Unit 2 The Environment

By Xu Weiliang

Teaching aims:

1. Enlarge students?vocabulary about the environment protection.

2. Practice students?reading and speaking ability.

3. To know something about how to protect the environment.

Difficult & Important points:

1. To learn how to form new words related to 揺co? 揵io?and 揳stro? Learn their meanings.

2. Enlarge students?vocabulary.

Teaching methods:

Task-based teaching,

Group competition.

Teaching aids:

A projector.

A computer.

Procedure:

Step I: Greetings

Greet the whole class as usual.

Step II: Lead-in (read a brochure)

Read this brochure about a new, environmentally friendly hotel which is opening

?Ecotourists are people who visit an area and do not harm or damage the ecosystem. They are interested in

environmental protection. If you are this kind of tourist, you will love Ecoville. We use natural, safe energy from the sun, solar energy, instead of digging up earth to find fossil fuels. Nothing in our hotel causes pollution. We even use eco-friendly washing powder to wash your sheets. Don抰 have your next holiday in a city full of factories that create harmful waste. Come to Ecoville, where you and Earth will be safe together.

Now, please try to find as many words about environment protection

For example:

ecotourists, ecosystem, ecoville, eco-friendly, ecoville

Can you guess the meanings of all these words with 揺co? The prefix 慹co- ?comes from Greek and means 慹arth? It is used in many words to talk about the environment, such as 慹cology?and 慹co-tourism? Write six words that include the prefix 慹co- ? Use your dictionary if you need to.

ecofriendly, eco-travel, eco-trip, ecotourists, ecoville, ecosystem

Now let抯 do more practice.

The prefix 慴io- ? means 憀ife? Write six words that include the prefix 慴io- ? Use your dictionary if you need to.

biology biochemist biologist biophysics biosphere biotechnology

The prefix 慳stro- ? means 憇tar? Write six words that include the prefix 慳stro- ? Use your dictionary if you need to.

astronaut astronomical astrology astrophysics astronomer astrologer

Step III: Learn some words and phrases about things that are bad for the environment.

When we talk about things that are bad for the environment, many of the words that we use are compound nouns. Use the compound nouns in the box to label the pictures.

Clear-cut logging opencast mining

slash and burn farming ozone layer

acid rain global warming

Step IV: competition

We have learned a lot of words and phrases about environmental preservation. Look at the following pictures and try to use as many words and expressions on environment as you can

I will divide you into two groups. The group which has more ideas will be the winner.

First of all, I抣l give you an example. Look at the picture on the screen. Then the phrases about it.

Example: water pollution.

?put waste water into rivers.

?kill sea creatures

?fish die by pollution

?not enough fresh water to drink

?recycle waste water

?turn off the tap when cleaning your teeth.

?save water

Then look at the second picture, let抯 have a group competition.

Step V: Write an advertisement.

Help the management of Ecovilla write an advertisement.

Fill in the blanks with the words from the previous page.

?The concept behind our hotel is(1) ______________ protection. It is safe and fun for the whole family, even Mother Earth.

? Ecoville was the idea of Li Zheng, a scientist. He was worried about global warming and the hole in the (2)______________. He wanted a chance to have a holiday in beautiful part of the world, but not to cause damage to the(3)_____________ of the area. One night he saw a television show about a village in Africa. The whole village uses (4)____________ from the sun. No (5)______________ are burnt in people抯 homes. There is no harmful waste from the factories because it is changed back into fuel and used to power the factories. The cars are all electric and can be plugged into normal outlets. Even things like soap powder are(6)_______________ products.

?Mr Li was very excited about like idea, and decided to build Ecoville exactly the same way. Nothing you find in Ecoville causes any (7)______________ at all. We even built our hotel around the trees--- you can relax and be sure that there was no damage done to make space for you room. We even checked to make sure that the metals we used to build were not obtained from companies that practice opencast mining.

?So come and join us, because part of the new generation of tourists, (8)____________, and spend your next holiday in beautiful Ecoville.

Step VI: Task

?Eco-travel is a form of travel that combines normal tourism with learning. Instead of simple traveling for pleasure, you can use your trip as a way to protect the environment. Normal tourism is often bad for the environment, and tourists often cause problems. Eco-travel, on the other hand, is a way to travel responsibly. Eco-tourists want to learn about the world so that they can make it better, or at least understand it better. Eco-travel is a way to find out what can be done to help animals and plants as well as people. Read about the following eco-travel destinations and complete the tasks below.

Red River Village

?Swim in the Red River.

?Look at the birds.

?Go for a walk along the river.

?Go boating on the river.

?Plant trees on the river.

?Learn about water and the fish in the river.

?Learn how to keep the water clean.

?Learn about the birds by the river.

?By staying in the hotels in Red River Village, tourists can help the villagers make money so that they can take care of the river and the birds.

Snow Mountain

?Go hiking in the mountains.

?Look at the birds.

?Look at other animals.

?Go skiing in winter.

?Plant trees on the mountain.

?Learn about nature.

?Learn about the changes in each season.

?Learn about the old trees on the mountain.

?If you visit Snow Mountain, you can help the people there to keep the mountain clean and to take good care of the birds and other animals.

Work in groups of four. Imagine that the four of you are going on an eco-trip. Prepare role cards for the discussion and decide where you are going. Each group member has to prepare reasons for visiting one of the places above.

Student A: Red River Village

?I think we should go to Red River Village because we can ______________________________.

?And we can learn about______________________________

?If we visit Red River Village, we can help_______________________________________

Student B: Snow Mountain

?I think we should go to Snow Mountain because we can _________________________________.

?And we can learn about______________________________

?If we visit Snow Mountain, we can help_______________________________________

Step VII: Homework:

Finish the exercises in your workbook.