Could bioluminescent trees replace street lights?

Advanced lesson plan (B2 and above): Could bioluminescent trees replace street lights? - BUY ME A COFFEE if you like my FREE ESL content

Could we transplant genes from fireflies into trees, and let their ethereal glow light up our streets? It sounds fanciful, like something out of Avatar, but scientists have been seriously studying the possibility. Not only would bioluminescent trees use up zero electricity, but they would also look incredibly cool. 

In this B2+ worksheet, students will 

• Study a video about glow-in-the-dark plants
• Learn six light-related idioms
• Discuss six phrasal verbs based on GROW (to GROW back, to GROW apart, to GROW into, to GROW out of, etc.)
• See advanced adjectives to describe a bioluminescent tree
• Read and answer questions about a Kickstarter campaign to develop a glow-in-the-dark plant
• Differentiate between either and neither and complete sentences related to bioengineering

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Click HERE for the worksheet answers

Lesson objectives:

1) To match six pictures with GROW-related phrasal verbs (to grow up on (something), to grow out of (something), to grow back, to grow into (something), to grow on (someone), to grow apart)

2) To find three adjectives from a list of advanced vocabulary that do NOT describe a bioluminescent tree

3) To choose between "either" and "neither" to complete sentences related to genetic engineering and bioluminescence

4) To practise listening comprehension by studying a video from a Kickstarter campaign to develop a glow-in-the-dark plant

5) To expand the students' repertoire of idioms, matching six light-related idioms/phrases with their definitions (light at the end of the tunnel, a light bulb goes off in one's head, to be out like a light, to shed some light on (something), in light of (something), to be in the limelight)

6) To improve reading comprehension by studying a short article about a Kickstarter campaign to develop a glow-in-the-dark plant.