start by looking at the world around you and ask yourself, ‘What could make life easier or better?’

Q: And before then, had you imagined that this was an area you’d like to study?A: Absolutely not! I always get asked, ‘Did you use to be a techno geek as a child?’ The truth is, I’d never really given much thought to inventions, and science used to be anything but my favourite subject! It all seemed far too complicated to me. But, as I said, after I got the idea for the ‘non-slip tray’, I started looking online to find out about the latest inventions and I discovered a whole new world of objects and gadgets. Now I’m totally hooked. I’m always reading about new inventions and, as you know, I’m now working on a new invention to enter the International Young Inventors Awards.

4. EXPLORE VOCABULARY

Look at the words in bold in the text. Check you know the meaning and pronunciation. Use a dictionary if necessary.

My Practice 5

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I can understand a magazine interview with a young inventor.

I can use language to describe what objects are made of.

I can ask and answer questions using past tenses and used to.

INVENTORS: PAST AND PRESENT

5. LOOK AT LANGUAGE Look at example sentences A–E from the article and observe the verbs in blue.

A. When did you discover that you had this interest in creating new inventions?

B. Were you doing something that suddenly gave you an idea?

C. And before then, had you imagined that this was an area you’d like to study?

D. Did you use to be a techno geek as a child?E. Did you get any help in designing this

mystery gadget?

Answer questions 1–3.

1. When do we use did for questions in the past?

2. How do we make questions for the past continuous and past perfect forms?

3. What happens to used to in questions?

6. PRACTISERead the quiz and complete the questions with the correct form of the verbs.

My Practice 6

Q: Yes! Can you tell us more about this invention? A: Sorry, I can’t tell you anything! At least not until I’ve finalised my idea and got a patent for it. But I can tell you that it’s totally unique and teenagers all over the world will love it!

Q: I understand, top secret! Did you get any help in designing this mystery gadget?A: Of course! I’d never tried to design anything as complex as this. I knew I had a good idea, but I didn’t know where to start. My science teacher helped me a lot. Even though she’d never heard about the competition, she immediately got very excited about the project. First, I just made a model of my idea out of paper and cardboard. Then, my teacher suggested different materials it could be made of. We considered plastic, but I wanted something more eco-friendly. She suggested ceramic so that it could be decorated, or some sort of metal, like stainless steel or – even better – aluminium, to keep it light. Without my teacher, it would have been impossible. It wasn’t easy, and there were times I just wanted to forget the whole thing, but she helped keep me on track. I am so glad I continued with it. You will see the results soon.

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF INVENTORS AND INVENTIONS

1 Where and when (Jacob W. Davis / invent) blue jeans?

2 Perhaps you know he produced the first commercial light bulb, but what other things (Thomas Edison / invent) before then?

3 Which very important machine (Tommy Flowers /

design) in 1944?4 How (people / used to /

wash) before the invention of soap?

7© British Council | B1.2 01 | V1.2 7

I can understand a magazine interview with a young inventor.

I can use language to describe what objects are made of.

I can ask and answer questions using past tenses and used to.

7. PREPARE TO LISTENLook again at the three inventors and their inventions on page 7. Copy the headings in the first column of the table on this page and complete with as much information as possible about each inventor.

1 8. LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW

You’re going to listen to a continuation of the interview with Amina. She talks about some inventors she admires. Follow these steps:

1. Before you listen, read the Exam skills tip. Then look at the table and preview the type of information you’ll write. Ask yourself the previewing questions.

2. Listen, check your predictions and write what information you can.

3. With a partner, compare your answers.4. Listen again and complete the table.

9. TALK ABOUT ITThis is some advice that Amina gives to young people who want to become inventors. Do you think it’s good advice? What other things do you think are important?

be creative work hard have innovative ideas do research

Name of inventor 1. Ibn al-Haytham 6. Abbas ibn Firnas

Born in … 2. 7.

Invention 3. 8.

Invented in … 4. 9.

Influence on present 5. 10.

Exam skills Listening Previewing the textPreviewing is an activity you do before listening to a text. This helps you guess what you’re going to listen to.Before you listen, look carefully at the task. Previewing the text helps you understand the topic and guess the content. Then think about the topic. This helps you predict vocabulary and the answers.Ask yourself these previewing questions: What’s the topic? What types of words are the answers? Can I guess the answers?

My Practice 7 & 8

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I can understand and extract facts given in an interview.

I can predict information that I may listen to. I can think critically to talk about inventions and inventors.

Project 2

10. DISCUSSLook at the pictures of inventions. Match a name and a date with each picture. Then ask and answer the questions.

1765 1875 1926

James Watt John Logie Baird Alexander Graham Bell

1. What do all these three inventors have in common?2. Why do you think most of the famous inventors from the past are

men? Do you think this tendency is changing now? 3. What can be done to encourage more women to become inventors? 4. What famous inventors are there from your country?

Do you think they get the recognition they deserve?

Exam skills SpeakingTurn-takingWhen talking in a group, it’s important to listen to the other speaker and wait for him or her to finish. Then take your turn to speak.


As you listen to your group, write 3–5 questions to ask about the different inventions they present.When everyone in the group has presented their ideas, ask any questions.

I can understand and extract facts given in an interview.

I can predict information that I may listen to. I can think critically to talk about inventions and inventors.

Project 2

PROJECT

x x x x x x

PROJECT TOOLKIT3 1. WATCH THE PRESENTATION

Watch Sam talking about his invention again. Complete these expressions he uses.

1. I would like to with one …

2. So, to , I just want to that …

3 2. LOOK AT LANGUAGE1. Watch again to check your answers and

discuss the questions.

1. How do the expressions from activity 1 help the listener?

2. What does Sam do after saying these expressions? Why?

2. Look at the video script. What other useful expressions do Sam, Lucy and Maria use for the following?

1. starting a presentation2. creating interest3. moving to a new point4. finishing a presentation

3. PRACTISE Look at the video script and identify some appropriate places to pause. Practise saying parts of Sam, Lucy and Maria’s lines. Remember to pause in the right places.

My Practice 9


I can understand signposting language for presentations.

I can identify appropriate places for pausing when giving a presentation.

I can apply my learning to create and give a group presentation.

x x x x x x

STEP 1Work alone. Research an invention which you think is important. It can be the best, worst or craziest invention you can find. You’ll have one minute to present your invention to the other members of your group.

STEP 2As you listen to your group, write 3–5 questions to ask about the different inventions they present, e.g. How does it work? Who invented it? What’s it made of? When everyone in the group has presented their ideas, ask any questions.

STEP 3Work in your group. Decide which invention you’re going to present to the class. Check that you have enough information about your chosen invention, and do more research if needed.

STEP 4Decide how you’ll organise the work, e.g. Who will write and create the slides for each part of the presentation? Who will present which parts? Assign roles, making sure that everyone participates.Think about expressions you can use when giving your presentation to help the listeners follow your presentation (page 10).Practise your presentation, remembering to speak clearly and pause at appropriate moments.

STEP 5Present your invention to the class. Be prepared to answer questions from the audience.While you listen to the other presentations, make notes and ask your questions at the end. Also, make notes on what you like about the presentation and what you think could be improved.

STEP 6After everyone has given their presentation, discuss as a class: a) Which invention did you like best? Why? b) Which presentation did you like best. Why?

Follow the steps to complete your project.


I can understand signposting language for presentations.

I can identify appropriate places for pausing when giving a presentation.

I can apply my learning to create and give a group presentation.

1. REVIEWRead the clues and complete the crossword. Look back at the magazine to help you find the words.

Across2. this word is similar in meaning to useful3. bottles are often made of this5. the opposite of intriguing8. another word for intelligentDown1. an adjective used to describe an idea or object

which is the only one of its kind2. this material is very common, but it is not

eco-friendly4. this material comes from trees6. this is a small useful device that is often interesting,

unfamiliar or unusual7. notebooks are made of this

Choose five new words you want to remember from this magazine. Write your own definitions. Swap your definitions with a partner. Can they guess the words?

2. REFLECTFocus on these three learning objectives. Reflect on how much you have improved in these areas and plan what you could do to improve further.

I can talk about the past using the past simple, past continuous, past perfect and used to. I can predict information that I may hear in a listening activity. I can collaborate with classmates to create and give a presentation.

3. NEXT STEPSChoose ONE task to do next.

Option 1

READRead an article about a recent invention. Leave an online comment to give your view of this innovation.

Option 2

WRITEWrite a short article (150 words) for a magazine about an invention that has changed the world.

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MY LEARNING

peter q blackburn - ondec s y ar plusbright ideas 1. explore vocabulary look at the adjectives that...

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