Sunday, 6 May 2012

Supersize Me!

You are going to 
  • watch a clip from the film "Supersize Me" about fast food
  • do a gap-fill listening exercise
  • discuss the health aspects of eating fast food
  • discuss whether the state should prohibit unhealthy activities
  • write an argument essay based on the topic

1) Discuss
  • Do you ever eat in fast food restaurants?  Why / Why not?
  • What does “Super size me” mean?
  • Have you seen the film?
  • Is Fast Food good for you?  Why / Why not?
  • Do you think Fast Food restaurants are responsible for making people fat or ill?
  • What would happen if you only ate Fast Food for 1 month?

You are going to watch 2 clips from Morgan Spurlock's documentary Supersize Me. For 30 days Morgan Spurlock only ate at McDonald's, eating everything on the menu at least once. At the end of the film he examines what effect this diet has had on him.
You can buy the DVD on amazon here

2) Before you watch / Vocabulary Check
Do you know these words?
SUED (To Sue) = To take someone to court for damages
CORONARY = Heart attack
JOINTS = Restaurants
STRAIGHT = Consecutively, following = 30 days straight.

3) Watch the clip
Why did 2 girls try to sue McDonalds?
What is Morgan Spurlock going to do for 1 month?

4) Gap-fill
Now do the gap-fill. Fill in the gaps with the right number or word.
Watch the clip again if you need to.

5) Discuss
What do you think happened after 30 days of eating nothing but fast food?
  • Did he get fatter?
  • Was he ill?
  • How did he feel?

6) Watch
Watch the end of the film.
  1. How much weight did he gain?
  2. What happened to his liver?
  3. What happened to his cholesterol?
  4. Did he get fatter?
  5. How much more likely is he to have a heart failure?
  6. How did he feel?
  7. What happened to his sex life?
  8. Did he become addicted to fast food?

Answers and printable exercises - here

7) Discuss
  • If fast food is unhealthy, should it be banned or restricted or is eating it a matter of personal choice?
  • If you think it is a matter of personal choice, should people also be allowed to do other unhealthy or addictive things like drink alcohol, smoke or take illegal drugs? Where do you draw the line between allowing one unhealthy activity and prohibiting or restricting another?
  • Should the government or state tell us what not to eat, drink, smoke or do with our bodies? Is the state trying to interfere with the individual's personal freedom and choice? Can these initiatives ever be successful or are they a waste of money?
  • How do a person's unhealthy habits affect the state or society?

8) Write
Write an answer to this question.
To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement? "Fast food is addictive and unhealthy and it should be restricted in the same way that alcohol, cigarettes and drugs are."


Originally via:

Fast food facts


  1. Hi Your blog is so great and so professional. If you would like to see my blog at
    Lily :)

  2. Hello David,
    Like your lesson plan and activities for Supersize me. Your blog is filled with useful stuff and ideas for teaching. Thanks.
    I have a question. For the gap fill-in exercise, what software or app or tool do you use to create it?
    I would like to use something like that...and like how it's convenient where students can just input their answers onto the screen directly....

  3. Hi Patrick, thanks for your comment. I use Hot Potatoes to make the exercises and then link to them on Dropbox

    Hope that helps

  4. Hello David,
    Thanks for your previous answer. I played around with Hot Potatoes, and explored with some exercises. As for the next part of putting into my blog/website, I'm a bit confused. Do you save from hotpotatoes as html file or other type of web file or just text file and then upload this to dropbox to make a link? Or do you somehow have to get the code and then embed the code into your blog/website? Also, at your blog, do you simply insert the link and it comes out as it does...or do you have to embed or insert as media so it shows directly on page? I'm imagining that if I put a link to dropbox...then users will have to click on link and get directed somewhere? Not sure how to get it to show right on my page.....
    Thanks again for your time and help...or do you know of any help links to learn about various ways to convert hotpotatoes exercises easily into our respective websites?

  5. Hi Patrick,
    You have to embed the dropbox html file from the dropbox public folder. You have to embed it into the post with some code while editing the post in html format.
    I don't know about any guides as someone helped me. Once you know how to do it it is actually very easy.
    Hope that helps

  6. Thankyou, this has been really useful! I'm currently teaching English in Spain, and you have some really good links. Thanks! I really think my children will enjoy this

  7. Thanks Catherine! Best regards from here in Asturias!

  8. It is a great blog. I am so happy I have found it! I will use your lessons in my class!Great, great great!

  9. Hi David,
    Your Blog is great and so useful.
    Could you please add the estimated length of each activity/lesson?

  10. Hi Shira. Thanks for posting. Some are quite long and designed for doing with tablets and PC and others are for picking and choosing individual activities.
    Timing has never been one of my strong points I'm afraid :) but I'll try and be a bit more specific on the the next post.


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