C1CEFRSpeaking20 min

Class activity: Veltra Figure Match (Energy Security)

Energy security and nuclear power

Add to my libraryFree for teachers. You sign in only when you add the lesson.

Answers and an explanation for each question appear once you add this activity to your own library.

⚡ Energy Security & Nuclear Power · Level C1

Veltra Figure Match

A rapid-fire proportion comparison game for spoken precision.

⏱️ 20 mins 👥 Teams of 3–4
📋

1. Rules of the Game

🧑‍🏫

Teacher Setup & Delivery

  1. 1 Split the room into teams of 3 or 4 and give each table one set of cards.
  2. 2 Instruct each team to appoint one scorekeeper to track cards and oral sentences.
  3. 3 Start the clock and run the steps tightly using the 20-minute timed plan.
  4. 4 Circulate and listen for clean prepositions, especially catching slips like "a far cry of".
  5. 5 Reveal matches using the Teacher Key at step 5 and reward the winning team.
🎯

Student Mission

  1. 1 Goal: match all 6 figure cards to the correct proportion cards with your team.
  2. 2 Take turns picking a card and saying a complete comparative sentence aloud.
  3. 3 Always begin your sentence with the site or target named on the card.
  4. 4 Your partner listens, checks correctness, and awards points on your tally sheet.
  5. 5 Win bonus points for using the Unit words in your sentences.
⏱️

2. Timed Plan (20 Minutes Total)

2'
Step 1

Hand out the cards and name one scorekeeper per team.

4'
Step 2

Teams match the 6 figure cards to the 5 phrase cards in silence.

6'
Step 3

Learners speak each pair in a sentence using Unit words.

4'
Step 4

Partners tick scoresheets for correct phrasing and vocab.

2'
Step 5

Teacher reveals the key and corrects the common trap phrases.

2'
Step 6

Conduct rapid closing questions and crown the highest scorer.

🔗

3. Phrase Cards and Guide

🔗 PHRASE
1

three times as much as

Grammar ratio · Multiplier

🔗 PHRASE
2

a fraction of

Grammar ratio · Tiny share

🔗 PHRASE
3

roughly half

Grammar ratio · Approximation

🔗 PHRASE
4

a far cry from

Grammar ratio · Big shortfall

🔗 PHRASE
5

on a par with

Grammar ratio · Equal balance

📖 Phrase Match Guide (Numerical Benchmarks)
three times as much as = exactly 3 times (3×)
a fraction of = under one tenth (< 10%)
roughly half = 45 to 55 percent (~50%)
a far cry from = result under half of target
on a par with = within 5 percent difference
⚡

4. Six Figure Cards (Electricity Units)

⚡ POWER SITE
1

Plant North: 90

Plant South: 30

👉 Start with Plant North
⚡ GRID ZONE
2

Town A: 200

Town B: 9

👉 Start with Town B
⚡ SUPPLY MINE
3

Mine X: 51

Mine Y: 100

👉 Start with Mine X
⚡ CAPACITY GOAL
4

Target: 100

Result: 38

👉 Start with the result
⚡ RENEWABLE ARRAY
5

Wind farm: 76

Solar farm: 75

👉 Start with the wind farm
⚡ HYDRO RESERVOIR
6

Dam P: 18

Dam Q: 54

👉 Start with Dam Q
🏆

5. Scoring System

+1

Accurate Match

1 point per figure card paired with the mathematically correct phrase card.

+1

Oral Delivery

1 point per spoken sentence with the phrase used cleanly, ticked off by your partner.

★

Unit Vocabulary Bonus

1 bonus point for each Unit word you use correctly in the comparison.

📝 Team Protocol: The scorekeeper writes the points on scrap paper as sentences are spoken.
✍️

6. Sentence Starters (With Unit Vocabulary)

Unit Word Bank: dependency shortfall outage diversify reactor uranium radioactive intermittent baseload decommission
Starter 1:

"The old reactor produced three times as much as the new one, so we kept it for steady baseload power..."

Starter 2:

"Imported uranium now covers only a fraction of our needs, so our dependency on one supplier is falling..."

Starter 3:

"During the winter outage, roughly half of the city lost heating, which showed..."

Starter 4:

"The new plan to diversify our supply is a far cry from what we promised, because..."

Starter 5:

"Solar power is on a par with wind this year, but both stay intermittent on calm, cloudy days..."

Starter 6:

"The cost to decommission the plant is three times as much as we expected, and the shortfall in the budget..."

🗝️

7. Teacher Key (Confidential)

CARD 1 (90 vs 30)

three times as much as

90 = 3 × 30 (Exact multiplier)
CARD 2 (9 vs 200)

a fraction of

9 / 200 = 4.5% (< 10%)
CARD 3 (51 vs 100)

roughly half

51% is squarely in the 45–55% window
CARD 4 (38 vs 100)

a far cry from

38 is well under 50% of the 100 target
CARD 5 (76 vs 75)

on a par with

76 vs 75 is a tiny 1.3% variance (≤ 5%)
CARD 6 (54 vs 18)

three times as much as

54 = 3 × 18 (Exact multiplier)
✅ Gold Standard Model Sentence

"Town B uses a fraction of what Town A uses."

👂 Mistake to Hear & Correct Live

"a far cry of" ➔ enforce "a far cry from".

🔀

8. Classroom Variations

Level 1 · Easy

Scaffolded Writing

Allow students to draft their sentences in bullet points before reading them aloud to their partner.

Level 2 · Standard

The Raw-Number Ban

Strictly forbid saying the numbers (e.g. "90", "30"). Learners must rely solely on comparison phrases.

Level 3 · Hard

Double Vocab Challenge

Each spoken sentence must link at least TWO Unit words (e.g. baseload + reactor).

⚡ Fast Groups

Reverse Subjects

Flip the starter site: start with the smaller figure and produce the inverse comparison (e.g. one third of).

💬

9. Closing Reflection Questions

1

Which power installations in the cards proved to be on a par with each other, and why do energy planners treat them as intermittent?

Expected answer: Wind farm (76) and Solar farm (75); weather-reliant sources fluctuate continuously.

2

Why does a steady baseload matter when energy delivery turns out to be a far cry from the original target?

Expected answer: Nuclear or steady hydro prevents widespread blackouts or shortfalls during demand spikes.

3

How do proportion phrases ("three times as much as", "a fraction of") sound more compelling than simply reading raw statistics in a board report?

Expected answer: They show the size of the difference quickly, so the listener does not have to compare the numbers alone.

Related lessons