Lesson 34 Saving The Earth

高二英語

斗門中學 周曉凱

I. Teaching focus

ize the damage caused to the world and figure out the reasons.

ways to stop the earth from being polluted by discussing in groups.

II. Teaching approaches: Elicitation, Mutual Interaction

III. Teaching aid: Interactive multimedia teaching

IV. Teaching process

Step 1. Presentation

ent a series of images depicting the natural beauty of the earth, then the pollution. Highlight the sharp contrast between them. Guide the students to the conclusion: The earth used to be much more beautiful than now; the earth is in danger due to the increasing pollution.

y the map on the textbook, then scan the passages to figure out where on the world the damage has happened. Encourage the students to give out their points of view toward the pollution issue.

Step 2. Audiovisual Learning

The students watch a video on the text, then do the following true or false questions.

1. Land may become poor if farmers do not limit the numbers of their cattle. T

2. Good soil is gradually lost these days as trees are being cut down. T

3. Air pollution and water pollution are the two causes of the problem that many parts o of the world have become deserts. F

4. Chemicals in the smoke from power stations can travel hundreds of miles in the wind b before falling down to the ground in the rain. F

5. After a bad accident at a nuclear power station, 50% of the trees in Germany were damaged.F

6. Once oceans are polluted, they are not able to clean themselves. F

Step 3. Intensive Reading

Read the passages again for some detailed information

1. To say something about the damage that is caused to the world by pollution, using the information from the text. Try to present possible ways to help solve the problems.

Phenomena

Causes

Suggestions

Earth

(1)The area of desert is growing every year. (2) Good soil is gradually lost.

(1)Cattle eat grass. (2)Trees being cut down; strong winds blowing the valuable soil away.

(1)Limit the number of the cattle. (2)Plant more trees and try to protect them

Air

Air is being polluted

(1)Factories, power stations and cars produce a lot of waste. (2)Trees in the forest are destroyed

(1)A lot of things have to be done to reduce pollution. (2)New laws should be passed and people should realize how serious the problem is.

Water

Same as above.

Same as above.

Same as above.

2. To summarize the text by giving the main idea of each passage.

Earth: The area of desert is growing and good soil is gradually lost.

Air: Chemicals in the smoke cause a lot of damage and serious accidents took place from time to time.

Water: Water pollution is caused by man’s waste. The waters of this great lake have been dirtied and 4800 square km of ocean were polluted by oil.

Step 4. Discussion

Appoint one student to host the discussion. The rest of the class fall into groups of 4, changing ideas on the following question.

(1) What kind of pollution can you think of?

(2) Why trees are important?

(3) What else do we know about the problems that the earth is facing?

(4) What steps should we take to save the earth?

Step 5. Role play

The students take turns to play the role of a newspaper reporter, making interviews with heads of factories (e.g. A papermaking factory) which are seriously polluting air and/or water. Record the interviews and compose a report.

Step 6. Homework.

Show the additional materials about pollution and write a report about pollution in China

資料 我國環境污染現狀令人擔憂

據專家估計，中國每年因環境污染造成的損失達到二千八百三十億元人民幣，其中，僅水污染一項，估計一年造成經濟損失約五百億元。

據香港《東方日報》報導，自六十年代至今，中國有環境監測的四百三十二條大小河流中，八成受到不同程度的水體污染，其中大江河經過城鎮河段的佔二成，支流受污染的佔六成，全中國二千八百多個湖泊，凡能接納城鎮污水的，大多出現水體負氧化現象。由於地下水過度開採，京津滬大面積出現土地沉降一點五公尺至二公尺，桂林溶岩區三十米地下水重金屬超標十至二十倍。

大氣污染造成的經濟損失約爲二百億元，由於城市燃煤、工廠排放廢氣及汽車死氣污染，大氣中二氧化硫、一氧化碳等有毒懸浮微粒瀰漫在城市上空，空氣污染導致許多城市肺癌死亡率增至萬分之二，全國酸雨覆蓋面積已達百分之三十，所有這些損失加起來也等於二百億元。

而生態環境破壞和自然災害造成的損失估計高達二千億元，森林覆蓋率由四九年的三成左右，現已下降至不足一成四，草原的嚴重退化，水土流失面積達一百五十五萬平方公里，佔國土面積的百分之十六。

同時，城鎮建設卻仍以每年侵佔一百五十萬公頃土地的速度發展，破壞自然生態平衡，加上自然災害帶來的損失，每年至少損失二百億元。

其他污染如固體廢物排放、噪音污染等造成的損失也高達一百三十億元。

專家分析表示，造成環境污染引起的經濟損失原因衆多，但國家工業規劃佈局失誤，調控措施不力和公民環保意識不強是主要原因。