The Exploding Pudding: ESL Partner Speaking Mystery (B1–B2)

Dr Agnes Wobble is inventing Pudding That Stirs Itself. She made six test puddings, and three of them exploded and stuck to the ceiling. The Director is coming on Friday. What makes the pudding explode?

HOW IT WORKS

This is a partner speaking activity for pairs. Student A has Dr Wobble's six recipe cards (flavour, wobble powder, fizzy water). Student B has the lab notes (spoon, room, music) and the result of every trial. Neither sheet solves the mystery alone. Students keep their sheets secret, ask and answer questions in their own words, and compare the six trials to find the cause. The cause is two things together, and the answer key explains it in full.

LANGUAGE FOCUS

- Comparing: All the puddings that exploded had ... / Trial 5 had fizzy water, but ...

- Conditions: It only explodes when ... and ...

- Ruling out: It can't be the music, because ...

LEVEL AND TIMING

Written for English learners at CEFR B1-B2, Grades 5-8. About 25 minutes in total, working in pairs.

PREPARATION

Print page 2 for each Student A and page 3 for each Student B. Keep pages 1 and 4 for yourself.

PART OF A SERIES

One of five mysteries set in the same strange research institute, "The Institute of Unlikely Science".

WHAT'S INCLUDED (1 PDF, 4 pages)

- Page 1: Teacher notes (level, timing, language focus, steps, an early-finisher idea, support and challenge tips)

- Page 2: Student A sheet (recipe cards)

- Page 3: Student B sheet (lab notes and results)

- Page 4: Answer key with the reasoning (teacher only)

LICENCE

Purchase grants the purchasing teacher permission to use this resource in their own teaching and to print copies for their own students.

You may not resell, redistribute, share the digital file with other teachers, or upload it to publicly accessible websites. Each teacher who wishes to use the resource must purchase their own copy.