News-based English language activities from the global newspaper

November 2010
Level ≥ Lower intermediate
Style ≥ Lesson plan
Welcome to the Guardian Weekly’s special news-based materials to support learners and teachers of English.
Each month, the Guardian Weekly newspaper selects topical news articles that can be used to practise English
language skills. The materials are graded for two levels: advanced and lower intermediate. These worksheets
can be downloaded free from guardian.co.uk/weekly/. You can also find more advice for teachers and learn-
ers from the Guardian Weekly’s Learning English section on the site.

White House goes green with solar panels

Materials prepared by Janet Hardy-Gould

Instructions
Lesson focus: reading, letter writing
Materials: article, photos
Time: 60 minutes

1 Show students the photo without the headline or Who …

caption. Ask: what is this building? What do you know a ... first installed solar panels on the White House?
about it? Explain that soon there will be something b ... removed the solar panels?
new on the roof. Ask: what do you think it is? In pairs, c ... is going to install the panels again?
students write three possibilities. Feedback. Write up d ... has just installed solar panels on his home?
ideas. Then show students the headline. 8 mins e ... created an organic garden at the White House?
Answers: a Jimmy Carter b Ronald Reagan c Barack
2 Tell students the article has some “green” vocabulary. Obama d Mohamed Nasheed e Michelle Obama
Write up the words below and establish meanings. Ask:
4 Write up these sentences. Students read again and
which pairs of words do you think you will find together
complete with a time reference. 8 mins
in the article? Students match possible pairs. Feedback.
a Obama wants to install the panels in _____.
7 mins b Solar panels were last on the roof in _____.
Verb Noun
c Carter installed the panels in _____.
a [ ] install 1 an environmental campaign
d Campaigners travelled to the White House in _____.
b [ ] generate 2 an organic garden
e Nasheed installed panels to mark the special date _____.
c [ ] create 3 solar panels
Answers: a spring 2011 b 1986 c 1979 d September
d [ ] drive 4 renewable electricity
e 10/10/10
e [ ] lead 5 a biodiesel-powered van
Answers: a 3 b 4 c 2 d 5 e 1 5 Students imagine they are part of the 10/10/10 campaign
(1010global.org). They must write to their country’s
3 Write these names on the board: Barack Obama, Michelle
leader and suggest the installation of solar panels on the
Obama, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Mohamed
official residence. Establish a paragraph structure as a
Nasheed. If possible, print photos of them from the
class. In pairs students write a simple letter. 25 mins
internet and give out to students – can they put the
photos next to the names? What do they know (if
anything) about them? Write up and go through the
questions below. Students read the article and write a
name for each question. Feedback. 12 mins
News-based English language activities from the global newspaper

November 2010

Materials sheet Article: White House goes

green with solar panels
1 Solar panels will be installed on the White House roof a quarter
of a century after they were removed by President Ronald
Reagan.

2 A mix of different panels will be fitted in spring 2011 to generate

both hot water and renewable electricity.

3 The move will come as a surprise to many green campaigners

after the White House apparently rejected a recent request by
environmentalists to install the technology.

President brings renewables home Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images
Student tasks
1 Find the noun definitions that match these verbs.
Verb Noun
a install 1 an environmental campaign
b generate 2 an organic garden
c create 3 solar panels
d drive 4 renewable electricity
e lead 5 a biodiesel-powered van
2 Match the names to the statements.
1 Barack Obama 2 Michelle Obama 3 Jimmy Carter
4 Ronald Reagan 5 Mohamed Nasheed
Who …
a ... first installed solar panels on the White House?
b ... removed the solar panels?
c ... is going to install the panels again?
d ... has just installed solar panels on his home?
e ... created an organic garden at the White House?
3 Complete these sentences with a time reference.
a Obama wants to install the panels in
b Solar panels were last on the roof in
c Carter installed the panels in . events around the world, the president of the Maldives also
d Campaigners travelled to the White House in
. low-lying island country is at risk from rising sea levels caused
e Nasheed installed panels to mark the special date
. home.
4 It will be the first time since 1986 that solar panels have sat on
the White House, since Reagan removed a system installed by
his predecessor Jimmy Carter. In 1979 Carter held a conference
on the roof, showing off the 32 panels and his desire to reduce
the US’s dependence on oil.
5 The return of solar at the White House follows other symbolic
green efforts since Obama took power, including Michelle
Obama’s creation of an organic vegetable garden in the White
House grounds last year.
6 Green campaigners have been lobbying the president to
reinstate solar at the White House. They have been driving
around the US in a biodiesel-powered van with one of the
original panels installed by Carter.
7 The campaigners visited the White House in September and
made a symbolic demand for the old panel to be reinstalled on
the roof. But the request was rejected and no plans for future
solar panels were given.
8 Bill McKibben, who led the campaign, welcomed Obama’s
decision to fit new panels: “Solar panels on one house, even this
house, won’t save the climate, of course. But they’re a powerful
symbol to the whole nation about where the future lies.”
.
. 9 To mark last month’s 10/10/10 day of mass participation climate
decided to harness solar energy. Mohamed Nasheed, whose
by global warming, has installed 50 panels on his presidential

Original article by Adam Vaughan, rewritten by

Janet Hardy-Gould