Unit 9 Saving the earth

1．Brief Statements Based 0n the Unit

In this unit，Ss will do some listening speaking，reading and writing practice．Also, they will learn to use the Inversion．In the first period，Ss wi1l improve their speaking ability by talking about nature ecology and the environment and they will listen to some listening material about our environment．After the study of this period，they will improve their speaking and listening abilities and also know something about the problems facing the earth．In the second period，Ss will read a passage about the Earth Summit．From the passage Ss will know more about the importance of protecting our earth．In the third period．Ss will study the grammar item：Inversion．After doing some exercises provided in this period．a(chǎn)nd with the help of the teacher，Ss will know how to use the Inversion．Teacher may provide more exercises for Ss to consolidate if necessary．In the last period，Ss will listen to two speeches from the Earth Summit and finish the practice provided in the first part．Ss will know more about the Earth Summit and improve their listening ability．In the writing part, Ss will improve their writing ability by writing an evaluation paragraph with the help of some given expressions．After the study of this unit．Ss will know how to support an opinion，and they will know more about environment protection．They will know that if all of us make small changes．we could make a big difference．They will do more to protect our earth．

II．Teaching Goals

1．Talk about nature ecology and the、environment．

2．Practise supporting an opinion．

3．Learn to use inversion．

4．Write an evaluation paragraph．

III．Teaching time：Five periods

IV．Background Information

1．Protect The Ozone Layer

In the middle of winter，when snow is falling in many parts of the United States,

scientists have sounded a warning to people who plan to spend many hours in the sun this summer．The warning：The sun's summer-time rays are more dangerous than once

thought．

A team of scientists from 80 nations recently reported to the United Nations that a layer of ozone in the atmosphere, which protects humans from harmful levels of ultraviolet radiation，will be thinner over the United States this summer．The thinner 1ayer allows more ultraviolet rays from the sun to reach the earth．The extra amount of ultraviolet radiation could cause an increase in the number of cases of skin cancer．

Scientists first became concerned about the ozone layer in the mid-1980s when a hole was discovered in the layer above Antarctica during the winter．The hole was caused by chemicals used in refrigerators and air conditioners．When these chemicals are sent out into the atmosphere, they produce gases that destroy the ozone．

Concern about the protective ozone layer rose more recently when data from satellites and ground stations showed that ozone levels were dropping over areas other than Antarctica．Low ozone levels were recorded in the spring and summer over the United States and over other populated areas in the world．

Although many countries have already begun stopping the use or ozone-destroying

chemicals, the new findings are expected to advance the timetable for a total ban of the chemicals．

2．Pollution

People today all over the world are beginning to hear and learn more and more about tile problem of pollution．Pollution is caused either by the release(排放)of completely new and often artificial substances into the environment, or by releasing greatly increased amounts of a natural substance．such as oil from oil tankers into the sea．With the development of modern industry，many of the goods and machines we need and use in our daily lives are creating a number of waste products which upset the environment balance．Many of these waste products can be prevented if people pay more attention，but clearly while more and more new goods are produced and made complex，there will be new dangerous wastes to be thrown away，for example，the waste products from nuclear power stations．Many people，therefore, see pollution as only part of a larger and more complex problem．

There is no doubt that much of the pollution caused could be controlled if only companies, individuals and government would make more efforts．In the home there is an obvious need to control litter and waste．Food comes wrapped up three or four times in packages that all have to be got rid of；drinks are increasingly sold in bottles or times which cannot be reused．This not only causes a litter problem，but also is a great waste of resources，in terms of glass，metals and paper．

Advertising has helped this process by persuading many of us not only to buy things we neither want nor need．but also to throw away much of what we do buy．Pollution and waste combine to be a problem everyone can help to solve by cutting unnecessary buying, over consumption and careless release of the products we use in our daily lives．

The First Period

Teaching Aims：

1.Train the students’ listening ability．

2.Improve the studens’speaking ability by talking about nature ecology and the environment．

3.Learn and master some useful expressions for supporting an opinion．

4.Help the students to know something about the pollution．

Teaching Important Points：

1．Improve the students’speaking ability．

2．Improve the students’listening ability．

3．Help the students to learn to support an opinion．

Teaching Difficult Points：

1．How to improve the students’speaking and listening abilities．

Teaching Methods

1．Listening-and-answering activity to help the students go through the listening material．

2．Discussion to make the students practice supporting an opinion．

3．Individual，pair or group work to make every student work in class．

Teaching Aids：

1．the multimedia

2．a(chǎn) tape recorder

3．the blackboard

Teaching Procedures：

Step I Greetings

Greet the whole class as usual．

Step II Warming up

(Show the pictures on the screen．)

T: Look at these pictures. How beautiful they are! Do you want to pay a visit to

these places?

Ss：Yes．

T：But in some places，it’s not so beautiful Look at the pictures．please．

(Show the following pictures on the screen．)

T：What can you see in the pictures?

S：1 can see a river，which is polluted．The river water is very dirty．

S：I can see smoke coming from many chimneys，and the air is dark．The air is polluted．

T：Good．Which problem do you think is the biggest one facing the earth?

S：I think it is the water pollution．

T：Why do you think so?

S：Because if water is polluted．People will not be able to get clean water to drink；

therefore，many people will get sick．It’s terrible．

T：Very good．Who has a different opinion?

S：I think the air pollution is the biggest problem．Because if the air is polluted， there will not be clean air for us to breathe．Everybody will get terrible diseases．

T：Quite right．Now，who can tell us what causes these problems?

S：I think it is because people pay no attention to our environment．They pour

waste water into rivers，1akes and seas without cleaning it．

S：The air pollution is caused by the factories．People build factories to develop

the industry，but they never pay attention to controlling the pollution．The

harmful smoke should be made harmless before it goes into the air，but few

factories would like to do so because this will cost much．

T：Very good．Now，who knows what we can do to solve these problems?

S：I think our government should pay more attention to environmental protection．They should check the factories as often as possible to make sure they don’t pour waste water into rivers or lakes and make sure they don’t let

harmful smoke go into the air．

T：Good idea．Now，please open your books and turn to Page 65．There are six pictures in Warming up．We have just talked about two of them．Now，work in groups of four to talk about the other pictures．Answer the questions below the pictures．

(A while 1ater，ask some students to act out．)

Step III Preparation for Listening and Listening

T：Very good．I think you’re known something about our environment.

Now，please turn to Page 66．Look at the picture in Listening．What can you see?

Ss：A person is making a speech to the audience．

T：Can you guess what speech she is giving?

Ss：Maybe about our earth．

T：OK．Now，let’s listen to the tape．I’ll play it twice for you．Listen carefully

to answer the questions in Part 1．

(Play the tape twice for Ss to listen and write down their answers．Then ask some students to read out their answers．Check with the whole class．The teacher says the following．)

T：Good．You’re done very well． But from the passage we know that she hasn’t finished her speech．What do you think she wi1l say next? Have a short discussion in pairs．please．(Ss have a short discussion and then the teacher asks one or two pairs to say their answers．)Well done．Now．1et’s listen to the second part．Listen carefully to outline the speaker’s two arguments. Fill in the table in Part 2．Are you ready?

Ss：Yes．

T：OK．Let’s begin．

(Play the tape twice for Ss to Listen and write down their answers．Pause the tape if necessary. Then ask several students to read out their answers．)

T：Now，let’s listen to the tape again to check your answers．(Play the tape once more and then check the answers with the whole class．)Good．P1ease think a bout what the speaker will say next．You call use what you have heard on the tape to predict what will come next．Make an outline like the one in the table and then write down what you think the speaker will say．You can work in pairs or groups of four as you like．

(A moment 1ater，ask some students to read out their paragraphs and compare different speeches to choose the best one．)

Step Ⅳ Speaking

T：Well done! We’ve talked much about pollution．We know that pollution is a big problem facing the earth．But why can’t we stop the pollution? Why doesn’t our government shut down the factories that pollute the environment badly? Who knows?

S：I think our government must have its own opinion．Maybe they think the factories are more important than the environment．Because the government can get lots of money from factories．If they shut the factories down ,it will not be able to get so much money．And this is not good for the development of the city or town.

T：Yes．Different people have different opinions．They may not agree with one another．So sometimes it’s very hard to make a decision and to make a change．For example，we know that coal is a valuable resource that can be used to produce energy，but it also causes serious pollution．What should we do with it? (Ss may have various answers．) You see，you don’t agree with each other．Now，we need to have a meeting to discuss this problem．Please work in groups of five．You should play different roles：a businessman．a(chǎn) scientist. a local citizen，an environmentalist and a local leader．Different people have different opinions．

(Every person has his／her own opinion．) Please discuss the issue first and

then the local leader should summarise and make a decision．You can have a look at the table and the useful expressions in Speaking Part before you begin your discussion．They’re very helpful．

(Give the students enough time to have a discussion and then ask the students who play the role of the local leader to read out their decisions．Compare them and choose the best decision．)

Sample dialogue：

A：Today we are here to decide whether we should burn the coal．Please tell us

whatever you think．

B：I think we should burn the coal．1f we don’t burn it now，maybe it will be

useless in the future，New energy wi1l be used instead of coal，such as．solar energy．

C：But burning coal causes too much pollution to our environment．1t pollutes the air badly. If nothing is done to stop its pollution to our earth，then we will

Have no fresh air to breathe．

D：Yes，I quite agree．I think we shouldn’t burn the coal now. It would be better

if we spend more money on science to find a better way of using the coal．Once

we know how to burn it with out polluting the environment ,we can make full use of it．

E：That sounds quite reasonable，but it’s clear that if we want to develop our area as soon as possible，we need money．How can we get money? We can only burn the coal to make the factories work to make money．If we stop using the coal now ,how shall we continue our production and development?…

A：OK．All that you said are reasonable．I believe that we must try our best to

find a better way to use the coal．Meanwhile ,we must make sure that the factories which burn the coal take measures to stop polluting the environment．

Step V Summary and Homework

T：Well done．After class，please write down your dialogue in your exercise book．Today．we’ve talked about our environment．We know that there are some big problems facing our earth．We must try to do what we can to protect the earth．Besides．we’ve practiced supporting an opinion．Who can come to the blackboard and write down the useful expressions we’ve practiced just now?

(A student writes them down on the blackboard．If this student can't write all of them，the teacher may ask another student to write the other expressions．)

T: Very good．After class, you need practise more to master them better。That’s a11 for today．See you tomorrow!

Ss：Se you tomorrow!

Step VI The Design of the Writing on the Blackboard

Unit 9 Saving the earth

The First Period

Useful expressions：

We must make sure that…

It’s clear that…

I believe that we must…

I’m all for…

If nothing is done…，then…

I can't imagine that…

Sure／Certainly／Absolutely．

It would be better if we…

Is there a better way to…

Step Ⅶ Record after Teaching