The Reading / Listening - Microplastics - Level 6

While many of us are aware of the environmental damage done by plastic, fewer people know about the threat from the ubiquity of microplastics. Scientists first found them in our bodies more than a decade ago. Worryingly, researchers have now found them in the human heart. Scientists at the Beijing Anzhen Hospital in China collected cardiac tissue samples from 15 patients undergoing heart surgery. After analyzing the samples, they discovered tiny pieces of plastic, from a multitude of sources. They included a plastic commonly used as a shatter-proof alternative to glass, a polythene widely used in clothing and food containers, and a polyvinyl chloride used in construction.

The scientists reported finding, "tens to thousands of individual microplastic pieces in most tissue samples". Chemicals from microplastics are released into the body, potentially leading to allergic reactions, cancer, cell death, and chronic inflammation, among other complications. Scientists reckon the average person consumes around five grams of microplastics a week, or 52,000 particles a year. Microplastics are so prevalent that they make up 39 per cent of dust particles in our homes. Scientists say these tiny shards are near-impossible to remove from the body. They say it is becoming critical to limit the amount of plastic we breathe in, ingest, swallow or absorb.

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

    Microplastics - Level 4  or  Microplastics - Level 5

Sources
  • https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-12384881/Microplastics-discovered-human-HEART.html
  • https://people.com/microplastics-discovered-human-heart-tissue-first-time-7642489
  • https://www.iflscience.com/thousands-of-microplastics-discovered-in-human-heart-tissue-for-first-time-70199


Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice activities, drag and drop activities, sentence jumbles, which word activities, text reconstructions, spelling, gap fills and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

Warm-ups

1. MICROPLASTICS: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about microplastics. Change partners often and share your findings.
2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, talk about these topics or words from the article. What will the article say about them? What can you say about these words and your life?
       aware / environmental damage / threat / ubiquity / heart / tissue / plastic / clothing /
       scientist / allergic reaction / cancer / complication / dust / critical / breathe / swallow
Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.
3. END PLASTIC: Students A strongly believe we should end plastic this decade; Students B strongly believe that's not a good idea. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
4. ALTERNATIVES: What could we use for these things instead of plastic? How much better would the alternatives be? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

 

Alternatives

How much better

Pens

 

 

Shopping bags

 

 

Drink bottles

 

 

Plates

 

 

Containers

 

 

Car dashboards

 

 
MY e-BOOK
ESL resource book with copiable worksheets and handouts - 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers / English teachers
See a sample

5. TISSUE: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "tissue". Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.
6. RECYCLE: Rank these with your partner. Put the most important things to recycle at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

  • plastic bottles
  • books
  • computers
  • furniture
  • cars
  • clothes
  • mobile phones
  • cups and plates

 

Vocabulary

    Paragraph 1

      1. threat a. Of one or more things available as another possibility or choice.
      2. ubiquity b. A person or thing likely to cause damage or danger.
      3. cardiac c. A large number of people or things.
      4. tissue d. The fact of appearing everywhere or of being very common.
      5. multitude e. Any of the material of which animals or plants are made.
      6. shatter f. Relating to the heart.
      7. alternative g. Break or cause to break suddenly and violently into pieces.

    Paragraph 2

      8. allergic h. Caused by or relating to a damaging immune response by the body to a substance.
      9. chronic i. Take food, drink, or another substance into the body by swallowing or absorbing it.
      10. inflammation j. Of an illness persisting for a long time or constantly recurring.
      11. complication k. A piece of broken ceramic, plastic metal, glass, or rock, usually having sharp edges.
      12. prevalent l. A localized physical condition in which part of the body becomes reddened, swollen, hot, and often painful, especially as a reaction to injury or infection
      13. shard m. A secondary disease or condition aggravating an already existing one.
      14. ingest n. Widespread in a particular area or at a particular time.

 

Before reading / listening

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if 1-8 below are true (T) or false (F).

  1. The article says most of us know about the harm microplastics do.     T / F
  2. Microplastics were first found in our bodies in the 1970s.     T / F
  3. Scientists found microplastics in the hearts of heart surgery patients.     T / F
  4. Scientists found plastics from construction materials in a human heart.    T / F
  5. There were tens of thousands of microplastics in the heart tissue.     T / F
  6. Microplastics can cause allergic reactions.     T / F
  7. An average person gets 52,000 bits of microplastic a year in their body.  T / F
  8. It is relatively easy to remove microplastics from our bodies.     T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

  1. aware
  2. ubiquity
  3. cardiac
  4. alternative
  5. construction
  6. individual
  7. complications
  8. consumes
  9. prevalent
  10. critical
  1. eats or drinks
  2. heart
  3. building
  4. problems
  5. omnipresence
  6. commonplace
  7. substitute
  8. vital
  9. single
  10. conscious

3. PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

  1. the environmental damage
  2. the threat from the ubiquity
  3. cardiac tissue
  4. a shatter-proof alternative
  5. polyvinyl chloride used
  6. allergic
  7. average person consumes
  8. dust
  9. these tiny shards are near-
  10. the amount of plastic we breathe in,
  1. impossible to remove
  2. samples
  3. in construction
  4. reactions
  5. ingest, swallow or absorb
  6. done by plastic
  7. particles
  8. to glass
  9. around five grams
  10. of microplastics

Gap fill

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
threat
shatter
tissue
construction
aware
widely
decade
tiny

While many of us are (1) _____________________ of the environmental damage done by plastic, fewer people know about the                  (2) _____________________ from the ubiquity of microplastics. Scientists first found them in our bodies more than a (3) _____________________ ago. Worryingly, researchers have now found them in the human heart. Scientists at the Beijing Anzhen Hospital in China collected cardiac (4) _____________________ samples from 15 patients undergoing heart surgery. After analyzing the samples, they discovered (5) _____________________ pieces of plastic, from a multitude of sources. They included a plastic commonly used as a (6) _____________________ -proof alternative to glass, a polythene      (7) _____________________ used in clothing and food containers, and a polyvinyl chloride used in (8) _____________________.

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
reckon
potentially
shards
chronic
prevalent
swallow
individual
critical

The scientists reported finding, "tens to thousands of (9) _____________________ microplastic pieces in most tissue samples". Chemicals from microplastics are released into the body, (10) _____________________ leading to allergic reactions, cancer, cell death, and (11) _____________________ inflammation, among other complications. Scientists (12) _____________________ the average person consumes around five grams of microplastics a week, or 52,000 particles a year. Microplastics are so (13) _____________________ that they make up 39 per cent of dust particles in our homes. Scientists say these tiny (14) _____________________ are near-impossible to remove from the body. They say it is becoming (15) _____________________ to limit the amount of plastic we breathe in, ingest, (16) _____________________ or absorb.

Listening — Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1)  While many of us are aware of the environmental damage ______
     a.  done by plasticity
     b.  done by plasticine
     c.  done by plastic
     d.  done by plasticize
2)  fewer people know about the threat from the ______
     a.  ubiquity off microplastics
     b.  ubiquity of microplastics
     c.  ubiquity oft microplastics
     d.  ubiquity over microplastics
3)  Scientists first found them in our bodies more than ______
     a.  add deck aid ago
     b.  a deck add ago
     c.  a decade ago
     d.  add decade ago
4)  Scientists at the Beijing Anzhen Hospital in China collected ______
     a.  cardiac tissue samples
     b.  cardiac tissue simples
     c.  cardiac tissue sump pulls
     d.  cardiac tissue same pulls
5)  They included a plastic commonly used as a shatter-proof ______
     a.  alternatively to glass
     b.  alternate to glass
     c.  alter native to glass
     d.  alternative to glass

6)  The scientists reported finding, "tens to thousands of ______
     a.  individually microplastic pieces
     b.  individualize microplastic pieces
     c.  individualism microplastic pieces
     d.  individual microplastic pieces
7)  Chemicals from microplastics are released into the body, potentially leading ______
     a.  to allergy reactions
     b.  to allergic reactions
     c.  to allergen reactions
     d.  to allergically reactions
8)  Microplastics are so prevalent that they make up 39 per cent ______
     a.  of dusty particles
     b.  of dusted particles
     c.  of dust particles
     d.  of dusts particles
9)  They say it is becoming critical to ______
     a.  limitation the amount
     b.  limits the amount
     c.  delimit the amount
     d.  limit the amount
10)  plastic we breathe in, ingest, ______
     a.  swallow or abs orb
     b.  swallow or abs sorbet
     c.  swallow or absorb
     d.  swallow or ab sorbet

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

While many of us (1) ____________________ the environmental damage done by plastic, fewer people know about (2) ____________________ the ubiquity of microplastics. Scientists first found them in our bodies more than (3) ____________________. Worryingly, researchers have now found them in the human heart. Scientists at the Beijing Anzhen Hospital in China collected (4) ____________________ from 15 patients undergoing heart surgery. After analyzing the samples, they discovered tiny pieces of plastic, from a (5) ____________________. They included a plastic commonly used as a shatter-proof alternative to glass, a polythene (6) ____________________ clothing and food containers, and a polyvinyl chloride used in construction.

The scientists reported finding, "tens to thousands of individual microplastic (7) ____________________ tissue samples". Chemicals from microplastics are released into the body, potentially (8) ____________________ reactions, cancer, cell death, and chronic inflammation, among other complications. Scientists (9) ____________________ person consumes around five grams of microplastics a week, or 52,000 particles a year. Microplastics are (10) ____________________ they make up 39 per cent of (11) ____________________ our homes. Scientists say these tiny shards are near-impossible to remove from the body. They say it is becoming critical to limit the amount of plastic (12) ____________________, ingest, swallow or absorb.

Comprehension questions

  1. What do fewer of us know about the threat of?
  2. When were microplastics first found in our bodies?
  3. Where was the research conducted?
  4. What kind of operation were 15 patients having?
  5. What was a polyvinyl chloride used in?
  6. How many microplastics were found in the human heart tissue?
  7. What kind of inflammation can chemicals from microplastics cause?
  8. How many bits of microplastic does the average person consume a year?
  9. How much of the dust in our homes are made up of microplastics?
  10. How important does the article say it is to limit ingested microplastics?

Multiple choice quiz

1) What do fewer of us know about the threat of?
a) climate change
b) health problems
c) the scarcity of microplastics
d) the ubiquity of microplastics
2) When were microplastics first found in our bodies?
a) last year
b) over 10 years ago
c) in 2018
d) a few years ago
3) Where was the research conducted?
a) South Korea
b) Japan
c) China
d) Singapore
4) What kind of operation were 15 patients having?
a) heart surgery
b) a hernia operation
c) a kidney transplant
d) broken bones
5) What was a polyvinyl chloride used in?
a) clothing
b) glass
c) construction
d) food containers

6) How many microplastics were found in the human heart tissue?
a) tens of thousands
b) from tens to thousands
c) fifteen thousand
d) hundreds of thousands
7) What kind of inflammation can chemicals from microplastics cause?
a) short-term inflammation
b) mild inflammation
c) sore inflammation
d) chronic inflammation
8) How many bits of microplastic does the average person consume a year?
a) 52,000 particles
b) 50,000 particles
c) 58,000 particles
d) 54,000 particles
9) How much of the dust in our homes are made up of microplastics?
a) 32%
b) 33%
c) 39%
d) 38%

10) How important does the article say it is to limit ingested microplastics?
a) It's beyond urgent.
b) It's becoming critical.
c) It's of little importance.
d) It's quite important.

Role play

Role  A – Plastic Bottles
You think plastic bottles are the most important things to recycle. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what problems there are with recycling their things. Also, tell the others which of these is the least important to recycle (and why): computers, clothes or cars.

Role  B – Computers
You think computers are the most important things to recycle. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what problems there are with recycling their things. Also, tell the others which of these is the least important to recycle (and why): plastic bottles, clothes or cars.

Role  C – Clothes
You think clothes are the most important things to recycle. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what problems there are with recycling their things. Also, tell the others which of these is the least important to recycle (and why): computers, plastic bottles or cars.

Role  D – Cars
You think cars are the most important things to recycle. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what problems there are with recycling their things. Also, tell the others which of these is the least important to recycle (and why):  computers, clothes or plastic bottles.

After reading / listening

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words...

'plastic'

  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________

    • and 'heart'.

  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________

    • • Share your findings with your partners.

    • Make questions using the words you found.

    • Ask your partner / group your questions.

    2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

    •Share your questions with other classmates / groups. •Ask your partner / group your questions.

    3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

    4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

    5. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall how they were used in the text:

    • aware
    • decade
    • collected
    • patients
    • tiny
    • alternative
    • tens
    • leading
    • average
    • week
    • homes
    • limit

    Student survey

    Write five GOOD questions about this topic in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper. When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

    (Please look at page 12 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

    Discussion - Microplastics

    STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

    1. What did you think when you read the headline?
    2. What images are in your mind when you hear the word 'microplastics'?
    3. What damage do microplastics do?
    4. How can we reduce the amount of microplastics?
    5. What damage could microplastics do to our body?
    6. How can we live without plastic?
    7. How much plastic pollution do you see every day?
    8. Would you switch to alternatives to plastic?
    9. How do you feel about microplastics being in your body?
    10. What should governments do about microplastics?

    STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

    1. Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
    2. What do you think of when you hear the word 'heart'?
    3. What do you think about what you read?
    4. Would you move house to live somewhere with fewer microplastics?
    5. Do you suffer from any allergies?
    6. What do you think of your body consuming 52,000 bits of microplastic?
    7. Should we dust our homes more to remove microplastics?
    8. What will things be like in the future?
    9. What do you think of microplastics?
    10. What questions would you like to ask the scientists?

    Discussion — Write your own questions

    STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

    (a) ________________

    (b) ________________

    (c) ________________

    (d) ________________

    (e) ________________

    STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

    (f) ________________

    (g) ________________

    (h) ________________

    (i) ________________

    (j) ________________

    Language — Cloze (Gap-fill)

    While many of (1) ____ are aware of the environmental damage done by plastic, fewer people know about the (2) ____ from the ubiquity of microplastics. Scientists first found them in our bodies more than (3) ____ decade ago. Worryingly, researchers have now found them in the human heart. Scientists at the Beijing Anzhen Hospital in China collected cardiac tissue samples from 15 patients (4) ____ heart surgery. After analyzing the samples, they discovered (5) ____ pieces of plastic, from a multitude of sources. They included a plastic commonly used as a shatter-proof alternative (6) ____ glass, a polythene widely used in clothing and food containers, and a polyvinyl chloride used in construction.

    The scientists reported finding, "tens (7) ____ thousands of individual microplastic pieces in most tissue samples". Chemicals from microplastics are released into the body, (8) ____ leading to allergic reactions, cancer, cell death, and chronic inflammation, among other complications. Scientists (9) ____ the average person consumes around five grams of microplastics a week, or 52,000 particles a year. Microplastics are so prevalent that they make (10) ____ 39 per cent of dust particles in our homes. Scientists say these tiny shards are (11) ____-impossible to remove from the body. They say it is becoming (12) ____ to limit the amount of plastic we breathe in, ingest, swallow or absorb.

    Which of these words go in the above text?

    1. (a)     them     (b)     us     (c)     people     (d)     doctors    
    2. (a)     treat     (b)     threat     (c)     threaten     (d)     throat    
    3. (a)     the     (b)     several     (c)     that     (d)     a    
    4. (a)     ongoing     (b)     undergoing     (c)     outgoing     (d)     tangoing    
    5. (a)     tinny     (b)     tiny     (c)     tinted     (d)     tin    
    6. (a)     of     (b)     from     (c)     to     (d)     on    
    7. (a)     on     (b)     as     (c)     to     (d)     in    
    8. (a)     potential     (b)     potent     (c)     potentially     (d)     portent    
    9. (a)     harken     (b)     wrecking     (c)     beckon     (d)     reckon    
    10. (a)     up     (b)     down     (c)     over     (d)     through    
    11. (a)     near     (b)     adjacent     (c)     close     (d)     far    
    12. (a)     critique     (b)     critic     (c)     critical     (d)     criticize

    Spelling

    Paragraph 1

    1. the uqbtiyui of microplastics
    2. aardcci tissue samples
    3. from a eulttmudi of sources
    4. a shatter-proof irnatlvetea to glass
    5. widely used in clothing and food saronnteci
    6. polyvinyl chloride used in coontuncstri

    Paragraph 2

    1. ellgrcia reactions
    2. iccrnoh inflammation
    3. Microplastics are so lepavenrt
    4. dust scletpair
    5. becoming lirticca to limit the amount
    6. plastic we breathe in, ingest, swallow or barobs

    Put the text back together

    (...)   from the ubiquity of microplastics. Scientists first found them in our bodies more than a decade
    (  1  )   While many of us are aware of the environmental damage done by plastic, fewer people know about the threat
    (...)   ago. Worryingly, researchers have now found them in the human heart. Scientists at the Beijing Anzhen Hospital in China
    (...)   to allergic reactions, cancer, cell death, and chronic inflammation, among other complications. Scientists reckon the average
    (...)   homes. Scientists say these tiny shards are near-impossible to remove from the body. They say it is becoming critical
    (...)   samples". Chemicals from microplastics are released into the body, potentially leading
    (...)   to glass, a polythene widely used in clothing and food containers, and a polyvinyl chloride used in construction.
    (...)   a year. Microplastics are so prevalent that they make up 39 per cent of dust particles in our
    (...)   collected cardiac tissue samples from 15 patients undergoing heart surgery. After analyzing
    (...)   the samples, they discovered tiny pieces of plastic, from a multitude
    (...)   person consumes around five grams of microplastics a week, or 52,000 particles
    (...)   The scientists reported finding, "tens to thousands of individual microplastic pieces in most tissue
    (...)   of sources. They included a plastic commonly used as a shatter-proof alternative
    (...)   to limit the amount of plastic we breathe in, ingest, swallow or absorb.

    Put the words in the right order

    1. damage   .   of   environmental   aware   of   Many   us   are
    2. Researchers   the   have   found   them   in   now   heart   .
    3. from   Tissue   patients   15   samples   heart   undergoing   surgery   .
    4. as   used   Commonly   alternative   shatter-proof   to   a   glass   .
    5. containers   .   food   in   used   A   polythene   widely
    6. microplastics   Chemicals   the   into   released   body   .   from   are
    7. consumes   person   Scientists   grams   .   the   reckon   five   average
    8. dust   They   up   per   make   particles   .   of   cent   39
    9. from   to   remove   are   body   .   the   near-impossible   They
    10. the   becoming   critical   is   It   to   limit   amount   .

    Circle the correct word (20 pairs)

    While many of us are beware / aware of the environmental damage done by plastic, fewer people know about the threat / treat from the ubiquity / ubiquitous of microplastics. Scientists first found them in our bodies more than the / a decade ago. Worryingly, researchers have now found them in / at the human heart. Scientists at the Beijing Anzhen Hospital in China collected cardiac tissue sample / samples from 15 patients ongoing / undergoing heart surgery. After analyzing the samples, they discovered tiny / tinny pieces of plastic, from a multitude of sources. They included a plastic commonly used as / has a shatter-proof alternative to glass, a polythene widen / widely used in clothing and food containers, and a polyvinyl chloride used in construction.

    The scientists reported funding / finding, "tens to thousands of individual microplastic pieces in / at most tissue samples". Chemicals from microplastics are released into / onto the body, potentially leading on / to allergic reactions, cancer, cell death, and chronic inflammation, among others / other complications. Scientists reckon the average person consumes around five grams of microplastics a / in week, or 52,000 particles a year. Microplastics are so prevalent that they make up / down 39 per cent of dust particles in our homes. Scientists say these / them tiny shards are near-impossible to remove from the body. They say they / it is becoming critical to limit the amount of plastic we breathe in / breath, in ingest, swallow or absorb.

    Talk about the connection between each pair of words in italics, and why the correct word is correct. Look up the definition of new words.

    Insert the vowels (a, e, i, o, u)

    Wh_l_  m_ny  _f  _s _r_ _w_r_  _f  th_ _nv_r_nm_nt_l  d_m_g_  d_n_  by  pl_st_c,  f_w_r  p__pl_  kn_w _b__t  th_  thr__t  fr_m  th_  _b_q__ty  _f  m_cr_pl_st_cs.  Sc__nt_sts  f_rst  f__nd  th_m  _n  __r  b_d__s  m_r_  th_n _  d_c_d_ _g_.  W_rry_ngly,  r_s__rch_rs  h_v_  n_w  f__nd  th_m  _n  th_  h_m_n  h__rt.  Sc__nt_sts _t  th_  B__j_ng _nzh_n  H_sp_t_l  _n  Ch_n_  c_ll_ct_d  c_rd__c  t_ss__  s_mpl_s  fr_m  15  p_t__nts  _nd_rg__ng  h__rt  s_rg_ry. _ft_r _n_lyz_ng  th_  s_mpl_s,  th_y  d_sc_v_r_d  t_ny  p__c_s  _f  pl_st_c,  fr_m _  m_lt_t_d_  _f  s__rc_s.  Th_y  _ncl_d_d _  pl_st_c  c_mm_nly  _s_d _s _  sh_tt_r-pr__f _lt_rn_t_v_  t_  gl_ss, _  p_lyth_n_  w_d_ly  _s_d  _n  cl_th_ng _nd  f__d  c_nt__n_rs, _nd _  p_lyv_nyl  chl_r_d_  _s_d  _n  c_nstr_ct__n.

    Th_  sc__nt_sts  r_p_rt_d  f_nd_ng,  "t_ns  t_  th__s_nds  _f  _nd_v_d__l  m_cr_pl_st_c  p__c_s  _n  m_st  t_ss__  s_mpl_s".  Ch_m_c_ls  fr_m  m_cr_pl_st_cs  _r_  r_l__s_d  _nt_  th_  b_dy,  p_t_nt__lly  l__d_ng  t_ _ll_rg_c  r__ct__ns,  c_nc_r,  c_ll  d__th, _nd  chr_n_c  _nfl_mm_t__n, _m_ng  _th_r  c_mpl_c_t__ns.  Sc__nt_sts  r_ck_n  th_ _v_r_g_  p_rs_n  c_ns_m_s _r__nd  f_v_  gr_ms  _f  m_cr_pl_st_cs _  w__k,  _r  52,000  p_rt_cl_s _  y__r.  M_cr_pl_st_cs _r_  s_  pr_v_l_nt  th_t  th_y  m_k_  _p  39  p_r  c_nt  _f  d_st  p_rt_cl_s  _n  __r  h_m_s.  Sc__nt_sts  s_y  th_s_  t_ny  sh_rds _r_  n__r -_mp_ss_bl_  t_  r_m_v_  fr_m  th_  b_dy.  Th_y  s_y  _t  _s  b_c_m_ng  cr_t_c_l  t_  l_m_t  th_ _m__nt  _f  pl_st_c  w_  br__th_  _n,  _ng_st,  sw_ll_w  _r _bs_rb.

    Punctuate the text and add capitals

    while many of us are aware of the environmental damage done by plastic fewer people know about the threat from the ubiquity of microplastics scientists first found them in our bodies more than a decade ago worryingly researchers have now found them in the human heart scientists at the beijing anzhen hospital in china collected cardiac tissue samples from 15 patients undergoing heart surgery after analyzing the samples they discovered tiny pieces of plastic from a multitude of sources they included a plastic commonly used as a shatterproof alternative to glass a polythene widely used in clothing and food containers and a polyvinyl chloride used in construction

    the scientists reported finding tens to thousands of individual microplastic pieces in most tissue samples chemicals from microplastics are released into the body potentially leading to allergic reactions cancer cell death and chronic inflammation among other complications scientists reckon the average person consumes around five grams of microplastics a week or 52000 particles a year microplastics are so prevalent that they make up 39 per cent of dust particles in our homes scientists say these tiny shards are near-impossible to remove from the body they say it is becoming critical to limit the amount of plastic we breathe in ingest swallow or absorb

    Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

    Whilemanyofusareawareoftheenvironmentaldamagedonebyplastic,
    fewerpeopleknowaboutthethreatfromtheubiquityofmicroplastics.Sc
    ientistsfirstfoundtheminourbodiesmorethanadecadeago.Worryingl
    y,researchershavenowfoundtheminthehumanheart.Scientistsatthe
    BeijingAnzhenHospitalinChinacollectedcardiactissuesamplesfrom1
    5patientsundergoingheartsurgery.Afteranalyzingthesamples,theyd
    iscoveredtinypiecesofplastic,fromamultitudeofsources.Theyinclude
    daplasticcommonlyusedasashatter-proofalternativetoglass,apolyt
    henewidelyusedinclothingandfoodcontainers,andapolyvinylchloride
    usedinconstruction.Thescientistsreportedfinding,"tenstothousands
    ofindividualmicroplasticpiecesinmosttissuesamples".Chemicalsfro
    mmicroplasticsarereleasedintothebody,potentiallyleadingtoallergic
    reactions,cancer,celldeath,andchronicinflammation,amongotherco
    mplications.Scientistsreckontheaveragepersonconsumesaroundfiv
    egramsofmicroplasticsaweek,or52,000particlesayear.Microplastics
    aresoprevalentthattheymakeup39percentofdustparticlesinourhom
    es.Scientistssaythesetinyshardsarenear-impossibletoremovefromt
    hebody.Theysayitisbecomingcriticaltolimittheamountofplasticwebr
    eathein,ingest,swalloworabsorb.

    Free writing

    Write about microplastics for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

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    Academic writing

    We need to stop using plastic immediately. Discuss.

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    Homework

    1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.
    2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find out more about this news story. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.
    3. MICROPLASTICS: Make a poster about microplastics. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?
    4. END PLASTIC: Write a magazine article about ending the use of plastic. Include imaginary interviews with people who are for and against this.
    Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s).
    5. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? Write a newspaper article about the next stage in this news story. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your articles.
    6. LETTER: Write a letter to an expert on microplastics. Ask him/her three questions about them. Give him/her three of your ideas on how to reduce plastic use. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

    A Few Additional Activities for Students

    Ask your students what they have read, seen or heard about this news in their own language. Students are likely to / may have have encountered this news in their L1 and therefore bring a background knowledge to the classroom.

    Get students to role play different characters from this news story.

    Ask students to keep track of this news and revisit it to discuss in your next class.

    Ask students to male predictions of how this news might develop in the next few days or weeks, and then revisit and discuss in a future class.

    Ask students to write a follow-up story to this news.

    Students role play a journalist and someone who witnessed or was a part of this news. Perhaps they could make a video of the interview.

    Ask students to keep a news journal in English and add this story to their thoughts.

    Also...

    Buy my 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers eBook. It has hundreds of ideas, activity templates, reproducible activities for:

    • News
    • Warm ups
    • Pre-reading / Post-reading
    • Using headlines
    • Working with words
    • While-reading / While-listening
    • Moving from text to speech
    • Post-reading / Post-listening
    • Discussions
    • Using opinions
    • Plans
    • Language
    • Using lists
    • Using quotes
    • Task-based activities
    • Role plays
    • Using the central characters in the article
    • Using themes from the news
    • Homework

    Buy my book

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    Answers

    (Please look at page 26 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

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