Unit 4 Astronomy: the science of the stars

　　單元要覽

　　類別 課程標準要求掌握的項目

　　話題 Science of the stars; the development of life; space travel and gravity

　　詞匯 astronomy n. 天文學 exist vi.

　　存在; 生存

　　system n. 系統; 體系; 制度 thus adv. 因此; 于是

　　religion n. 宗教; 宗教信仰 dioxide n. 二氧化物

　　theory n. 學說; 理論 biology n. 生物學

　　atom n. 原子 biologist n. 生物學家

　　billion pron. & n. & adj. （英）萬億; （美）十億 puzzle n.

　　迷; 難題　vt. & vi. （使）迷惑; （使）為難

　　globe n. 球體; 地球儀; 地球 gravity n. 萬有引力; 重力

　　violent adj.

　　猛烈的; 激烈的; 強暴的 float vt. & vi. （使）浮動; （使）漂浮　n. 漂浮物

　　carbon n. 碳 gentle adj.

　　溫和的; 文雅的

　　atmosphere n. 大氣層; 氣氛 physicist n. 物理學家

　　unlike prep. 不同; 不像 climate n. 氣候

　　fundamental adj. 基本的; 基礎的 crash vt. & vi. 碰撞; 墜落

　　harmful adj. 有害的 spaceship n. 宇宙飛船

　　acid n. 酸 pull n. & vt. 拉; 拖; 牽引力

　　chain n. 鏈子; 連鎖; 鎖鏈 satellite n. 衛星; 人造衛星

　　multiply vt. & vi. 乘; 增加 mass n. 質量; 團; 塊; 大量

　　oxygen n. 氧 exhaust vt. 用盡; 耗盡

　　短語 solar system太陽系 block out擋?。ü饩€）

　　in time及時; 終于 cheer up感到高興; 感到振奮

　　lay eggs下蛋 now that既然

　　give birth to產生; 分娩 break out突發; 爆發

　　in one’s turn輪到某人; 接著 watch out密切注視; 當心; 提防

　　carbon dioxide二氧化碳 prevent. . . from阻止; 制止

　　重要句型 1. What it was to become was uncertain until between 4. 5 and 3. 8 billion years ago when the dust settled into a solid globe. (be to do; what-clause as the subject)

　　2. The earth became so violent that it was not clear whether the shape would last or not. (so. . . that; it is/was not+adj. +whether-clause)

　　3. What is even more important is that as the earth cooled down, water began to appear on its surface. (what-clause as the subject; that-clause as the predicative)

　　4. It was not immediately obvious that water was to be fundamental to the development of life. [it is/was (not)+adj. +that ]

　　5. So whether life will continue on the earth for millions of years to come will depend on whether this problem can be solved. (whether-clause as the subject; depend on+whether-clause as the object)

　　功能 Instructions:

　　Please pay attention to. . . 　Please check that. . . . 　You need. . .

　　Don’t forget to. . .

　　Make sure that. . . .

　　Watch out for. . .

　　You’d better. . .

　　You must/mustn’t. . . Please look at. . .

　　語法 Noun clauses as the subject

　　What it was to become was uncertain. . .

　　. . . it was not clear whether the solid shape was to last or not.教學重點 1. Get students to learn about the development of the earth and making a space trip.

　　2. Have students learn some useful new words and expressions and let them learn effective ways to remember English vocabulary.

　　3. Enable students to use the expressions of instructions correctly in daily life.

　　4. Let students learn the new grammar item: noun clauses as the subject.

　　5. Develop students’ listening, speaking, reading and writing abilities.

　　教學難點 1. Enable students to master the use of noun clauses as the subject.

　　2. Let students learn to write a short article to show their problems and the ways to overcome them.

　　3. Develop students’ integrative skills.課時安排 Periods needed: 7

　　Period 1 Warming up and reading

　　Period 2 Learning about language: Important language points

　　Period 3 Learning about language: Grammar

　　Period 4 Using language: Listening and speaking

　　Period 5 Using language: Extensive reading

　　Period 6 Using language: Speaking and writing

　　Period 7 Revision: Summing up and learning tip

　　Period 1　Warming up and reading

　　整體設計

　　教材分析

　　This is the first teaching period of this unit. At the beginning of the class, the teacher can lead in the topic of the unit by having a free talk with students about some famous scientists and what they have discovered. Then turn to Warming Up.

　　It is intended to have students think about and then discuss these two groups of questions:

　　1. In our solar system eight planets circle around the sun. What are they? Can you match the names with the planets?

　　2. What interests you in astronomy? Do you know any questions that astronomers are interested in?

　　Pre-reading is to remind students that the origin of life on the earth is a question that interests astronomers and each religion and culture has its own ideas about how life began on the earth. The teacher should ask students what they know about these and then let them predict what kind of information will be introduced in the next part Reading.

　　The reading passage titled HOW LIFE BEGAN ON THE EARTH provides students a brief introduction on how the universe developed and how life began on the earth. It provides a scientific background to any investigation into space and it is factual. Students are encouraged to preview the text and find out the useful new words, expressions and structures themselves. They should try to work out the meanings of the new words through the context. Then if necessary, they can look them up in the dictionary or turn to the teacher for help. Also encourage them to look at the pictures and read the title to guess what the text might be about. Then let them skim for the general idea, and scan for further understanding. In order not to let them feel much difficult, the teacher should deal with any language problems while they are reading.

　　After reading, students are required to do the five exercises in the Comprehending to see how much they have understood the reading passage. The teacher can first let them work in pairs or in groups to find the answers cooperatively, and then check their answers with the whole class.

　　To consolidate the contents of the reading passage, students should be required to retell the passage. In order to arouse the students’ interest, the teacher can hold a competition.

　　教學重點

　　1. Let students read the passage and learn about the development of the earth.

　　2. Get students to learn different reading skills, especially the reading ability of understanding implied meaning of the author.

　　教學難點

　　1. Enable students to understand the passage and know about the development of the earth.

　　2. Let students learn how to use different reading skills for different reading purposes.

　　三維目標

　　知識目標

　　1. Get students to learn the useful new words and expressions in this part: astronomy, system, religion, theory, atom, billion, globe, violent, carbon, atmosphere, unlike, fundamental, harmful, acid, chain, multiply, oxygen, exist, thus, dioxide, puzzle, solar system, in time, lay eggs, give birth to, in one’s turn, carbon dioxide, prevent. . . from

　　2. Let students learn about the development of the earth.

　　能力目標

　　1. Develop students’ reading ability and let them learn different reading skills.

　　2. Enable students to know about the development of the earth.

　　情感目標

　　1. Train students’ interest in science and stimulate their love for astronomy.

　　2. Develop students’ sense of cooperative learning.

　　教學過程

　　設計方案（一）

　　→Step 1 Presentation

　　Have a free talk with students.

　　1. Let students brainstorm the following questions:

　　Who are our ancestors?

　　Do you know what it was like before life appeared on the earth?

　　Do you know how life began on the earth?

　　Do you want to get more information?

　　2. Tell students:

　　Today we will learn something about how life began on the earth. Turn to Page 25. Let’s come to Warming Up first.

　　→Step 2 Warming up

　　Let students think about the following questions and then discuss them with their partners.

　　1. In our solar system eight planets circle around the sun. What are they? Can you match the names with the planets?

　　Venus

　　Earth

　　Mars

　　Mercury

　　Jupiter

　　Neptune

　　Saturn

　　2. What interests you in astronomy? Do you know any questions that astronomers are interested in?

　　→Step 3 Pre-reading

　　1. Get students to discuss the questions with their partners.

　　1) The origin of life on earth is a question that interests astronomers. What do you know about it?

　　2) Each religion and culture has its own ideas about how life began on earth. What do you know about them?

　　2. Let them tell their stories. Encourage them to tell different stories. If they don’t know any, tell them some, for example, Pangu separated the sky from the earth, Pangu turned into a myriad of things, Nuwa made men, and so on.

　　3. Ask them to read the title and look at the pictures. Predict what the reading will be about.

　　→Step 4 Reading

　　1. Fast reading

　　Get students to read the passage quickly and then write down the main idea for each paragraph and the whole passage in the following chart.

　　HOW LIFE BEGAN ON THE EARTH

　　Paragraph 1

　　Paragraph 2

　　Paragraph 3

　　Paragraph 4

　　Paragraph 5

　　The passage

　　Let students look through the chart and then read the text silently. Three minutes later, check the answers with the whole class.

　　2. Intensive reading

　　Allow students to read the passage carefully this time to get the important details, and then finish the following:

　　1) Put the order of development of life into a timeline.

　　(1) Insects and amphibians appeared.

　　(2) Dinosaurs appeared.

　　(3) The earth became a solid ball.

　　(4) Small plants grow on the water.

　　(5) Reptiles appeared.

　　(6) Plants begin to grow on dry land.

　　(7) The earth was a cloud of dust.

　　(8) Water appeared on the earth.

　　(9) Shellfish and other fish appeared.

　　(10) The universe began with a “Big Bang”.

　　(11) Clever animals with hands and feet appeared.

　　(12) Mammals appeared.

　　2) Choose the best answer to each question according to the text.

　　(1) What is important for the beginning of life?

　　A. The water on the earth.

　　B. The earth’s atmosphere.

　　C. The form of forests.

　　D. Dissolving harmful gases.

　　(2) Which of the following appeared on the earth first?

　　A. Insects.

　　B. Reptiles.

　　C. Amphibians.

　　D. Shellfish and fish.

　　(3) Which of the following statements is true?

　　A. Water still exists on Mars.

　　B. The earth’s atmosphere is made up of oxygen and nitrogen.

　　C. The earth had dissolved the harmful atmosphere into the oceans and seas.

　　D. Plants provide oxygen to the earth.

　　(4) What is the passage mainly about?

　　A. The appearance and development of life on the earth.

　　B. The birth of the earth.

　　C. Why dinosaurs died out.

　　D. The fact that human beings caused global warming.

　　Suggested answers: (1)A　(2)D　(3)D　(4)A

　　3. Reading and discussion

　　Read the text a third time and then work in pairs to discuss the following questions.

　　1) Why was the earth different from the other planets?

　　2) Why did the plants grow before the animals came?

　　3) Why is it wrong to show films with dinosaurs and people together?

　　4) There used to be nine planets in the solar system. Recently scientists have decided that one of them can no longer be considered a planet. Do you know the name of that planet? Do you know why they removed it?

　　5) What problem is caused by human beings?

　　(Let students have enough time to read the passage carefully and discuss the questions with their partners. Encourage them to express their own ideas. )

　　4. Explanation

　　Help students analyze some difficult, long and complex sentences and guess the meaning of some new words. Encourage them to try to deal with the language points in the context.

　　Discuss the following important sentences and phrases in the passage.

　　1) What it was to become was uncertain until between 4. 5 and 3. 8 billion years ago when the dust settled into a solid globe.

　　2) The earth became so violent that it was not clear whether the shape would last or not.

　　3) They were in time to produce carbon, nitrogen, water vapor and other gases, which were to make the earth’s atmosphere.

　　4) So whether life will continue on the earth for millions of years to come will depend on whether this problem can be solved.

　　Suggested explanations:

　　1) What leads a noun clause as the subject and when leads an attributive clause.

　　2) Here “whether the shape would last or not” is a noun clause as the subject.

　　3) Here “which were to make the earth’s atmosphere” is a non-restrictive attributive clause.

　　in time: 1) sooner or later; eventually 2) in time (for sth. /to do sth. ): not late

　　I will see him in time.

　　She will be back in time to prepare dinner.

　　4) In this sentence, there are two clauses led by whether. The first one is a noun clause as the subject and the second as the object.

　　to come: serves as attributive

　　She is the last person to do such a thing.

　　depend on: something might only happen or be true if the circumstances are right for it

　　Our success depends on whether everyone works hard or not.

　　5. Reading aloud and underlining

　　Ask students to read the passage aloud to the tape and let them pay attention to the pronunciation of each new word and the pauses within each sentence. Tell them to pick out all the useful expressions or collocations from the passage while reading and copy them to the notebooks after class as homework.

　　Collocations: on the earth, according to, a cloud of dust, so. . . that, whether. . . or not, in time, water vapor, cool down, on one’s surface, allow. . . to do. . . , a chain reaction, millions of, on the surface of, be able to, as well as, by doing. . . . , lay eggs, be different from, give birth to, spread all over the earth, in one’s turn, prevent. . . from, as a result of, too. . . to. . . , depend on

　　→Step 5 Discussion

　　After reading the passage, let students discuss the following questions.

　　1. Why do you think that humans are the cleverest animals on the earth?

　　2. Do you believe that there is life on other planets? Why or why not?

　　3. Do you think it is possible that one day people will move their houses to other planets?

　　→Step 6 Consolidation

　　Ask students to retell the passage with the help of the following.

　　a cloud of dust→a solid ball→presence of water→small plants grow on the water→shellfish and other fish appear→plants begin to grow on dry land→insects and amphibians appear→retiles appear→dinosaurs appear→mammals appear