ESL WORKSHEET - George Washington Carver

LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH TEACHERS

GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER

LinguaHouse

Jan. 25, 2021

Level: Pre-Intermediate (A2-B1)
Type of English: General English
Tags: American Culture; Environment and Nature; Celebrities and Historical Figures; Science and Technology; 13-15 Years Old; 16-18 Years Old; 18+ Years Old; Vocabulary Lesson
Publication date: 01/25/2021

This audio-aided lesson covers the life and work of African-American scientist George Washington Carver. The lesson focuses on vocabulary, listening comprehension, and speaking. The lesson also includes a vocabulary puzzle, which can be used for review as an optional extension or homework activity. (by Stephanie Hirschman)

• CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in British English.
• CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in British English.
• CLICK HERE to download/listen to the audio in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download/listen to the audio in British English.

AUDIO TRANSCRIPT

Reader: George Washington Carver was born a slave on the Carver family farm in 1864, in the Midwest of the United States.
When he was very young, he was stolen with his mother and sister and taken to another state to be sold. Only the baby George was returned to the Carvers, who raised him and his brother as their own sons.
Mrs. Carver taught George how to read, write, grow food in the garden, cook, and make herbal medicines from plants. It was difficult for African Americans to get an education, even after slavery ended in 1865.
Carver moved around the Midwest and attended many schools. He was finally able to study botany, the science of plants, at Iowa State University.
In 1896, Carver was invited to teach and do research at the Tuskegee Institute, a college for African Americans, in Alabama. The principal was Booker T. Washington; Carver later added “Washington” to his own name to honor him.
Carver worked in the agricultural department at Tuskegee for the rest of his life. He started to do research about a serious problem for farmers - their fields were not producing as much cotton as before. Carver realized that this was because the soil could not support the cotton plants every year without a rest.
He discovered that growing other plants like peanuts, soybeans, and sweet potatoes would help the soil in the fields to build up more nutrients before farmers planted cotton again. This is called “crop rotation”. However, now there were new challenges - finding ways to use all the peanuts, soybeans, and sweet potatoes that farmers were producing.
Carver invented a huge range of food and other products for all these crops, including over 300 uses for peanuts! These new products helped to support southern farmers, including many African Americans. In later years, Carver advised the US government on agriculture and met with Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi to discuss farming.
Shortly after Carver’s death in 1943, a national monument was built to honor him. Carver’s hard work improved American farming, and his ideas are still important in agriculture today.

Adapted from: https://www.linguahouse.com/esl-lesson-plans/general-english/george-washington-carver. Accessed on July 25, 2024. © 2008–2024 LinguaHouse.com. All rights reserved.