The Reading / Listening - Space Debris - Level 6

There is a growing problem of space debris, to the extent that it could pose a danger to people. Earlier this week, an enormous metal ring crashed into the Kenyan village of Mukuku, 116 km southeast of the capital Nairobi. The mystery object was approximately 2.5 metres wide, and weighed 500 kilograms. It had the potential to cause significant loss of life and damage to property. Fortunately, it landed in a small wood. Kenya's Space Agency said the hunk of metal was probably the separation ring from a recently-launched rocket. An official said: "Our experts will analyze the object…and keep the public informed of the outcome." It said this was "an isolated case".

The problem of space debris will get bigger as more companies and countries launch rockets into the heavens. There has been a heating up of the space race in the past decade. Many satellites from the USA, China, India and other nations are now orbiting Earth and probing deep space. Commercial companies, such as Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin have sent dozens of rockets into low-Earth orbit. The European Space Agency estimated that there are currently more than 14,000 tons of debris circling our planet. This includes over 170 million pieces of space junk that are wider than one millimetre. Most of these harmlessly burn up upon re-entry into our atmosphere.

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

    Space Debris - Level 4  or  Space Debris - Level 5

Sources
  • https://www.euronews.com/2025/01/03/kenya-investigates-giant-piece-of-space-debris-that-crash-landed-in-a-village
  • https://www.livescience.com/space/massive-piece-of-space-junk-crashes-into-village-in-kenya-and-officials-still-have-no-idea-where-it-came-from
  • https://www.independent.co.uk/space/kenya-space-debris-rocket-crash-b2673612.html


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. SPACE DEBRIS: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about space debris. 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?
       problem / space debris / danger / metal ring / loss of life / hunk of metal / experts /
       rockets / satellites / the heavens / orbit / Earth / Elon Musk / planet / atmosphere
Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.
3. FINES: Students A strongly believe countries should be fined for leaving debris in space. Students B strongly believe this is not a good idea. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
4. SPACE: What do you know about these things? What do you want to know? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

 

What I Know

What I Want to Know

Space

 

 

Our galaxy

 

 

The ISS

 

 

Mars

 

 

Asteroids

 

 

Black holes

 

 
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. DEBRIS: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "debris". Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.
6. JUNK: Rank these with your partner. Put the worst items of junk at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

  • Junk mail
  • Junk food
  • Junk in a drawer
  • Junk in a room
  • Junk TV shows
  • Junk news stories
  • Junk folder
  • Junk bonds

 

Vocabulary

    Paragraph 1

      1. to the extent that a. How much something happens or is true.
      2. pose b. The result of something.
      3. potential c. To be or cause a problem or danger.
      4. significant d. A very large piece of something.
      5. hunk e. Something that could happen or be possible.
      6. outcome f. Very important or big.
      7. isolated g. Single; exceptional.

    Paragraph 2

      8. the heavens h. Related to business or making money.
      9. a heating up i. Looking or searching for something carefully.
      10. the space race j. The sky or space above us.
      11. probing k. To move around something, like the earth or a planet.
      12. commercial l. When something gets warmer.
      13. orbit m. Things that are not useful or valuable.
      14. junk n. A competition to explore space, especially between countries.

 

Before reading / listening

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

  1. The article says more items of space debris are falling to Earth.     T / F
  2. A huge block of metal crashed into a village near Nairobi.     T / F
  3. The space debris damaged a lot of property.     T / F
  4. A space agency said the debris was from a rocket launched recently.     T / F
  5. A space rocket was launched to search for heaven.     T / F
  6. The space race is becoming more competitive.     T / F
  7. Commercial companies are now exploring deep space.     T / F
  8. Most space debris burns up when it re-enters Earth's atmosphere.     T / F

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

  1. debris
  2. pose
  3. hunk
  4. outcome
  5. isolated
  6. the heavens
  7. probing
  8. estimated
  9. circling
  10. harmlessly
  1. approximated
  2. exceptional
  3. safely
  4. the wide blue yonder
  5. result
  6. exploring
  7. constitute
  8. orbiting
  9. chunk
  10. detritus

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

  1. to the extent that it
  2. an enormous
  3. cause significant
  4. keep the public informed
  5. It said this was an isolated
  6. launch rockets into
  7. a heating up
  8. probing deep
  9. 14,000 tons of debris
  10. burn up
  1. metal ring
  2. space
  3. case
  4. the heavens
  5. upon re-entry
  6. could pose a danger
  7. circling our planet
  8. loss of life
  9. of the space race
  10. of the outcome

Gap fill

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
mystery
wood
extent
hunk
isolated
enormous
experts
significant

There is a growing problem of space debris, to the (1) _________________________________ that it could pose a danger to people. Earlier this week, an (2) _________________________________ metal ring crashed into the Kenyan village of Mukuku, 116 km southeast of the capital Nairobi. The (3) _________________________________ object was approximately 2.5 metres wide, and weighed 500 kilograms. It had the potential to cause (4) _________________________________ loss of life and damage to property. Fortunately, it landed in a small (5) _________________________________. Kenya's Space Agency said the (6) _________________________________ of metal was probably the separation ring from a recently-launched rocket. An official said: "Our (7) _________________________________ will analyze the object…and keep the public informed of the outcome." It said this was "an (8) _________________________________ case".

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
circling
probing
estimated
heating
harmlessly
heavens
orbit
decade

The problem of space debris will get bigger as more companies and countries launch rockets into the (9) _________________________________. There has been a (10) _________________________________ up of the space race in the past (11) _________________________________. Many satellites from the USA, China, India and other nations are now orbiting Earth and (12) _________________________________ deep space. Commercial companies, such as Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin have sent dozens of rockets into low-Earth (13) _________________________________. The European Space Agency (14) _________________________________ that there are currently more than 14,000 tons of debris (15) _________________________________ our planet. This includes over 170 million pieces of space junk that are wider than one millimetre. Most of these (16) _________________________________ burn up upon re-entry into our atmosphere.

Listening — Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1)  There is a growing problem of space debris, to the extent that it could ______
     a.  pose a danger
     b.  impose a danger
     c.  post a danger
     d.  posse a danger
2)  Earlier this week, an enormous ______
     a.  metal ring clashed
     b.  metal rink crashed
     c.  metal ring crashed
     d.  medal ring crashed
3)  the hunk of metal was probably ______
     a.  the separating ring
     b.  the separate shun ring
     c.  the separation ring
     d.  the separation rink
4)  analyze the object and keep the public informed ______
     a.  of an income
     b.  of the upcoming
     c.  of a outcome
     d.  of the outcome
5)  It said this was ______
     a.  an isolate cast
     b.  an isolated case
     c.  an isolate it case
     d.  an isolated base

6)  more companies and countries launch rockets ______
     a.  into the heathens
     b.  into the heavens
     c.  onto the heavens
     d.  into them heavens
7)  There has been a heating up of the space race in ______
     a.  the psst decade
     b.  the parsed decade
     c.  the passed decade
     d.  the past decade
8)  USA, China, India and other nations are ______
     a.  know orbiting Earth
     b.  now orbit in Earth
     c.  new orbiting Earth
     d.  now orbiting Earth
9)  SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin have sent dozens of rockets into ______
     a.  low-Earth orbit
     b.  lowly-Earth orbit
     c.  low-Earthly orbit
     d.  low-Earth ore bit
10)  debris circling our planet. This includes over 170 million pieces ______
     a.  of space junk
     b.  of spatial dunk
     c.  off space junk
     d.  of space dunk

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

There is a growing problem of space debris, to (1) _______________________________________________ it could pose a danger to people. Earlier this week, an (2) _______________________________________________ crashed into the Kenyan village of Mukuku, 116 km southeast of the capital Nairobi. The (3) _______________________________________________ approximately 2.5 metres wide, and weighed 500 kilograms. It had the (4) _______________________________________________ significant loss of life and damage to property. Fortunately, it landed in a small wood. Kenya's Space Agency said the (5) _______________________________________________ was probably the separation ring from a recently-launched rocket. An official said: "Our experts will analyze the object…and keep the public informed of the outcome." It said this was "(6) _______________________________________________".

The problem of space debris will get bigger as more companies and countries launch rockets (7) _______________________________________________. There has been a heating up of the space race in (8) _______________________________________________. Many satellites from the USA, China, India and other nations are now orbiting Earth and (9) _______________________________________________. Commercial companies, such as Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin have sent dozens of rockets into (10) _______________________________________________. The European Space Agency estimated that there are currently more than 14,000 tons of debris (11) _______________________________________________. This includes over 170 million pieces of space junk that are wider than one millimetre. Most of these (12) _______________________________________________ upon re-entry into our atmosphere.

Comprehension questions

  1. How far from Kenya's capital city did the space debris land?
  2. What was the width of the debris?
  3. Where in the village of Mukuku did the debris land?
  4. Who said the debris was probably a separation ring from a rocket?
  5. Who will analyze the debris?
  6. What has been heating up in the past ten years?
  7. What are satellites probing?
  8. What kind of companies has sent rockets into space?
  9. How many pieces of space debris are there in space?
  10. What happens to most space debris when it re-enters our atmosphere?

Multiple choice quiz

1) How far from Kenya's capital city did the space debris land?
a) 119 km
b) 118 km
c) 117 km
d) 116 km
2) What was the width of the debris?
a) 2.6 metres
b) 2.5 metres
c) 2.4 metres
d) 2.3 metres
3) Where in the village of Mukuku did the debris land?
a) on the main road
b) on the community centre
c) in a pond
d) in a small wood
4) Who said the debris was probably a separation ring from a rocket?
a) NASA
b) SpaceX
c) Kenya's Space Agency
d) Blue Origin
5) Who will analyze the debris?
a) the army
b) the police
c) mechanics
d) experts

6) What has been heating up in the past ten years?
a) rocket engines
b) the Sun
c) the space race
d) the heavens
7) What are satellites probing?
a) deep space
b) our thoughts
c) Mars
d) an asteroid
8) What kind of companies has sent rockets into space?
a) tech companies
b) start-ups
c) commercial companies
d) privatized companies
9) How many pieces of space debris are there in space?
a) 160 million pieces
b) 170 million pieces
c) 180 million pieces
d) 190 million pieces
10) What happens to most space debris when it re-enters our atmosphere?
a) It burns up.
b) It crashes into Earth.
c) nothing
d) It is encased in ice.

Role play

Role  A – Junk Mail
You think junk mail is the worst form of junk. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their forms. Also, tell the others which is the least junky of these (and why): junk food, junk TV shows or junk news stories.

Role  B – Junk Food
You think junk food is the worst form of junk. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their forms. Also, tell the others which is the least junky of these (and why): junk mail, junk TV shows or junk news stories.

Role  C – Junk TV Shows
You think junk TV shows is the worst form of junk. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their forms. Also, tell the others which is the least junky of these (and why): junk food, junk mail or junk news stories.

Role  D – Junk News Stories
You think junk news stories is the worst form of junk. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their forms. Also, tell the others which is the least junky of these (and why): junk food, junk TV shows or junk mail.

After reading / listening

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

'space'

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

    • and 'debris'.

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

    • • 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:

    • growing
    • crashed
    • cause
    • hunk
    • keep
    • case
    • heavens
    • heating
    • deep
    • orbit
    • circling
    • re-entry

    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 - Space Debris

    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 'space'?
    3. What do you think of space?
    4. Is debris in space worse than debris on Earth?
    5. Do companies have a responsibility to retrieve space debris?
    6. Do you worry about space debris falling on you?
    7. How can we reduce the volume of space debris?
    8. What will the space debris problem be like in 100 years from now?
    9. How important is space exploration?
    10. Would you like to see humans living in space?

    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 'debris'?
    3. What do you think about what you read?
    4. What do you think of space debris?
    5. Should companies get fined for leaving debris in space?
    6. What further problems might space debris cause?
    7. What do you know about SpaceX and Blue Origin?
    8. What do you think of there being 170 million pieces of space junk?
    9. How would you feel about going into space?
    10. What questions would you like to ask the space agency?

    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)

    There is a (1) ____ problem of space debris, to the extent that it could (2) ____ a danger to people. Earlier this week, an enormous metal ring crashed into the Kenyan village of Mukuku, 116 km southeast (3) ____ the capital Nairobi. The mystery object was approximately 2.5 metres wide, and weighed 500 kilograms. It had the potential to cause significant (4) ____ of life and damage to property. Fortunately, it landed in a small wood. Kenya's Space Agency said the (5) ____ of metal was probably the separation ring from a recently-launched rocket. An official said: "Our experts will analyze the object…and keep the public informed of the outcome." It said this was "an isolated (6) ____".

    The problem of space debris will get bigger as more companies and countries launch rockets into the (7) ____. There has been a heating up of the space race in the past decade. Many satellites from the USA, China, India and other nations are now (8) ____ Earth and probing deep space. Commercial companies, such as Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin have sent dozens of rockets into (9) ____-Earth orbit. The European Space Agency estimated that there are currently more than 14,000 tons of debris (10) ____ our planet. This includes over 170 million (11) ____ of space junk that are wider than one millimetre. Most of these harmlessly (12) ____ up upon re-entry into our atmosphere.

    Which of these words go in the above text?

    1. (a)     grown     (b)     growing     (c)     glowing     (d)     growling    
    2. (a)     impose     (b)     oppose     (c)     suppose     (d)     pose    
    3. (a)     by     (b)     of     (c)     at     (d)     on    
    4. (a)     lease     (b)     lost     (c)     loss     (d)     lass    
    5. (a)     hunk     (b)     bunk     (c)     funk     (d)     punk    
    6. (a)     case     (b)     box     (c)     pack     (d)     bag    
    7. (a)     nirvana     (b)     purgatory     (c)     hell     (d)     heavens    
    8. (a)     orbiting     (b)     orbital     (c)     orbits     (d)     orbited    
    9. (a)     slow     (b)     low     (c)     follow     (d)     glow    
    10. (a)     squaring     (b)     lining     (c)     circling     (d)     angling    
    11. (a)     snippets     (b)     grains     (c)     pieces     (d)     morsels    
    12. (a)     soak     (b)     burn     (c)     crack     (d)     muck

    Spelling

    Paragraph 1

    1. an osnomeur metal ring
    2. xotlpypaeraim 2.5 metres wide
    3. the potential to cause gncifitiasn loss of life
    4. probably the steirapano ring
    5. Our retxeps will analyze the object
    6. It said this was an aslodtei case

    Paragraph 2

    1. anuchl rockets into the heavens
    2. bnogrip deep space
    3. milaoccerm companies
    4. into low-Earth borit
    5. debris cirilcgn our planet
    6. upon re-entry into our aophmesetr

    Put the text back together

    (...)   deep space. Commercial companies, such as Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin have sent dozens of rockets into
    (...)   analyze the object…and keep the public informed of the outcome." It said this was "an isolated case".
    (...)   life and damage to property. Fortunately, it landed in a small wood. Kenya's Space Agency said the hunk
    (...)   into the heavens. There has been a heating up of the space race in the past
    (...)   The problem of space debris will get bigger as more companies and countries launch rockets
    (...)   southeast of the capital Nairobi. The mystery object was approximately 2.5 metres wide, and
    (...)   a danger to people. Earlier this week, an enormous metal ring crashed into the Kenyan village of Mukuku, 116 km
    (...)   low-Earth orbit. The European Space Agency estimated that there are currently more than 14,000 tons
    (...)   decade. Many satellites from the USA, China, India and other nations are now orbiting Earth and probing
    (...)   of metal was probably the separation ring from a recently-launched rocket. An official said: "Our experts will
    (...)   of debris circling our planet. This includes over 170 million pieces of space
    (...)   weighed 500 kilograms. It had the potential to cause significant loss of
    (...)   junk that are wider than one millimetre. Most of these harmlessly burn up upon re-entry into our atmosphere.
    (  1  ) There is a growing problem of space debris, to the extent that it could pose

    Put the words in the right order

    1. space   a   debris   .   of   There   problem   is   growing
    2. a   that   could   it   pose   extent   danger   .   The
    3. enormous   An   crashed   the   into   village   .   ring   metal
    4. hunk   The   separation   metal   the   of   was   ring   .
    5. case   .   said   this   It   an   isolated   was
    6. the   There's   a   space   heating   up   of   race   .
    7. other   India   Earth   .   nations   are   and   now   orbiting
    8. 14,000   our   tons   debris   of   circling   Over   planet   .
    9. includes   This   of   junk   .   space   over   170 million   pieces
    10. these   upon   harmlessly   burn   re-entry   .   Most   up   of

    Circle the correct word (20 pairs)

    There is a growing / groan problem of space debris, to the extant / extent that it could pose a danger to people. Earlier this week, an enormous metal ring crashed / crushed into the Kenyan village of Mukuku, 116 km southeast of the capital Nairobi. The mystery subject / object was approximately 2.5 metres wide, and weighed 500 kilograms. It had the potent / potential to cause significant loss / lost of life and damage to property. Fortunately, it landed in a small wood. Kenya's Space Agency said the hunk / punk of metal was probably the reparation / separation ring from a recently-launched rocket. An official said: "Your / Our experts will analyze the object…and keep the public informed of / off the outcome." It said this was "an isolated case".

    The problem of space debris will get bigger was / as more companies and countries launch rockets into / unto the heavens. There has been a heating down / up of the space race in the past decade. Many satellites from the USA, China, India and other nations are now orbital / orbiting Earth and probing deep / depth space. Commercial companies, such as Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin have sent dozens of rockets into lowly- / low-Earth orbit. The European Space Agency estimated what / that there are currently more than 14,000 tons of debris squaring / circling our planet. This includes over 170 million pieces of space junk that are wider / width than one millimetre. Most of these harmlessly burn up upon re-entry into our atmosphere / biosphere.

    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)

    Th_r_  _s  _  gr_w_ng  pr_bl_m  _f  sp_c_  d_br_s,  t_  th_  _xt_nt  th_t  _t  c__ld  p_s_  _  d_ng_r  t_  p__pl_.  __rl__r  th_s  w__k,  _n  _n_rm__s  m_t_l  r_ng  cr_sh_d  _nt_  th_  K_ny_n  v_ll_g_  _f  M_k_k_,  116  km  s__th__st  _f  th_  c_p_t_l  N__r_b_.  Th_  myst_ry  _bj_ct  w_s  _ppr_x_m_t_ly  2.5  m_tr_s  w_d_,  _nd  w__gh_d  500  k_l_gr_ms.  _t  h_d  th_  p_t_nt__l  t_  h_v_  c__s_d  s_gn_f_c_nt  l_ss  _f  l_f_  _nd  d_m_g_  t_  pr_p_rty.  F_rt_n_t_ly,  _t  l_nd_d  _n  _  sm_ll  w__d.  K_ny_'s  Sp_c_  _g_ncy  s__d  th_  h_nk  _f  m_t_l  w_s  pr_b_bly  th_  s_p_r_t__n  r_ng  fr_m  _  r_c_ntly-l__nch_d  r_ck_t.  _n  _ff_c__l  s__d:  "__r  _xp_rts  w_ll  _n_lyz_  th_  _bj_ct…_nd  k__p  th_  p_bl_c  _nf_rm_d  _f  th_  __tc_m_."  _t  s__d  th_s  w_s  "_n  _s_l_t_d  c_s_".

    Th_  pr_bl_m  _f  sp_c_  d_br_s  w_ll  g_t  b_gg_r  _s  m_r_  c_mp_n__s  _nd  c__ntr__s  l__nch  r_ck_ts  _nt_  th_  h__v_ns.  Th_r_  h_s  b__n  _  h__t_ng  _p  _f  th_  sp_c_  r_c_  _n  th_  p_st  d_c_d_.  M_ny  s_t_ll_t_s  fr_m  th_  _S_,  Ch_n_,  _nd__  _nd  _th_r  n_t__ns  _r_  n_w  _rb_t_ng  __rth  _nd  pr_b_ng  d__p  sp_c_.  C_mm_rc__l  c_mp_n__s,  s_ch  _s  _l_n  M_sk's  Sp_c_X  _nd  J_ff  B_z_s'  Bl__  _r_g_n  h_v_  s_nt  d_z_ns  _f  r_ck_ts  _nt_  l_w-__rth  _rb_t.  Th_  __r_p__n  Sp_c_  _g_ncy  _st_m_t_d  th_t  th_r_  _r_  c_rr_ntly  m_r_  th_n  14,000  t_ns  _f  d_br_s  c_rcl_ng  __r  pl_n_t.  Th_s  _ncl_d_s  _v_r  170  m_ll__n  p__c_s  _f  sp_c_  j_nk  th_t  _r_  w_d_r  th_n  _n_  m_ll_m_tr_.  M_st  _f  th_s_  h_rml_ssly  b_rn  _p  _p_n  r__ntry  _nt_  __r  _tm_sph_r_.

    Punctuate the text and add capitals

    there is a growing problem of space debris to the extent that it could pose a danger to people earlier this week an enormous metal ring crashed into the kenyan village of mukuku 116 km southeast of the capital nairobi the mystery object was approximately 25 metres wide and weighed 500 kilograms it had the potential to cause significant loss of life and damage to property fortunately it landed in a small wood kenyas space agency said the hunk of metal was probably the separation ring from a recentlylaunched rocket an official said our experts will analyze the objectand keep the public informed of the outcome it said this was an isolated case

    the problem of space debris will get bigger as more companies and countries launch rockets into the heavens there has been a heating up of the space race in the past decade many satellites from the usa china india and other nations are now orbiting earth and probing deep space commercial companies such as elon musks spacex and jeff bezos blue origin have sent dozens of rockets into lowearth orbit the european space agency estimated that there are currently more than 14000 tons of debris circling our planet this includes over 170 million pieces of space junk that are wider than one millimetre most of these harmlessly burn up upon re-entry into our atmosphere

    Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

    Thereisagrowingproblemofspacedebris,totheextentthatitcouldpose
    adangertopeople.Earlierthisweek,anenormousmetalringcrashedint
    otheKenyanvillageofMukuku,116kmsoutheastofthecapitalNairobi.T
    hemysteryobjectwasapproximately2.5metreswide,andweighed500
    kilograms.Ithadthepotentialtocausesignificantlossoflifeanddamage
    toproperty.Fortunately,itlandedinasmallwood.Kenya'sSpaceAgenc
    ysaidthehunkofmetalwasprobablytheseparationringfromarecently-
    launchedrocket.Anofficialsaid:"Ourexpertswillanalyzetheobject…an
    dkeepthepublicinformedoftheoutcome."Itsaidthiswas"anisolatedca
    se".Theproblemofspacedebriswillgetbiggerasmorecompaniesandco
    untrieslaunchrocketsintotheheavens.Therehasbeenaheatingupofth
    espaceraceinthepastdecade.ManysatellitesfromtheUSA,China,Indi
    aandothernationsarenoworbitingEarthandprobingdeepspace.Com
    mercialcompanies,suchasElonMusk'sSpaceXandJeffBezos'BlueOrigi
    nhavesentdozensofrocketsintolow-Earthorbit.TheEuropeanSpaceA
    gencyestimatedthattherearecurrentlymorethan14,000tonsofdebris
    circlingourplanet.Thisincludesover170millionpiecesofspacejunktha
    tarewiderthanonemillimetre.Mostoftheseharmlesslyburnupuponre-
    entryintoouratmosphere.

    Free writing

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

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    Academic writing

    We should stop polluting space with debris from rockets and satellites. 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. SPACE: Make a poster about space. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?
    4. SPACE DEBRIS: Write a magazine article about fining countries who create space debris. 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 space debris. Ask him/her three questions about it. Give him/her three of your ideas on how to solve the problem of increasing amounts of junk in space. 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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