Unit 7 is a complete intermediate speaking unit designed for learners of all ages—including teens, adults, and mixed-age groups who want to talk confidently about Earth, the environment, natural wonders, weather, and life on our planet.
For teachers, this unit is a plug-and-play speaking module that requires no prep, no extra materials, and no prior units. It is perfect for:
ESL conversation classes
Speaking-focused units
Environmental education lessons
Adult ESL programs
Teens & mixed-age classrooms
Small groups, tutoring, or after-school programs
With humorous dialogues, real-world nature topics, academic vocabulary, and guided speaking tasks, the unit builds strong communication skills while exploring topics students actually enjoy.
Unit 7 immerses learners in high-interest Earth science and nature topics, made accessible for intermediate (CEFR B1–B1+) speakers. Across four lessons, students explore:
How Earth works
Natural disasters and extreme weather
Animals, ecosystems, and life on our planet
Natural wonders around the world
Every lesson includes:
Chat-style warm-ups
Concise readings for discussion
Vocabulary tasks
Humorous, conversational dialogues
Real-world speaking questions
Ranking and critical-thinking tasks
Discussion of global issues and nature
This combination makes the unit especially strong for speaking fluency practice while also touching on science literacy, environmental awareness, and global citizenship.
Students practice describing natural processes, extreme weather, ecosystems, and global natural wonders.
Learners give opinions, explain causes/effects, and respond to higher-level “why/how” questions.
Including:
shield, radiation, extreme, erupt, landscape, sustain
chaos, magma, rumble, blackout, twisting, tantrum
engineer, invasive, species, restore, crack, weird
erosion, collide, geology, swirl, mist, ultimate
The dialogues, humor, and personal questions encourage natural, spontaneous speaking.
Topics include climate change, disasters, ecosystems, animal behavior, and human impact.
Dialogue-based practice helps learners understand conversational speed, tone, and phrasing.
Expressing opinions
Describing processes (volcanoes, storms, ecosystems)
Sharing personal experiences
Using academic environmental vocabulary
Spontaneous conversation & follow-ups
Understanding humor and tone
Responding to authentic dialogue structure
Listening for key details
Short informational texts
Simplified Earth science concepts
Vocabulary in context
Cause & effect
Giving examples
Asking clarification questions
Ranking, comparing, and evaluating ideas
Critical thinking
Environmental awareness
Global citizenship mindset
This unit applies:
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)
Task-Based Learning (ranking, analysis, “If I were an animal…”)
Scaffolding from warm-up → reading → guided speaking → independent speaking
Visual and contextual clues to support comprehension
Differentiation for mixed-age and mixed-ability groups
Fluency development through humorous role-play dialogues
Because the topics are universal, this unit works extremely well with adults, teens, ESL newcomers, and intermediate multilingual learners.
Although Unit 7 works as a stand-alone module, it also fits naturally within:
Environmental or Earth-themed speaking programs
CLIL / Content-Integrated ESL
Science and nature conversation units
Teen & adult conversation programs
The larger Intermediate Speaking Series (Units 1–8)
It also prepares students for advanced speaking topics like:
Global issues
Sustainability & climate change
Technology & the future
Debates and critical thinking
Objective:
Students explore Earth’s uniqueness, the atmosphere, rotation, layers, and ecosystems.
Key Vocabulary:
shield, radiation, extreme, erupt, sustain, landscape
Activities Summary:
Warm-up about space, nature, and Earth
Readings on Goldilocks Zone, rotation, volcanoes, atmosphere, ecosystems
Vocabulary and fill-in tasks
Funny dialogues (“Goldilocks Planet,” “Spinning Ball,” “Layers of Drama”)
Ranking Earth’s most important resources
Reflection questions about the future of Earth
Benefits for Students:
Builds foundational vocabulary for environmental discussions and sparks curiosity.
Objective:
Students learn to describe natural disasters, extreme weather, and emergency situations.
Key Vocabulary:
chaos, magma, rumble, blackout, twisting, tantrum
Activities Summary:
Readings on earthquakes, volcanoes, tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis
Vocabulary tasks using dramatic, memorable visuals
Dialogues full of humor while explaining disasters
True/False science activity
Emergency scenario questions
Ranking and comparing natural disasters
Benefits for Students:
Improves ability to describe events, react to situations, and express fear, caution, or preferences.
Objective:
Explore ecosystems, animal behavior, communication, and human impact.
Key Vocabulary:
engineer, invasive, species, weird, restore, crack
Activities Summary:
Readings on animal architects, extreme habitats, communication, food webs
Dialogues about beavers, talking animals, ecosystems, and humans vs. nature
Vocabulary building with real-world science examples
“If I Were an Animal” role-play journal
Big-picture ecology discussion
Benefits for Students:
Strengthens environmental communication and supports creative, imaginative speaking.
Objective:
Students explore world landmarks formed by Earth—canyons, mountains, reefs, waterfalls, and sky phenomena.
Key Vocabulary:
erosion, collide, geology, swirl, mist, ultimate
Activities Summary:
Readings on the Grand Canyon, waterfalls, mountains, Northern Lights, salt flats
Vocabulary fill-ins and picture-based practice
Humorous dialogues (Earth flexing, waterfall “attitude,” mountain fears)
“Pack Your Bag” 5-day field adventure task
Debates about tourism and conservation
Benefits for Students:
Encourages descriptive language, storytelling, and advanced environmental vocabulary.
Let students explain vocabulary in their own words to improve paraphrasing skills.
Use ranking tasks as pair debates.
Encourage learners to extend answers with “…because…” and “…for example…”
For adults: connect topics to real environmental news.
For younger students: focus on “cool facts” and imaginative scenarios.
If teaching mixed-age groups, allow stronger speakers to lead group summaries.
Easy informal assessment options:
Short presentations (favorite natural wonder, animal, or disaster story)
Group discussions about nature and global issues
Speaking journals (“If I were Earth…”)
Picture-based description tasks
Dialogues performed in pairs