11–12 CLIL | Science A2

1 Work in pairs. Look at the photos and describe the buildings. Is there anything unusual
about them?

2 Read the text. List four ways in which these buildings are friendly to the environment.

LET’S GO GREEN!
Nowadays, architects are building more and more
eco‑friendly buildings in the UK for people to live, work
and study in. Let’s look at a weird and wonderful eco‑home
in Wales and an award-winning eco-school in England, and
find out how they’re making our future greener.

The Hobbit House

Have you ever wanted to live closer to nature? Well, in
Crymych in rural Wales, there’s an eco-village which currently
has nine houses in it. They were built using the most up-to-
The eco-friendly school
date green technology and environmentally-friendly designs. Howe Dell primary school in Hatfield is involved in an experiment
The Hobbit House is one of them. With its round structure, to make its building harmless to nature. For the pupils, helping the
grass roof and hillside location, it actually looks like the home environment is very important and they do everything they can to
of the famous hobbit, Bilbo Baggins! be green. This includes going to school on foot and developing
fingerprint technology to replace library cards in order to save paper.
The house took four months to build and was made from
natural and recycled materials, like wood, stone and mud. The school was designed with thick walls and windows to reduce
It has straw in the floor, walls and roof for insulation. Plastic heat loss and large windows to bring in lots of light. The water in the
sheets and mud on the roof keep out the rain. The grass on toilet areas and canteen is heated by solar panels, and electricity is
the roof also insulates the building, keeping it warm in winter proved by a wind turbine. The roof is covered in plants that provide
and cool in summer. The roof has features such as solar panels insulation and it’s also a living classroom for pupils to study the
to provide energy and skylights to bring in natural daylight too. natural habitat of insects in biology lessons.
There’s a living room, a bedroom, a bathroom and a kitchen The school is always thinking of new ways to be eco-friendly: it has
with a fridge that keeps cool thanks to a supply of cold air from toilets that flush rainwater, sinks made from recycled plastic yoghurt
under the house. Though small, each room has typical items pots and desks that are made from drainpipes! It really is an example
such as a sofa, bookcase and armchair. The building is a really of what other schools should be like.
impressive structure and was designed with the environment in It’s important to be green for our future, and it’s often the small
mind because it causes hardly any pollution. There aren’t many changes that make a big difference
homes like it at the moment, but hopefully there will be in the
future.

Hatfield

Crymych

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 11–12 CLIL | Science A2

3 Read the text again. Then read the PROJECT

sentences and decide which building(s)
they describe. Circle H (eco-home),
6 Find out about another unusual building
that uses green technology and eco‑friendly
S (eco‑school) or B (both).
materials. Describe the features of the
1 The grass roof insulates the building. H/S/B
building, how it was designed/made and
2 Insulation for the building includes how it is less harmful to the environment
straw and mud. H/S/B than most buildings.
3 Energy is provided by solar panels. H/S/B
4 Power is provided by wind energy. H/S/B 7 Present the information to the class.
5 The building will cause very little
pollution. H/S/B VOCABULARY FOCUS
6 Recycled rainwater is used in this architect [n]:  a person who designs buildings
building. H/S/B award-winning [adj]:  someone or something that
has won a prize
4 Match the features of the buildings with drainpipe [n]:  a pipe on a building that carries
their purpose (1–5). rainwater from the roof to the ground
eco-friendly [adj]:  friendly to the environment
desks made from drainpipes | grass
experiment [n]:  an occasion to test a new idea or
large windows | mud | plastic sheets
activity and find out the result
rainwater | ​skylights | solar panels | straw feature [n]:  an important part of something
thick walls | thick windows | wind turbines flush [v]:  to make water pass through a toilet
1 provide energy: solar panels , habitat [n]:  the place where a particular animal or
plant lives or grows

harmless [adj]:  not dangerous
2 provide insulation: , impressive [adj]:  something to admire because it is
, , very good or shows great skill
insulation [n]:  material used to prevent heat, cold,
3 stop rain entering: , noise or electricity from passing through something
skylight [n]:  a window in a roof or ceiling
solar panel [n]:  equipment that uses energy from the
4 use recycled materials: ,
sun to create power for a building
straw [n]:  yellow stems of dried crops, such as wheat
5 provide natural light: , supply [n]:  a quantity of something that is available
to use
up-to-date [adj]:  including the most recent or
5 Work in pairs and discuss the questions. modern information, ideas or knowledge
1 Do you know any eco-friendly buildings in your weird [adj]:  strange or unusual
town or city? If so, what types of buildings are
they? How were they designed and what were
they made from?
2 Do you think eco-buildings are a good idea?

DID YOU KNOW?

❍ There are some eco-friendly buildings around

the world with unusual designs, such as a home
in Avila, Spain, which is made from four empty
shipping containers and a home on a farm in
Arizona, USA, that is made from empty grain silos!
Eco-homes like these are both cost-effective and
energy-efficient.

Optimise A2 Optimise A2 Teacher’s Resource Centre © Springer Nature Limited 2019.

This sheet may be photocopied and used within the class.
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