Webwatcher: fascinating facts

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For Russell Stannard, truth is often stranger than fiction, and here he lists some sites that offer amazing facts.


I am always looking around for facts and figures on the internet to use in classroom games. Here are some examples of websites that offer interesting information – and three fun activities you can do with the sort of material you can find there.  

http://amusingfacts.com/facts/Places/ This is a good site because all the facts are verified and the information it gives is often unusual and, therefore, great for using in games and activities.  

www.corsinet.com/trivia/ This is another site that has unusual facts. Did you know, for example, that a rat can go longer without water than a camel? The information is divided into categories – and there are some great ones!  

www.kidsplanet.org/factsheets/map.html This is an excellent site to get information about animals.  

www.phoenixzoo.org/zoo/animals/facts/index.asp This is one of the sites I use for Activity 2 below.  

1. Fascinating facts  

This is an activity which my classes really enjoy. I give each student a piece of information and tell them that it might be true and it might be false. They each have to go round the classroom, tell their information to everyone they meet and ask them to vote on whether they think the information is true or false. They keep a running record of the votes, and then at the end of the activity, I ask each student to read out their information and tell me if the class voted it true or false. I then tell them if they were right or wrong. Here are some examples of pieces of information. Do you think they are true or false?

  1. Blonde people have twice as much hair as people with brown hair.
  2. Some sharks have up to 3,000 teeth.
  3. The most common name in the world is John.
  4. Elephants can’t jump.
  5. The world’s widest road can have 160 cars side by side.
  6. Manchester is the wettest place in the world.

These kinds of activities always work well. Students enjoy moving around the classroom and telling everyone else their piece of information. There is comprehension work involved in processing the information and deciding if it is true or false. Students also learn some useful vocabulary.  

Answers: 1 Yes, this is true. 2 Yes, some sharks have rows of teeth and as one falls out another moves forward. They can have up to 3,000 at any time. 3 John is not the most common name; Mohammed is. 4 Yes, this is true. 5 Yes, this is true. The widest road is on the Monumental axis in Brazil. 6 This is false. The wettest place in the world is actually Mount Waialeale in Hawaii.

2. Animal oddities 

Another activity I like to do with facts is to choose a category, such as animals, countries, languages, food, cities, etc. I then give the students some questions about facts connected to that category. I put the students in groups and they try to work out the answers. To make it easier, I sometimes put the answers on the board (but not in order). Here is an example:  

What animal does each of these facts refer to?

  1. This animal can jump over 30ft with one jump.
  2. This is one of the few animals that can get sunburn.
  3. The blood of this animal is blue.
  4. It is the fastest land animal in the world.
  5. It is the only bird that can fly backwards.
  6. This bird produces the largest bird’s egg in the world.
  7. This mammal is so big it can weigh 50 tons at birth.
  8. It is the fastest swimmer in the world.
  9. This bird can see a rabbit up to a mile away while flying.
  10. This animal doesn’t sweat but uses its ears to keep cool.

Answers: 1 kangaroo 2 pig 3 lobster 4 cheetah 5 humming bird 6 ostrich 7 blue whale 8 dolphin 9 eagle 10 elephant

3. Figures of fun

0 0.5 40 gallons About 50 600 years 3,987 miles (6,416 km) 1 inch per year 60 mph 100,000

Fact  

a) The speed of a cough

b) The growth rate of the Himalayan Mountains

c) The length of time French was England’s official language

d) The length of the frontier between Canada and the USA

e) The amount of water an elephant drinks every day

f) The current annual birth rate in the Vatican City

g) The number of hairs you lose on average every day

h) The average number of hairs on your scalp

i) The number of calories you use up when you lick a stamp  

Answers a) 60 mph b) 1 inch per year c) 600 years d) 3,987 miles e) 40 gallons f) 0 g) about 50 h) 100,000 I) 0.5


Russell Stannard is a senior lecturer in ICT and multimedia at the University of Westminster, UK. He has an extensive publishing background in ELT and is currently working with BBC Worldwide on various CD ROMs, and with Macmillan Hong Kong on a primary course. He also teaches English and Spanish at Sutton Adult Education College, UK.


This article first appeared in English Teaching Professional, Issue 30, 2004  


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