Unit 13 The water planet
Ⅰ.Brief Statements Based on the Unit
As we all know, the earth is an ocean planet and 99% percent of the living space on earth is in the oceans. It is water that makes the ocean such a great place to live in. This unit mainly deals with the properties of water and how the properties of water make the ocean become so important. We learn this unit to help students not only know about the properties of water, but also learn how to use water in a good way. Besides, we learn this unit to let students realize the importance of protecting water. Of course, it is necessary for students to master the important phrases and sentences in the unit. Meanwhile we should review some important usage of Modal Verbs.
Ⅱ. Teaching Goals
1. Talk about water and the ocean.
2. Practise communicative skills.
3. Review Modal Verbs.
4. Write an explanation paragraph.
Ⅲ.Background Information
1.What Lies under the Blue Water?
Just like the houses we live in, the ocean has several “floors” or layers. Different fish live on different layers and are neighbours, though not always friendly ones!
The ocean’s top layer is the sunlit zone(透光层).It goes down to around 200 meters below water. This layer is warm and bright. It is also home to most plants and fish. Many fish in this layer are streamlined, so they can quickly swim from danger and catch food.
The twilight zone(弱光层) is the next layer and is from about 200 to 600 meters below water. Almost no plants grow here.
Many animals in this zone swim up to the surface at night to feed, and move into deeper waters during the day. They also eat each other, so many of them have sharp teeth and very big mouths.
Many fish in this zone don’t have a streamlined body because they lie and wait for prey to come to them.
Below the twilight layer is the midnight zone(无光层).It is from 600 meters to the bottom of the sea.
The water is cold and completely dark. No plants live here but many small animals can.
Many animals in the twilight and midnight zones produce their own lights.The angler-fish(琵琶鱼) is one of them. It has a beautiful light on its head to attract prey!
Maybe you have seen one of the coolest films Finding Nemo (《海底总动员》).Do you remember Marlin, Nemo’s father, “borrowed” light to help Dory read?
That wasn’t a flashlight, it was a fish! They also use light to frighten enemies and to “talk” with each other.
2. Water
A family of six needs over 20 gallons of water a day, just for basic drinking, cooking and keeping clean; but only one in three of the world’s households has a water supply in the home.
Most others get their water from rivers, lakes springs or holes in the ground, or, in town, from stand-pipes shared with hundreds of other families.
Throughout the world’s poorest countries women damage their health and lose hours of every day carrying huge containers of water—up to 44 lbs in weight—often from sources several miles away.
All too frequently they bring home sickness or death, as well as water. Untreated water, which may have come from a muddy hole shared with cattle, can be lethal, especially for young children. To sink a well or pipe water from a natural spring, and maintain the system afterwards, people need access to land with a water source, to capital, equipment and technical know-how. In towns they may need to lobby the local water authority to repair or extend existing systems.
Water is precious, and access to it gives power—to landowners with wells on their land, or to country controlling major international rivers. The demands on the earth’s water resources are growing rapidly, partly as a result of population growth, but even more because industry now uses such huge quantities—it takes 100 000 gallons to produce a car.
Ⅳ.Teaching Time: Five periods
The First Period
Teaching Aims:
1.Learn and master the new words and the useful expressions of this part.
Words: cu
生词表: