Wartime innovation
Student worksheets
Warmer – examples of innovation
Look at these four pictures, and discuss the questions with a partner.
© IWM FIR8100
© IWM Q2488
© IWM EQU3918
© Cradle of Aviation
a. Can you name any of these wartime innovations?
b. When do you think these things were invented?
c. How and why were they useful to armies?
Task 1 – vocabulary for listening
Complete the sentences below using a word or phrase from the box. Use a capital letter if needed.
no man’s land
trenches
stalemate
opposition
a. __________ were long, narrow holes dug in the ground.
b. Soldiers in WW1 battlefields dug trenches to protect themselves from the __________.
c. __________ is the area between trenches of two opposing armies, which neither army
controls.
d. __________ occurred in trench warfare when neither side was making any progress even
though soldiers on both sides were dying.
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Wartime innovation
Student worksheets
Task 2 – listening
You are going to listen to four former soldiers talking about their experiences in the First World War,
and answer the questions.
a. Before you listen, can you think of any similarities between the innovations from the Warmer?
b. Which of the innovations would you say is the ‘odd one out’? Why?
c. Now listen to the recording. Which innovation is each soldier talking about?
tank
machine gun
gas mask
Speaker
Innovation
1.
……………………………………….
2.
……………………………………….
3.
……………………………………….
4.
……………………………………….
automatic aircraft
Task 3 – vocabulary for reading
a. Match words 1–8 to the correct definition a–h.
1. firepower
a.
able to be easily hurt or attacked
2. vulnerable
b.
the flying, or use of aircraft
3. shrapnel
c.
a device to protect the wearer from harmful substances
4. fumes
d.
the capability of an army to use guns against the opposition
5. respirator
e.
a device to remove unwanted particles from a gas or liquid
6. filter
f.
small pieces of metal that fly through the air after an explosion
7. ammunition
g.
strong, unpleasant and often dangerous gas or smoke
8. aviation
h.
the supply of bullets to be fired from a gun
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b. Try to describe the pictures above using some of the words in (a).
c. Which of the innovations from the Warmer do you think words in (a) refer to?
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Wartime innovation
Student worksheets
Task 4 – reading and discussion: examples of innovation
a. Your teacher will give you a short text about one of the innovations. Make notes about the main points
in the space below and consider the following questions:
1. Why was it developed?
2. What was the effect of it?
3. How was it operated?
4. How popular and widely used was it?
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
b. Tell the other people in your group about the innovation. Discuss which of the innovations you feel
was most important and why.
Task 5 – discussion
Read and discuss the following quotations.
We must teach our
children to resolve their
conflicts with words, not
weapons.
I know not with what weapons
World War III will be fought,
but World War IV will be
fought with sticks and stones.
Bill Clinton, 42
President
Albert Einstein, scientist
Wars may be fought with
weapons, but they are won
by men. It is the spirit of the
men who follow and of the
man who leads that gains
the victory.
nd
US
I am proud of the fact that
I never invented weapons
to kill.
Thomas Edison, inventor
of the light bulb
General Patton, US Army
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