Module III Unit 4

1.What’s the meaning of the word “Astronomy”? I. Warming up 行星 the science of stars; 2. Do you know the following terms? star, planet, the sun / moon / earth, solar system 太阳系 恒星

A Quiz Game 1. How old is the earth? A. About 3.5 billion years B. About 4.5 billion years C. About 5.5 billion years D. About 6.5 billion years 2. ______ of the earth surface is covered by water. A. 20% B. 30% C. 50% D. 70%

3. How many planets are there in the Solar System? A. 6 B. 7 C. 8 D What is the total population of humans on the earth? A. About 3.5 billion B. About 4.5 billion C. About 5.5 billion D. About 6.5 billion

5. How long does the rotation ( 自转 ) of the earth take? A. 12 hours B. 24 hours C. a month D. 365 days 6. Which continent is the smallest? A. Africa B. North America C. South America D. Oceania 7. On what day is the Earth day celebrated? A. April 22 B. May 4 C. August 21 D. November 11

8. Which ocean is the largest? A. The Pacific Ocean B. The Arctic Ocean C. The Indian Ocean D. The Atlantic Ocean 9. Which country has the largest area? A. Canada B. China C. Russia D. U.S.A

4. Do you know the correct order of their distance to the sun? nearest to the sun? farthest to the sun?

海王星 Neptune 水星 Mercury 金星 Venus 地球 Earth 火星 Mars 木星 Jupiter 土星 Saturn 天王星 Uranus

5. The names of eight planets. Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune 1) 水星 2) 金星 3) 地球 4) 火星 5) 木星 6) 土星 7) 天王星 8) 海王星

Scientists now think Pluto is too small to be called a planet.

In this unit, we’ll learn something more scientific. 2. From the title, we can predict that the text may tell us the origin of life on the earth. Do you know some stories about it?

Pangu separates the sky from the earth.

中国神话传说中有盘古开天地的说法 。巨人盘古用一把利斧劈开混沌, 将天地 分开。死后, 他的气息化成风和云, 声音 变成轰轰的雷声, 左眼化为太阳, 右眼化 为月亮, 手足与四肢变成大地的四极与五 方的名山, 血液化成江河, 筋脉铺成道路, 肌肉形成田地, 须发成为星星, 牙齿和骨 骼化为金属、珍珠、玉石, 汗水成为滋润 万物生长的甘霖和雨露。

Nvwa made humans.

Other legends about the beginning of universe.

1. When did the “Big Bang” happen? Read the passage quickly and answer the questions. 2. What form was the earth after the “Big Bang”? 3. What made up the earth’s atmosphere 4. How did water come into being on the earth? 5. What’s the significance of the presence of water on the earth? 6.What was important to the development of fish? 7. What made possible the rise of mammals on the earth? 8. Why are mammals different from all life forms in the past?

1. When did the “Big Bang” happen? It happened several billion years ago. Scanning Read the passage quickly and answer the questions.

2. What form was the earth after the “Big Bang”? The earth was still just a cloud of dust. 3. What made up the earth’s atmosphere after the earth exploded? Carbon, nitrogen, water vapour and other gases.

4. How did water come into being on the earth? As the earth cooled down after it exploded, water came into being.

5. What’s the significance of the presence of water on the earth? It allowed the earth to dissolve harmful gases and acids into the oceans and seas.

6. What was important to the development of fish? oxygen. 7. What made possible the rise of mammals on the earth? The disappearance of dinosaurs made the possible the rise of mammals on the earth.

8. Why are mammals different from all life forms in the past? They gave birth to young baby animals and produced milk to feed them.

Finish the Exercise 2 on the book according to the questions above.

Close reading I. Read the passage carefully and match the main idea with each paragraph.

Para. 1 The formation ( 形成 ) of the earth. Para. 2 The importance of water for life. Para. 3 A widely accepted theory about the formation of the universe. Para. 4 The arrival of humans and their impact on the earth. Para. 5 The development of plants and animals on the earth.

Stage 1: The development of the earth (1) After the Big Bang, what was the earth like? a cloud of dust a solid globe

exploded with fire and rock produced water vapour and gases (2) What happened next?

(3) What did the water vapour and gases form? the earth’s atmosphere

Water appeared (4) What appeared as the earth cooled down? water is important for the beginning of life on the earth.

Why is water so important for the beginning of life? Because water allowed the earth to dissolve harmful gases into oceans and seas.

Stage2 The development of life

small plants appears in water 1.What life developed after water appeared?

Shellfish and all sorts of fish 2.What life developed in water next?

green plants began to grow on land insects appeared 3.What about the life on land?

amphibians on land and in the water forests 4. What life developed next on land?

reptiles appeared dinosaur developed 5.What life developed after forests appeared?

mammals on land 6.What life developed after dinosaurs?

small clever animals 7. What life developed after mammals?

1.Who are the small clever animals with hands and feet? 2. Are they taking care of the earth well? Why?

How life began on the earth. “Big Bang” other bodies_______stars Earth: a cloud of _____ atoms dust Summary

a solid ______ the earth’s ___________ other _____ Water: ___________ to the development of life water vapour nitrogen carbon extremely small _______ on the surface of the water globe gases atmosphere fundamental plants

early _________ and all sorts of fish green plants on land land animalsinsectsamphibians ________ huge animals (dinosaurs) the rise of __________ human beings shellfish reptiles mammals

1. Insects and amphibians appeared. 3. The earth became a solid ball. 5. Reptiles appeared. 7. The earth was a cloud of dust 9. Shellfish and other fish appeared. 11. Clever animals with hands and feet appeared 2. Dinosaurs appeared. 4.Small plants grew on the water. 6. Plants began to grow on dry land. 8. Water appeared on the earth 10. The universe began with a “Big Band”. 12. Mammals appeared Can you put the order of development of life into a time line? Ex.2 on P27

IV. True (T) or False (F). 1. The earth appeared before the Big Bang happened. 2. The original atmosphere consisted of nitrogen and oxygen. 3. The main difference between the earth and other planets is that there is water on the earth. 4. Life began in water and then on land. F F T T

5. Mammals appeared before the development of dinosaurs. 6. Dinosaurs could give birth to young baby animals and produced milk to feed them. 7. Human beings produce too much carbon dioxide which causes the global warming on the earth. 8. According to the text, human beings would disappear in the end. F F T F

We have only one earth!!!

Speaking What should we do for our earth?

You can use the following words or phrases to help you: prevent… from… harmful global warming carbon dioxide in turn depend on as a result thus atmosphere