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Famous Places in New Zealand

Explore four well-known New Zealand places while practising useful travel and description language.

A245–55 minutesNew Zealand CollectionPrintable

Teacher lesson: Look at the picture and title. What do you already know about this topic? Write two ideas, then compare with a partner. Work through the nine panels in order, or choose the sections that suit your class. Teacher answers and the listening script are stored separately.

Teacher Answers Back to New Zealand Collection

1 Lesson Goals

By the end of this lesson, I will be able to:

understand the main ideas and key details in Famous Places in New Zealand .
use important vocabulary from the lesson.
share ideas in speaking and writing.

Start here: Look at the picture and title. What do you already know about this topic? Tell a partner one idea.

2 Reading

Before you read:

Look at the picture and title. What do you already know about this topic? Write two ideas, then compare with a partner.

New Zealand has many famous places with very different landscapes. Aoraki / Mount Cook is the country’s highest mountain. Visitors come to the area for walking tracks, alpine scenery and views of glaciers. Lake Tekapo is known for its bright blue water, mountain views and clear night sky. Rotorua is famous for geothermal activity, including hot pools, steam and bubbling mud. It is also an important place to learn about Māori culture. Queenstown sits beside Lake Wakatipu and is surrounded by mountains. It is popular for outdoor activities, sightseeing and winter sports. These places are different, but each one shows something special about New Zealand’s landscape and culture.

3 Vocabulary

Words: landscape · alpine · geothermal · surrounded · sightseeing

Write a short meaning or synonym for each word.

4 Check Your Understanding

1. Which place has New Zealand’s highest mountain?

2. What is Lake Tekapo known for?

3. What natural features can visitors see in Rotorua?

4. What lake is beside Queenstown?

5. Why are these four places useful for learning about New Zealand?

5 Language Focus

Complete the comparisons: 1. Aoraki / Mount Cook is ___ (high) than the hills around it. 2. Rotorua is ___ (warm) in some geothermal areas than nearby ground. 3. Queenstown can be ___ (busy) in winter than in quiet seasons. 4. Lake Tekapo is one of the ___ (beautiful) lake areas in the country.

6 Listen & Speak

Listen: Your teacher will read the text twice. Answer the questions.

1. Where does the visitor spend two days?

2. What does she see on the first morning?

3. What does she learn at the cultural centre?

4. What does she photograph the next day?

Speak: Which New Zealand place would you most like to visit? Give two reasons.

A Visit to the Library — Continued

7 Use Your English

Write: Write 6–8 sentences describing a place in New Zealand that you know or would like to visit.

8 Puzzle or Game

Place Clue Challenge: In pairs, choose one of the four places. Give three clues without saying its name. Your partner guesses the place.