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Seven rules for the wild? So as to, in order to and so that for purpose

This B2 ESL lesson plan teaches so as to, in order to and so that through Leave No Trace's seven principles for hikers and campers.

Grammar
In order to and so as to + base form, their negatives with not to, and so that + subject + can or won't (could or wouldn't in the past).
Topic
How Leave No Trace grew from agency brochures and a 1987 pamphlet to seven principles by 1999, with words such as pack out, trample, durable and cairn.
Activities
An explainer to read, a ranger-led hike and a guide's voice memo to hear, self-checking drills, a camping chat, an argument sort and a question wheel.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Warm-up: the call of the wild

    • PictureUnlock
    • Open a box and answerOpen the boxUnlock
    • Study the words: travel lightlyVocabularyTry it
    • Look at the pictures and choose the wordChoose by pictureUnlock

  2. Chapter 2Let's read: eight rules, then seven

    • Look at the picture: a trail in the wildPictureUnlock
    • Read Harper's explainer on The Why DeskArticleUnlock
    • Read and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
    • Read again and choose the correct answerQuizUnlock
    • Match the paragraphs and the headingsMatchUnlock

  3. Chapter 3Let's listen: rules or reasons?

    • Listen to Harper and PercivalListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and choose the correct answerQuizUnlock
    • Listen to the Reader's Rebuttal: Hilda's voice memoListeningUnlock
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Grammar: so that animals won't find it

    • Study the scheme: linkers of purposeGrammar schemeTry it
    • Choose the correct optionChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: use the words in bracketsFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Fill in the table: say it in two waysFill in the tableTry it
    • Drag the words into the gaps: Percival's tips for new hikersDrag and dropUnlock
    • Put the words in the correct orderUnjumbleUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Let's talk: your first camping trip

    • Choose the right replies: help Octavio plan a camping tripChatTry it
    • Sort the arguments into the correct columns: rules or education?Sort into columnsUnlock
    • Spin the wheel and answer: rules or reasons?Spin the wheelUnlock

  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: words and meaningsMemory gameUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: new sentencesChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: use the words in bracketsFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer: which sentence is correct?QuizUnlock
    • Put the words in the correct order: new sentencesUnjumbleUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: a sign at the start of the trailChoose the optionUnlock
    • Drag the words into the gaps: Harper answers HildaDrag and dropUnlock

34 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.

Camping 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

  • principle
  • durable
  • fragile
  • backcountry
  • cairn
  • impact
  • considerate
  • yield
  • regulation

Grammar: linkers of purpose: to, in order to, so as to, so that

Linkers of purpose say why someone does something: Pack out your trash so that animals won't find it. Every outdoor principle comes with a reason, so Leave No Trace gives learners a purpose to explain in each line. They pick a base form or a whole clause, put not before to for something to avoid and use could or wouldn't after a past verb.

Pack it out so that animals won't find it

Say why people do things: to, in order to or so as to + a base form, or so that + a clause with a modal.

To, in order to and so as to + base form

All three give a purpose and take a base form; what changes is the tone. To is everyday English, in order to is a little more formal, and so as to is typical of rules and signs: Camp on gravel so as to protect the plants.

LinkerWhenExample
to + base formeveryday English, the most commonWe stopped to look at the deer.
in order to + base forma little more formal, clear in writingRangers met visitors in order to share tips.
so as to + base formformal, common in rules and signsCamp on gravel so as to protect the plants.
in order not to / so as not to + base forma negative purpose: what you want to avoidStay on the trail so as not to trample the flowers.

Not before to for a negative purpose

To say what you want to avoid, put not before to: so as not to disturb, in order not to trample. So as to not is fine too. Keep to and leave out for: not so as not disturb, for not to disturb or in order for not to.

A negative purpose: so as not to, in order not to

Put not before to: so as not to disturb, in order not to trample (so as to not and in order to not are fine too). Don't drop to (not: so as not disturb), and don't use for (not: for not to disturb, in order for not to disturb). With so that, use a negative modal such as won't, wouldn't or can't: so that animals won't find it.

So that + subject + modal

So that takes a clause with its own subject, usually with a modal: Bring a map so that you can find your way. After a past verb, the modal moves back: can becomes could, and won't becomes wouldn't. For every person, the modal stays the same.

so that + a clause

Timeso that + subject + modalExample
now or latercan / will / won'tPack out your trash so that animals won't find it.
now or latercan / will / won'tBring a map so that you can find your way.
in the pastcould / would / wouldn'tWe whispered so that we wouldn't disturb the deer.
in the pastcould / would / wouldn'tThey asked for training so that managers could teach visitors.

so that with every person: the modal never changes

PersonNow or laterIn the past
Iso that I can see the trailso that I could see the trail
youso that you won't get lostso that you wouldn't get lost
heso that he can restso that he could rest
sheso that she won't get wetso that she wouldn't get wet
itso that it won't blow awayso that it wouldn't blow away
weso that we can cookso that we could cook
theyso that they won't be scaredso that they wouldn't be scared

Two kinds of linkers: don't mix them

So that to protect mixes the two kinds: say so as to protect or so that the plants can grow. So to is never right: use so as to or plain to. In speech, that often drops out: so animals won't find it.

Two kinds of linkers

After to, in order to and so as to comes a base form: so as to protect. After so that comes a subject and usually a modal: so that animals won't. Don't mix them: not so that to protect. In everyday speech, people often drop that: so animals won't find it. But never say so to: say so as to, or just to.

Common mistakes

  • Stay on the trail so as not trample the plants.

    Stay on the trail so as not to trample the plants.

    keep to: so as not to + base form

  • Keep quiet for not to disturb the birds.

    Keep quiet so as not to disturb the birds.

    never for not to: say so as not to / in order not to

  • We camped far away in order for not to bother anyone.

    We camped far away in order not to bother anyone.

    in order not to, with no for

  • Bring a map so that to find your way.

    Bring a map so that you can find your way.

    so that + subject + modal (or just: to find)

On the trail

  • Pack out your trash so that animals won't find it.
  • Cook on a lightweight stove in order not to burn so much firewood.
  • Stay on the trail, even in mud, so as not to widen it.
  • In 1990, the Forest Service asked NOLS for training so that land managers could teach visitors.
  • In the 1970s, specialists met visitors in order to share tips.
  • Keep noise down so that other people can hear the natural sounds.

More lessons on this grammar: Linking words lessons and exercises

Try the so as to exercises

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

More exercises

What's in the lesson

  • 19 auto-checked exercises
  • 6 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:

  • give a purpose with in order to or so as to + base form: In the 1970s, specialists met visitors in order to share tips.
  • say what you want to avoid with so as not to or in order not to: Stay on the trail, even in mud, so as not to widen it.
  • use so that + subject + can or won't, and could or wouldn't after a past verb: We whispered so that we wouldn't disturb the deer.
  • avoid for not to, so that to and so as not + base form: Keep quiet so as not to disturb the birds, not for not to disturb
  • give a friend tips for a first camping trip, each with its reason: Lock your food in a bear box so that animals can't get to it.

Lesson 17 opens Travel that gives back, unit 5 of English B2.2 · Culture and Society. A2.1 lesson 24 taught the plain infinitive of purpose (Kids go there to learn music); this lesson adds the more formal in order to and so as to, their negatives and so that with a clause. Lesson 18 moves on to modifying comparatives. A set of outdoor rules, each with its reason, is a natural place to explain purpose.

Students open boxes of questions about hiking, park rules and taking things home, then learn twelve words, from pack out and trample to backcountry and regulation, with pictures and audio. They read Harper's explainer on how eight principles became seven, then hear her argue with Percival, a ranger, about fines and education, and Hilda, a hiking guide from Colorado, ask whether hikers need rules at all; both are AI-voiced. The grammar chapter has the scheme and five self-checking exercises, among them a drag-and-drop of Percival's tips for new hikers. In the speaking chapter, students help Octavio plan his first camping trip in a chat, sort arguments for rules or education and spin a wheel of questions.

All ten homework tasks check themselves: a word match, an anagram, gaps with the lesson's words and a memory game, then linkers to choose and to build from words in brackets, a quiz on the correct sentence, word order, a trail sign with linker options and Harper's newsletter reply to Hilda with words to drag in.

Grammar:
linkers of purpose · in order to, in order not to · so as to, so as not to · so that + can / will / won't · so that + could / would in the past
Topic:
Leave No Trace · the seven principles · national parks and forests · hiking and camping · responsible travel · travel that gives back · The Why Desk

Teaching tips

  • Collect real park signs first: Stay on the trail, Don't feed the animals, Keep dogs on a leash. Students add a reason to each one with so as not to or so that.
  • Let students guess the seven principles before the explainer and list them on the board. After reading, they check the list and find the rule that was once a principle of its own: Pack It In, Pack It Out.
  • Split the class for the hike dialogue: half note Harper's reasons for fines, half note Percival's reasons for education. Pairs then compare notes and say who made the stronger case.
  • Have every tip said two ways, as the grammar chapter's table does: Pack out your trash so that animals won't find it and Pack out your trash so as not to attract animals. Ask which needs a subject.

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The whole course: English B2.2 · Culture and Society

32 more lessons for adults at B2 in American English, with the same Why Desk team in Pittsburgh. Each lesson answers one question about how Americans learn, work, travel and remember, from the law behind the 40-hour week to the oral histories of StoryCorps. Learners link ideas in formal writing, report what is said and believed, and pack more into a sentence with participle and relative clauses. The practice exercises check themselves.See the course

  1. Unit 1 Learning reimagined

    adjective suffixes and negative prefixes, mixed conditionals, provided that and on condition that

    1. Lesson 1College for farmers' kids?Adjective suffixes and negative prefixes
    2. Lesson 2One cousin, one video, millions of learnersMixed conditionals: a past cause, a result now
    3. Lesson 3A college that says yesConditional linkers: provided that, on condition that, assuming, otherwise
    4. Lesson 4School in the woodsMixed conditionals: a present state, a past result

  2. Unit 2 Work-life balance

    be required to and be entitled to, present and perfect participle clauses, participle clauses after conjunctions

    1. Lesson 5Who decided a week is 40 hours?Formal rules: be required to, be entitled to, be exempt from
    2. Lesson 6A paid year off: rest or research?Present participle clauses for time and reason
    3. Lesson 7Was the coffee break born in Wisconsin?Perfect participle clauses: having done and having been done
    4. Lesson 8Why is the first Monday of September a day off?Participle phrases after conjunctions

  3. Unit 3 Turning points

    reduced relative clauses, preposition + which and whom, which for a whole clause, noun + preposition

    1. Lesson 9The keyboard that opened the officeReduced relative clauses: -ing and the past participle
    2. Lesson 10Earthrise: the photo that changed how we see EarthPreposition + which and whom
    3. Lesson 11A city of white palaces for six monthsSentence relative clauses: which for a whole clause
    4. Lesson 12The count that took eight years?Noun + preposition: a need for, a solution to, access to

  4. Unit 4 News and truth

    although, whereas and while, the impersonal passive, despite and however, is said to have

    1. Lesson 13A newspaper of their ownLinkers of contrast: although, even though, whereas and while
    2. Lesson 14Bat-people on the Moon?The impersonal passive: It is said that…
    3. Lesson 15Read like a fact-checkerLinkers of contrast: despite, in spite of, however and even so
    4. Lesson 16Did George Washington really chop down a cherry tree?Passive reporting verbs: is said to have done

  5. Unit 5 Travel that gives back

    so as to, in order to and so that, modifying comparatives, linkers of reason and result, verb + object + preposition + -ing

    1. Lesson 17 · you're hereSeven rules for the wild?Linkers of purpose: to, in order to, so as to, so that
    2. Lesson 18A lottery to see firefliesModifying comparatives and superlatives
    3. Lesson 19Sunrise with the turtlesLinkers of reason and result
    4. Lesson 20Volunteer on vacation?Verb + object + preposition + -ing

  6. Unit 6 Sport and society

    verb + noun collocations, what phrasal verb particles mean, a for-and-against essay, nouns from phrasal verbs

    1. Lesson 21The college team that changed disability sportVerb + noun collocations
    2. Lesson 22When women played pro baseballPhrasal verbs: what the particles mean
    3. Lesson 23Who needs a referee?The for and against essay: plan and linkers
    4. Lesson 24The comeback of Jim ThorpeNouns from phrasal verbs

  7. Unit 7 Buildings and heritage

    past participle clauses, quantifier + of which and of whom, report language, turn out and prove

    1. Lesson 25Homes built into the cliffsPast participle clauses with a passive meaning
    2. Lesson 26A house over a waterfallQuantifier + of which and of whom
    3. Lesson 27From factory to art museumReport language: headings, impersonal style, recommendations
    4. Lesson 28The towers the city tried to pull downTurn out and prove + to-infinitive or that clause

  8. Unit 8 Generations

    adverb + adjective collocations, three-part phrasal verbs, negative and echo questions, prepositional phrases

    1. Lesson 29Who decides where a generation ends?Adverb + adjective collocations
    2. Lesson 30Music students living in a retirement home?Three-part phrasal verbs
    3. Lesson 31Conversations kept for historyNegative questions and echo questions
    4. Lesson 32A day for grandparentsFixed prepositional phrases

Questions about this lesson

What does “so as to” mean?
So as to means “in order to”: it gives the purpose of an action, and a base form follows it: Camp on gravel so as to protect the plants. It sounds formal and often appears in rules and on signs. For something you want to avoid, say so as not to: Stay on the trail so as not to trample the flowers. The B2 lesson Seven rules for the wild? on edio.ai teaches it with Leave No Trace.
How do you use “in order to”?
Put in order to + a base form after the action, or at the start with a comma: Rangers met visitors in order to share tips. In order to protect the plants, camp on rock or gravel. It's a little more formal than plain to. The negative is in order not to: Cook on a stove in order not to burn so much firewood. Seven rules for the wild? on edio.ai sets it beside to and so as to.
How do you use “so that” for purpose?
So that takes a clause with a subject, usually with a modal. For now or later, use can, will or won't: Pack out your trash so that animals won't find it. After a past verb, use could, would or wouldn't: We whispered so that we wouldn't disturb the deer. In speech, that is often dropped. Seven rules for the wild? on edio.ai has a table of so that with every person.
What's the difference between “so that” and “in order to”?
Both give a purpose, but in order to takes a base form and so that takes a whole clause: Bring a map in order to find your way and Bring a map so that you can find your way. When the purpose has a different subject, so that is the natural choice: Keep noise down so that other people can hear the natural sounds. In Seven rules for the wild? on edio.ai, students say each tip both ways.
Is it “so as not to” or “for not to”?
It's so as not to: put not before to, and never use for. Keep quiet so as not to disturb the birds is right; for not to disturb and in order for not to disturb are not. Don't drop to either: so as not trample is wrong. So as to not and in order to not are fine in American English. These are the traps in the chat of Seven rules for the wild? on edio.ai.
What are the seven Leave No Trace principles?
They are Plan Ahead and Prepare; Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces; Dispose of Waste Properly; Leave What You Find; Minimize Campfire Impacts; Respect Wildlife; and Be Considerate of Other Visitors. The first list had eight, and “Pack It In, Pack It Out” was one of them; after two revisions, there were seven by 1999. A nonprofit set up in 1994, now in Boulder, Colorado, runs the program. Seven rules for the wild? on edio.ai explains it.
How do I teach linkers of purpose to B2 students?
Start from rules that need a reason, such as park or school rules, and ask Why? after each one. Then sort the answers into two kinds: a base form after in order to or so as to, and a clause after so that. Seven rules for the wild? on edio.ai moves from Harper's explainer and her argument with a ranger to the scheme, a table that says each tip two ways and four more drills.
What's a good game for practicing so as to and so that?
Try “Why pack it?”: each student names one thing to take camping, and the next student gives the reason: A map, so that we won't get lost. A small bag, so as to pack out our trash. Anyone who repeats a reason or says for not to is out. For speaking, the wheel in Seven rules for the wild? on edio.ai asks for three camping tips with so that, so as not to and in order to.
What's good homework for linkers of purpose?
Good homework mixes the two kinds of linker, so students must look at what follows: choices such as so that, so as to or in order, gaps built from words in brackets and a quiz that spots so that to. All ten homework tasks in Seven rules for the wild? on edio.ai check themselves, and one is a sign at the start of a trail with a linker to choose in each rule.
How do you practice so that and in order to one-to-one?
Plan a real trip together: the student lists what to pack and do, and the teacher asks Why? after each item. The student answers with in order to, so as not to or so that, then asks the teacher about a trip of their own. The chat in Seven rules for the wild? on edio.ai needs no partner: Octavio plans his first camping trip, and the student picks replies with the right linkers.
Are there interactive exercises for so as to and so that?
Yes. Without an account, this page plays three parts of Seven rules for the wild?, a B2 lesson on edio.ai: Harper's trail argument with Percival, a table that says each tip two ways and Octavio's chat about his first camping trip. The rest opens with an account.
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