Lesson plan

Upcycling
Sustainability and the concept of upcycling
Suitable for use with secondary learners of English
CEFR level B1 and above

#TheClimateConnection
www.britishcouncil.org/climate-connection
Upcycling

Topic
Sustainability and the concept of upcycling

Outcomes
• To raise awareness of sustainability issues
• To review and learn vocabulary related to giving instructions
• To develop creativity and critical thinking
• To promote communication and collaborative skills
• To develop speaking and reading skills

Age group and level

Upper secondary learners at CEFR B1 level and above

Time
90 minutes approximately

Materials
The teacher will need:
• Online classroom PowerPoint or PDF
• PDF Upcycling worksheet (one per learner)

Introduction
This lesson focuses on upcycling, encouraging learners to think about ways in which they can upcycle
common objects. By teaching teenagers more about this topic, we can help them to develop the
vocabulary they need to take part in important dialogues around sustainability in the future and help
them understand that they can do their bit to make their world greener.
The lesson begins with a warmer to introduce the topic. This is followed by a crossword with key
‘green’ vocabulary and a text analysis activity to model language they need for the last activity of the
lesson. Learners play an upcycling speaking game, where they start thinking creatively about the
possibilities that upcycling offers.
In the final part of the lesson, learners work in pairs or small groups to plan, prepare, research and
present their ideas for an upcycling project.
There is an optional task for learners to make a classroom display.
Procedure

Stage Instructions

Before the lesson Before you start the lesson:

• check your microphone and camera to make sure they work
• make sure that you have the accompanying PowerPoint open and shared
• set up the audio and check that it is working
• send learners a copy of the student worksheet and Upcycling game.

At the start of the Welcome the learners as they arrive.

lesson
• Check that they can all hear and see each other.
• Check that they can see the first slide.
• Check that they can hear you.
• If they can’t, ask them (or ideally an adult they have present) to check their
settings or troubleshoot in the way you have shown them previously. You
may need to write this in the chat facility if they can’t hear you.

Tips!

• Consider having a short task for the learners to do until they have all
arrived. For example, you could have a poll set up (if your platform has this
function) or a simple activity where they write in the chat, such as to say
what they’ve done that week.
• Consider muting learners’ microphones after greeting them to avoid having
too much background noise when you get started. Tell them if you do this
and explain why. You could also suggest that, if possible, they use a
headset with a mic rather than their device’s in-built speakers and mic.

1. Warmer Display slide 2.

(5 minutes) Ask learners to suggest letters to add to the beginning of the word. Most will
probably suggest re to make recycle.
Then ask them to share their ideas. This can be done in a number of ways,
depending on class size, e.g. sharing their ideas in the chat box, using their mics to
speak one at a time.
Ask for suggestions of other words. If necessary, suggest up and down to make
upcycle and downcycle. Ask learners to guess what these words mean, accepting
any reasonable ideas. They will read some definitions later in the lesson.

2. Vocabulary Display the crossword grid in slide 3.

crossword
Give learners time to read the clues in Exercise 1 of their worksheets. Complete the
(10–15 minutes)
crossword together as a whole class, eliciting answers a from different learner each
time and completing the grid on the slide.
For larger classes, put learners into breakout rooms to complete the crossword in
smaller groups.
If necessary, display the answers in slide 4.
Answers:
 Across 1. conserve, 3. resource, 4. discard, 6. landfill, 7. recycle, 9. reuse,
11. rescue, 12. remake
Down: 2. sustainability, 5. value, 8. consume, 10. scrap

3. Reading Display slides 5–8 one by one and invite learners to read the complete article.
(10–15 minutes) Alternatively, they can read the article on their PDF worksheets (Exercise 2). Give a
limited time for this. Then show the slides again, reading the article aloud and
pausing before each gap. Ask learners to help you complete the text with the
missing words.
Learners can do this in a number of ways, for example:
1. give learners access to a drawing tool so that they can write the words
2. ask learners to write answers in the chat box
3. nominate learners to give the answers orally using their mics.
Answers:
1. discarded, 2. value, 3. recycled, 4. scraps, 5. landfill, 6. rescued,
7. conserves, 8. resources, 9. Remaking, 10. sustainability, 11. consume,
12. reuse

4. Discussion Display slide 9 and ask learners to think about each question and to share their
(5–10 minutes) ideas. For larger classes, put groups of learners into breakout rooms for the
discussion. Then, when everyone is back in the main room, ask a volunteer from
each group to share the most interesting comments or ideas from their group with
the rest of the class.

5. Language Display slide 10 and give learners time to read the information and ask any
focus questions they might have about unknown vocabulary.
(10 minutes)
Then display slide 11. Ask learners to complete the text analysis, either as a whole
class or in smaller groups in breakout rooms, referring to Exercise 4 in their PDF
worksheets.
Suggested answers:
1. The information is organised in a table. In the first rows there is information about
the product and the materials needed. This is followed by a step-by-step guide to
make the product.
2. Yes, the information is clear.
3. Imperatives/commands, formed by using the infinitive without ‘to’.
4. Diagrams or photos.
*Note: The purpose of this exercise is to provide a model of the language that
learners will need for the game and an idea of how to structure the information they
write for their own mini projects.

6. Play the Organise learners into two teams*, A and B, and explain the rules.
Upcycling
How to play
speaking game
(15 minutes)
 Team A = blue, Team B = red
Each team should appoint a captain who liaises between team members and then
speaks.
Teams take turns to choose a word in the grid. To ‘win’ the hexagon, they have to
share a good idea about how to upcycle the object, describing what you need and
the steps you need to take. If they are able to do this, they win the hexagon and
colour it in their colour (red or blue).
The object is to make a joined-up line of hexagons either horizontally (Team A) or
vertically (Team B).
As the game proceeds, teams will try to block their opponent’s path while
meandering to complete their own path.
The winner is the first team to make a complete horizontal or vertical line.
*For larger classes, set up smaller teams and use breakout rooms. Provide
learners with the Upcycling game PDF.

7. Mini project Tell learners that they are going to do a mini upcycling project in pairs or small
(30 minutes) groups. Organise the groups.
Display slide 13 and explain that these are the four stages of the mini project. Ask
learners to discuss each stage in turn, suggesting what they need to do.
Suggested answers:
1. Research: Look online to get ideas for an upcycling project.
2. Plan: Brainstorm the tasks they need to do to prepare their presentation.
Share out the tasks.
3. Prepare: Work on the tasks to prepare the presentation.
4. Present: Present their ideas to the class.
If possible, encourage each pair or group to give a presentation on a different
product.
There are a number of ways learners can give their presentations. Choose the best
way for the platform you are using and the class size.

Optional Encourage learners to try out one of the ideas at home and then show their finished
products to the rest of the class in a later lesson or using photos on a shared board.

8. At the end of Praise the learners for their participation and work and tell them you’re looking
the lesson forward to seeing them again in the next lesson.

Make sure they know how to exit the platform, and wait until they all leave before
leaving yourself.

Contributed by

Katherine Bilsborough