Somewhere between Mars and Jupiter is a metal asteroid that some say is worth $10,000 quadrillion, far more than the whole world economy. Space agencies are racing to study asteroids, and small companies dream of mining them for platinum and water. This lesson explores the new space gold rush and gets students debating whether it could ever pay, and who should own the treasure. This B2 version covers NASA’s Psyche mission, China’s asteroid sample mission and the first private miners, with vocabulary for value, resources and risk (estimate, deposit, strike it rich, crash).
Level: B2 · Time: 45 to 90 minutes. Pick the activities that suit your class. They work in almost any order.
Lesson Activities
- Warmer: What Is This? – Reveal the picture tile by tile. What is it? Where is it? What is it made of? (Answer: an artist’s view of 16 Psyche, a metal asteroid between Mars and Jupiter that some say is worth $10,000 quadrillion.)
- Vocabulary: Space, Mining or Money? – Students sort 15 words about asteroid mining into three groups. Good before reading to check what students already know.
- Vocabulary: Pre-teach the Key Words – Match 10 words and phrases from the article to their meanings before reading (estimate, deposit, sample, gold rush, strike it rich, crash…).
- Reading: The Asteroid Gold Rush – An article with 12 gaps and audio. Choose without a word bank or with a word bank for extra support.
- Discussion: The Asteroid Gold Rush – 12 discussion questions on finding treasure, investing, who should own an asteroid, mining on Earth versus in space, and life on an asteroid base.
- Speaking: Why Go to the Asteroids? – Students rank nine reasons for sending missions to asteroids, from getting rich to protecting Earth and looking for life, then compare with a partner.
Teacher Tips
- For a shorter lesson, use the warmer, the reading and the discussion cards.
- The reading has audio. Play it after students have tried the gaps, so they can listen and check their answers, or use it as a listening task with stronger groups.
- Language focus: second conditionals for imagining (If someone brought home a whole asteroid, the price would crash. If I owned an asteroid, I would…). Ask students to finish five “If I…” sentences about space treasure.
- Big numbers: $10,000 quadrillion is 10 followed by 18 zeros. Ask students to say it, then compare it with other huge numbers they know.
- Business English classes: is asteroid mining a good investment? Students prepare a two-minute pitch for or against putting money into a space mining start-up.
- Follow-up: in groups, students write five rules for mining in space and present them to the class.
Teaching a lower-level group? Try the A2 version of this lesson.