CLIL Activity – P2 Inventions



This activity provides a variety of tasks, taking into account the learning purpose and learner styles and preferences. As recommended from a CLIL perspective, receptive skill activities are of the ‘read/listen and do’ genre.

Inventions are new ideas for useful things. We want the students to be aware of the fact that most inventions make our lives easier but there are a few of them that can be dangerous (such as guns, atomic bombs and gun powder). We also want them to learn that every year lots of new inventions are invented to help us in our daily lives.

Available in printable, PDF format:



You will need:

  • A copy of Worksheet 1 and Worksheet 2 for each student.
  • Optional Activity: An enlarged colour copy of Worksheet 3 or a copy for every pair of students.
  • A copy of Worksheet 4 for every group.


1. Start the activity by telling the students they are going to investigate and learn a bit more about inventions.

2. Then ask the students questions about the topic (do you know what an invention is? Do you know of any important invention? And the name of a famous inventor?). If they answer, they would probably tend to mention inventions and inventors from the past. Tell them that all the tools we use everyday have been invented by someone in the past and that new inventions are been patented every year.

3. If possible, visit any of the following websites where you will find extra information: (Fast facts about inventors and inventions). (Inventors and inventions by letters). (A Guide to Inventions and Discoveries: From Adrenaline to the Zipper).

4. To get the students attention, you can also visit the following website with a list of inventions made in 2004, the year in which most 2nd graders were born.,28757,1940424,00.html

5. Tell the students you are going to read a text with information about different inventions. Ask them to listen as they will have to fill in a table later. Read Worksheet 1 (Little-Great Inventions) and ask the students what they have understood.

6. Give each student a copy of Worksheet 1 and Worksheet 2. Tell them it is time to read the text on their own looking for the necessary information to fill in the table (Worksheet 2). The students should find out the who (inventor), the what (invention) and the when (year) of the invention. While they complete the task, move around helping and praising them for their efforts.

7. Optional Activity: Show the students an enlarged copy of Worksheet 3 (or give a copy for every pair of students) and ask them if they know the names of those inventions and why they are important in our lives.

8. Talk about the inventions in the text and in the optional activity (if you have done it): Are they all important in our daily lives? Which one do you think is more important? What do you think people did before those inventions were invented?

9. Divide the class in groups of two-three students to make a survey to the teachers in the school or their own families. Give each group a copy of Worksheet 4 and time to ask the questions and write the answers (during playtime or at any other time you may find convenient).

10. Once each group has completed the survey and are back to class, put all the ideas in common and decide which invention has been chosen to be “the most important invention in our daily lives”: Do all people agree? Do adults have the same opinion as kids? What about the rest of your classmates’ survey? Exchange results and draw a diagram with the information from every group and display it where the students can see it. When the activity is finished, the students have learnt there are things that can be very important for a group of people and not so for other ones, and to respect everyone’s opinion.


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