Проблемы современного мира. Урок английского языка в 8-м классе

Разделы: Иностранные языки


Цель урока:

  • формирование глобального подхода к проблемам окружающей среды;
  • формирование творческого и критического мышления учащихся через обсуждение и презентацию собственного мнения.

Задачи урока:

  • активизация лексики и лексико-грамматических конструкций в обсуждении проблем окружающего мира, формирование коммуникативной культуры
  • совершенствование навыков монологической речи.

Оснащение урока:

  • Подборка иллюстративного материала для дискуссии по теме.
  • На доске помещен вырезанный из ватмана “дом”. В раскрытом окне - планета Земля.
  • По ходу урока на “дом” прикрепляются небольшие карточки с изображением проблем окружающей среды, о которых рассказывают ребята.

Ход урока:

Teacher: Will you tell me what ecology is? Who studies ecology?

Student: Natural balance between plants, animals and people and their environment is called ecology. People who study the relation of man to nature are ecologists.

Teacher: Good of you. And now look at the blackboard. There is a house on it. How can the house be connected with ecology?

Student: I know that the word “ecology” from Greek word “oikos” means “home”.

Teacher: Well done. Let’s drop in to our house. You can see Earth there. Why?

Student: Earth is our home. People have been living on the earth for 2mln years and in last 200 years humans have made a mess on the planet.

Teacher: Yes, quite right. On your desks you are having the words of the song “What have they done to the world?” Let’s read it.

Will you find ecological problems please? Today we’ll discuss some of them.

What have they done to the world?

What have they done to the seas, my friend?
What have they done to the seas?
What have they done to the rivers, my friend?
What have they done to the trees?

Well, they've turned all the seas into mud, my friend
And they’ve killed all the fish in those seas,
And they've poured out their oil and their waste, my friend,
Because they think they can do as they please.

They've built their cities
And they've made their roads
And they'll test their bombs
Till the world explodes.
Into millions of little pieces

What have they done to our land my friend?
This land which is ours from our birth.
What have they done to our forests, my friend?
What have they done to the earth?

Well, they've turned our land to a desert, my friend,
A desert of concrete and stone,
And they've done this for profit and gain, my friend,
Till they've ruined the earth that we own.

What have they done to the skies, my friend?
Skies that are blue and so clear
What have they done to the skies, my friend?
What have they done to the air?

Well, they've poured out their smoke and their fumes, my friend.
Till you can't see the sun in the sky.
And they've poisoned the air that we breath, my friend,
Till you cough, till you choke, till you die.

(учащиеся читают стихотворение, пытаются найти проблемы экологии и назвать их)

Teacher: What is this song about? What environmental problems can you find in this song?

Look at the blackboard. There is a scheme on it. Match the words in A with the phrases in B.

There is no ocean or sea which is not used as a dump
Many seas are used for dumping industrial and nuclear waste
Many rivers and lakes are poisoned too
Fish and reptiles can’t live in them
There isn’t enough oxygen in the water
Factories and plants produce a lot of waste and pour it into rivers
Seas and rivers are filled with chemical fertilizers and pesticides

Teacher: Thank you. Can you give me examples of seas or rivers which are poisoned and in a very dangerous position?

Student: -I want to tell you about Lake Baikal. More than 20 years ago a pulp-and-paper factory was built on the shore of Lake Baikal. Because of water pollution more than 50% of the purest water has been ruined. The whole ecological system of the lake has changed greatly. Some organisms that can be found only in lake Baikal are disappearing, trees are dying from the dust of the factory.

- Student: The Mediterranean is nearly dead; the North Sea is the following. The Aral Sea is on the brink of extinction. If no immediate measures are taken, the Aral Sea will disappear by the year 2010.

Student: -The Pacific Ocean has suffered from nuclear pollution because the French Government tests nuclear weapons there.

Teacher: Thank you for your knowledge on this problem. Let’s discuss another serious problem-air pollution.

Make up sentences about it using the following word combinations:

Pollute the air, smoke fumes, are covered with, smog, smell, add tons of, hard to breath, cause illness, destroys the ozone layer, protects.

What is the main reason for the greenhouse effect?

Student: Sunlight gives us heat. Some of the heat warms the atmosphere and some of the heat goes back into space. Nowadays the air surrounding the earth has become much warmer because the heat can’t go back into space. That’s why winter and summer temperatures in many places have become higher. During the last 100 years people have produced a lot of carbon dioxide. This gas in the atmosphere works like glass in a greenhouse. It let’s the heat get in, but doesn’t let get out. So the atmosphere becomes warmer.

Teacher: And now listen to the text about one more kind of pollution, try to do the tasks given on card №1.

Every year more and more plants and animals disappear never to be seen again. In many lakes the fish are dying. Scientists are beginning to get worried. What is killing the fish?

The problem is acid rain. Acid rain is a kind of air pollution. It is caused by factories that burn coal or oil or gas. These factories send smoke high into the air. The wind often carries the smoke far from the factories. Some of the harmful substances in the smoke may come down with the rain hundreds of miles away. The rain in many places isn't natural and clean any more. It's full of acid chemicals. When it falls in lakes, it changes them too. Acid water is like vinegar or lemon juice. It hurts when it gets in your eyes. It also kills the plants and animals that usually live in lake water. That is why the fish are dying in lakes. Scientists are finding other effects of acid rain. In some large areas trees are dying. Not just one tree here and there, but whole forests. At first scientists couldn't understand why. There were no bugs or diseases in these trees. The weather was not dry. But now they think that the rain was the cause. Acid rain is making the earth more acidic in these areas. Some kinds of trees cannot live in the soil that is very acidic.

CARD 1

1. This text is about

A. fishing

B. acid rain

C. air pollution

D. Destructive human activity

2. Every year thousands of species of animals

A. are hunted for their meat and skins

B. migrate to other places

C. starve to death

D. die out

3. Acid rain is caused by

A. natural gas

B. the ozone layer

C. acidic lake water

D. emissions of industrial enterprises

4. Which of the following is true?

A. Dead fish in lakes is the only problem caused by acid rain.

B Scientists are sure that acid rains are not harmful for mankind.

C. If we don't make an attempt to stop acid rains we may never see some animals again.

D. There is no reason to worry about several trees that died of some unknown disease.

5. Factory smoke

A. stays over the factory

B. is usually clean now

C. turns into air

D. can travel hundreds of miles

6. Scientists think acid rain

A. is killing people

B .helps kill bugs

C .fertilizes the soil

D. is killing trees

Teacher: -I think you’ll agree with me that the trees are disappearing very fast. Can you explain why?

Student: Every day we use paper and cardboard, made from wood. It is necessary to protect forests, especially rainforests.

Prove the following, please: There are fewer trees, more carbon dioxide.

Student: -People and animals breath in oxygen and breath out carbon dioxide. We produce carbon dioxide when we burn things. Trees take this gas from the air and produce oxygen. But in last years people have cut down and burnt big areas of rainforests. The rainforests help to control the world’s weather and to produce much of the oxygen in the air.

Teacher: Excellently. It’s high time to speak about animals. Not only plants are in danger, so are animals. Let’s make a stand about endangered animals.

Humpback whale

Student: -Unafraid of ships, the humpback whale was easily approached by hunters, resulting in a dwindling population, of only 1O.OOO animals today. Their playfulness and spectacular leaps out of the water make them a favourite among whale watchers.

Whooping crane

Student: This crane once lived in the northern U. S. and in the coastal prairies of the Midwest. Today the total population of the whooping crane may only total 50, due to the spread of civilization.

Red kangaroo

Student: Kangaroos are slaughtered by the millions each year in their native Australian habitat. There people see them as pests competing with sheep for grazing land.

African elephant

Student: It is estimated that several hundred thousand elephants .remain in Africa, down from over a million less than 10 years ago. As many as 300 are slaughtered every day to supply the world's ivory trade. If this trend continues, by the turn of the century the largest living land mammal could disappear from the face of the earth—forever.

Cheetah

Even the fastest animal on earth is defenseless against poachers. In recent years, as many as 5,000 cheetahs have been killed annually. Today the wild cheetah is only found in a few east African parks and reserves

What conclusion can we make?

Student: Animals are dying because of man’s profit and gain

Teacher: And now look at the blackboard. What are we going to speak about?

Littering.

Teacher: Is it a problem or not? Here you can see information “How long can litter last?”

Please, choose the right answer.

(На доске дана таблица. Учащиеся пробуют угадать правильный ответ.)

How long do you think litter lasts? Circle the correct page.

1) traffic ticket

a) 2-4 weeks

b) 3 months

c) a year

2) banana peel

a) 2 months

b) 6 months

c) 15 days

3) wool sock

a) 6 months

b) 1 year

c) 5 years

4) wooden stake

a) a year

b) 4 years

c) 13 years

5) painted wooden stake

a) one year

b) 5 years

c) 13 years

6) wax paper cup

a) a year

b) 3 years

c) 5 years

7) tin cans

a) 50 years

b) 100 years

c) 25 years

8) aluminium cans

a) 500 years

b) never

c) 75 years

9) plastic containers

a) up to 500 years

b) up to 100 years

c) up to 200 years

10) glass bottle

a) 100 years

b) up to 500 years

c) never

 Must we throw litter?

What must be done with old papers, cans, bottles? They must be recycled.

Trash Becomes New Products

Teacher: We’ve spoken much about environmental problems. Many people think they are far from them. They don’t want to notice these problems. And what about you? Are there any problems in our town?

Student: The electric company burns coal to produce the heat for our houses. That burning coal gives off gases that causes the greenhouse effect and acid rain.

Teacher: Divide into three groups. Each group has to design posters telling people about ecological problems of the day in our town. (Дети рисуют плакаты с изображением проблемы, на которую они хотят обратить внимание общественности, и рассказывают об этом.)

Thank you. I hope all people will adore your proposals, especially about littering. We all like to live in a clean place, but is there any? Let’s find out it now. You are having card №2. Read the text and be ready to discuss it.

CARD 2

Antarctica: The World Park.

In the summer the human population of Antarctica goes up to 2.500. In the winter, there are only 700 human beings on the whole continent. It is the last great “empty “ place on earth and people in many countries are beginning to think that it must stay that way. They want Antarctica to be a world park: a place where nature will stay free of pollution and the changes that human beings bring. Many people want to keep Antarctica in its natural state, free of too many humans and animals from the outside.

The total area of Antarctica is 13,600,000 square kilometers. This is bigger than the U.S.A. and Mexico together, and nearly twice the size of Australia. Here you can find the coldest place on Earth: the temperature at the Russian Vostok station can go down to 88° centigrade. Ninety- eight per cent of the mainland of Antarctica is under over one kilometer thick.

Antarctica has 188 million birds. Ninety per cent of these are penguins. Two-thirds of the world's seals live in Antarctica.

People didn't know about the continent of Antarctica until 1840. No human walked on the mainland until 1895.

There is oil under Antarctic waters and coal under the mountains. There are also many kinds of metals. But now there is an agreement between the world's most powerful industrial countries that they will not exploit Antarctica's oil and minerals for at least fifty-five years.

Scientists say that if there is mining and drilling for oil in Antarctica it will have bad effects on the world’s weather.

Antarctica is the only continent on Earth where countries cannot take nuclear weapons. Visitors to Antarctica say it is extremely beautiful. One day you may visit the icy continent as a tourist. Some ordinary people already go there by ships.

Teacher:

1.What interesting facts have you learned about Antarctica?

2. Why do people want to stay Antarctica unchanged?

3. What do you know about animals and birds of Antarctica?

Teacher: Agree or disagree:

-No human walked on the mainland until 1895.

-There is gas and gold under Antarctica water.

-Countries can’t explore Antarctica’s oil and minerals.

-Mining and drilling for oil in Antarctica will have good effects on the world’s weather.

-Ordinary people do not go there.

Teacher: And now we’ve come back to our house. What can you say about it? It’s ugly.

(Во время дискуссии проблем окружающей среды, на “Планету” наносятся символы данных проблем. В итоге “наш дом” загрязнен.)

Can people solve these problems? Are you an optimist or a pessimist? Will you write down a composition “Will our earth survive? Is there a future for our planet?”

 Список литературы, используемый для разработки данного урока:

  1. Учебник английского языка для VI класса шк. с углубл. изуч. англ. яз. Афанасьева О.В., Михеева И.В..
  2. Учебник английского языка для VI класса шк. с углубл. изуч. англ. яз. Хрусталева Л.В., Богородицкая В.Н..
  3. Английский язык для школьников и поступающих в ВУЗы. Цветкова И.В., Клепальченко И.А., Мыльцева Н.А.
  4. Книга для чтения к учебному пособию “Happy English-2”. Клементьева Т.Б.