LESSON PLAN: GLOBAL ISSUES

Lesson Objectives.By the end of this lesson, students will:

1. Form definitions of the greenhouse effect based on prior knowledge, class discussion, and viewing diagrams.

2. Participate in group brainstorming sessions and class discussions related to the impact of the greenhouse effect and global warming.

3. Hypothesize about the effects of global warming on the climate and the world's populations.

4. Take a position on global warming and support this viewpoint with reasons, facts, and examples gathered during lesson activities.

Equipment: multimedia presentation, handouts.

Procedure

I. Warming up

T. Where do you live? Let’s start with your home and finish with the most general thing.

S. House/flat – street – city/town/village – region – country – continent – planet – solar system – galaxy – universe.

T. So we may say that the Earth is our mutual home. What do people need to stay alive living on the Earth?

S. They need air to breathe, water to drink and food to eat.

T.It is the nature that gives humans all those things. But nowadays people also are in need of modern conveniences and different services, what is the source of them.

S. The civilization is. That is the world created by the human beings themselves.

T. People inhabit the Earth, use its natural riches (mineral resources, forests, lands, rivers, lakes, seas),they have created their own world called civilization. What do you think, must there be a harmony between the nature and human civilization?

S. Yes, of course. There must be a balance between them.

T. What happens in case of bad balance?

S. Numerous global issues appear.

II. Review

1. Discussion

T. Answer my questions, please.

  • What two groups can the global issues be divided into?
  • What social issues do you know?
  • What environmental problems are urgent nowadays?
  • What is environment?
  • What science deals with the protection of the environment?
  • What is ecology?

2. Speaking

T. Let’s speak on some ecological issues.

  • Air/water/ ground pollution.
  • Deforestation, destruction of habitat.
  • Acid rains, destruction of ozone layer.
  • Natural disasters (landslide, flood, drought, hurricane, tornado, typhoon, tsunami).

T.Today we are going to continue speaking about global issues and concentrate our attention on the global warming.

III. Reading. The text “Global Warming”

1. Pre-reading activities

4)Discussing active vocabulary

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To fluctuate

To radiate

To absorb

To reflect

To release

To shrink

To increase

To extinct

Species

Fossil fuel

Carbon dioxide

Consumption

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4)Watching a video

T. Watch the video and answer my question: what naturally occurring process causes global warming?

2. Reading

Global Warming

For 2.5 million years the Earth’s climate has fluctuated, cycling from ice ages to warmer periods. But in the last century the planet’s temperature has risen unusually fast about 1.2 to 1.4 degrees F. Scientists believe it’s human activity that is driving the temperatures up, a process known as global warming.

Ever since the industrial revolution began factories, power plants and eventually cars have burnt fossil fuels such as oil and coal, releasing huge amounts of carbon dioxide and other gases into the atmosphere. These greenhouse gases trap heat near the Earth through a naturally occurring process called the greenhouse effect.

The greenhouse effect begins with the Sun and the energy that it radiates to the Earth. The Earth and the atmosphere absorb some of this energy while the rest is radiated back into space. Naturally occurring gases in the atmosphere trap some of this energy and reflect it back warming the Earth. Scientists now believe that the greenhouse effect is being intensified by the extra greenhouse gases that humans have released.

Evidence for global warming includes a recent string of very warm years. Scientists record that 1998 was the warmest year in measured history with 2005 coming in second.

Meanwhile readings taken from ice core show that the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane have had the highest levels in the last 420000 years.

Arctic sea ice is also shrinking. According to NASA studies the extent of Arctic sea ice has declined about 10 % in the last 30 years.

As long as industrialized nations consume energy and developing countries increase their fossil fuel consumption, the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere will continue to rise. Researchers predict that the temperatures will increase about 2 to 10 degrees F by the end of the century.

What’s less certain is what rising temperatures mean for the planet. Some climate models predict subtle changes, others forecast rising sea levels, which could flood coastal areas around the world. Weather patterns could change making hurricanes more frequent. Severe droughts could become more common in warm areas. And species unable to adapt to the changing conditions would face extinction.

Although much remains to be learnt about global warming. Many organizations advocate cutting greenhouse gas emissions to reduce the impact of global warming. Consumers can help by saving energy around the house switching compact fluorescent light bulbs and driving fewer miles in a car each week. These simple changes may help keep the Earth cooler in the future.

I. Agree or disagree on the following statements

  1. For a long period of time the Earth’s climate has been the same.
  2. The greenhouse effect has nothing in common with human activities.
  3. The amount of arctic ice in the world is increasing.
  4. Global warming makes weather fine and favourable.
  5. People needn’t do anything to reduce releasing of carbon dioxide.

II. Answer the questions

  1. What makes the Earth’s temperature rise?
  2. What gas is released into the atmosphere by plants, factories etc.
  3. What is the essence of the greenhouse effect?
  4. What evidence for global warming can be seen nowadays?
  5. What are the possible consequences of global warming?
  6. What weather changes can there be?
  7. What measures can be taken to keep the earth cooler?

3. Post-reading activities

1)Agree or disagree on the following statements

  1. For a long period of time the Earth’s climate has been the same.
  2. The greenhouse effect has nothing in common with human activities.
  3. The amount of arctic ice in the world is increasing.
  4. Global warming makes weather fine and favourable.
  5. People needn’t do anything to reduce releasing of carbon dioxide.

2)Answer the questions

  1. What makes the Earth’s temperature rise?
  2. What gas is released into the atmosphere by plants, factories etc.?
  3. What is the essence of the greenhouse effect?
  4. What evidence for global warming can be seen nowadays?
  5. What are the possible consequences of global warming?
  6. What weather changes can there be?
  7. What measures can be taken to keep the earth cooler?

Modeling the mechanism of greenhouse effect according to the picture.

Explaining the words related to this process.

3)Pair work. Making a table

Global Warming

Cause / Negative effect / Way out

4)Global warming and Ukraine

T. Let’s speak about the relation of global warming to our country.

  • What processes happening in Ukraine can cause GW?
  • What effects of GW can be seen in this country nowadays? (Climate change, abnormal weather patterns, natural disasters).

IV. Students’ interaction

All students are divided into two groups – the group of optimists and the group of pessimists. The task is as follows: imagine the Earth in 1000 years. Describe it taking into consideration the type of your group and your active vocabulary.

V. Summing up

1)Playing a game

The group is divided into two teams. The task is to answer the questions.

2)Quotations

T. Read, translate and try to explain the meaning of these quotations.

“To take care of the planet is to take care of your own house.” Dalai Lama

“The frog doesn’t drink up the pond in which he lives”. Proverb

“In nature there neither rewards nor punishment – there are consequences”. Robert G. Fugersoli

“The nation that destroys its soil destroys itself”. Franklin D. Roosevelt

VI. Home assignment

Choose one proverb and write a composition on it.

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