Goal of the class: learn about a phenomenon/trend in France related to the increase production of eco-friendly clothes and the increase launching of eco-friendly brands. Learn vocabulary on ecology, fashion, and the environment.
Warm-up: Do you like fashion? Do you buy a lot of clothes in a year? Do you like buying specific brands of clothes?
Activity 1 : La mode eco-responsable
- Students are shown 2 short videos, one providing facts and numbers about the textile/clothes industry in France, and how it came to become the second most polluting industry in the world. The second video is about the upsurge of eco-friendly clothes/fashion in France
- After watching the videos, students are asked to state one or two elements they learnt in the videos and talk about it with the whole class. For instance:
- Chaque année 100 milliards de vêtements sont produits dans le monde
- Après l’industrie du pétrole, celle de la mode est la plus polluante au monde
- 700 000 tonnes de vêtements chaque années en France
- La mode éco-responsable
- Les créateurs de marques étiques et écologiques
- 70% des Français disent ne pas être intéressés par la mode
Some vocabulary was provided on colloquial words/expressions used in the videos
- Quantité astronomique – quantité énorme
- La fast fashion – la mode jetable
- Se zapper – s’habiller
Activity 2: Débat – Quelles solutions pour créer une mode plus écologique ?
Students were asked in groups of 3/4 to draw a mental map with at its center : “la mode eco-responsable”. They have to find solutions to create more eco-friendly approaches to fashion and shopping. Then they make a presentation about it in front of the class, helped by the mental map they filled out with ideas and solutions:
- dessinez et remplissez une carte mentale. Incluez plusieurs solutions pour créer une mode eco-responsable et durable (sustainable) – vous pouvez vous inspirer de ce site internet: https://www.wedressfair.fr/
- chaque groupe fait une presentation de leur projet lorsqu’il est terminé
Ressources : Powerpoint, Youtube, handout (mental map)
Reflection : This class went very well, the topic interested the students, the presentations were very resourceful and students came up with deep and smart solutions. We ended up the class prolonging the debate and extrapolating to other areas of societies and consumerism that could be improved in a more eco-friendly way. We also ended up changing topics towards the last 10 minutes of the class and talked about Cartoons, and I showed them the opening themes of one of my childhood French cartoons and we talked about it.