Solutions

3 Upper-Intermediate 21st Century Skills Project

Competition entry: making a difference
21st Century Skills Collaboration: decision making
Key Competences 1 Digital competence, 3 Cultural awareness and expression, 6 Mathematics, science and technology
Useful language 7B reported speech, 7D reporting verbs, 7E nouns and dependent prepositions, 7G introducing examples
from the units and extra information, 8A global issues, 8B second and third conditional, 8D mixed conditionals, 8E verb
patterns, 8G expressing an opinion, 9B emphasis, 9G justifying your opinion and expressing a tentative
opinion

STEP 1: UNDERSTAND THE TASK   K

TAS   Want to make the world a better place? What burning issue do you care
Work in pairs. Read the task. about? Here at Inspirational Ideas, we’re offering five charitable donations of
What do you have to do?
€20,000. All you have to do is show us your idea to help solve a local, national,
Brainstorm the ingredients of
or global problem. We don’t mind if you’re an individual with an amazing idea,
a successful and persuasive
a small group of friends with a stunning proposal, or a group or society that is
presentation.
already involved in charity work. We just want to know that our €100,000 is
going to make a real difference. Tell us who you are, what your idea is, and how
our money is going to help other people. Presentations (in any format) should
be 5–10 minutes long and must be posted on our website by the deadline.

how to make it
information
visually memorable
to include

animated video

possible powerpoint
persuasive formats
rehearsal presentation

practise in
front of a mirror style and tone
structuring your of language
presentation

STEP 2: PREPARE   Think individually about issues which STEP 3: ANALYSE   Read the presentation. Which of the
matter to you. Categorise them in three columns: local, photos relate to this particular issue? Choose the best title
national, global. Compare your ideas with your partner. or write a better one yourself.
Explain why these issues are important. Use the key Work in pairs. Read the checklist and the presentation.
phrases to help you. (You don’t have to agree.) Does the presentation cover all of the bullet points?
• Is the purpose of the presentation clear, and is there
KEY PHRASES enough information about the issue?
• Have the students done their own research into the issue?
What did they do?
• Is there enough information about how they will use the
money and what they hope to achieve?
• Is the choice of vocabulary and grammar good and is the
tone appropriate?
• Is there an introduction and a conclusion, and do you think
it’s the right length?
• If you worked for Inspirational Ideas, would you give
€20,000 to these presenters? Why? / Why not?

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3 Upper-Intermediate 21st Century Skills Project

Competition entry: making a difference

1 2 Changing the world – one microbead at a time!

Scrub our oceans clean!

Go natural – say no to plastic microbeads.

We all know that the world’s oceans are being polluted by mankind,
but did you know that they’re in danger of becoming a plastic soup?
The problem is that there are tiny pieces of plastic, less than 5 mm
3 4 in size, called ‘microbeads’ in beauty products such as facial scrub.
In fact, they aren’t only in facial scrub, but also in some toothpaste!
These microbeads are washed down the basin and they can’t be
filtered out, so they just go into our rivers and out to sea where
they have a devastating effect on wildlife. And, having done some
research, we realised most people don’t even know there’s an issue.
Our age group seems to be a target market for these beauty
products, so we asked some of our friends whether they knew
if they used products containing microbeads. Most replied that
they had no idea. Of the few who did know, not one could explain
5 6 whether the microbeads were a plastic or a natural substance.
But there are alternatives. Firstly, of course, there are plenty of
effective toothpastes and facial washes which don’t contain plastic
microbeads. Buyers simply need to have a careful look at the
ingredients to find this out. But even if you think that a scrub is an
absolutely essential part of your skincare routine, you could look for a
non-plastic alternative. There are the same kinds of products which
contain natural ingredients that work as a scrub, such as tiny seeds,
ground up apricot stones or sugar. They cost around the same in the
7 shops. There is no need to buy the ones containing plastic.
What we need to do is raise awareness of the issue, and we need
to do it fast. We believe the quickest way is to start a campaign on
social media, which we hope will quickly go viral. We can use our
skills in networking to spread the word, first to our own circle of
friends and through them to schools, colleges and communities of
young people. We’ll be able to measure our success by analysing
the number of ‘likes’ and ‘shares’, and use a range of tactics to
reach as many people as possible.
Ultimately, we want plastic microbeads to be banned. For now, with
your financial help, we can make people see what a big problem
this is. Then we’ll be able to change people’s shopping habits, stop
the use of plastic microbeads and save our oceans!

STEP 4: CREATE   Work in pairs. Create a presentation. Choose STEP 5: PRESENT AND DECIDE   Give your presentation to the
an issue from Step 2 or the photos in Step 3. Use the class. When you have heard all the presentations, discuss
checklist in Step 3 and your ideas from Step 1 to make sure in pairs which two causes seem the most important to
you include all the information and produce a powerful you. Would you give a financial donation in response to
presentation. When your presentation is ready, practise it. any of the presentations? Why? / Why not?

STEP 6: SELF-EVALUATION   Copy the statements into your notebook and score yourself from 1–4. 4 very well
a I can think critically about local, national and global issues. 3 well
b I can read and critique a presentation. 2 needs practice
c I can create a persuasive presentation which is fit for purpose. 1 not very well
d I can listen to presentations and make a reasoned selection of the most effective one(s).

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3 Upper-Intermediate 21st Century Skills Project Teaching Notes
Competition entry: making a difference
PROJECT SUMMARY • Put students into pairs (or groups of four) and focus their
attention on the key phrases which will help them to
• 21st Century Skills: Collaboration: decision making
compare and talk about their ideas. Remind them that they
• Key Competences: 1 Digital competence, 3 Cultural
don’t have to agree about which issues are more or less
awareness and expression, 6 Mathematics, science and
serious. Monitor carefully and guide conversations away from
technology
any very serious or contentious issues, if necessary.
• Useful language from the units: 7B reported speech, 7D
reporting verbs, 7E nouns and dependent prepositions,
• Encourage stronger pairs or groups to expand their
discussions to include how the issues might be addressed or
7G introducing examples and extra information, 8A
solved.
global issues, 8B second and third conditional, 8D mixed
conditionals, 8E verb patterns, 8G expressing an opinion, STEP 3  ANALYSE
9B emphasis, 9G justifying your opinion and expressing a
• Ask students to read the model presentation for gist, choose
tentative opinion
which photos match the issue and then give the presentation
a title. They can do this alone and compare answers, or work
WARM-UP EXERCISE together in pairs. You could encourage stronger students to
Ask students to think of any charities or campaigning think of their own title.
organisations which aim to have a positive impact on the world. • Elicit answers from the students. There is no correct answer
What do they do? Are they successful? What do the students for the best title, but they should give reasons for their
think of them in general? choices (e.g. it’s clear, it’s powerful, it’s funny, it’s original, it
includes key information, it is attention-grabbing, etc.) Photos
STEP 1  UNDERSTAND THE TASK relating to this presentation are 1, 3 and 7.
• Ask students to read the task. Put students into pairs to • There is further information about microbeads below if
discuss what they are going to do for this project and why. students are interested to learn more.
Check their understanding. You could check they know the Environmental charities such as Greenpeace and The
meaning of donation and charity if necessary. Marine Conservation Society have campaigns against
ANSWER plastic microbeads. They and other organisations have
Students have to create a presentation lasting 5–10 minutes created a ‘Good scrub guide’ to educate people – it shows
to send to Inspirational Ideas. They can then win a donation of the ingredient words to look for on your products. Some
€20,000 to help solve an issue. countries including the USA, Canada and the UK are
• Give them plenty of time to think about good presentations considering banning microbeads.
they have seen or given and complete the spider diagram The checklist focuses students’ attention on the quality of
with their ideas. They can add extra spokes to the wheel with the model presentation in relation to different aspects. Give
other aspects of giving presentations. Monitor carefully and students plenty of time for this in-depth analysis. You could
prompt if necessary. refer fast finishers back to units 7, 8 and 9 of the Student’s
• You could elicit ideas to make a spider diagram on the board Book to look for structures they have studied which have
together as a whole class. Students could come up to the been used in the presentation.
board to add ideas. When they have finished discussing, elicit some of the
students’ decisions and reasons. For point 3, (is there enough
STEP 2  PREPARE
information about how they will use the money) the answer
• This is the stage when students start to think of possible is no. You could brainstorm other ideas for making good use
issues they could make a presentation about. Tell them to of the money: educating the public – social media, website,
divide a page in their notebooks into three vertical columns posters, giving talks to local people, organising a petition or
for them to make a note of local, national and global issues. protest, practical action, e.g. buying equipment to deal with
You could show this on the board and if necessary, give or a problem, paying for expert help, etc. The most appropriate
elicit one or two examples for each column (e.g. local: lack choices of how to act will, of course, depend on the specific
of facilities for young people, litter in a named local park or issue chosen.
river; national: pollution in the big cities, loneliness of elderly
people; global: destruction of natural resources, poverty).
• Students spend up to five minutes making notes individually
of the issues they think of. Encourage them to think of at least
two in each column. With a weaker group, this stage could be
done in pairs and the next stage in groups of four.

Solutions Upper-Intermediate 21st Century Skills Project 3  Teaching Notes PHOTOCOPIABLE © Oxford University Press­  1
 Solutions

3 Upper-Intermediate 21st Century Skills Project Teaching Notes

Competition entry: making a difference

SUGGESTED ANSWERS STEP 5  PRESENT AND DECIDE

Yes, the purpose and topic are clear and there is a good • Students view all the presentations. Ask them to read the
amount of information. instructions first so that they know that they will be asked to
The students researched the issue by talking to their friends. choose their two favourites and explain why.
(This might not be sufficient to win €20,000.) • You could elicit what they are looking for, according to the
There is limited information about how they will use the task, i.e. imagining they now belong to the Inspirational Ideas
money and what difference it will make. organisation: a well-described issue and explanation of why
Some of the vocabulary is high level, e.g. they have a it’s a problem, together with clear ideas for how €20,000
devastating effect on wildlife. Other parts are rather basic,
can be used to make a difference, including who will take
e.g. They cost around the same in the shops. The tone is semi-
action, what action they will take and why, what they hope
formal which is appropriate in this case.
to achieve and when. This follows the SMART model: Specific,
There is an introduction and a conclusion, but the presentation
Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-related.
is much too short. (It should be 5–10 minutes.)
• Students can give their presentations using any available
STEP 4  CREATE technology, including projecting images or video on the
interactive whiteboard.
• Ask students to read the instructions carefully. Give them
the opportunity to check any of the instructions with you.
• As an optional extra activity to practise critical thinking
skills, you could conduct feedback as a whole class or in
Remind them of the different formats they can choose from
small groups. Monitor carefully to catch examples of critical
for their presentation.
thinking where students have reflected on the quality and
• You should monitor their choice of issue carefully and also
effectiveness of presentations well, giving relevant reasons.
their choice of presentation format. A good aim would be to
You can praise these when rounding off Step 5. You could also
have a variety of issues and presentation formats within the
point out that if the competition were real, presentations
class.
would be more likely to win the cash donation if they
• Give them plenty of time to create their presentations. Assist
offered Inspirational Ideas very specific plans about how the
any who are struggling. Encourage fast finishers to check
money would be spent and how exactly this would make a
their work for mistakes and to refer to the checklist in Step 3
difference. The issues chosen might even take second place in
to ensure it is a good quality presentation.
the way the competition was judged.
There are many options for using technology in the
project.
STEP 6  SELF-EVALUATION
• If you have internet access, students could research their • Ask students to copy statements a–d. Then they decide
issue more fully, including finding appropriate images.
individually how well they can do each thing. Point out that
• If presentation software is available, e.g. PowerPoint, number 4 is very positive and number 1 is the least positive.
students could use it to make their presentations
• You can also use the key competences evaluation rubric
(embedding images and/or video as appropriate).
to evaluate how well students have done in the key
• Students could record their presentations on cameras competences associated with this project.
or hand-held devices. They could then be played to the
• You could then conduct a class discussion on what the
class on the interactive whiteboard or students could
students found easy and difficult about doing the project and
watch them individually or in pairs on the same cameras
what they might do differently if they did the project again.
or devices. This option allows students to practise
presentation skills such as body language, facial expression,
gesture and use of voice.
• Allow time specifically for practising if students are doing oral
presentations.

Solutions Upper-Intermediate 21st Century Skills Project 3  Teaching Notes PHOTOCOPIABLE © Oxford University Press­  2
 Solutions

3 Upper-Intermediate 21 Century Skills Project Competition entry: making a difference

st

Key Competences Evaluation Rubric Student’s name: Class:

KEY COMPETENCE 4  EXCELLENT 3  GOOD 2  ADEQUATE 1  NEEDS IMPROVEMENT

1 Digital competence
The student demonstrates a confident
use of the internet as a research tool
in order to find information for the
presentation.
In step 4, the student shows digital
competence in the creation of a powerful
presentation. In step 5, the student
shows competency when giving the
presentation to the rest of the class.

3 Cultural awareness and expression

In steps 2 and 4, the student
demonstrates an awareness of local,
national and global social issues in
the discussions. In step 3, the student
competently evaluates the benefits of
the proposal. The final presentation in
step 5 is an expression of the student’s
social awareness and understanding.

6 Mathematics, science and technology

In step 3, the student interprets the
information given and is able to
discuss the scientific and technological
implications of each proposal. In step 4,
the student uses numbers and data in
the creation of the presentation. In
step 5, the student uses monetary terms
to talk about the potential financial
donations.

SOLUTIONS Upper-Intermediate 21st Century Skills Project 3 PHOTOCOPIABLE © Oxford University Press­