The Fourth Period

Teaching Aims:

1.Review the useful expressions learnt in this unit by practising.

2.Improve the students’ reading ability by reading the material.

3.Improve the students’ writing ability.

4.Enable the students to realize that it is important to protect the estuary.

Teaching Important Points:

1.Improve the students’ reading ability by reading the material.

2.Improve the students’ writing ability.

Teaching Difficult Point:

How to improve the students’ integrating skills-reading and writing.

Teaching Methods:

1.Fast reading to go through the reading material.

2.Inductive method to help students write a paragraph successfully.

Teaching Aids:

1.the multimedia

2.the blackboard

Teaching Procedures:

Step Ⅰ Greetings

Greet the whole class as usual.

Step Ⅱ Revision

T:Yesterday we did some practice about modal verbs.Now let’s do some more exercises to see if you have mastered them.Please look at the screen.

(Teacher uses multimedia to show the exercises on the screen.)

Fill in the blanks using must/might/may/can/could and their negative forms.

1.-I saw Mary in the street yesterday.

-You ______ have seen her.She is still in Australia.

2.-Could I use your bike?

-Yes,of course you ______.

3.The ground is wet.It ______ have rained last night.

4.A machine ______ think for itself.It ______ be told what to do.

5.Tom,don’t play with the valuable bottle.You ______ break it.

Suggested answers:

1.can’t 2.can 3.must 4.can’t,must 5.may/might

Step Ⅲ Fast Reading

T:Good work.But if we want to use the modal verbs correctly,we must practise them as often as possible.Today we will read another passage.The ocean is very important to all the living things,which is known to us,and I think we have also known about the reason why the ocean becomes so important-because of the properties of water,the ocean is very important.The passage we will read is also about water.It deals with “the body of water”.Are you interested in the topic?

S1:Yes.But what is the meaning of “the body of water”?I think water has no body.

T:Good question.I think you can get the answer to the question by yourself.Now let’s read the passage.While you are reading,try to make clear what is the main idea of each paragraph.Besides,try fast reading,it is helpful to improve your reading ability.

(Teacher gives students a few minutes to read the passage.)

T:Have you finished your reading?

Ss:Yes.

T:Wang Lin,are you clear about “the body of water”?

S2:Yes.I think “the body of water” means the main part of water.

T:You are great!Now who’d like to tell me the main idea of the first paragraph?

S3:An estuary is the body of water where a river meets the ocean.

T:Right,thank you for your answer.What about the second one?

S4:Let me try.The general idea is that estuaries are great places for nature’s young.

T:Wang Ping,tell me the main idea of the third paragraph,please!

S5:I’m not sure.I think the third paragraph tells us estuaries are important to animals and plants,so we should try our best to protect them from environmental pollution.Am I right?

T:Yes.Congratulations!There is only the last paragraph left.Who can try?

S6:I think the main idea of the last paragraph is that estuaries are also important to human beings because they not only provide recreation and education for us but also contribute to the economy.

Step Ⅳ Discussion and Explanation

T:The general idea of the passage is very clear to us now.Now let’s re-read the passage carefully.While you are reading,try to find out the answers to the questions on Page 23.If you need,you can have a discussion about them.Then I’ll check your answers.

(Teacher gives students enough time to read the passage.At the same time,teacher goes among them and helps them express their own opinions in English correctly.)

Suggested answers:

1.Tides provide energy for the ecosystem,and estuaries are protected from waves and storms by islands.In addition nutrients arrive in estuaries from both the land and the ocean.So estuaries are great places for nature’s young ones.

2.Density means the quality of being dense.In other words,there are more living creatures than any other habitat on earth.

3.Estuaries can make our water clean by absorbing nutrients and pollutants from water coming from inland sources.

4.The function that estuaries can absorb pollutants and nutrients makes estuaries very sensitive to environmental pollution.

5.Estuaries can provide recreation and education for human beings.Besides estuaries also contribute to the economy.So they are very important to human beings.

T:Well done.Now you are very familiar with the passage.

To understand the passage better,I will explain some important phrases.Please,look at the blackboard.

(Teacher writes the following phrases on the blackboard.)

1.provide…for

e.g.The company will provide food and drink for them.

2.have an opportunity to do something

e.g.I had no opportunity to discuss the problem with her yesterday.

3.a variety of

e.g.He left for a variety of reasons.

There are a variety of patterns for you to choose from.

4.contribute to

e.g.His work has contributed to our understanding of this difficult subject.

Step Ⅴ Writing

T:Up to now,we have learnt a lot about water and known the properties of water and importance of estuaries.Now you are given an opportunity to check if you know a lot about water.Look at the questions on the screen.

(Teacher uses multimedia to show the questions on the screen.)

1.Why does an ice cube float?

2.What will happen to a piece of metal if you put it in water?

3.Why do so many species live in estuaries?

4.Why have so many cities been built by estuaries?

T:Now imagine that your science teacher asks you to choose one of the questions and write a paragraph to explain it.Use what you learn from this unit and what you know about nature and science to write the paragraph.You must be careful to explain it to make your explanations easy to understand.You’d better look at the tips on Page 24 before you write.It’s of great help to your writing.

Possible samples:

(Question 3)

Salt water from the ocean and fresh water from the river mix together in an estuary.The mixing of fresh and salt water creats a unique enviroment filled with life of all kinds.Here,animals can enjoy all the benefits of the oceans without having to face many of its dangers and nutrients arrive in estuaries from both the land and the ocean.So there are so many species living in estuaries.

(Question 4)

Estuaries are great places for nature’s young.If many cities are built by estuaries,we can enjoy fishing,swimming and having fun on the beach and scientists and students have endless opportunities to study a varety of life in the habitat.What’s more,estuaries also contribute to the economy through tourism and fishing.So many cities have been built by estuaries.

Step Ⅵ Test

T:In this unit,we’ve learnt some important phrases.Now I’ll give you a test to check whether you’ve mastered them or not.Look at the screen,please.

(Teacher uses multimedia to show the test on the screen and gives students a few minutes to finish them.Then checks their answers.)

1.The children’s age ______(在5歲至15歲之間).

2.______(她處理這個問題的方法) is very good.

3.A week later,______（也就是),Oct 1 is National Day.

4.He ______(充分利用了) multimedia in the class.

5.The little girl ______(對溫度很敏感).

6.His actions ______(使他受到尊敬).

7.He ______(設法完成了工作) with very little help.

Suggested answers:

1.range from 5 to 15

2.The way she deals with the problem

3.that is

4.took advantage of

5.is very sensitive to temperature

6.made him respected

7.managed to get the work done

Step Ⅶ Summary and Homework

T:Today,we’ve done some reading and writing.We’ve also reviewed some useful expressions in this unit.After class,go over all the important points we have learnt in this unit.That’s all for today.Class is over.

Step Ⅷ The Design of the Writing on the Blackboard

Unit 13 The water planet

The Fourth Period

Phrases:provide…for,have an opportunity to do,a variety of,contribute to

Step Ⅸ Record after Teaching