Trees made of metal

Objective & content

This Look Closer episode (Greener cities mini-series, episode 35) is a short documentary about the Supertrees of Gardens by the Bay, a park that opened in Singapore in 2012. The eighteen Supertrees are made of concrete and steel and carry more than one hundred and sixty thousand plants; some have solar panels, they collect rainwater, and some help to cool two glass greenhouses. The episode ends by asking whether they are real trees: no, but like real trees, they give shade, hold plants and use the sun and the rain. The narration uses the present simple, with are made of and is called; no grammar point is taught. It is a listening comprehension episode: learners listen, then answer the 10 questions in the app: 8 on facts and 2 on vocabulary (greenhouse and steel). The study topic is how cities change to be greener and better to live in.

Materials & prerequisites

The folder holds the audio, the slideshow and the script; there is no lesson plan. The pupil pack and the teacher pack (answers highlighted) are one A4 page each, with the text, three photos (a Supertree at night, the Marina Bay skyline, the Supertree Grove by day), the key words and the 10 questions; a pupil sheet and a teacher sheet with the answer key come with them. The text ends with an open question (Think about it: Would you like to walk among the Supertrees? Why, or why not?). Learners should know the present simple and be able to read large numbers such as one hundred and sixty thousand. The pack's key words explain the new words (metal, steel, solar panel, electricity, rainwater, greenhouse, giant).

Curriculum alignment

Tagged c4-encountering-others ("Rencontre avec l'autre"), Cycle 4 (4e). The episode targets CEFR level A2+.