План-конспект урока «The Planet of Living and Non – Living Things» 10 класс
План-конспект урока для учащихся 10 класса «The Planet
of Living and Non – Living Things»
Автор: учитель английского языка
МБОУ Гимназии №2
Хромых Т. П.
The Problem to discuss:
Now we are going to deal with today’s most critical environmental problem.
The problem simply stated is this: “Without firing a shot, we may kill one – fifth of
all species of life on this planet in the next 20 years”.
Teacher: Sounds depressing, doesn’t it? But still we are to discuss this problem so
that you can write an essay on what man can do to help the environment before it is
too late. So, exercise 3 on page 57 will be your home task.
Scientists say the earth is in crisis. Well, I could show you some really terrifying
pictures of global disaster hanging over the world to prove the irreparable harm
man has done to nature by his careless activities.
Instead, I want you to admire the magnificent views of our planet, so beautiful
and yet so fragile because as the Bible says: “Speak to the earth, and it shall teach
thee”. I think it can also be said: “Watch the earth, and it shall teach you”.
I hope the views you are going to watch will create the atmosphere of love,
respect and admiration for nature. And develop the feeling of responsibility and
care for it.
The Video Film: “The Earth”.
The discussion of the film.
Teacher:
- I hope the views of the planet have really impressed you and given food for
thought. What thoughts came to your mind while you were watching them?
- What feelings did you experience?
- What can we learn through observing nature?
- People often consider themselves to be superior to animals and wild life on the
whole. Is it really so? What can we learn through observing animals, for
example?
- Why is it dangerous to drive living nature away?
Teacher: It’s so good that you are ecologically – conscious. The trouble is that not
all people are concerned about wild life and they may ask:
- But why on earth should we bother? Who needs nature anyway?
- or: Why should we care, for example, about rainforests thousands of miles
away?
- What would you say to that? To make people change their attitude to nature?
The Film: “Morning Harmony”.
Teacher: While speaking about wild life, why not have just a piece of it here in the
classroom. It is known that nothing can make people so ecologically aware as
coming in touch with living nature. Modern technologies let the real world enter
our rooms.
(Watching the film)
Teacher: Now that we have heard / listened to these beautiful bird sounds, let us
have some practice and discuss the following.
Create and Share.
- Suppose that in the night something strange happened, and next morning all the
birds in the world were dead. What changes would it make? Why? Would the
world become a better place because it had happened, or worse?
- Do you think it is cruel to keep birds in cages?
- Do you think it matters if you take eggs from birds’ nests?
- Which side would you be on in each of the following?
- A water-skier’s club wants to take over a lake where many water birds nest.
- A man in your street has bought a lion which he intends to keep as a pet. The
neighbours want to stop him from doing it.
- A local restaurant- owner says that he will serve larks as a special and
expensive food.
The next stage of the lesson is:
“Going Wild about Animals”.
Teacher: You know that the world is going wild about animals and it is not only us
who are concerned about the environment. Listen to two people discussing an
article from the newspaper. You are to say who has these opinions – the man, the
woman or both. Read the sentences first.
1. Feels sorry for tigers.
2. Finds the article very depressing.
3. Is very worried about climate change.
4. Is not sure about climate change.
5. Thinks we should change our lifestyle.
6. Thinks we produce too much pollution.
Listening.
Woman: Have you seen this article on the environment?
Man: Yeah, I had a look. Depressing. It depresses you just to think about it,
doesn’t it?
Woman: But there are some great photos… Look at this one of a tiger. What I
don’t understand is why people want to kill them.
Man: Mm… yeah, it’s all to do with some kinds of traditional medicine… And
look at all those pictures of flooding and hurricanes. What’s really worrying is
all this stuff about climate change – don’t you think so, Jun?
Woman: I’m not sure. I haven’t thought about it much. Some people say that it
isn’t changing, don’t they? I mean the president of the United States said
yesterday that there wasn’t really any proof.
Man: That’s because they don’t want to cut their emissions! What’s ridiculous
is that they say the climate isn’t changing when it obviously is. Do you actually
know how much the temperature is going to go up this century?
Woman: That’s good question. Haven’t some scientists said about three or four
degrees?
Man: No, at least five degrees centigrade, maybe more. It’s going to be
disastrous. We need a total change in our lifestyles. Have you seen that bit in
the article carbon emissions?
Woman: Well, we obviously produce too much pollution, don’t we? I agree
with that. The problem is, you don’t want to just give up your car and central
heating, do you? You don’t want go back to the Stone Age.
Man: Of course not. But did you know that a country like Britain produces 9.5
tonnes of carbon emissions per person every year? And it says here that a
country like Honduras only produces 0.75 of a tonne. What a difference!!
Woman: that’s true.
Man: What we should do is start using renewable sources of energy. I think we
should.
Questions to discuss:
- So, why do people kill tigers?
- What is the man really worried about?
- How many degrees is the temperature going to rise in this century?
- What signs of global warming can we witness / see?
- According to the man why doesn’t the government of the USA want to admit
the rise in the temperature?
- Who or what is to blame for it?
- What is the way out?
Look at the photos of animals and think about:
- The global issue they represent
- The causes of the problem
- Your opinion and possible solutions
And now some more practice. Consider some questions and give your opinions
of them.
Create and Share.
- Can hunting and killing of animals be fun? Is it wrong to hunt wild animals for
food or for their skins?
- Would you be willing to buy tinned food for you cat or dog, if you know it had
been made from tiger / whale – meat?
- Many famous people have refused to wear wild animal furs. Why should they?
Does it do any good? It is there any difference between furs made from wild
animals, and those specially reared on farms for that purpose?
- Is keeping animals in zoos cruel?
Teacher: Let me say that many of us have at least once enjoyed a visit to the zoo
and regard it as a fun day out. Seeing real tigers and elephants, especially if it is for
the first time, can be an interesting and even thrilling experience. Yet, have you
ever stopped and wondered whether the pleasure they give us is really worth their
suffering. Don’t you think animals themselves suffer unnecessarily? What is wrong
about keeping animals in zoos?
Teacher: But things are not so bad and we can still help wild life survive. We can
save endangered animals from the brink of extinction.
You Can Help. Save Them from the Brink.
“We travel together, passengers on a little spaceship…preserved from
annihilation only by the care, the work and, I will say, the love we give our
fragile craft”
Adlai Stevenson.
Teacher:
- Does the idea of “giving work” to our planet is order to survive make sense to
you?
- How much can one person do?
- When it comes to global issues like extinction of tigers, do the efforts of one
person count?
Teacher: The situation with preserving tigers in the wild is really critical and
causes great concerns. However, the picture is not all bad. Humans who are
responsible for the present depressing state of affairs, have woken up to the fact
that urgent steps / measures must be taken if tigers are to be saved, and
organizations dedicated to the job have already launched programmes to help tigers
survive. The International Tiger Summit / Forum is a vivid evidence to this.
Let us watch a video on the Forum to get a better idea of the situation with
tigers and what is being done to help tigers survive. Be ready to act as interpreters
from Russian into English.
Questions to answer:
- What has put tigers at the top of the political agenda?
- Where did the Tiger Summit take place? Why? Who initiated the Forum?
- Who was the Tiger Summit hosted by? Does it make you feel proud?
- How many influential leaders took part in the Summit? Why? What countries
did they represent?
- How many tigers are there in the world now?
- Why is the number of tigers falling?
- Are you optimistic about the fate / future of tigers? Does the future for tigers
look promising?
- Do you think the Summit will become a turning point in tiger conservation?
- Would you like to show your support for tigers? How can you do that?
You Can Help. Save Them from the Brink.
Create and Share.
Teacher:
- You have mentioned the participation of different ecological organizations in
the Summit. Have you heard of the Blue Cross organization? What is it
concerned with?
- So the idea behind founding the Blue Cross is to protect the welfare of animals.
Does it make sense to you in the world where there is so much human
suffering? Why? Why not? Is it to be taken seriously? Don’t people have
enough “human” problems to solve to spend manpower and money on the well
– being of animals?
- They say it is not the tiger that is dangerous, it is man. What do you think the
aim of the Humane Education Programme is? Why is it to go beyond all animal
– related matters? What is the essence of this movement?
- Are you sensitive, compassionate to animals? Do you think people are born
with these qualities, or can they be developed during their lifetime? Is there a
fool – proof way to make someone kind, sensitive, compassionate?
- “Strong feelings are generated after an experience rather than through
knowledge”
- Do you agree to this statement? If you have a story to tell which will either back
up or refute the statement, it will come in most handy.
- People sometimes might decide for various reasons to part with their pets. Can
any of these reasons be justified?
The Message:
“Nature never did betray.
The heart that loved her”.
William Wordsworth.
“We are the children of our landscape: it dictates behaviour and even thought in
the measure to which we are responsive to it”.
Lawrence Durrell.
Teacher:
- How do you understand these quotations? How would you say the same in your
own words?
- I hope these quotations will give you food for thought and help you write an
essay on what steps ordinary people can take to help protect the environment.
Pupil: We are heavily dependent on our living and non–living environment.
Without animals and plants, the environment cannot survive and when our
environment dies, we die with it.
Everything under the sun–fungus, lizard, snake, tiger or grass–has the right to
exist. We, as co–inhabitants of the planet, do not have the right to take that right
away.
Things can’t improve if we don’t care. And care enough to do something about
it. Talk alone won’t accomplish much. It takes action to get the job done. We must
preserve the world that continues to astonish us with its diversity / variety. Only by
forging cooperative programmes on a global scale can we meet environmental
challenges.
