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Lesson
B2ENMars Colony Debate: Building a New World
Practice future forms and mixed conditionals by designing a human colony on Mars from scratch. Decide who goes, what rules apply, and how to survive when Earth is 225 million kilometres away. A practical B2 English lesson on future tenses, conditionals, and collaborative decision-making through space colonisation scenarios. Ideal for adult learners, English tutors, and language schools.
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Students interact directly with the lesson — responding, speaking, solving tasks, making decisions and joining activities.
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Guide the lesson, manage activities and timing, and respond to what students are doing where supported.
Everyone participates
Students actively contribute and interact instead of simply consuming lesson content.
Only 100 People Can Go — Who Makes the List? Sorting
Sorting
Must go (essential):
Controversial (defend your choice):
Space Colony Vocabulary. Taboo
Taboo
Colony
- settlement
- group
- people
- live
- new
Habitat
- home
- building
- live
- shelter
- structure
Oxygen
- air
- breathe
- gas
- life
- lungs
Radiation
- sun
- danger
- rays
- energy
- exposure
Terraform
- change
- planet
- Earth
- make
- habitable
Self-sufficient
- independent
- alone
- need
- supply
- outside
Gravity
- weight
- pull
- fall
- force
- Earth
Ration
- share
- divide
- food
- limit
- portion
Module
- section
- part
- unit
- building
- piece
Quarantine
- isolate
- separate
- sick
- protect
- disease
Lesson Board
Lesson Board
Design the Colony. Word Choice
Word Choice
- If we buildwill buildbuilt the habitat underground, radiation wouldn't be a problem.
- The first supply mission iswillwas going to carry enough food for 18 months.
- If the oxygen recycling system failswould failfailed, everyone will die within hours.
- We are going towouldwill need at least 20 engineers if we want to be self-sufficient within 5 years.
- If every colonist would beiswere trained in basic medicine, we wouldn't need as many doctors.
- The colony wasiswill going to produce its own water from Martian ice within the first year.
- If we hadwould havehave sent construction robots two years earlier, the habitat would be ready now.
- Without solar panels, the colony doesn'twon'twouldn't have any electricity during dust storms.
- If we raisedraisewill raise children on Mars, they would grow up with completely different bones due to low gravity.
- Communication with Earth willwouldis going to take between 4 and 24 minutes each way — real-time conversation is impossible.
The Colony Council. Mission Briefing
Mission Briefing
Scenario
The first 100 colonists have arrived on Mars. The habitat is functional but basic. The Colony Council must make five critical decisions in its first meeting: 1) Who leads the colony — elected leader, rotating council, or Earth-appointed governor? 2) What laws apply — Earth laws, new Mars laws, or no formal laws? 3) Should colonists be allowed to have children in the first 5 years? 4) If someone commits a serious crime, what is the punishment — there is no prison? 5) If Earth stops sending supplies, do you tell the colonists or keep it secret? You have 15 minutes.
The Mission Commander
You were appointed by the space agency to lead the colony. You believe in structure, hierarchy, and clear rules. Earth should maintain authority over the colony until it is fully self-sufficient.
Must use: Your real concern: Earth has told you privately that funding for the Mars programme might be cut next year. If supplies stop, you will be in charge of 100 people with no backup. You want to prepare quietly without causing panic. Do not reveal the funding risk unless forced.
The Chief Scientist
You believe the colony should be independent from Earth. You want decisions made by elected council, not by Earth appointees. Mars is a new world — it needs new rules.
Must use: Your real concern: you discovered that the soil samples contain a microorganism that might be Martian life. If you announce this, Earth will order a full quarantine — no farming, no expansion, possibly evacuation. If you stay quiet, the colony survives but science is compromised. You haven't told anyone yet.
The Colony Doctor
You are responsible for the health of 100 people with limited medical supplies. You believe children should not be born on Mars until you understand the effects of low gravity on human development.
Must use: Your real concern: three colonists are already showing early signs of psychological breakdown — paranoia, insomnia, aggression. If it gets worse, they could be dangerous. You want authority to impose mandatory psychological evaluations, but the colonists value their freedom.
The People's Representative
You were elected by the colonists to speak for them. They want more freedom, less control, and the right to make their own decisions about their lives — including having children.
Must use: Your real concern: a group of 15 colonists is quietly planning to leave the main habitat and start an independent settlement 50 kilometres away. They call it "New Geneva." They want independence from the Colony Council. If they leave, the colony loses critical skills. Do you support them, stop them, or negotiate?
Mars Fights Back. Drama Event
Drama Event
Scenario
The Colony Council has been governing Mars for six months. Systems are stable, food is growing, and people are adapting. Then Mars reminds everyone who is really in charge...
- 🎲
wordlist
If this continues, we will have to... We need to decide now whether to... What would happen if we... The safest option would be to... If we had prepared for this, we wouldn't be... We can't afford to wait — we must... This changes everything because... If we don't act within the next hour...
- 🧨
Crisis
A dust storm is approaching — the biggest one since the colony arrived. It will last an estimated 12 days. Solar panels will produce almost zero power. You have battery reserves for 8 days. After that, no heating, no oxygen recycling, no lights. What do you cut first to extend the power?
- 🧠
Revelation
The Chief Scientist finally reveals the microorganism discovery. If it is truly Martian life, this is the greatest scientific discovery in human history. But if colonists have been farming in contaminated soil, they might already be infected with something unknown. Do you quarantine everyone or keep going?
- 🔄
Twist
The 15 colonists who wanted to leave have left — secretly, during the dust storm. They took a rover, a week's food, medical supplies, and the colony's only backup oxygen generator. You can't go after them until the storm ends. Do you let them go or classify this as theft of critical equipment?
- ⏱
Pressure
Earth sends a delayed message: "Funding for supply missions has been suspended pending government review. Next scheduled delivery: postponed indefinitely. Recommend colony begin full self-sufficiency protocol." The message is 22 minutes old. Do you tell the colonists?
- 🎯
Decision
A colonist has committed a serious assault — broke another colonist's arm during an argument about food rations. There is no prison, no police, no court. The colony has 100 people in a sealed habitat. You cannot exile someone onto the surface of Mars. What is the punishment?
- 🧭
Opportunity
During the dust storm, a colonist discovers that the underground caves beneath the colony are much larger than expected — potentially enough space to triple the habitat. But exploring them during the storm is extremely dangerous. Two volunteers want to go. Do you let them?
- 🚧
Constraint
The water recycling system is failing. The engineer says she needs a specific part that doesn't exist on Mars. She could build one from scratch, but it will take 3 weeks. Current water reserves will last 10 days at normal consumption. You must cut water rations by 60% immediately. How do you announce this without causing panic?
- 🧨
Crisis
A baby has been born. The colony doctor said no children for 5 years. The parents kept the pregnancy secret. The baby seems healthy. Some colonists are celebrating — "the first Martian." Others are furious — "they broke the rules and risked the colony's resources." The Council must respond publicly.
- 🎲
settings
Should We Go to Mars at All? Speed Debate
Speed Debate
Useful phrases
- If we invested that money in Earth instead...
- The colony would fail if...
- I would argue that...
- From a practical standpoint...
- That's a valid point, but consider this...
- The long-term benefit would be...
- If that happened, the consequence would be...
- We have to weigh... against...
- Colonising Mars is a waste of money when Earth still has unsolved problems like poverty and climate change.
- If humans colonise Mars, they will eventually want independence from Earth — and that will cause conflict.
- Only scientists and engineers should go to Mars — artists, lawyers, and journalists would be dead weight.
- If we build a society on Mars from scratch, we have a chance to create something better than anything on Earth.
- Having children on Mars is irresponsible because we don't know what low gravity will do to their bodies.
- The first person to commit murder on Mars would create the most interesting legal case in human history.
- If Earth became uninhabitable, a Mars colony would be humanity's only hope — that alone justifies the cost.
- Democracy cannot work in a colony of 100 people where every decision is life or death.
Why Edugine?
Turn your lessons into experiences.
Edugine helps tutors create and run live learning experiences where students actively participate, interact and collaborate — while tutors see what students are doing and guide the lesson in real time.