Конспект урока по теме " Pollution" для 10 -11 классов

ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS / POLLUTION

1. Look at the pictures and comment on them. Say what ecological problems are matters of people’s great concern nowadays.

2. Read the text about AIR, WATER and LAND pollution. Read the definitions (1 – 10), find the words which have the same meaning in the text and underline them.

Pollution started from the prehistoric times when man created the first fires. But it was the industrial revolution that gave birth to environmental pollution as we know it today. Industrialization brought people into conflict with the natural environment. The emergence of great factories and consumption of immense quantities of coal and other fossil fuels gave rise to air pollution.

In some cities the air is so polluted that it is hard to breathe: the concentration of smoke is so high. Factories emit tons of harmful chemicals. Transport is a major user of energy and burns most of the world's petroleum. Cars produce exhaust fumes which destroy the ozone layer protecting the Earth from the dangerous rays of the Sun. Smoke pouring out of tall factory chimneys and traffic jams have become commonplace in any big city.

Rivers and seas are filled with industrial and nuclear waste, chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The quality of drinking water leaves much to be desired. Studies have estimated that water pollution caus­es approximately 14,000 deaths per day. The discharge of polluting matter into rivers, lakes and seas kills fish and water plants. Oil spills from damaged oil tankers are extremely dangerous. Oil turns into a thin film which prevents fish and underwater vegetation from breathing and they die very quickly.

Extensive use of agrochemicals leads to the pollution of both land and water. The poison that we spray on gardens and grass to kill insects and weeds goes into the vegetables and fruit we eat. Pesticides contaminate land and water when they run off from fields and when they are discarded.

1.                  The process of making air, water and soil dangerously dirty and not suitable for people to use.

2.                  When a country or place develops a lot of industry.

3.                  The air, water, and land on Earth, which can be harmed by man's activities.

4.                  The process of coming into existence.

5.                  The action of using up a resource.

6.                  The gas produced when an engine is working.

7.                  A layer of gases in the sky that prevents harmful radiation from the sun from reaching the Earth.

8.                  A long line of vehicles on a road that cannot move or can only move very slowly.

9.                  Unwanted materials or substances that are left after you have used something.

10.               A substance that is put on the soil to make plants grow.

11.               A chemical substance used to kill insects and small animals that destroy crops.

12.               Plants considered collectively, especially those found in a particular area or habitat.

3. Read the magazine article. Find the words and phrases to replace the underlined phrases in the sentences below.

Slick to Death

Oil pollution is like a recurring nightmare. Sea birds like gulls are always the most common victims. Covered in a thick black coating of oil, such birds are unable to fly or feed themselves. Cleaning them is a painstaking business and volunteers sometimes have to spend 40 minutes or more cleaning one bird.

Last Saturday, the tanker Sea Queen was wrecked near the coast of Wales. Over 70,000 tonnes of oil escaped into the sea. As soon as they heard that the Sea Queen was in trouble, local volunteers and members of environmental groups rushed to the area to see what they could do to help.

According to Chris Mead, Britain’s leading ornithologist, it is not cost-effective to clean the birds and release them. He told reporters, “I can understand the desperate feelings of the rescuers that they should do something to help the birds, but realistically it may be kinder to put them to sleep immediately.”

Surely the best way to solve the problem is to prevent accidents from happening in the first place. Pressure groups are still calling for changes to safety regulations. They also want oil tankers to be made much smaller. Since cleaning up the mess after such disasters is so expensive, perhaps the oil companies should start listening.

1)   A lot of ecological catastrophes occur because people do not observe official rules for preventing danger.

2)   Factories and plants let a lot of waste go into the air and water.

3)   In summer a lot of young people join groups of people who offer their help without payment, taking care of animals in wildlife reserves.

4)   It is not worth spending money to work hard on the effects of the pollution problem. It’s much better to deal with its cause.

4.      Read the text and decide which of the phrases in bold express cause and which express effect according to the context.

very year the world’s industries pollute the atmosphere with about 1,ooo million tons of dust and other substances. The waste from factories and industrial plants, electric and atomic power stations gets into lakes, rivers and seas; it poisons the air, it destroys plants and animals. Pollution of the environment threatens human health. It can lead to different diseases of the central nervous system and so on. Ignorance about ecology leads to further destruction of nature and worsens living conditions for all living beings. A lot of forests are being cut down, marshes and lakes are drying up. This breaks the ecological balance and deprives lots of animals of places to live. People have destroyed nature by building huge cities, cutting down trees, excavating mountains and digging mines. In pursuit of new inventions and discoveries, as well as higher and higher profits man has forgotten about nature and it has led him to the edge of ecological catastrophe.

5. Fill in the gaps with the words and phrases from the box. Two of them are extra.

1.     Pollution and other environmental threats … the health of millions of people across the world.

2.     The results published in the journal Science support the view that global warming is the result of the … of carbon dioxide into the air.

3.     A spokesman for the World Wide Fund for Nature says that ducks, swans and geese are becoming … to oil pollution which … and kills them.

4.     The captain and the crew of a tanker that spilled at least 185,000 gallons of diesel into the sea around the Galapagos Islands have been arrested for breaking marine …. An international team of          … stopped the leak, but not before 170,000 gallons escaped into the water.

5.     The climate in many coastal regions is likely to … because       of the melting of the polar icecaps.

6.     Scientists predict that due to global warming many species of plants and trees will be … their natural habitat.

7.     Many environmental problems are caused by human carelessness and ….   

6. Read the table, then listen to the tape and fill in the missing information.

7. Make up your own table of the problems, causes and effects mentioned. YOU CAN USE IDEAS FROM THE WHOLE HANDOUT AS WELL AS YOUR OWN IDEAS. 

8. Make sentences establishing the relation between CAUSE and EFFECT. Use the ideas of the previous task.

Example: Polluting the air causes disease in humans.

Language Support:

Means for expressing cause and effect:

·       that is why

·       therefore

·       because of

·       as a result of

·       as a consequence of

·       owing to

·       due to

·       thus