TV – DISCUSSION « THE ECOLOGICAL PROBLEMS OF THE EARTH. THE SOLU-TIONS»

ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОЕ ОБРАЗОВАТЕЛЬНОЕ УЧРЕЖДЕНИЕ ЛУГАНСКОЙ НАРОДНОЙ РЕСПУБЛИКИ

НЕСТАНДАРТНЫЙ УРОК

ПО АНГЛИЙСКОМУ ЯЗЫКУ:

ПОДГОТОВИЛА

ПРЕПОДАВАТЕЛЬ АНГЛИЙСКОГО ЯЗЫКА и ИНФОРМАТИКИ

 ГРЕБЕНЮК НАТАЛЬЯ АНАТОЛЬЕВНА

2023 год

I. Introductory word

I am very glad to meet you here in our TV studio. The topic of our today’s TV-discussion is “The ecological problems of today. The solutions”.

The urgent need to reduce pollution in the atmosphere is one of the most important issues international experts agree on. One thing is certain; air pollution causes the “greenhouse effect”. But what is it? That what we are going to discuss today. So let’s start, and be so kind to introduce yourselves.

II. The students introduce themselves

1) Name and surname.

2) Country.

3) Why they are here.

The participants

1.DOCTOR

Smoke that appears when we burn coal causes chronicle bronchitis and even people’s death: in China 50 000 people die every year and 400 000 people fall ill with bronchitis. According to the data of the “World watch” institute, 1,5 mln people die all over the world every year because of coal pollution. The purifying systems that can prevent such pollution do exist, but a lot of countries suppose that they are too expensive.

2.HOLIDAY MAKER

I am not a scientist, but I think about my future and I want to live on a clean planet, that is why I am here. I want to do something to prevent destroying our planet.

It is sad fact that because of many visitors Tadzh-Mahal is falling, the same reason (tourists) menaces the Egyptian pyramids.

Tourists are dangerous for plants, because they trample down forest reserves. Besides, they pick and take away with them rare shells and corals. Tourists pollute nature. According to the estimate made by the UNO environmental program, one tourist produces a kilo of solid wastes and rubbish every day. Moreover tourists use to much natural resources. What is the way out?

3. HOLIDAY MAKER

To my mind the way out is very easy and not new. It is something that is called “ecotourism”.

Ecotourism, is a purposeful travelling to natural reserves to understand the local culture and nature deeply, not breaking the balance between the man and nature. Ecotourism is the reason why the Galapagos Islands were preserved. In Rwanda (Africa) owing to ecotourism the mountain gorilla was saved.

4. SCIENCE FICTION WRITER

I am a writer, but I do not write fairy tales. I write my books using the real facts as a base for stories about the future of the Earth. I regularly contact with scientific istitutes and I know the real ecological situation. I want to read an extract from my future book that I am working on now. I don’t want to frighten you, but to make you think about the future and to imagine what it can be.

In the 25^th century people decided to get rid of nature. They have cut down all the trees and build houses and farms. The birds and animals had no space to live any more. They left the Earth forever. Plants and factories sent a lot of harmful dirt into the water. The water became not drinkable and dangerous to use it in cooking.

Soon people had nothing to eat and no water to drink. It became difficult to breathe on the Earth. The humanity died. The Earth became a dead planet.

5. ECOLOGIST

I am an ecologist and I am the first who should be here to discuss the problems of the Earth.

One Senegal ecologist Baba Dium says: “We will save only what we love; we will love only what we understand, and will understand only what we are taught”.

Mankind uses natural products,  such as minerals, forest and its gifts very quickly. The international Wild World Fund has reported that during the period from 1970-1995, 30% of natural products of the Earth  were used.

6. BIOLOGIST

Some people think that if men have caused a problem, they can solve it. For example, in many industrial cities the air is less polluted. Does it mean that the mankind will be able to run the present situation?

A lot of trees are cut down today. For example, in Mexico a half of forests is gone. It takes from 60 to 100 years to grow one tree, but it takes only  several minutes to cut it down.

Rain Forests are the source of fresh air, food and a lot of medicines. To save rain forests natural parks are created.

7.BIOLOGIST

We very often have little knowledge about nature, to foresee the results of our actions. The result is that we do a lot of harm to nature. “We have rained the natural balance so much, that we are dangerous for the Earth that feeds us and so we mean danger to self existence”. (Tim Flannery, the director of the Southern Australia’s Museum)

For example, the dodo was a flightless bird somewhat like a turkey. It was native to Mauritius and the last live specimen was seen in 1681. The extinction of the species is attributed to the introduction of domestic animals to Mauritius. Mind you biologists thought that coelacanths had been extinct for 70 million years until 1938 when fishermen of South Africe were found to have been regularly catching and eating them.

8. SCIENTIST

I study chemistry and I am worried by the state of our water and the way we treat it. A man can live several months without food, but only one week without water.

The lack of freshwater is caused by water pollution. People pollute water by wastes of plants and factories, by pesticides, which are used to kill insects.

We must remember that a drop saves the ocean. Here are several simple steps to save a lot of water:

-Repair the taps miming;

-Don’t take a shower too long;

-Don’t waste water when cleaning the teeth;

If we all do this, I am sure we will save a lot of blue treasure.

9. WEATHERMAN

During the previous century the temperature on the Earth has risen. Modern plants, factories and cars send out millions of tones of harmful smoke into the air. Because of this smoke the atmosphere becomes warmer.. The “greenhouse effect” causes a lot of problems; for example, the sea level can rise a lot this century and it means that a lot of people living at the seaside will lose their homes and farmlands. The scientists think that because of high temperature the amount of rainfalls will become bigger and the weather will be even more changeable and extreme. It is clear that the problem exists and something must be done.

10. WEATHERMAN

I am a weatherman and I’ve been working with the weather for a long period of time and I know a lot of examples of how  the weather and climate have changed. Here are the facts:

The summer of 1972 in Moscow was so hot that the  forests around the capital caight fire; smoke filled the city and stayed for several days.

In January 1987 snow fell on the gondolas of Venice and the ussualy sunny coasts of France.

In 1987 and 1990 Britain and France had terrible storms. The strong winds ruined a lof of forest, millions of trees.

And that is not the whole list of the weather’s terrible deeds + the last paragraph of the text ”Climate”, p.28.

11. ECOLOGIST

The progress os science and technology can make our life easier, but at the same time it can make the present ecological problems more difficult. Progress means a lot of modern conveniences, such as hot running water and central heating. But all this needs fuel. And this fuel is a coal. Nowadays, as the result of burning coal, 2 billion tons of carbon dioxide come into the atmosphere every year. Coal is the second biggest source of carbon dioxide, and according to some forecasts by the year 2020 it will make 34% in the amount of carbon dioxide sent into the air.

“To prevent the rapid climatic changes in the XXI century it is just necessary to reduce the usage of coal”, says Set Dann, the researcher of the “World watch” institute and I totally agree with him.

12. PUPILS (4 students)

Plan

1. Say what you learn at school about climate and in what classes.

2.Say what you do at school to show that you know the problems of the Earth and want to improve the present situation.

3. Say how you personally can help nature and what you and your classmates do at school and in families.

III.Presenter

We have already received a lot of phone calls from people who are worried by the present ecological situation. So I ask you to help me answer these questions.

Questions to be discussed

1. Why are rain forests so important for life on the Earth?

2. Do you think that our planet needs protection? Why?

3. Where in your opinion is it safer to live – in the country or in the town?

4. What do you know about the “greenhouse effect”? How can it influence the climate on our planet?

5. Do you agree that our weather is going crazy? Can you explain why?

6. Why are forests on our planet disappearing fast?

7. Why are some animals and plants becoming rare nowadays?

8. Is it safe and useful to spend holidays at the seaside near you?

9. What in your opinion are the most serious ecological problems of the day?

10. How can we personally take part in the cleaning up our planet? What would you advise?

11. What pollutes the air in the cities?

12. Do you agree that man needs protection and care as much as animals do?

13. I’d like to touch the problem of cars. I think they riun the wildlife. It’s better to go on foot.

14. There are about 7 billion people on our planet and the population is still growing. Newly born people need more food, goods, land, and modern conveniences. How can this problem be solved?

15. I think most of pollution in big cities comes from cars. They also make a lot of noise. How would you solve this problem?

Thank you dear guests for sharing your opinion and ideas with us. Of course it’s always easier to say that you know how to solve this or that problem, no matter how difficult it is. The problem we discuss today is by no means an easy one, but it seems to me we really know how to solve it. By “we” I mean all the people, humanity that cannot only watch the planet dying but also act together and change the course of events.

I am sure that the mankind has enough power to improve the ecological situation at least to some extant, so I propose you to write a petition in which you, as specialists, advise what to do. Please take this sheet of paper and work out the petition together.

(The students work over their position during 5 minutes.)

Our petition

•  Don’t cut down trees.

•  Use recycled materials in order to get natural products back.

•  Stop whale hunting and fur hunting.

•  Stop destroying animals’ habitats.

•  Take care of animals and plants.

•  Clean the water

•  Find the right balance between the people and nature.

•  Find the demographic balance between the 5 continents

•  Develop international cooperation to solve ecological problems.

•  Save water, gas, oil and other natural resources. Don’t waste them.

•  Don’t dump industrial and nuclear waste into the water bodies.

•  Don’t turn our planet into a dump!

So, who’s going to read out the petition?

One student stands up and reads the petition written by the group.

The teacher thanks all the participants of the discussion and sticks the petition to the demonstrative board.

VI. Summary of the lesson

It seems  to me that today we have done something meaningful and it will help other people to stop for a while and think what they do on the earth, how they live and what to do if we want to survive on the planet. It’s time to part, I want to thank all of our guests for their efforts to save our beautiful home called Earth and I want to finish our TV-discussion with one Kenyan proverb: “Treat the earth well, it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children”.

Good-bye.