Earth Day | Comparing Generations

An ESL Lesson on Earth Day is an ESL conversation lesson about earth day and the environment to learn grammar, vocabulary, expressions, idioms, and phrases for talking about earth day. A powerful lesson to talk about how things have changed over generations.

Watch the ESL video on Earth Day and use the ESL Printable and Digital storytelling flashcards to practice using new vocabulary and expressions. Get the ESL printable worksheets to talk about Earth Day, ESL printable and digital flashcards, ESL listening and reading exercises, and gamify lessons with badges and stamps.

Warm Up Questions

1. How have things changed in your lifetime?
2. Who do you look up to (admire) the most and why?
3. How often do you go to the supermarket to buy groceries?
4. How do react when you see someone litter?

ESL Video on Talking About Earth Day

Watch the following YouTube video:

ESL Listening Questions

1. Where does Mindy want to go with her Grandpa?
2. What does she suggest that they bring to the supermarket?
3. According to Mindy, what should they think carefully about and why?
4. According to Grandpa, why is the environment a mess?
5. When Grandpa was growing up, what did he get when he returned bottles to the store?
6. Is candy the same? How was candy different?
7. How did Grandpa get to school?
8. How did Grandpa’s generation get milk every day?

Matching Vocabulary – Talking About Earth Day

Match the following words on the left with the meanings on the right.

Discussion Questions

1. Do you use your own bags when going to the supermarket?
2. Do you recycle? Explain.
3. How often do you buy drinks that are in pet bottles?
4. Do you try to avoid buying drinks in pet bottles? Explain.
5. How much food do you throw away and waste (expiration, etc.)?
6. How often do you eat fast food? Do you ever think about all of the packaging and waste that is part of fast food?
7. Do you always take a plastic bag when you go to the convenience store or supermarket?
8. How did you (do you) go to school every day?
9. Do you think we should get money for returning bottles back to the store?
10. What are some things that the government can do to help heal the environment?
11. What is pollution doing to the environment?
12. Is there anything that you can change in your everyday and weekly routines that can help the environment?

Printable and Digital Flashcards to Talk about Modern Culture

Use the flashcards to talk about the modern culture and manners.

Conversation About Earth Day

Mindy: Let’s go to the supermarket to get some things for tonight’s dinner.

Grandpa: Sounds good.

Mindy: It’s earth day Grandpa. We should bring our own bags to the supermarket.

Grandpa: Earth Day? What do you mean bring our own bags?

Mindy: Well, we should think carefully about using things like plastic bags and pet bottles. You know, plastic is not good for the environment.

Grandpa: You kids!
Your generation is the reason that the environment is such a mess!
Back when I was a kid there were no plastic bottles. Everything was glass. We reused our drink bottles and we even got money back when we took the bottles back to the store.
We didn’t have plastic bags, we had brown paper bags.
Candy wasn’t wrapped in individual plastic wrappers. We chose which ones we wanted and put them in a little white paper bag.
We used to walk to school every day.

How do you get to school every day?

We didn’t get a ride with Mom and Dad in big gas-guzzling cars and SUV’s.
All the fast-food restaurants didn’t have plastic this and styrofoam that. Things were wrapped in newspapers.
Milk was delivered every day in recyclable glass bottles. It was placed on our front porch, fresh and ready for breakfast in the morning.
You kids.

Mindy: Things sure have changed! So, let’s bring our own bags to the store. That is the least we can do!

Grandpa: Sure. It’s the little things we do that can have big impacts.

What else can YOU do?

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Reference: Spr04