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A trash collector with googly eyes: fewer vs less, the fewest and the least

This B1 ESL lesson plan teaches fewer vs less, with the fewest and the least, through Mr. Trash Wheel, a googly-eyed machine that cleans Baltimore's harbor.

Grammar
Fewer + plural nouns you can count (fewer bottles), less + nouns you can't (less plastic), the fewest and the least, than to compare, and more as the opposite.
Topic
Mr. Trash Wheel, which has caught floating trash where the Jones Falls meets Baltimore's Inner Harbor since 2014, with words such as current, downpour, drain and conveyor belt.
Activities
The show's episode notes, Riley's visit to the harbor and a listener's message, self-checking drills, a chat to plan a cleanup day and open boxes.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Warm-up: what's in the water?

    • PictureUnlock
    • Spin the wheel and answerSpin the wheelUnlock
    • Study the words: water, rain and trashVocabularyTry it
    • Look at the pictures and choose the wordChoose by pictureUnlock

  2. Chapter 2Let's read: a machine that eats trash

    • Look at the photo: Mr. Trash Wheel in BaltimorePictureUnlock
    • Read the episode notes: Mr. Trash WheelArticleUnlock
    • Read and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
    • Read again and choose the correct answerQuizUnlock

  3. Chapter 3Let's listen: hello from the harbor

    • Listen to Riley and NeilListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and choose the correct answerQuizUnlock
    • Listen to the Listener's Take: Joel's messageListeningUnlock
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Grammar: fewer bottles, less plastic

    • Study the scheme: fewer and lessGrammar schemeTry it
    • Choose the correct optionChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: fewer or less + the nounFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Fill in the table: fewer, less, the fewest, the leastFill in the tableTry it
    • Drag the words into the gaps: fewer, less, the fewest or the leastDrag and dropUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer: careful EnglishQuizUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Let's talk: plan a cleanup day

    • Choose the right replies: plan a cleanup dayChatTry it
    • Open a box and answer: less trash, fewer bagsOpen the boxUnlock

  6. Chapter 6Homework

    • Match the words and the meaningsMatchUnlock
    • Unscramble the wordsAnagramUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps with the lesson's wordsFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Find the matching pairs: the word and its job at the harborMemory gameUnlock
    • Sort the words into the correct columns: fewer or less?Sort into columnsUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: new sentencesChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: fewer, less, the fewest or the least + the nounFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Put the words in the correct orderUnjumbleUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: a harbor reportChoose the optionUnlock
    • Drag the words into the gaps: Riley answers JoelDrag and dropUnlock

32 exercises in 6 chapters. Start a 7-day free trial to open all of them, copy any part into your own lessons, and teach the lesson live.

Environment vocabulary

12 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+9 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

  • current
  • downpour
  • drain
  • barrier
  • rake
  • conveyor belt
  • dumpster
  • barge
  • googly eyes

Grammar: fewer and less

Fewer and less both mean “not as many” or “not as much,” and the noun decides which one fits. With a machine that catches more trash after a downpour and less in dry weeks, learners ask whether they can count the noun, use the fewest or the least for the smallest of all, and compare with than.

Fewer bottles, less plastic

fewer + plural nouns you can count; less + nouns you can't count. The opposite of both: more.

Can you count it?

One bottle, two bottles: plural nouns you can count take fewer, as in fewer bottles and fewer dumpsters. Trash, plastic, litter and water have no plural, so they take less: less trash. To count trash, count the bags: fewer bags of trash.

fewer or less?

fewer: you can count them

  • In dry weeks, fewer bottles drift down the stream.
  • Workers empty fewer dumpsters in a dry month.
  • Fewer people drop litter on clean streets.

less: you can't count it

  • In dry weeks, there is less trash in the river.
  • With the wheel, less plastic pollutes the bay.
  • I take short showers, so I use less water.

Can you count it?

Ask: can I say one, two, three…? One bottle, two bottles → fewer bottles. Trash, plastic, litter and water have no plural: you can't say two trashes. → less trash (Not: fewer trashes). Want to count trash? Count the bags: fewer bags of trash.

The fewest and the least

Few becomes fewer and the fewest; little becomes less and the least. The smallest of all needs the: Dry weeks bring the least trash, not the less trash. More and the most are the opposite of both: more bottles, more plastic.

fewer or less?

Kind of nounNot as many / not as muchThe smallest number / amountThe opposite
You can count it (plural): bottles, bags, dumpsters, peoplefewer bottlesthe fewest bottlesmore bottles, the most bottles
You can't count it (no -s): trash, plastic, litter, waterless plasticthe least plasticmore plastic, the most plastic

few → fewer → the fewest, little → less → the least

few bottles (not many) → fewer bottles (not as many) → the fewest bottles (the smallest number). little plastic (not much) → less plastic (not as much) → the least plastic (the smallest amount). For the smallest of all, use the: the least trash (Not: the less trash).

Comparing two things with than

Put than after the noun to compare two times or places: In a dry January, the wheel fills fewer dumpsters than after a June storm. There is less litter in Joel's creek than before. More + than works with any noun: more trash than on a dry day.

PatternExample
fewer + plural noun + thanIn a dry January, the wheel fills fewer dumpsters than after a June storm.
less + uncountable noun + thanThere is less litter in Joel's creek than before.
more + any noun + thanAfter a downpour, there is more trash than on a dry day.

Careful English and common mistakes

In everyday speech you may hear less bottles or less people. In writing and on tests, plural nouns take fewer: We found fewer bottles this week. Fewer plastic, though, is wrong in any style. Stronger forms are far fewer bags and a lot less plastic.

Careful English

In everyday speech you may hear “less bottles” or “less people”. In writing, on tests and in careful speech, use fewer with plural nouns: fewer bottles, fewer people. To make it stronger, say far fewer bags or a lot less plastic.

Common mistakes

  • We found less bottles this week.

    We found fewer bottles this week.

    bottles: plural, you can count them

  • We use fewer plastic now.

    We use less plastic now.

    plastic: you can't count it

  • Dry weeks bring the less trash.

    Dry weeks bring the least trash.

    the smallest amount: the least

  • January had the least bottles.

    January had the fewest bottles.

    the smallest number: the fewest

At the harbor

  • In dry weeks, fewer bottles drift down the stream.
  • After a downpour, there is more trash in the river.
  • Rain brings the most trash, and dry weather brings the least.
  • Of the four wheels in this story, Gwynnda has worked for the fewest years.
  • Joel's street uses far fewer plastic bags now.
  • At their last cleanup day, they found the fewest bottles ever.

More lessons on this grammar: Quantifiers lessons and exercises

Try the fewer and less exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

More exercises

What's in the lesson

  • 18 auto-checked exercises
  • 5 games
  • 1 article
  • 1 grammar scheme
  • 1 set of word cards
  • 2 audio clips
  • 2 pictures
  • 2 transcripts

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • use fewer with plural nouns you can count and less with nouns you can't: In dry weeks, fewer bottles drift down the stream. We use less plastic now.
  • name the smallest number or amount with the fewest and the least: January had the fewest bottles. Dry weeks bring the least trash, not the less trash
  • compare two times or places with than: Joel's street uses fewer plastic bags than before. There is less litter in Joel's creek than before.
  • count trash with a countable word and make a comparison stronger: fewer bags of trash, not fewer trashes; far fewer bags, a lot less plastic

Lesson 24 closes Green living, unit 6 of English B1.1 · Stories That Travel. It grows out of lesson 21, where few and little meant “not many” and “not much,” and out of A2.1 lessons 13 and 14, which compared places with more, less and the most. Lesson 25 opens Sporting moments with could and was able to. A machine that fills more dumpsters after rain and fewer in dry weeks gives every comparison a real number behind it.

Students spin a wheel of questions about trash, rivers and green habits, then learn twelve words, from drift and pollute to barge and googly eyes, with pictures and audio. They read the show's episode notes on Mr. Trash Wheel, then hear Riley at the Inner Harbor with Neil, a harbor cleanup worker, and Joel, a 26-year-old from Maryland, ask which trash wheel she likes best, both AI-voiced. The grammar chapter has the scheme and five self-checking drills, among them a table of fewer, less, the fewest and the least. In the speaking chapter, the student plans a river cleanup day with Donovan in a chat, then opens boxes about less trash and fewer bags.

All ten homework tasks check themselves: a word match, an anagram, a gap-fill and a memory game for the words, then a column sort of fewer and less nouns, a choice of forms in new sentences, gaps with the noun in brackets, word order, a volunteer group's harbor report and Riley's answer to Joel.

Grammar:
fewer / less · the fewest / the least · fewer than / less than · countable and uncountable nouns
Topic:
Mr. Trash Wheel · Baltimore · Maryland · harbors · trash and litter · green habits · cleanup day · Stories That Travel

Teaching tips

  • Start with a pile of classroom trash, or a picture of one: bottles, cans, paper and spilled juice. Students sort what they can count from what they can't, then say fewer cans or less paper.
  • Before the episode notes, ask what powers the wheel: gas, wind, the river or the sun? Students guess, then read to check: the current turns it, and solar-powered pumps help when the current is weak.
  • Play Riley's harbor visit twice: first for how the wheel works, then for each fewer, less, the most and the least. Students note the noun after each and say whether they can count it.
  • Set a class trash goal for next week: students guess how many bottles and how much paper their home threw away last week, then write a goal such as We'll use fewer bags and less plastic.

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The whole course: English B1.1 · Stories That Travel

32 lessons for adults at B1 in American English, each built around a true story. Riley, Jade and Darius make a podcast in Kansas City about true American stories, and each lesson tells one, from a seaplane airport in Alaska to the Marfa Lights of West Texas. Learners compare the present perfect with the past simple, use future forms, modals and quantifiers, and give their own opinions. The practice exercises check themselves.See the course

  1. Unit 1 Travel smart

    the present perfect vs the past simple, for and since, indirect questions, be used to and get used to

    1. Lesson 1Would you visit an airport just for fun?Present perfect vs past simple
    2. Lesson 2Would you sleep in a 300-year-old inn?For and since with the present perfect
    3. Lesson 3My suitcase has gone to Honolulu!Indirect questions for polite requests
    4. Lesson 4Can you practice a flight?Be used to and get used to

  2. Unit 2 Dream jobs, new jobs

    will have to and won't be allowed to, the present perfect continuous, simple vs continuous, would vs used to

    1. Lesson 5Would you jump off a moving boat for a job?Will have to, will be able to and will be allowed to
    2. Lesson 6Working from anywherePresent perfect continuous
    3. Lesson 7Could you be a camp counselor?Present perfect simple vs continuous
    4. Lesson 8Would you live in a lighthouse?Would vs used to for the past

  3. Unit 3 Space and discovery

    it's + adjective + to, What's it like to…?, future forms compared, future time clauses, too and enough + to

    1. Lesson 9What's it like to work in space?It's + adjective + to and What's it like to…?
    2. Lesson 10Who will walk on the Moon next?Future forms compared by meaning
    3. Lesson 11A message for the starsFuture time clauses
    4. Lesson 12A helicopter on Mars?Too and enough + to-infinitive

  4. Unit 4 Life online

    the more…, the more…, be supposed to, ought to and had better, let, make and allow

    1. Lesson 13The internet's first word was “LO”Comparative and comparative; the more…, the more…
    2. Lesson 14Who sent the first spam?Be supposed to for rules, expectations and plans
    3. Lesson 15Is your password really safe?Ought to and had better for advice and warnings
    4. Lesson 16Who writes Wikipedia?Let, make and allow + someone

  5. Unit 5 Screen and page

    -ed and -ing adjectives, gradable and extreme adjectives, present tenses for a plot, articles for things in general

    1. Lesson 17Why do readers still love Nancy Drew?-ed and -ing adjectives for feelings
    2. Lesson 18Movie night in your carGradable and extreme adjectives
    3. Lesson 19Would you review a book on TV?Present tenses to tell a plot
    4. Lesson 20Where are the books about girls like me?Articles for things in general and specific things

  6. Unit 6 Green living

    few and a few, little and a little, all, most, some and none, each and every, fewer and less

    1. Lesson 21A year's trash in one jar?Few, a few, little and a little
    2. Lesson 22No food in the trash!All, most, some and none (of)
    3. Lesson 23A farm in the middle of DetroitEach and every
    4. Lesson 24 · you're hereA trash collector with googly eyesFewer and less

  7. Unit 7 Sporting moments

    could, was able to and managed to, for, during and while, present tenses for live commentary, question tags

    1. Lesson 25From a leg brace to three goldsCould, was able to and managed to
    2. Lesson 26A doctor and an Olympic champion?For, during and while
    3. Lesson 27Who's that runner coming from behind?Present simple and continuous for live commentary
    4. Lesson 28Why do high jumpers go backward?Question tags

  8. Unit 8 Mysteries and lost worlds

    both… and, either… or and neither… nor, uncountable nouns, how sure we are about the future, unless, as long as and in case

    1. Lesson 29A calendar made of posts?Both… and, either… or, neither… nor
    2. Lesson 30What was the Great House for?Uncountable abstract nouns
    3. Lesson 31What does Newspaper Rock say?Certainty about the future
    4. Lesson 32What are the Marfa Lights?Unless, as long as and in case

Questions about this lesson

What's the difference between fewer and less?
Fewer goes with plural nouns you can count, and less with nouns you can't count: fewer bottles, fewer people, but less plastic, less water. Both mean “not as many” or “not as much,” and more is the opposite of both. A quick test: if you can say one, two, three… before the noun, use fewer. The B1 lesson A trash collector with googly eyes on edio.ai teaches the pair with Mr. Trash Wheel.
What are some examples of fewer and less?
Here are examples from a harbor where rain brings trash: In dry weeks, fewer bottles drift down the stream. With the wheel, less plastic pollutes the bay. Joel's street uses far fewer plastic bags now. I take short showers, so I use less water. Each fewer comes before a plural noun, and each less before a noun with no plural, as the scheme in A trash collector with googly eyes on edio.ai shows.
Is it "less people" or "fewer people"?
In careful English, it's fewer people, because people is a plural noun. You may hear less people or less bottles in everyday speech, but in writing, on tests and in careful speech, use fewer: Fewer people drop litter on clean streets. The same goes for fewer bottles and fewer bags. A quiz in A trash collector with googly eyes, a B1 lesson on edio.ai, asks for exactly this careful choice.
What's the difference between the fewest and the least?
The fewest is for the smallest number of things you can count, and the least for the smallest amount of something you can't: January had the fewest bottles. Dry weeks bring the least trash. Don't mix the forms: the less trash and the least bottles are both mistakes. The forms come from few and little: few, fewer, the fewest and little, less, the least, as A trash collector with googly eyes on edio.ai shows.
What is Mr. Trash Wheel?
Mr. Trash Wheel is a trash-collecting machine in Baltimore, Maryland, where the Jones Falls flows into the Inner Harbor. It went into the water on May 9, 2014, and catches floating trash before it reaches the open water. Giant googly eyes were added in 2015 and 2016, and other wheels have joined it since: Professor (2016), Captain (2018) and Gwynnda the Good Wheel of the West (2021). A trash collector with googly eyes on edio.ai tells its story.
How does Mr. Trash Wheel work?
The river current and the sun power it. Floating barriers guide trash to the machine, and the current turns a 14-foot water wheel that moves rakes and a slow conveyor belt. When the current is weak, solar-powered pumps push water onto the wheel. The trash falls into a dumpster on a floating barge, and a boat swaps full dumpsters for empty ones. The episode notes in A trash collector with googly eyes on edio.ai walk through each step.
What environment vocabulary should B1 students know?
Useful words include verbs for what happens to trash and water: pollute, drift and empty. Add words for rain and rivers, such as downpour, drain and current, and for cleaning them up: barrier, rake, conveyor belt, dumpster and barge. After a downpour, trash from the streets washes into storm drains and down the river. A trash collector with googly eyes on edio.ai teaches twelve of these words with pictures.
How do I teach fewer and less to B1 students?
Start from the count test: can you say one, two, three before the noun? Then add the fewest and the least for the smallest of all, and mention that less bottles is heard in everyday speech, while fewer is the careful form. A trash collector with googly eyes on edio.ai moves from the episode notes and Riley's harbor visit to the scheme, five drills and a chat that plans a cleanup day.
What's a good game for practicing fewer and less?
Open-the-box prompts about home and trash work well: one box asks students to compare their home now and five years ago, another which room makes the most trash and which the least, and the student answers aloud with fewer, less or the least. For a fast extra round, call out nouns such as cans, rain and people, and students answer fewer or less.
What's good homework for practicing fewer and less?
Good homework sorts the nouns before it tests the forms: a column sort of bottles, trash, tires and rain under fewer or less, then gaps with the noun in brackets and a choice between the fewest and the least. All ten homework tasks in A trash collector with googly eyes on edio.ai check themselves, ending with a harbor report and Riley's answer to a listener.
How do you practice fewer and less one-to-one?
Compare the student's week with last week: Did you buy fewer bottles? Did you use less water? The student answers, then asks the teacher the same questions. The chat in A trash collector with googly eyes on edio.ai needs no partner: Donovan plans a river cleanup day with the student, and wrong replies include less plastic bags and There's fewer litter on the streets.
Are there interactive exercises for fewer and less?
Yes: a table to complete and a chat that checks replies. This page plays three parts of A trash collector with googly eyes, a B1 lesson on edio.ai, without an account: Riley's visit to the harbor with Neil, a table of fewer, less, the fewest and the least for eight nouns, and Donovan's chat about a cleanup day. The rest of the lesson is locked.
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