The Greenhouse Effect

Learning Objectives

The overarching learning objective is to develop students’ awareness and mastery of the characteristics of academic and subject-specific language, as well as to strengthen their ability to transform language. Students should learn to analyse typical features of academic texts (technical terminology, passive voice, and nominal style) according to defined criteria, reflect on their functional effects in terms of objectivity and how they guide the reader, and purposefully translate dense, nominalised academic language into clear, accessible verbal style using active voice.

Content and Methods

The worksheet introduces the key characteristics of academic non-fiction texts (technical terminology, passive voice, and nominal style) and combines text analysis with practical language exercises. Working with a subject-specific text, students first compile a glossary of technical terms with context-based definitions and distinguish between passive constructions and nominal style using a two-colour highlighting technique.

Building on this, they conduct a functional stylistic analysis to examine the intended effects of linguistic density and the author’s conveyed stance towards the subject matter. The worksheet concludes with an active language transformation task in which students rewrite a highly nominalised example sentence that omits the agent, turning it into dynamic active-voice sentences. This involves breaking down complex verb-noun constructions and explicitly introducing the actors performing the actions.

Competencies

• Linguistic and grammatical analysis: Confidently identifying and clarifying technical terminology, as well as recognising syntactic forms of linguistic compression (nominal style and passive constructions).
• Functional and stylistic judgement: Reflecting on the rhetorical effects and functions of linguistic distance, objectivity, and impersonal presentation in academic texts.
• Language transformation: Purposefully translating complex, agentless nominal constructions into clear, action-oriented active sentences using verbal style.
• Lexical comprehension: Deriving the meaning of unfamiliar or highly specialised technical terms from context and formulating concise definitions (glossary work).

Target Group and Level

Upper secondary school (advanced level).

This worksheet aims to provide students with a solid understanding of the significance and function of academic language and to help them practice actively using it in subject-specific instruction. Students will recognize that academic language serves as an essential tool for presenting complex topics in an objective, impersonal, and precise manner, and that the ability to switch between everyday language and academic language is a key skill. Through guided practice in translating everyday observations into formal language, they learn to use subject-specific linguistic tools, to put their own thoughts into writing in a structured manner, and to reflectively evaluate their own learning process and linguistic expression.

Content and Methods:

The worksheet combines cognitive awareness, guided writing practice, independent text production, and self-evaluation. After an introductory informational text on the distinction between everyday language and academic language, as well as an introduction to subject-specific language tools (e.g., for cause-and-effect relationships, hypothesis formation, or evaluations), learners gradually translate given everyday statements into logically structured academic language. They then apply this translation technique to their own current course material and reflect on the advantages and challenges of academic language formulation. The module concludes with a structured self-assessment matrix designed to evaluate their own language competencies and identify remaining learning needs.

Competencies:

Learners can...

• identify the difference between everyday language and academic language and explain the importance of precise technical language for subject-matter understanding.
• identify and purposefully apply specific subject-specific language tools (e.g., phrasing guides for descriptions, justifications, and analyses).
• systematically translate colloquial observations into precise, factual, and logically structured sentences using formal language.
• structure their own conceptual ideas derived from current classroom activities and independently put them into writing using appropriate technical terms.
• critically reflect on their own language translation process and evaluate their individual strengths and areas for development in the use of formal language.

Target Audience and Level:

Grade 8 and above

This worksheet aims to raise students' awareness of hidden advertising and sponsored content across social media platforms, equipping them to critically evaluate disclosure labels and understand the commercial mechanisms behind creator brand partnerships.

Content and methods: The worksheet introduces covert advertising through a true/false warm-up and key vocabulary definitions (such as affiliate links, discount codes, and PR packages). Using a signal checklist, students independently analyze and categorize six real-world social media case studies, comparing their findings in pairs ("Ad Detective"). They then evaluate disclosure transparency using the "Label Test" and rewrite non-compliant posts to ensure transparent disclosure. A final challenge question prompts students to reflect on why commercial brands often prefer covert marketing strategies.

Competencies:

• Identifying and distinguishing between overt, hidden, and non-commercial social media content
• Criteria-based media analysis using visual signals, hashtags, and disclosure placement
• Critical evaluation of promotional transparency and legal disclosure standards
• Practical writing and communication skills by redrafting posts with compliant disclosures
• Collaborative reasoning and debate through partner discussion

Target group: Middle School

The goal of this worksheet is to enable students to independently identify and critically examine manipulative marketing strategies in retail. Using a specific case study, they will develop the theoretical foundation needed to distinguish between genuine sustainability promises and deliberate consumer deception, so they can make informed, independent consumer decisions in their daily lives.

Content and Methods: The content focuses on the definition and strategic characteristics of greenwashing, its psychological impact, and an analysis of legal consequences. Methodologically, the worksheet combines an image-based case analysis with in-depth journalistic text analysis. A video-based summary of theoretical categories of deception and a practical, criteria-based checklist serve to reinforce knowledge and facilitate active application to students’ own consumer behavior.

Competencies:

Analytical Competence: Students can systematically deconstruct visual design elements, price placements, and advertising messages in digital user interfaces.

Substantive Competence: They understand the definition of the technical term “greenwashing” and can distinguish between vague marketing phrases and verifiable sustainability labels.

Critical thinking skills: Students are able to critically evaluate the discrepancy between corporate sustainability reports and actual environmental impacts.

Reflective thinking skills: They can critically examine their own susceptibility to manipulative sales strategies and identify alternative courses of action.

Target audience and grade level: Intermediate (8th-10th grade)

This worksheet aims to raise students’ awareness of the mechanisms, economic dimensions, and psychological strategies of modern digital marketing in everyday life.

Content and Methods: The material focuses on the economic significance of social media marketing based on statistical data, as well as the analysis of specific digital posts. Methodologically, the worksheet relies on a combination of practical case studies—in which an exemplary social media post is deconstructed both textually and statistically—and theoretical insights into behavioral economic effects. In addition, the material encourages multi-perspective discussion through reflective writing assignments and the comparison of contrasting stakeholder perspectives. Finally, the discussion of complex issues is used to synthesize what has been learned into the formation of independent judgments.

Competencies:

Analytical and Deconstructive Competence: The ability to systematically examine media content and linguistic and statistical devices for their manipulative or promotional effects

Reflective and Critical Thinking Competence: The ability to critically examine one’s own consumer behavior and evaluate economic phenomena from different perspectives

Media and Economic Competence: Understanding of digital market mechanisms, psychological influence strategies such as the authority bias or the bandwagon effect, and their impact on the economy

Target Audience and Level: 9th/10th grade

Objective: This worksheet aims to provide students with basic information about a country as a travel destination and to enable them to talk about their own vacation experiences.

Content and Methods: It describes the geography, climate, sights, and the importance of tourism within the country. Methods include reading comprehension, true/false questions, and a structured writing task about the students’ own vacations.

Competencies:

• Reading comprehension
• Geographical knowledge
• Written expression

Target Audience and Level: Spanish learners at A1 level

Objective: This worksheet aims to familiarize students with linguistic diversity in Spanish. It is designed to raise awareness of the coexistence of Spanish and other languages in Spanish-speaking regions and to encourage students to engage creatively with the topic of multilingualism.

Content and Methods: A text explains the linguistic situation in a Spanish-speaking region. It also addresses new language trends such as Spanglish and neologisms. The worksheet includes multiple-choice questions, word identification exercises, and a creative group activity in which students are asked to invent their own language.

Competencies:

Linguistic knowledge: Understanding of multilingualism and language contact

Critical thinking: Reflection on the development of languages

Creativity: Inventing words and a new language

Target audience and level: Spanish learners at A2 level

Objective: This worksheet aims to help students understand life in a Spanish-speaking country and enable them to describe their own country.

Content and Methods: It covers attitudes toward life, social dynamics (generational conflicts, marginalized groups), migration, and the importance of tourism in a selected country. Methods include reading comprehension, selecting specific statements from the text, and a structured task to describe one’s own country.

Competencies:

• Reading comprehension
• Understanding of sociocultural and geographical aspects
• Written expression

Target group and level: Spanish learners at A2 level

Objective: This worksheet aims to introduce learners to the concept of different dietary options and the basics of restaurant planning.

Content and Methods: It explores the motivations, challenges, and opportunities associated with specific dietary choices. It also covers key aspects of starting a restaurant. Methods include reading comprehension, multiple-choice questions, open-ended questions, and a group activity on restaurant planning.

Competencies:

• Reading comprehension
• Understanding of nutrition and gastronomy
• Planning and teamwork

Target audience and level: Spanish learners at A2 level

ESD:

• SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production): Promoting sustainable consumption patterns in the area of nutrition
• SDG 13 (Climate Action): Raising awareness of the environmental impacts of food

Objective: This worksheet aims to provide students with a basic understanding of genetic engineering and to facilitate a discussion of its advantages and disadvantages, particularly as they relate to fruits and vegetables.

Content and Methods: It explains the basics of genetic engineering and its applications (medicine, agriculture, research). The focus is on genetic engineering in fruits and vegetables, its advantages (pesticide resistance, productivity, nutritional value, climate adaptation), and concerns (environment, health, acceptance, costs). Methods include a prior knowledge assessment, multiple-choice questions, open-ended questions, and expressing an opinion in letter form.

Competencies:

• Reading comprehension of scientific texts
• Critical thinking about biotechnology
• Argumentation and written expression skills

Target audience and level: Spanish learners at B1 level

ESD:

• SDG 13 (Climate Action): Exploring climate adaptation
• SDG 15 (Life on Land): Raising awareness of biodiversity conservation