Number of students: 12
Age of students: 15-16
Grade Level: upper intermediate.
Unit Title: Man –the Child of Nature.
Lesson Title: “The Earth Is in Danger”.
Projected Time for the Lesson: 45 min
Aims:
- to enable students to use Active Vocabulary on the theme “The Earth’s Pollution”
- to develop their writing skills
- to practice using gerund
- to motivate “green” behavior
Materials and Equipment Needed During the Lesson:
A smart-board, Power Point presentations developed by the students (“Air Pollution”, “Water and Soil Pollution” and “Destruction of Nature”), the teacher’s presentation, a glass of clean water and a glass of dirty water, a trash bean with trash, the copies of the “Energy contract”.
Procedures:
1. Statement of the lesson’s problem.
Teacher: Hello, boys and girls. Today we’ll have an unusual lesson. We’ll speak about… No, I won’t tell you the theme of the lesson. Try to guess it.
The teacher asks one of the students to drink some water from the glass. There is clean water in the first one. The student drinks. The teacher asks the student if the water is good. Then he asks the student to drink some dirty water from another glass. The teacher asks the student why he doesn’t want to drink the water.
Teacher: The water in the second glass is not clean. It isn’t safe to drink it. Can you guess the theme of the lesson? (The students give some answers). You are very close to the right answer. I would like you to write a creative dictation. If you guess the final words of it, you will guess the theme of our lesson.
Slide 1.(см. Приложение 1)
Here are two sets of words:
1. Bird-sky- mountain- animal- forest- air- sun- ocean- man- desert (The Earth).
2. Waste- fire- flooding-erosion-extinction-destruction- damage- fear-threat (Danger)
( Students write down the final words on the smart board)
Teacher: You are right. The theme of the lesson is “Environment: The Earth Is in Danger”.
( One of the students writes down the theme on the smart- board).
2.Warming –up.
Slide 2.
Teacher. Can you say what the words “ecology” and “environment” mean?
Student 1: The word “environment” means simply what is around us. Some people live in a town environment; for others, their environment is the countryside. But the air we breathe, the soil on which we stand and walk, the water we drink are all part of the environment.
Student 2: The word “ecology” came from the Greek which means “home”. This idea of “home” includes the whole planet of ours. You know that people all over the world are worried about what is happening to the environment. They understand that the Earth is their common home, a big green home.
Teacher: What problems are there in the environment today? (The students answer the question). Unfortunately we can continue to name the problems of environment endlessly. You can see some of these problems on the smart board.
Slide 3. What problems are there in the environment today?
3. Presentation of the projects.
Teacher: During two weeks you were working about the projects: “Air Pollution”, “Water and Soil Pollution” and “Destruction of Nature”. The task was to find and study information about these topics and create presentations. One more idea was to design T-shirts telling people about ecological problems of the day. Let’s start the presentation.
Each presentation lasts about 4 minutes. At the end of presentations students show their T-shirt.
4. Brainstorming.
Teacher. Thank you for such nice presentations.
You are quite right. All these problems are the result of man’s careless treatment of nature.
We must protect our planet from littering, air pollution, water pollution, destruction of natural resources.
Otherwise these reasons may cause dramatic changes on our planet.
Slide 4. What are possible results of men’s destructive activity?
Teacher: What are possible results of men’s destructive activity?
You can begin your answers with the words: “It may cause…”, “It can bring about…”, “The result of it may be…”, “It may lead to…”
5. Group work (Cooperative learning style)
Teacher:
Now in groups of three you should think and answer the question: “What are possible results of men’s destructive activity?” The themes for discussion: “Air Pollution”, “Water and Soil Pollution” , “Forest Destruction” and “ Extermination of animals”. You have only two minutes.
Slide 5. What are possible results of men’s destructive activity?
Let’s write down your ideas like logical chains on the smart-board.
One student from each group writes the answers as a scheme on the smart- board.
Possible answers:
Air pollution—ozone layer destruction- the increase of ultraviolet radiation-greenhouse effect- global warming- climatic changes…
Water and Soil Pollution –shortage of fresh water-endangered plants and animals…
Forest Destruction-deforestation- land erosion and flooding-endangered plants and animals- extinction of species - disruption of ecological balance…
6. Coming to a conclusion.
Teacher: So, what can you say looking at this scheme? Can we put both- sides’ arrows between the words? What can we see now? Does it remind you a circle? Has the circle got the beginning and the end? So, you see that a circle is endless. What a conclusion do we come to?
(Students answer the question). It may happen so that the situation can get out of our control, man can paint himself into a corner. The Earth may die.
7. Speaking.
Teacher. Is there any solution of this problem? We should act immediately while it is not too late. How?
Slide 6. Is there any solution of this problem?
Possible answers: People all over the world should …
….work together to solve ecological problems.
…ban ocean dumping
…encourage waste recycling
…protect the endangered species
…develop alternative sources of energy
…reduce the burning of coal, oil and gas…
6. The diagram “Trash”.
Teacher. One of the biggest problems of environment is trash .Only one example: at the end of 20-th century each person in the USA threw away 2 kg of trash daily. You would fill 45000 trash trucks every day!
Slide 7. Trash.
One of the students explains the diagram.
And this is the percentage of materials in household trash:
40%-paper
10%-metal
8%-glass
8%-plastic
7%-foodscraps
9% -other
7. Relaxation.
Teacher. Let’s see what we usually have in our trash bean. You should take the thing out of a bean and guess how long it lasts.
(The students take trash from the trash bean and try to guess how long litter lasts. The teacher can put into the trash bean some paper, a can, a banana pill, etc).
Slide 8. How long litter lasts.
Teacher.And now read the facts.
The students read the information given on the smart board[3].
A traffic ticket lasts 1 month.
A banana peel lasts up tо 3 months.
A wool sock - 1 уеаr.
Wooden stakes - 4 years.
A wax paper cup - 5 years.
Tin cans - 100 years.
Aluminum cans- up to 500 years.
Glass containers - they never decay.
Painted wooden stakes - 13 years.
7. Test.
Slide 9 . The three R-s.
Teacher. I’m sure, you remember the three R's: reduce, reuse, and recycle. When we recycle things we can get new things saving energy and without destroying nature.
Can you guess what it is made of?
(The students try to guess, the teacher shows them the right answers)
Slides 10-11.What is it made of?
8.Reading and writing.
Teacher. And now it’s your turn to do something for our planet. I propose to you to sign energy contract. You will get a list of tips that are given to Australian students to save energy. Choose some tips and write them down( use gerunds).
The teacher distributes the texts with tips and the contract .The students read the texts, complete and sign the contract. Then some students read their contracts aloud.
The text:
Save the environment![4]
The following is a list of tips that are given to Australian students to save energy. Which of these tips are applicable for where you live?
Which of these do you already practice?
- Walk or ride a bike whenever possible
- Turn off lights and other electrical equipment when not in use
- Take shorter showers to save water
- Buy products that are recycled, recyclable, reliable, repairable, refillable, reusable
- Write on both sides of paper
- Put on more clothing in winter instead of turning up the heater
- Try to cook several meals at a time
- Recycle oil, metal, paper, glass and plastic
- Repair leaking taps
- Do not leave taps running
- Use mugs or glasses instead of paper cups
- Make sure the refrigerator door is fully closed
- Use energy efficient light bulbs
- Do not pour oil, fat, milk or chemicals down the sink
Can you think of any other energy- saving tips to add to the list?
Slide 12
Energy contract.[2]
I,______________________________,
promise that I will help to conserve
energy for a period of two weeks by
1.______________________________
2.______________________________
3.______________________________
___________________(signature)
___________________( date)
One of the students writes his/her promises on the smart- board.
Then the teacher tells the class that they have now made a contract and that they must now do as they have promised. At the end of two weeks, they will have the opportunity to evaluate their results.
10. Evaluation.
11. Reflection.
Используемая литература:
1.О.В Афанасьева., И.В Михеева «English X»- учебник английского языка для учащихся 10 класса, Unit 3.
[2]-Thomas Kral Editor “Creative Classroom Activities”, Selected Articles from the English Teaching Forum, 1989-1991, p.47
[3]-Т.Б.Клементьева, J. Shannon « Счастливый английский», книга 2 для 7-9 классов общеобразовательных учреждений, изд-во «Титул» 1997,с.337-338.
[4]-Т.Б.Клементьева, J. Shannon « Счастливый английский», книга 3 для 10-11 классов общеобразовательных учреждений, изд-во «Титул» 2003,с.263-264.