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Bright Lives English · Teacher sheet

Wangari Maathai: The Woman Who Planted Millions of Trees

Level B1 (Intermediate) · Video 5:09 · 45-minute lesson

brightlivesenglish.com/lessons/wangari-maathai-trees/

45-minute lesson plan

TimeStageWhat to do
0–3′Warm-upAsk the class: “Look at the title. How can planting trees help people? Write down two ideas, then watch and check.” Let a few students answer.
3–11′WordsPre-teach the 5 words with the flashcards: notice, dry up, seedling, stand up to, make a difference. Say each word, show the meaning, and ask for a quick example.
11–18′VideoPlay the video (5:09). Students follow the transcript. Play it a second time if needed.
18–26′ComprehensionWorksheet C (or the online Story Challenge): check answers together. Ask “How do you know?”
26–34′GrammarPick two sentences from the story and look at the verbs together.
34–42′WorksheetStudents do worksheet A, B and D alone or in pairs. Check with the answer key.
42–45′SpeakingIn pairs: “What is one small thing you can do this week to make a difference where you live?”

Homework: students finish the lesson online (flashcards + Story Challenge). With your class link, you see who finished.

Words and grammar

  • notice (verb): to see something, or to become aware of it. “She noticed that something was wrong.”
  • dry up (phrasal verb): (of a river or stream) to slowly lose all its water. “The streams were drying up.”
  • seedling (noun): a very young plant that has just grown from a seed. “She taught women how to grow seedlings.”
  • stand up to (phrasal verb): to refuse to accept bad behaviour from someone more powerful (past: stood up to). “She stood up to powerful people.”
  • make a difference (phrase): to have a good effect on people or on a situation. “You don't have to be big to make a difference.”

Discussion questions

  1. What is one small thing you can do this week to make a difference where you live?
  2. What was the hardest moment in Wangari Maathai's story? What did Wangari Maathai do?
  3. Which word from this lesson do you want to remember? Make a sentence about your life with it.

Student worksheet

Name: Date:

A Match the words to their meanings

  1. notice (verb)
  2. dry up (phrasal verb)
  3. seedling (noun)
  4. stand up to (phrasal verb)
  5. make a difference (phrase)
  6. firewood (noun)
  7. survive (verb)
  8. refuse (verb)
  1. to refuse to accept bad behaviour from someone more powerful (past: stood up to)
  2. a very young plant that has just grown from a seed
  3. to have a good effect on people or on a situation
  4. wood that people burn to cook or keep warm
  5. to see something, or to become aware of it
  6. (of a river or stream) to slowly lose all its water
  7. to continue to live, especially after a difficult time
  8. to say or show that you will not do something

B Complete the sentences from the story

make a difference · drying up · survived · seedlings · stood up to · refused · noticed · firewood

  1. She powerful people.
  2. She that something was wrong.
  3. She paid them a small amount of money for each tree that .
  4. Women had to walk further and further to find and clean water.
  5. You don't have to be big to .
  6. The streams were .
  7. But she to be silent.
  8. She taught women how to grow .

C Did you understand?

  1. What problem did Wangari notice when she returned to Kenya?
    1. There were too many trees
    2. The streams were drying up and many forests were gone
    3. The schools were closing
    4. The cities were too big
  2. Why did Wangari want to plant trees?
    1. To sell the wood to other countries
    2. To protect the soil and the water, and give people wood for cooking
    3. To make the city look nicer
    4. To win a prize
  3. Everyone was happy about the Green Belt Movement.True / False
  4. Wangari Maathai was the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.True / False
  5. In Wangari's story, what did the hummingbird carry to the fire?
    1. A big bucket of water
    2. One drop of water at a time
    3. Leaves from the trees
    4. Nothing. It ran away

D Put the words in order

  1. to / be / have / You / a / to / don't / difference / big / make

E Your turn

Retell Wangari Maathai's story in 5–6 sentences. Use at least three words from exercise A.

Answer key

A. 1e 2f 3b 4a 5c 6d 7g 8h

B. 1 stood up to · 2 noticed · 3 survived · 4 firewood · 5 make a difference · 6 drying up · 7 refused · 8 seedlings

C. 1 b · 2 b · 3 False · 4 True · 5 b

D. 1 You don't have to be big to make a difference.

Transcript

A woman came home to Kenya and saw a big problem.

The rivers were drying up.

Her answer was simple: plant a tree.

Then another one. Then millions more.

This is the story of Wangari Maathai.

Hello, and welcome to Bright Lives English. Real stories. Real English.

Today's level is B1.

In this story, listen for five new words.

Notice. When you notice something, you see it, or you become aware of it.

She noticed that something was wrong.

Dry up. When a river or a stream dries up, it slowly loses all its water.

The streams were drying up.

Seedling. A seedling is a very young plant. It has just grown from a seed.

She taught women how to grow seedlings.

Stand up to. The past is stood up to.

When you stand up to someone powerful, you do not accept their bad behavior.

She stood up to powerful people.

Make a difference. When you make a difference, you have a good effect on people or on a situation.

You don't have to be big to make a difference.

Ready? Let's begin.

Wangari Maathai was born in 1940, in a small village in Kenya.

As a child, she drank clean water from a stream near her home.

She loved to watch the frogs' eggs in the water.

Wangari was an excellent student.

She won a scholarship to study in the United States.

In 1971, she became the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate.

But when she returned home, she noticed that something was wrong.

The streams she remembered were drying up.

Many forests had been cut down.

Women told her they had to walk further and further to find firewood and clean water.

Wangari had a simple idea: why not plant trees?

Trees would protect the soil and the water.

And they would give people wood for cooking.

In 1977, she started the Green Belt Movement.

She taught women how to grow seedlings.

She paid them a small amount of money for each tree that survived.

Not everyone was happy.

Wangari stood up to powerful people to protect forests and parks.

She was arrested. She was even attacked.

But she refused to be silent.

Over the years, the movement planted tens of millions of trees across Kenya.

In 2004, Wangari Maathai won the Nobel Peace Prize.

She was the first African woman to receive it.

Wangari often told a story about a forest fire.

All the animals ran away, except one small hummingbird.

The hummingbird flew to the river again and again.

Each time, it carried one drop of water to the fire.

The bigger animals laughed.

"What do you think you are doing?"

The hummingbird answered: "I am doing the best I can."

Wangari died in 2011.

But her trees are still growing.

Let's review our five words.

She noticed that something was wrong.

The streams were drying up.

She taught women to grow seedlings.

She stood up to powerful people.

And she made a difference.

Wangari's story teaches us something: you don't have to be big to make a difference.

Want more practice? Go to brightlivesenglish.com for the transcript, word cards and a quiz.

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See you in the next true story!