Fresh air

The objective

To discuss and plan an itinerary for an outdoor hiking trip as well as what supplies would be needed

The language

future tenses

conditionals

past continuous and simple

The set-up

Find some physical or on-line brochures for country/mountain excursions in your area. They could also include information about rafting, cycling, climbing, canyoning, horse-back riding, etc. Bring enough so that each group has at least three choices.

The low-down

Put students into groups of three or four. Tell them that they will be planning a three-day hiking trip together. They can choose from various different routes in various locations. Ask them to decide the following:

• the route and location
• the best time to go
• how they´re going to get there and back home
• how far they´ll hike each day and where they will camp

Now what?

When all the details have been decided, present them with the following scenario:

Now you must decide on what supplies you´re going to bring such as:

• any extra clothing you´ll need to bring
• food
• gear (supplies) such as tent, sleeping bag, knife, light, map, compass, gps, etc.

Unfortunately, not everything you´ve chosen for this trip fits into your backpacks. You can only bring ten essential items. For example, a can of beans or a bottle of water or a knife counts as one item each. However, you can share items between you--so different people can bring different things. However, all items will be sized for only one person. For example, a bottle of water will be for one person. A tent will be for one person.

When they´ve chosen the items. Write on the board, "Will they survive 3 days?" Ask each group to present their ideas to the rest of the class. Ask the others to listen and answer the question on the board. For example, after listening to one group present their items, the speaker for one group says they won´t survive at night because they forgot to bring a flashlight and asks what they will do without it. The group decided not to bring it because they will have matches and build a fire to give them light.

Time to teach

Aside from vocabulary, you can focus on the use of tenses in reporting. So for example, "We have noticed that you aren´t going to/didn´t bring a flashlight" "We were going to bring a flashlight but decided we would use matches for light".

More talk-time

Do you go camping? Where?

Where is the best place to go?

Do you go hiking? Where?

Where are the best places to go?