How thirsty is AI?

Jennifer | Sep 20, 2026Sep 18, 2026

LESSON OVERVIEW

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

• discuss the environmental impact of AI;
• watch a video about the water usage of AI data centres;
• review advanced verbs for reporting claims and evidence.

In this lesson, students discuss technology-related threats and review advanced verbs for making and reporting claims (e.g. suspect, establish, contend, infer). They watch part of a video (to 05:08) about how much water AI uses and discuss the environmental impact of AI on communities and the planet. Students also rewrite sentences about the effects of data centres using vocabulary from the lesson and discuss possible solutions to AI-related environmental threats.

WARM-UP AND VOCABULARY

This lesson starts with a warm-up in which students give examples of technology that pose threats in different areas and explain what the threats are. Afterwards, they match verbs in bold with their definitions (e.g. estimate, assert, indicate, imply). Then, they choose the correct verb to complete statements about the environmental impact of AI. After that, students discuss the two issues that concern them most.

VIDEO AND DISCUSSION

In this part of the lesson, students read headlines and say if they’ve seen similar ones recently. They then guess the answers to two questions about ChatGPT. After that, they watch the first part of a video to check their answers. Students then watch the next part of the video and say why several points are mentioned. Students go on to discuss which part of the video surprised them most and how serious they think the environmental impact of AI is. Moving on, they look at further ways data centres affect communities and rewrite sentences using a different reporting verb each time. Finally, students discuss possible solutions to AI-related environmental threats, considering how feasible they are and their implications for users, governments and companies.

HOMEWORK/REVISION

This lesson also includes an additional task that you can use as homework or revision. In the task, students complete sentences about a data centre project in Norway using the first letters provided. The task is available in the teacher’s version of the worksheet. You can print it, cut it up and hand it out to your students. It’s also included in the e-lesson plan.

WORKSHEETS

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