Breaking News English Lesson: Car Paint

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Nissan develops paint to keep cars cooler (5th September 2024)

The Reading / Listening - Car Paint - Level 3

Japanese car maker Nissan has developed a new type of paint that keeps cars cooler. The paint lowers the temperature inside cars that are parked in sunlight. The paint can keep a car 12ºC cooler than cars with regular paint. The new paint will also reduce the need for air conditioning. This means there is less pressure on a car's battery. The paint was developed in partnership with a Chinese company called Radi-Cool, a specialist in heat-cooling products. Nissan said: "The project is part of [our] pursuit of…innovations that empower journeys, and help create a cleaner, more sustainable society." The paint is currently only available in white. Nissan hopes to make other colours in the future.

The leader of the "cool paint" project is Dr Susumu Miura. He is a manager at the Nissan Research Center near Tokyo. His team started developing the paint in 2021. Their current paint is about six times thicker than standard automotive paint. This will make cars a little more expensive. Dr Miura spoke about his work. He said: "My dream is to create cooler cars without consuming energy." He added: "This is especially important in the electric vehicle era, where the load from running air-conditioning in summer can have a sizeable impact on the [condition of the battery]." He hopes vehicles like ambulances that spend most of the day out driving will have the paint.

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

Car Paint - Level 0, Car Paint - Level 1 or Car Paint - Level 2

Sources

https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15379952
https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news/nissans-experimenting-with-exterior-paint-with-cooling-tech/ar-AA1oy3Ac
https://global.nissannews.com/en/releases/nissan-trialing-cool-paint-technology

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. CAR PAINT: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about car paint. 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?
car maker / paint / cool / sunlight / air conditioning / battery / project / journey /
manager / team / expensive / dream / energy / electric vehicle / ambulance / driving
Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.
3. PAINT EVERYTHING: Students A strongly believe we should paint everything with the new paint to save energy; Students B strongly believe the opposite. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
4. CAR COMPANIES: What do you know about these car companies? What do you think of their cars? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

	What I Know	Their Cars
Nissan
Tesla
Rolls Royce
Ferrari
Mercedes
BYD

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. COOL: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "cool". Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.
6. "COOL PAINT": Rank these with your partner. Put the best things to use "cool paint" on at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

Cars
Airplanes
Roads
Houses
Bus stops
Drinks cans
Buses
Baseball caps

Vocabulary

Paragraph 1

1.	temperature	a.	How hot or cold something is.
2.	regular	b.	A new idea, way of doing something, or a new thing that is different and better.
3.	reduce	c.	Happening often or following a pattern; usual or normal.
4.	battery	d.	A person who knows a lot (everything) about one thing.
5.	specialist	e.	To make something smaller or less.
6.	innovation	f.	A small object that gives power to things like phones, toys, or cars.
7.	sustainable	g.	Something that can last a long time without hurting the environment.

Paragraph 2

8.	current	h.	The amount of work to be done by a person or machine.
9.	automotive	i.	A (long) period of time with a special quality or characteristic.
10.	consuming	j.	Happening now or at this time.
11.	era	k.	Quite large or big.
12.	load (noun)	l.	Related to cars or vehicles.
13.	sizeable	m.	A strong effect or change caused by something.
14.	impact	n.	Using up something, like time, energy, or food.

Before reading / listening

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

The paint keeps cars warm in winter. T / F
The cool paint keeps cars that are in sunlight about 12 degrees cooler. T / F
The cool paint means there is less pressure on the car's battery. T / F
Nissan has no plans to create the paint in colours other than white. T / F
The paint has been in development for 10 years. T / F
The cool paint is six times thinner than standard car paint. T / F
The researcher's dream is to create cars that don't need air-con. T / F
The researcher wants ambulances to use the new cool paint. T / F

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

type
lowers
need
pressure
journeys
leader
standard
expensive
sizeable
vehicles

head
requirement
automobiles
trips
reduces
regular
large
kind
costly
stress

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

The paint lowers the
This means there is less pressure on
developed in partnership
create a cleaner, more
Nissan hopes to make other colours in
His team started
about six times thicker than standard
My dream is to create cooler cars
in the electric
ambulances that spend most

developing the paint in 2021
sustainable society
vehicle era
temperature inside cars
without consuming energy
with a Chinese company
of the day out driving
the future
automotive paint
a car's battery

Gap fill

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.

sunlight
pursuit
battery
future
type
sustainable
need
specialist

Japanese car maker Nissan has developed a new (1) _________________________________________ of paint that keeps cars cooler. The paint lowers the temperature inside cars that are parked in (2) _________________________________________. The paint can keep a car 12ºC cooler than cars with regular paint. The new paint will also reduce the (3) _________________________________________ for air conditioning. This means there is less pressure on a car's (4) _________________________________________. The paint was developed in partnership with a Chinese company called Radi-Cool, a (5) _________________________________________ in heat-cooling products. Nissan said: "The project is part of [our] (6) _________________________________________ of…innovations that empower journeys, and help create a cleaner, more (7) _________________________________________ society." The paint is currently only available in white. Nissan hopes to make other colours in the (8) _________________________________________.

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.

load
team
day
more
sizeable
project
energy
thicker

The leader of the "cool paint" (9) _________________________________________ is Dr Susumu Miura. He is a manager at the Nissan Research Center near Tokyo. His (10) _________________________________________ started developing the paint in 2021. Their current paint is about six times (11) _________________________________________ than standard automotive paint. This will make cars a little (12) _________________________________________ expensive. Dr Miura spoke about his work. He said: "My dream is to create cooler cars without consuming (13) _________________________________________." He added: "This is especially important in the electric vehicle era, where the (14) _________________________________________ from running air-conditioning in summer can have a (15) _________________________________________ impact on the [condition of the battery]." He hopes vehicles like ambulances that spend most of the (16) _________________________________________ out driving will have the paint.

Listening — Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1) The paint lowers the temperature inside cars that are ______
     a. parked in sun right
     b. parked in sun late
     c. parked in sun latte
     d. parked in sunlight
2) new paint will also reduce the need for air conditioning. This means there ______
     a. is less press sure
     b. is lest pressure
     c. is less pressure
     d. is least pressure
3) The project is part of [our] pursuit of…innovations ______
     a. that employer journeys
     b. that imp power journeys
     c. that imp powwow journeys
     d. that empower journeys
4) more sustainable society." The paint is currently only ______
     a. availability in white
     b. available on white
     c. available in white
     d. available on white
5) Nissan hopes to make other colours ______
     a. on the future
     b. in the future
     c. at a future
     d. in a future

6) Their current paint is about six times thicker than ______
     a. standard automated paint
     b. standard automotive paint
     c. standard auto motive paint
     d. standard auto motif paint
7) He said: "My dream is to create cooler cars ______."
     a. without consumption energy
     b. without consume in energy
     c. without consuming energies
     d. without consuming energy
8) He added: "This is especially important in the ______"
     a. electric vehicle era
     b. electric vehicle aura
     c. electric vehicle aerial
     d. electric vehicle aurora
9) where the load from running air-conditioning in summer can have ______
     a. a size a ball impact
     b. a sizeable compact
     c. assize a ball impact
     d. a sizeable impact
10) vehicles like ambulances that spend most of the ______
     a. day up driving
     b. day out driven
     c. day out driving
     d. daily out driving

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

Japanese car maker Nissan has developed a (1) _______________________________________________ paint that keeps cars cooler. The paint lowers the temperature inside cars that are (2) _______________________________________________. The paint can keep a car 12ºC cooler than cars (3) _______________________________________________. The new paint will also reduce the need for air conditioning. This means there is (4) _______________________________________________ a car's battery. The paint was developed in partnership with a Chinese company called Radi-Cool, (5) _______________________________________________ heat-cooling products. Nissan said: "The project is part of [our] pursuit of…innovations that empower journeys, and help create a cleaner, more sustainable society." The paint is currently only (6) _______________________________________________. Nissan hopes to make other colours in the future.

The leader of the (7) _______________________________________________ is Dr Susumu Miura. He is a manager at the Nissan Research Center near Tokyo. His team started developing the paint in 2021. Their current paint is about (8) _______________________________________________ than standard automotive paint. This will make cars a (9) _______________________________________________. Dr Miura spoke about his work. He said: "My dream is to create cooler cars (10) _______________________________________________." He added: "This is especially important in the electric vehicle era, where the load from running air-conditioning in summer can have (11) _______________________________________________ on the [condition of the battery]." He hopes (12) _______________________________________________ that spend most of the day out driving will have the paint.

Comprehension questions

Where is the temperature lower when the paint is used?
How much cooler does the cool paint keep cars?
What does the paint mean there is less pressure on?
Where is the company Radi-Cool from?
What does the researcher want to help create?
Where is the Nissan Research Center?
How many times thicker is the cool paint than regular paint?
What is the researcher's dream?
What kind of era does the researcher mention?
What vehicles does the researcher hope will use the paint?

Multiple choice quiz

1) Where is the temperature lower when the paint is used?
a) in deserts
b) Japan
c) in the countryside
d) inside cars parked in sunlight
2) How much cooler does the cool paint keep cars?
a) 10ºC
b) 12ºC
c) 18ºC
d) 20ºC
3) What does the paint mean there is less pressure on?
a) the environment
b) our wallets
c) a car's battery
d) the car's steel
4) Where is the company Radi-Cool from?
a) China
b) the USA
c) Australia
d) Brazil
5) What does the researcher want to help create?
a) an affordable supercar
b) a new research centre
c) a cleaner, more sustainable society
d) a spray-on cool paint

6) Where is the Nissan Research Center?
a) New York
b) near Tokyo
c) outside Paris
d) Shanghai
7) How many times thicker is the cool paint than regular paint?
a) 3
b) 4
c) 5
d) 6
8) What is the researcher's dream?
a) to create cooler cars
b) to drive a Ferrari
c) to end global warming
d) to be CEO
9) What kind of era does the researcher mention?
a) the Dark Ages
b) the Middle Ages
c) the electric vehicle era
d) the digital age
10) What vehicles does the researcher hope will use the paint?
a) airplanes
b) ambulances
c) tanks
d) trains

Role play

Role A – Cars
You think cars are the best things to use "cool paint" on. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their things. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): houses, drinks cans or baseball caps.

Role B – Houses
You think houses are the best things to use "cool paint" on. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their things. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): cars, drinks cans or baseball caps.

Role C – Drinks Cans
You think drinks cans are the best things to use "cool paint" on. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their things. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): houses, cars or baseball caps.

Role D – Baseball Caps
You think baseball caps are the best things to use "cool paint" on. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their things. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): houses, drinks cans or cars.

After reading / listening

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

'paint'

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

and 'car'.
________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

• 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:

type

keep

pressure

partnership

part

currently

leader

team

spoke

create

load

hopes

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 - Car Paint

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

What did you think when you read the headline?
What images are in your mind when you hear the word 'paint'?
What do you know about Nissan?
How useful might this paint be?
What do you think of cars that are boiling hot inside?
What do you think of the air conditioning in cars?
What other innovations do cars need?
How will the paint create a more sustainable society?
What's the best car colour?
What advice do you have for the Nissan researchers?

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

Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
What do you think of when you hear the word 'car'?
What do you think about what you read?
What do you think of Japanese cars?
Should we paint houses and streets with this paint?
What would it be like to be a researcher for a car company?
What's the best car company in the world?
What other products need to be cool?
What's your favourite car, and why?
What questions would you like to ask Nissan bosses?

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)

Japanese car (1) ____ Nissan has developed a new type of paint that keeps cars cooler. The paint lowers the temperature inside cars that are parked (2) ____ sunlight. The paint can keep a car 12ºC cooler than cars with regular paint. The new paint will also reduce the (3) ____ for air conditioning. This means there is less pressure on a car's battery. The paint was developed (4) ____ partnership with a Chinese company called Radi-Cool, a specialist in heat-cooling products. Nissan said: "The project is part of [our] pursuit of…innovations that (5) ____ journeys, and help create a cleaner, more sustainable society." The paint is (6) ____ only available in white. Nissan hopes to make other colours in the future.

The leader of the "cool paint" (7) ____ is Dr Susumu Miura. He is a manager at the Nissan Research Center near Tokyo. His team started developing the paint in 2021. Their current paint is about six (8) ____ thicker than standard automotive paint. This will make cars a little more expensive. Dr Miura spoke about his work. He said: "My dream is to create cooler cars (9) ____ consuming energy." He added: "This is especially important in the electric vehicle (10) ____, where the load from running air-conditioning in summer can have a (11) ____ impact on the [condition of the battery]." He hopes vehicles like ambulances that spend most of the day (12) ____ driving will have the paint.

Which of these words go in the above text?

(a)     making     (b)     maker     (c)     made     (d)     make
(a)     of     (b)     in     (c)     at     (d)     on
(a)     necessary     (b)     needy     (c)     needs     (d)     need
(a)     to     (b)     in     (c)     at     (d)     on
(a)     powerful     (b)     empower     (c)     powers     (d)     powerfully
(a)     currant     (b)     currency     (c)     currently     (d)     current
(a)     abject     (b)     reject     (c)     project     (d)     inject
(a)     timed     (b)     timings     (c)     times     (d)     timers
(a)     with     (b)     wither     (c)     within     (d)     without
(a)     aerial     (b)     area     (c)     aura     (d)     era
(a)     sizeable     (b)     sizing     (c)     sizzle     (d)     sizzling
(a)     down     (b)     up     (c)     out     (d)     in

Spelling

Paragraph 1

the puetearterm inside cars
less pressure on a car's arbteyt
a saetcpiisl in heat-cooling products
nsnooitniav that empower journeys
create a cleaner, more tsiubsanael society
The paint is currently only baalialev

Paragraph 2

ndasdatr automotive paint
sciuognnm energy
This is alsecepyli important
air-igonntiocidn
have a sizeable maticp
vehicles like naumsalbec

Put the text back together

(...) important in the electric vehicle era, where the load from running air-conditioning
(...) the temperature inside cars that are parked in sunlight. The paint can keep a car 12ºC cooler than cars with
(...) the Nissan Research Center near Tokyo. His team started developing the paint in 2021. Their current paint is about six
(...) times thicker than standard automotive paint. This will make cars a little more expensive. Dr Miura spoke
(..1..) Japanese car maker Nissan has developed a new type of paint that keeps cars cooler. The paint lowers
(...) on a car's battery. The paint was developed in partnership with a Chinese company called Radi-Cool, a specialist
(...) like ambulances that spend most of the day out driving will have the paint.
(...) that empower journeys, and help create a cleaner, more sustainable society." The paint is currently only
(...) about his work. He said: "My dream is to create cooler cars without consuming energy." He added: "This is especially
(...) available in white. Nissan hopes to make other colours in the future.
(...) in summer can have a sizeable impact on the [condition of the battery]." He hopes vehicles
(...) regular paint. The new paint will also reduce the need for air conditioning. This means there is less pressure
(...) The leader of the "cool paint" project is Dr Susumu Miura. He is a manager at
(...) in heat-cooling products. Nissan said: "The project is part of [our] pursuit of…innovations

Put the words in the right order

paint A new keeps that cooler . cars
lowers inside the temperature The paint cars .
can cooler . a paint car The 12ºC keep
a society . Help sustainable cleaner, to create more
paint only white . The in available is currently
paint six thicker . about Their current is times
a more expensive . will little cars make This
cars . My dream is to create cooler
vehicle . electric the This is especially in important
spend that Ambulances day of driving . most the

Circle the correct word (20 pairs)

Japanese car maker Nissan has developing / developed a new type of paint that keeps cars cooler. The paint lows / lowers the temperature inside cars that are parked in / on sunlight. The paint can keep a car 12ºC cooler than cars with regular painting / paint. The new paint will also reduce the necessary / need for air conditioning. This means / meant there is less pressure on a car's battery. The paint was developed in partnership with a Chinese company called Radi-Cool, a specialist in heat-cooling produce / products. Nissan said: "The project is part of [our] pursuit of…innovations that empower / powerful journeys, and help create a cleaner, more sustainable society." The paint is currently once / only available in white. Nissan hopes to make other / another colours in the future.

The leader of the "cool paint" project is Dr Susumu Miura. He is a manager at / by the Nissan Research Center near Tokyo. His team starts / started developing the paint in 2021. Their current / currant paint is about six times thicker than standard automotive / locomotive paint. This will make cars a little more / much expensive. Dr Miura spoke about his work. He said: "My dream is to create cooler cars without preserving / consuming energy." He added: "This is especially important / importance in the electric vehicle era, where the load from running / jogging air-conditioning in summer can have a sizeable impact at / on the [condition of the battery]." He hopes vehicles like ambulances that spend most of the day out driven / driving will have the paint.

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)

J_p_n_s_ c_r m_k_r N_ss_n h_s d_v_l_p_d _ n_w typ_ _f p__nt th_t k__ps c_rs c__l_r. Th_ p__nt l_w_rs th_ t_mp_r_t_r_ _ns_d_ c_rs th_t _r_ p_rk_d _n s_nl_ght. Th_ p__nt c_n k__p _ c_r 12ºC c__l_r th_n c_rs w_th r_g_l_r p__nt. Th_ n_w p__nt w_ll _ls_ r_d_c_ th_ n__d f_r __r c_nd_t__n_ng. Th_s m__ns th_r_ _s l_ss pr_ss_r_ _n _ c_r's b_tt_ry. Th_ p__nt w_s d_v_l_p_d _n p_rtn_rsh_p w_th _ Ch_n_s_ c_mp_ny c_ll_d R_d_-C__l, _ sp_c__l_st _n h__t-c__l_ng pr_d_cts. N_ss_n s__d: "Th_ pr_j_ct _s p_rt _f [__r] p_rs__t _f…_nn_v_t__ns th_t _mp_w_r j__rn_ys, _nd h_lp cr__t_ _ cl__n_r, m_r_ s_st__n_bl_ s_c__ty." Th_ p__nt _s c_rr_ntly _nly _v__l_bl_ _n wh_t_. N_ss_n h_p_s t_ m_k_ _th_r c_l__rs _n th_ f_t_r_.

Th_ l__d_r _f th_ "c__l p__nt" pr_j_ct _s Dr S_s_m_ M__r_. H_ _s _ m_n_g_r _t th_ N_ss_n R_s__rch C_nt_r n__r T_ky_. H_s t__m st_rt_d d_v_l_p_ng th_ p__nt _n 2021. Th__r c_rr_nt p__nt _s _b__t s_x t_m_s th_ck_r th_n st_nd_rd __t_m_t_v_ p__nt. Th_s w_ll m_k_ c_rs _ l_ttl_ m_r_ _xp_ns_v_. Dr M__r_ sp_k_ _b__t h_s w_rk. H_ s__d: "My dr__m _s t_ cr__t_ c__l_r c_rs w_th__t c_ns_m_ng _n_rgy." H_ _dd_d: "Th_s _s _sp_c__lly _mp_rt_nt _n th_ _l_ctr_c v_h_cl_ _r_, wh_r_ th_ l__d fr_m r_nn_ng __r-c_nd_t__n_ng _n s_mm_r c_n h_v_ _ s_z__bl_ _mp_ct _n th_ [c_nd_t__n _f th_ b_tt_ry]." H_ h_p_s v_h_cl_s l_k_ _mb_l_nc_s th_t sp_nd m_st _f th_ d_y __t dr_v_ng w_ll h_v_ th_ p__nt.

Punctuate the text and add capitals

japanese car maker nissan has developed a new type of paint that keeps cars cooler the paint lowers the temperature inside cars that are parked in sunlight the paint can keep a car 12c cooler than cars with regular paint the new paint will also reduce the need for air conditioning this means there is less pressure on a cars battery the paint was developed in partnership with a chinese company called radicool a specialist in heatcooling products nissan said the project is part of our pursuit ofinnovations that empower journeys and help create a cleaner more sustainable society the paint is currently only available in white nissan hopes to make other colours in the future

the leader of the cool paint project is dr susumu miura he is a manager at the nissan research center near tokyo his team started developing the paint in 2021 their current paint is about six times thicker than standard automotive paint this will make cars a little more expensive dr miura spoke about his work he said my dream is to create cooler cars without consuming energy he added this is especially important in the electric vehicle era where the load from running airconditioning in summer can have a sizeable impact on the condition of the battery he hopes vehicles like ambulances that spend most of the day out driving will have the paint

Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

JapanesecarmakerNissanhasdevelopedanewtypeofpaintthatkeepsc
arscooler.Thepaintlowersthetemperatureinsidecarsthatareparkedi
nsunlight.Thepaintcankeepacar12ºCcoolerthancarswithregularpain
t.Thenewpaintwillalsoreducetheneedforairconditioning.Thismeanst
hereislesspressureonacar'sbattery.Thepaintwasdevelopedinpartne
rshipwithaChinesecompanycalledRadi-Cool,aspecialistinheat-coo
lingproducts.Nissansaid:"Theprojectispartof[our]pursuitof…innova
tionsthatempowerjourneys,andhelpcreateacleaner,moresustainabl
esociety."Thepaintiscurrentlyonlyavailableinwhite.Nissanhopestom
akeothercoloursinthefuture.Theleaderofthe"coolpaint"projectisDrS
usumuMiura.HeisamanagerattheNissanResearchCenternearTokyo.
Histeamstarteddevelopingthepaintin2021.Theircurrentpaintisabout
sixtimesthickerthanstandardautomotivepaint.Thiswillmakecarsalitt
lemoreexpensive.DrMiuraspokeabouthiswork.Hesaid:"Mydreamist
ocreatecoolercarswithoutconsumingenergy."Headded:"Thisisespec
iallyimportantintheelectricvehicleera,wheretheloadfromrunningair-
conditioninginsummercanhaveasizeableimpactonthe[conditionofth
ebattery]."Hehopesvehicleslikeambulancesthatspendmostoftheda
youtdrivingwillhavethepaint.

Free writing

Write about Nissan cool paint for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Academic writing

Everything should be painted in cool paint to lower energy use. Discuss.

_____________________________________________________________________________

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. CAR PAINT: Make a poster about car paint. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?
4. COOL PAINT: Write a magazine article about painting everything with cool paint so we use less energy. 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 car paint. Ask him/her three questions about car paint. Give him/her three of your ideas. 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

$US 9.99

Answers

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

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Breaking News English Lesson: Car Paint

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