A1 Level – Elementary
1. Do you like animals?
2. What is a zoo?
3. Do you visit zoos?
4. What is a big cage?
5. Do you like watching animals?
6. What is a wild animal?
7. Do you think zoos are fun?
8. What is a lion?
9. Do animals eat in the zoo?
10. What is a map of the zoo?
11. Do you think zoos are loud?
12. What is a baby animal?
13. Do you take photos of animals?
14. What are three animals you see in a zoo?
15. Do you think animals are happy in a zoo?
A2 Level – Pre-Intermediate
1. What is the difference between a zoo and an animal park?
2. Why do people pay money to visit zoos?
3. What are the good things and bad things about keeping animals in cages?
4. How can a zoo help save animals that are in danger?
5. Should zoos try to release animals back into the wild?
6. Why is it important for a zoo to look like an animal’s natural home?
7. Do you think zoos are mainly for entertainment or for learning?
8. What is a veterinarian (animal doctor)?
9. How does a zoo get its food and supplies for the animals?
10. What is the difference between an endangered animal and a common animal?
11. Do you think zoos are necessary in the modern world?
12. What are the problems when too many people visit the zoo at once?
13. When is the best time to visit a zoo to see the animals active?
14. What are two things a zoo does for education and two for conservation?
15. How does a zoo decide which animals to keep?
B1 Level – Intermediate
1. What are the rules for feeding or touching animals at the zoo?
2. How does the size of a city influence the size and quality of its zoo?
3. Should governments give money to help zoos with conservation work?
4. What is the difference between an ethical zoo and a commercial zoo?
5. Do you believe that keeping animals in captivity is wrong, even if it saves their species?
6. What are the challenges of making an animal’s environment inside a zoo feel like the wild?
7. How does the experience of seeing an animal in real life compare to seeing it in a video?
8. What is the idea of “animal welfare” in a zoo?
9. Is it fair or unfair when a zoo keeps an animal that is very sad or lonely?
10. How does a zoo help scientists learn about animal diseases?
11. What are the steps for moving a very large animal safely to a new zoo?
12. What is the value of zoos teaching people about environmental protection?
13. Should zoos only keep animals that are in danger of extinction?
14. What are the reasons why some animal species cannot live in a zoo?
15. How does a zoo try to make sure its animals are not bored?
B2 Level – Upper-Intermediate
1. What are the social arguments for and against keeping highly intelligent animals like apes or dolphins in zoos?
2. What are the moral problems when zoos have to kill sick or extra animals?
3. How does the cost of maintaining a zoo affect the price of tickets for low-income families?
4. Should zoos be forced to meet very high standards set by an international group?
5. Analyze the psychological effect of captivity on animals born in the wild.
6. Who is responsible for finding new homes for animals when a zoo closes?
7. What is your view on the practice of teaching animals tricks for public shows?
8. Evaluate the role of large, well-known zoos in controlling the image of all zoos.
9. How does the constant need for money change the ethical decisions a zoo makes?
10. Discuss the concept of “in situ” versus “ex situ” conservation (in the wild versus in a zoo).
11. What are the problems with trying to breed animals in a zoo to save their species?
12. What are the legal differences between a zoo and an animal sanctuary?
13. Do you agree that the purpose of a modern zoo is more about research than public display?
14. What steps should be taken to ensure that zoo workers are properly trained in animal behavior?
15. How does the historical idea of a zoo (a place for kings) compare to the modern idea?
C1 Level – Advanced
1. Is it fair that the education received at a zoo is often used to justify the captivity of animals?
2. What is the right way to think about a zoo’s responsibility to the animals it keeps, considering they can never be truly free?
3. How do the laws of international trade affect the ability of zoos to move rare animals?
4. When should governments close down old zoos that cannot afford to upgrade their animal habitats?
5. What are the moral questions when we try to create human-like environments for animals that need complex natural social structures?
6. How does the need for visitor entertainment affect the scientific goals of a conservation program?
7. Discuss the impact of technology (VR, AR) on the future of zoos and animal displays.
8. How should leaders use the number of endangered species to decide the funding for zoos?
9. What is the idea of “species banking” and its role in protecting biodiversity?
10. What are the long-term effects on society when children learn about nature mostly through human-controlled environments?
11. What are the difficulties when courts try to decide if an animal has suffered unnecessarily in a zoo?
12. How does the search for a safe place for animals conflict with the ideal of nature being wild and untouched?
13. Do you agree that the most important thing is the conservation of the species, even if it means individual animals suffer?
14. What are the simple moral rules a visitor should follow to respect the animals in a zoo?
15. Should the military or government be involved in the transportation of endangered animals?
C2 Level – Proficiency
1. What is the real difference between a person’s desire to see a wild animal and the animal’s right to freedom?
2. Debate the idea: Should we completely stop all breeding of animals in zoos, letting the current generation be the last?
3. How does the concept of a “zoo” change the human idea of what is natural and what is controlled?
4. What laws or rules are needed to control how much noise and disturbance is allowed near animal habitats?
5. How do historical views of human dominion over animals affect modern zoo practices?
6. How can communities maintain a strong connection to wildlife when that wildlife only exists in controlled spaces?
7. Argue the point that humans have a duty to keep zoos open as a final defense against extinction.
8. What protection should laws give to zoo employees who report poor animal conditions?
9. How can we stop the problem of using zoos as a cover for the illegal trade of animals?
10. What did old thinkers say about the soul and morality of animals that is still important today?
11. What will happen to the need for physical zoos if high-quality virtual reality can simulate animal habitats perfectly?
12. How do people use the idea of “education” to avoid discussing the entertainment focus of most zoos?
13. How does the experience of seeing a captive animal teach us about our own limits and control?
14. What is the power of international animal welfare groups to close down entire national zoo systems?
15. If scientists could create perfectly happy, self-aware animal robots, would we still need real zoos?
