Why are planes painted white?

 Advanced lesson plan (B2): Why are planes painted white? - BUY ME A COFFEE if you like my FREE ESL content

Ever wondered why planes are nearly always painted white?

In this FREE B2/C1 worksheet, students will find out why white is the bigwig of the aeronautical world. They will also learn vocabulary related to planes and idioms about flying.

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Lesson activities:

1) To warm up, students will label an image of the inside of a plane. Then, they will match three pun-ny jokes about clowns with their punchlines. Key vocabulary: to take off, to land, altitude, flight attendant, head rest, arm rest.

2) Students will watch a video (6:02) entitled "Why are planes usually painted white?" and answer the comprehension questions. Key vocabulary: paint job, false economy, first-world problems.

3) Next, students will see six flying-related idioms: to fly in the face of something, to fly off the handle, to fly the nest, I've got to fly, straighten up and fly right, when pigs fly. They will get a chance to see them in sentences, and to create their own sentences with these idioms.

4) Finally, they will read an article from Air Space Magazine about the brace-for-impact position and the urban myths that surround it, as well as the scientific research that underpins it. Key vocabulary: flail, to make the rounds, cinch, debunk, lap, beside the point.