General

Environment snippets

This collection of 17 brief, illustrated articles, called here a Minipedia, covers a wide range of interesting curiosities about the natural world. It is ideal for extra reading and vocabulary, or your teacher may devise a range of other activities with it. You may need a dictionary for some of the more advanced vocabulary.

http://www.biodiverciudad.org/minipedia.asp

What do we need to know about the environment?

This site is a very good place to start on learning the fundamentals about ecology and environmental issues. There are 26 headings (click on the number for the link) and each article is clearly written using appropriate vocabulary and is accessible. The articles are obviously written by a knowledgeable and committed ecologist and lover of nature. Each item from the list is suitable for a 15 minute read/summarize activity, and teachers may wish to adapt the articles for different reading abilities.

www.andinia.com/a20272.shtml

Key vocabulary and terms on the environment

This is a pdf document listing key words and phrases related to the environment. The entire document is in Spanish so students may need the help of a teacher or a dictionary to help with understanding. There are some great reading articles towards the end of the document, which could be adapted for a reading comprehension. The definitions of the words and phrases are in Spanish so these could be adapted to create a matching exercise. This is a very useful resource that could be used in a variety of ways.

http://webs.ono.com/hpasget/geogra/18MedioAm.pdf

Song about the environment – Pedro Suárez Vértiz

This is a great and very catchy song on the environment written by Peruvian singer-songwriter Pedro Suárez Vértiz. This isn't the official video, but it does have some good visuals as well as the lyrics. This is a great song to introduce the topic, and some very useful vocabulary. What topics are mentioned in the song?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZzS87wNL4c

Song about the environment – Alejandro Lerner

This is a song that has been linked to UN's World Environment Day, which is celebrated every year on 5th June. It is written by Argentine songwriter Alejandro Lerner. This song, entitled “You can change the world” has a great tune, and can be used to launch a class debate on the topic. This isn't the official video, but it does have some great visuals as well as the lyrics. How can you improve the environment of your school, your community, and or your region?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Svbt5yqUBX8

Spanish wildlife protection – FAPAS

This is useful resource to learn more about the flora and fauna of Northern Spain. FAPAS is a non-profit organisation whose objective is to protect the ecosystems in the region of Cantabría. This is the website of the organisation and you can learn about their current initiatives and campaigns. The section ‘Educación ambiental' (environmental education) highlights projects with the local community as well as articles (articulos), which could be used to practise your reading comprehension.

http://www.fapas.es/

Greenpeace

This is the official Spanish website of international environmental group Greenpeace. Learn about their campaigns and activities, as well as the main interests of the organisation. Click Multimedia to view images (Imágenes) and videos at the top of the page. This is a fantastic resource for both teachers and students.

http://www.greenpeace.org/espana/campaigns

European Environmental Agency

This is the official site (Spanish version) of the European Environmental Agency. There is a wide range of topic headings for you to choose from. Click on any of the headings to find out more about the topic. There is a short introduction to each topic, additional articles, links and further resources. This is great resource to improve your vocabulary, and to help you learn more about the key environmental issues. If the page reverts back to English, simply change the language by clicking ‘EEA Homepage in your language' at the top right hand of the screen.

http://www.eea.europa.eu/es/themes

Weather forecast

This is an excellent resource to help you practise your listening skills. Watch the weather forecast as many times as necessary, and then answer the 8 questions. It may seem quite fast, at first. However, do not give up! You can see all the questions at once by clicking on Todas las preguntas.

http://www.asisehace.net/parte_meteorologico.htm

The future of the Earth

With a song by Maná and a variety of interactive self-check exercises, these pages give you the chance to hear and read a lot of natural expressions in Spanish on a range of environmental problems. There are also clear examples, in context, of a range of tenses. Particularly useful is the interactive exercise found under Actividades, then El tiempo futuro. You can also visit the grammar section of the site (click Spanish Language and Culture and then Future Tense) for a review of the tense before you attempt the gap-fill exercise, which is a series of optimistic and pessimistic predictions about the future of the world. This is a fantastic resource that will give you confidence in talking about the environment.

http://www.colby.edu/~bknelson/SLC/mana/mana_splash.html

Environmental news from around the world

This is a very useful resource for improving your reading comprehension. There are articles and news items on the latest research and developments on a wide range of environmental issues. You may need a dictionary to help you navigate through the articles. Alternatively a teacher could use this resource to create reading exercises. There is also a useful list of resources and additional links under Enlaces.

http://www.portaldelmedioambiente.com/

Scientists for the Environment (CIMA)

This is the official website for CIMA, a Spanish organisation that brings together scientists who are working on environmental issues. This resource contains a wealth of information in the form of articles, which could be used to introduce a topic or as part of a reading comprehension. The articles are organised under different headings, accessible by clicking on the appropriate topic heading on the left of the first page. This resource would also aid independent study.

http://www.cima.org.es/index.html

Cinema and the Environment

This is simply a fantastic resource, for both teachers and students. It lists a comprehensive collection of films that deal with the topic of the environment. There are pictures (stills and posters) from each film, and also a brief description of the film. You can learn about films from all around the world and how different cultures and societies have tried to address some of the key environmental issues. After reading through the films (scroll down the page) why not watch one of the recommended films and do a presentation on it for your class?

http://www.uhu.es/cine.educacion/cineyeducacion

European Commission and the Environment

This is an excellent resource created by the European Commission. It is a site for young people in Europe to help them learn more about the environment. The site has a lot of information, which is organised under four main topics: Agua (water), Aire (air), Residuos (waste) and Naturaleza (nature). Click on each heading to find out more about each topic, the related environmental problems, what the European Commission is doing about this, and how you can help. This resource could be used as an introduction to the broader topic of the environment, and as useful reading practice. There are also sections for further articles aimed at young people (Biblioteca) and additional links and resources (Enlaces).

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/youth/index_es.html