Kenya: Counting rhinos

Objective & content

This Look Closer episode (Kenya mini-series, episode 4) answers one question in three steps: how do you count rhinos? Rangers make small marks in each rhino's ears, so the marks work like a name for each animal; they walk and watch every day with binoculars and write down each rhino they see. The narrator explains that people hunt rhinos for their horns, gives the figures for 2020 and 2024, and then shows keepers who feed orphan calves. The language is present simple, one past form (had) and question words, with vocabulary for jobs, body parts and large numbers. Learners listen, then answer the 10 questions in the app. The closing question is "Would you like to be a ranger? Why?"

Materials & prerequisites

The folder holds the audio, the slideshow, the script, a pupil sheet with the 10 questions (7 on facts, 3 on vocabulary) and a teacher sheet with the answer key (PDF); it has no lesson plan. A short episode works well as a lesson opener: play it twice, hand out the pupil sheet, then use the closing question for class discussion. Learners should know basic job words, body parts and the numbers above 1,000.

Curriculum alignment

Tagged countries-and-landscapes (6e, "Pays et paysages"; study topic: Kenya's national parks). The episode also fits the theme of protecting nature. The episode targets CEFR level A1+.