Breaking News English ESL Lesson Plan on Calories

There is good news for people who love their food. The advice about daily calories given by scientists for the past two decades may be wrong. A new report from Britain suggests we could eat 16 per cent more without damaging our health. This is the same as eating one cheeseburger, or an extra 400 calories, every day. For 18 years, dieticians have advised us that men should limit their daily calorie intake to 2,500 and women to 2,000. The report from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) means many healthy eating plans and diets given to overweight people could be changed. The revised healthy calorie count is because researchers found a more accurate way of assessing how the body burns fat.

The committee did offer a warning in its report. It said people should only eat more if they exercise more, otherwise they will put on weight. Other experts disagreed with the SACN’s findings. They fear people might see the report as a “licence” or “green light” to eat more. Britain’s Food Standards Agency made it very clear that people should eat less. It said most Britons needed to maintain a healthy bodyweight by reducing calories and exercising more. Doctors predict a third of British adults will be obese by 2012. They worry the new report could increase the rate of obesity. Tam Fry, a British health expert, reminded the public that most male adults have double or treble the recommended calorie intake.

WARM-UPS

1. CALORIES: Walk around the class and talk to other students about calories. Change partners often. Sit with your first partner(s) and share your findings.

2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting and which are most boring.

good news / the past two decades / damaging our health / limits / diets / fat / warnings / exercise / green light / eating less / obesity / health experts

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.

3. COUNTING: What things do you count? Complete this table. Talk about what you wrote with your partner(s). Change partners and share what you heard.

Things	How often?	Why?
calories
the years
savings
grey hair / wrinkles
words
your blessings

4. DIET: Students A strongly believe overweight people who do not diet should pay higher healthcare charges; Students B strongly believe the opposite. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. WORRIES: Which of these things do you worry about most? Rate them: 10 = this is an everyday worry; 1 = not at all a worry. Change partners and share your ratings again.

What you eat
Exercise
Money
How you look

Your English level
Your old age
Your family
Getting old

6. OBESITY: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘obesity’. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if a-h below are true (T) or false (F).

a.	Scientists say people should eat at least one cheeseburger every day.	T / F
b.	The scientists said cheeseburgers damage the health of under-16s.	T / F
c.	Men can eat 500 calories a day more than women.	T / F
d.	A new report has re-examined how our bodies burn fat.	T / F
e.	A committee said if people eat more, they should also exercise more.	T / F
f.	The new report is a green light to eat more.	T / F
g.	Britain’s Food Standards Agency advised people to reduce calories.	T / F
h.	Most British males have around the recommended calorie intake.	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

1.	love	a.	cap
2	damaging	b.	level
3.	limit	c.	or else
4.	overweight	d.	harming
5.	accurate	e.	forecast
6.	warning	f.	suggested
7.	otherwise	g.	adore
8.	predict	h.	precise
9.	rate	i.	caution
10.	recommended	j.	obese

3. PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

1.	good news for people	a.	calorie intake
2	for the past	b.	of obesity
3.	men should limit their daily	c.	body burns fat
4.	a more	d.	a healthy bodyweight
5.	assessing how the	e.	they exercise more
6.	The committee did offer a	f.	who love their food
7.	people should only eat more if	g.	treble
8.	most Britons needed to maintain	h.	two decades
9.	increase the rate	i.	warning
10.	double or	j.	accurate way

WHILE READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text.

There is good news for people who ____________ their food. The advice about daily calories given by scientists for the past two decades may be wrong. A new report from Britain ____________ we could eat 16 per cent more without ____________ our health. This is the same as eating one cheeseburger, or an ____________ 400 calories, every day. For 18 years, dieticians have advised us that men should ____________ their daily calorie intake to 2,500 and women to 2,000. The report from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) means many healthy eating plans and ____________ given to overweight people could be changed. The revised healthy calorie ____________ is because researchers found a more ____________ way of assessing how the body burns fat.

extra
diets
damaging
accurate
love
limit
count
suggests

The committee did offer a ____________ in its report. It said people should only eat more if they exercise more, ____________ they will put on weight. Other experts disagreed with the SACN’s findings. They fear people might ____________ the report as a “licence” or “green light” to eat more. Britain’s Food Standards Agency made it very ____________ that people should eat less. It said most Britons needed to maintain a healthy bodyweight by ____________ calories and exercising more. Doctors predict a third of British adults will be obese by 2012. They worry the new report could increase the ____________ of obesity. Tam Fry, a British health ____________, reminded the public that most male adults have double or ____________ the recommended calorie intake.

rate
clear
otherwise
treble
warning
reducing
expert
see

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

There _________________ people who love their food. The advice about daily calories given by scientists for ___________________ may be wrong. A new report from Britain suggests we could eat 16 per cent more without damaging our health. ___________________ eating one cheeseburger, or an extra 400 calories, every day. For 18 years, dieticians have advised us that men ___________________ calorie intake to 2,500 and women to 2,000. The report from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) means many healthy eating plans and diets _________________ people could be changed. The revised healthy calorie count is because researchers found a more accurate way of assessing ___________________.

The committee ___________________ its report. It said people should only eat more if they exercise more, otherwise they _________________. Other experts disagreed with the SACN’s findings. They _________________ see the report as a “licence” or “green light” to eat more. Britain’s Food Standards Agency made it very clear that people should eat less. It said most Britons ___________________ healthy bodyweight by reducing calories and exercising more. Doctors predict a third of British adults will be obese by 2012. They worry the new report could increase the rate of obesity. Tam Fry, a British health expert, reminded _________________ male _________________ treble the recommended calorie intake.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘cheese’ and ‘burger’.

cheese

burger

Share your findings with your partners.

Make questions using the words you found.
Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
Ask your partner / group your questions.

3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

5. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall how they were used in the text:

love
decades
extra
limit
plans
fat

warning
fear
clear
third
rate
treble

STUDENT CALORIES SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about calories in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper.

When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

	STUDENT 1 _____________	STUDENT 2 _____________	STUDENT 3 _____________
Q.1.
Q.2.
Q.3.
Q.4.
Q.5.

Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Change partners often.
Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

CALORIES DISCUSSION

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

a)	What did you think when you read the headline?
b)	What springs to mind when you hear the word ‘calories’?
c)	Do you worry about your weight?
d)	How much do you love your food?
e)	Do you like the idea of eating an extra 400 calories a day?
f)	Have you ever been on a diet?
g)	Will this report make you change your eating habits?
h)	How do you think the advice for the past 18 years was wrong?
i)	Who do you believe when it comes to healthy eating?
j)	What do you know about how the body burns fat?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	Do you ever eat too much?
c)	What do you eat that you shouldn’t?
d)	Do you have a healthy balance of eating well and exercising?
e)	What are obesity rates like in your country?
f)	Do you think obese people should pay more on airplanes and in hospitals?
g)	Is your national diet a healthy one?
h)	What’s your ideal weight and why?
i)	Has your weight changed mush over the years?
j)	What questions would you like to ask the scientists?

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

There is good news for people (1) ____ love their food. The advice about daily calories given by scientists for the past two decades may be wrong. A new report from Britain (2) ____ we could eat 16 per cent more without damaging our health. This is the same as eating one cheeseburger, or an extra 400 calories, every day. For 18 years, (3) ____ have advised us that men should limit their daily calorie intake (4) ____ 2,500 and women to 2,000. The report from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) means many healthy (5) ____ plans and diets given to overweight people could be changed. The revised healthy calorie count is because researchers found a more accurate way of assessing how the body (6) ____ fat.

The committee did offer a warning in its report. It said people should only eat more if they exercise more, (7) ____ they will put on weight. Other experts disagreed with the SACN’s findings. They (8) ____ people might see the report as a “licence” or “green light” to eat more. Britain’s Food Standards Agency made it very clear that people should eat (9) ____. It said most Britons needed to maintain a healthy bodyweight by reducing calories and exercising more. Doctors predict a (10) ____ of British adults will be obese by 2012. They worry the new report could increase the (11) ____ of obesity. Tam Fry, a British health expert, reminded the public that most male adults have double or (12) ____ the recommended calorie intake.

Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1.	(a)	whom	(b)	who’s	(c)	whoever	(d)	who
2.	(a)	suggests	(b)	suggest	(c)	suggestion	(d)	suggesting
3.	(a)	dietary	(b)	dieticians	(c)	dieting	(d)	dieted
4.	(a)	of	(b)	on	(c)	to	(d)	for
5.	(a)	eatery	(b)	eats	(c)	eating	(d)	eat
6.	(a)	ignites	(b)	burns	(c)	flames	(d)	scorches
7.	(a)	other	(b)	another	(c)	others	(d)	otherwise
8.	(a)	fear	(b)	afraid	(c)	nerves	(d)	frighten
9.	(a)	least	(b)	less	(c)	lesser	(d)	lessen
10.	(a)	thirds	(b)	thirdly	(c)	third-class	(d)	third
11.	(a)	ratio	(b)	rating	(c)	rate	(d)	rations
12.	(a)	treble	(b)	tremble	(c)	trembler	(d)	tremblor

WRITING

Write about calories for 10 minutes. Correct your partner’s paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find out more about calories. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. CALORIES: Make a poster about calories. Include a healthy daily diet. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. OBESITY: Write a magazine article about obesity. Include imaginary interviews with someone who is overweight and someone who is underweight.

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s).

5. LETTER: Write a letter to the lead researcher. Ask him/her three questions about calories. Give him/her three ideas on how to teach people to eat healthily. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	love	a.	adore
2	damaging	b.	harming
3.	limit	c.	cap
4.	overweight	d.	obese
5.	accurate	e.	precise
6.	warning	f.	caution
7.	otherwise	g.	or else
8.	predict	h.	forecast
9.	rate	i.	level
10.	recommended	j.	suggested

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	good news for people	a.	who love their food
2	for the past	b.	two decades
3.	men should limit their daily	c.	calorie intake
4.	a more	d.	accurate way
5.	assessing how the	e.	body burns fat
6.	The committee did offer a	f.	warning
7.	people should only eat more if	g.	they exercise more
8.	most Britons needed to maintain	h.	a healthy bodyweight
9.	increase the rate	i.	of obesity
10.	double or	j.	treble

GAP FILL:

Report says extra cheeseburger a day OK

There is good news for people who love their food. The advice about daily calories given by scientists for the past two decades may be wrong. A new report from Britain suggests we could eat 16 per cent more without damaging our health. This is the same as eating one cheeseburger, or an extra 400 calories, every day. For 18 years, dieticians have advised us that men should limit their daily calorie intake to 2,500 and women to 2,000. The report from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) means many healthy eating plans and diets given to overweight people could be changed. The revised healthy calorie count is because researchers found a more accurate way of assessing how the body burns fat.

The committee did offer a warning in its report. It said people should only eat more if they exercise more, otherwise they will put on weight. Other experts disagreed with the SACN’s findings. They fear people might see the report as a “licence” or “green light” to eat more. Britain’s Food Standards Agency made it very clear that people should eat less. It said most Britons needed to maintain a healthy bodyweight by reducing calories and exercising more. Doctors predict a third of British adults will be obese by 2012. They worry the new report could increase the rate of obesity. Tam Fry, a British health expert, reminded the public that most male adults have double or treble the recommended calorie intake.

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - d

2 - a

3 - b

4 - c

5 - c

6 - b

7 - d

8 - a

9 - b

10 - d

11 - c

12 - a

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Breaking News English

November 15, 2009

Report Says Extra Cheeseburger a Day OK