Can dogs smell cancer in humans?

Advanced lesson plan (B2 and above): Can dogs smell cancer in humans? - BUY ME A COFFEE if you like my FREE ESL content

It's no secret that our four-legged friends are highly attuned to us. Dogs can tell when we are sad or scared, and they can alert us to the presence of intruders. In recent decades, scientists have found they can even detect the odours cancerous cells give off. 

In this B2+ worksheet, students will 

• Study a video about a cancer survivor whose dog saved her life
• Match action shots of dogs to six phrasal verbs (to GET away with, to GET up, to GET rid of, etc.)
• Create dog-related sentences containing causative verbs "to get" and "to have" (get/have + object + past participle)
• Learn six nose-related idioms
• See advanced adjectives used to describe a pet dog
• Read an article about the science of cancer-smelling canines

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Lesson objectives:

1) To match six phrasal verbs based on "GET" to action shots of dogs (to get up, to get away, to get rid of, to get out of, to get down to business, to get along with).

2) To see dog-related examples of "get" and "have" used as causative verbs (e.g. Anthony had his dog's fur cut before the pageant).

3) To select appropriate adjectives from a list to describe a pet dog (e.g. slobbery, frisky, vigilant, swift, steadfast).

4) To practise listening comprehension by studying a video about a woman whose life was saved by a cancer-sniffing dog.

5) To expand the students' repertoire of idioms, matching six nose-related idioms/phrasal verbs with their definitions (nosy, to get up one's nose, to pay through the nose for something, to look down one's nose, etc.) 

6) To improve reading comprehension by studying a short article about the emerging science of cancer-detecting canines and a charitable institute that rescues and trains dogs to become "dog-tors".