Book1Unit9 Is there life on Earth?Teaching Hours: 50 minutesStudents’ Level:freshmen of non-English majors in the 1st semester.Teaching Objectives:1.About the warming-up, get students know something about environmentpollution and protection.2.About background knowledge, get students know some information about theeight planets in solar system especially the Venus and the Earth.3.About the global reading, students are supposed to have a good understanding ofthe text, not only capable of finding out answers about comprehension questions but also able to summarize the main idea of the text.4.About the classroom presentation, students are to practice their spoken Englishthrough a given topic.Key Teaching Points:1. Bad effects of environment pollution and some ways of environment protection.2. The development, structure and the main idea of the story.Teaching Procedures:Part I Warm-up Questions (10mins)Ask students some questions as a lead-in to the text.1. Women used to be referred to as the weaker sex. What do you think?2. Do you think there is real equality between the sexes in present-day China?3. Who is the heroine you admire most? Give your reasons.Part II Background information (10mins)1. Eight Planets in the Solar SystemThey are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.2. VenusVenus is the second planet in distance from the sun and nearest to the Earth of all the planets in the solar system. Except for the sun and the moon, Venus is the brightest object in the sky. The planet is called “the morning star” when it appears in the east in the sunrise, and “the evening star” when it is in the west at sunset.The surface temperature of Venus averages about 475 degrees centigrade and its atmosphere is about 95% carbon dioxide (CO2). Oxygen is rare there. The high temperature and near absence of oxygen on Venus make it unlikely that life as we know it could exist there.It is satirically interesting that Art Buchwald has chosen the planet Venus as the setting for his story. His satire is most deeply felt when he has the Venusian professor say that if the Venusians can learn to breathe in an Earth atmosphere, then they can live anywhere else.3. EarthThe earth is the third planet in the system and the moon is always circling around it. It looks like a big blue marble; from high above the Earth and from the moon, the planet gleams and shines. It’s really a beautiful planet, but her beauty is not only because of the view, but also her vitality.The earth, the planet we human have been living on for thousands of years, is the only planet whose environment is suitable for creatures in the solar system. The earth is the cradle of life. It’s high time that we took actions to protect our planet. Part Three Global Reading (20mins)1. Introductory RemarksThis is a science fiction story, isn’t it? The title “Is there life on Earth?” produces a strong air of humor, arousing readers’interest immediately. Surely, you will enjoy your reading.1) Questions about the Text① What caused the excitement on the planet Venus?For the first time Venusian Scientists managed to land a satellite on the planet Earth, and it has been sending back signals as well as photographs ever since.②What led the Venusian scientists to believe that there’s no life on Earth?For one thing, Earth’s surface in the area of Manhattan is composed of solid concrete and nothing can grow there. For another, the atmosphere is filled with carbon monoxide and other deadly gases and nobody could possibly breathe this air and survive.”③Why does professor Zog think it impossible to land a flying saucer on Earth without its being smashed?There’re metal particles that move along certain paths. They emit gases, make noise and keep crashing into each other. There are so many of these paths and so many metal particles that it is impossible to land a flying saucer without being smashed by one.2) Structure of the TextWhile global reading, students should be able to work out the structure of the text. Part I (Para 1-3)A press conference was held at the Venus Institute of Technology.Part II (Para 4-15)Reasons why there’s no life on EarthP art III (Para 9-10)Decisions that they would proceed their flying saucer program.3) The Main Idea of the StoryThe author has meant this essay to appear as a piece of science fiction, a story taking place on the planet Venus. It is written from the point of view of “Venusians”who are exploring the possibility of life on Earth. On a press conference held at the Venus Institute of technology, professor Zog declared that there’s no life on Earth because of various problems found on Earth such as too much solid concrete, deadly atmosphere, and polluted water. In this way, the author implies that pollution on our earth is very severe, and it’s high time we did something to stop it.Part Four Classroom presentation (10 mins)One or two students are expected to give a classroom presentation on the given topic of “environment problems of today's China (such as the dust storm in Aksu Region).”Example:Dust storms can carry large amounts of dust, which can sweep across whole Aksu Region in April and May.Dust storms have also been shown to increase the spread of disease across the world. Virus spores in the ground are blown into the atmosphere by the storms with the minute particles and interact with urban air pollution. In addition, dust storms also reduce visibility affecting aircraft and road transportation. Many people are hurt during dust storms by automobile accident.The effects of dust storms can be reduced by using environmental control strategies. Take appropriate control of dust raising factors such as increasing the vegetation cover where possible. It helps in stabilization of the soil, sand dunes and form windbreaks。