Unit 20 Archaeology
Ⅰ.Brief Statements Based on the Unit
Archaeological discoveries play an important part in the study of the history and culture of a country and at the same time can help us solve many mysteries.This unit mainly talks about two important archaeological discoveries:the King of Stonehenge in England and the Jinsha Ruins and the Sanxingdui Ruins Site in Sichuan Province.The discovery of the King of Stonehenge makes archaeologists think people in the Bronze Age had trade and cultural links with other parts in Europe.While the unearthed Jinsha Ruins again proved that it is likely that roots of Chinese culture are in Sichuan.They all have a historical significance on the study of the history and culture of the two countries.Besides,we need to review the use of “it”,especially when it is used in the subject position to stand for an infinitive or a clause.
Ⅱ.Teaching Goals
1.Talk about archaeological discoveries.
2.Express curiosity.
3.Review the use of “It”.
4.Create a flow chart.
Ⅲ.Background Information
1. Underwater Archaeology
The year was 1960.The eight team members were divers and scientists.The ancient wreck（船的残骸）was buried in the sands below the warm coastal waters off Turkey.Underwater archaeology was about to be born.
Archaeology is the study of ancient life,or how people lived thousands of years ago.The work of the archaeologist is to find and recover objects made by these ancient people and figure out how the objects were used.
The archaeologists on the team that found the ancient wreck usually worked on dry land.They knew the scientific methods used in dry-land archaeology.By adapting,or changing,these methods,the archaeologists could use them under water.After diving into the sea,the group used underwater cameras to take pictures of the wreck and its treasures.Next,they drew maps on plastic tablets to show where each object was located.Then,they used a tool that gently sucked the sand away from the treasures.Large objects were placed in baskets,which were brought up to the surface.Very heavy objects were pulled up with the aid of a balloon.
The recovered objects were put in a museum in Turkey.Archaeologists then brought the photos,drawings,and maps to the United States for further research.After seven years of study,the scientists learned that the wreck was 3 200 years old.
2.Spanish scientists dig up a monster of a bone
Spanish researchers digging in a semi-desert part of eastern Spain have found a bone from an animal more than 30 metres in length and weighing 50 tons.The upper leg bone measures 1.85 metres and weighs 150 kilograms.This indicated that it came from the equivalent of a male elephant.
Scientists believe the bone came from a Sauropod,a lizard-like dinosaur that lived from 145 to 65 million years BC.
If these guesses are confirmed,it would be the largest dinosaur discovered in Europe.
It could possibly be as big as a champion heavy weight like Argentinausorus,found in South America,which from the evidence of a foot and three ribs,was probably longer than 35 metres.
The four-legged Sauropods,which had tiny brains,vast stomachs and long necks and tails,are believed to have been vegetarians,eating large trees the way people crunch celery sticks.
Ⅳ.Teaching Time:Five periods
The First Period
Teaching Aims:
1.Learn and master the following words:
archaeology archaeological archaeologist curiosity decoration unearth spear artefact
2.Do some listening.
3.Learn to express curiosity.
Teaching Important Points:
1.Improve the students’ listening ability.
2.Train the students’ speaking ability by talking about archaeological discoveries and practising expressing curiosity.
Teaching Difficult Points:
1.How to improve the students’ listening ability.
2.How to finish the task of speaking.
Teaching Methods:
1.Looking at some pictures to arouse the students’ interest in archaeology.
2.Listening-and-answering activity to help the students go through with the listening material.
3.Individual,pair or group work to make every student work in class.
Teaching Aids:
1.the multimedia
2.the blackboard
Teaching Procedures:
CStep Ⅰ Greetings
Greet the whole class as usual.
CStep Ⅱ Lead-in
T：As we all know,China is a country with an ancient civilization.It has a long history and brilliant culture.Do you know in what ways we can learn about its history and culture?
S1:Reading books.
S2:Watching TV.
S3:Learning from the teacher in class.
S4:Surfing the Internet.
…
T:Anything else?
Ss:No.
T:We can also go to the museum to visit the unearthed cultural relics,can’t we?
Ss:Yes.
T:Now,please look at the two pictures on the screen and tell me what you see in the pictures.
(Teacher shows the screen.)
S5:They are:terracotta warriors and horses and inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells.
T:You’re right.Terracotta warriors and horses is a symbol of the powerful Qin Dynasty,while inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells are embryonic forms of Chinese characters.The great archaeological discoveries play an important part in learning about China.
CStep Ⅲ Warming up
T:Today let’s talk about archaeology Unit 20 (Bb:Unit 20 Archaeology).Before talking,please look at the new words.
(Teacher deals with the new words with the whole class.)
T:OK.Now open your books and turn to Page 73.Look at the four pictures and tell us what you can see in each picture.
S6:I can see an axe in the first picture.It is a kind of tool used by people of the Stone Age.
T:Right.How about the second one?
S7:In the second picture is a bronze tripod,which is an ancient cooking vessel of that period.
T:Good.The third picture.Li Ping,try please.
S8:This is a painting on silk of the Han Dynasty.
T:Yeah.The last one?
S9:I think the last picture is a work of China made in the Tang Dynasty.
T:Anything else about the last picture?
S10:I guess it is made of tri-colored glazed pottery of the Tang Dynasty.
T:Well done.We know that the life of people is different during the different periods.Now let’s describe the life of people during the periods mentioned above.You can describe it according to the questions on the screen.
(Teacher shows the following on the screen.)
1.What did they eat?
2.Where did they live?
3.What did their homes look like?
4.What kind of tools did they use?
5.What objects have we found from their age?
6.What kind of entertainment did they have?
First discuss the questions with your partner,and then complete the chart at Page 73.A few minutes later,I’ll collect your answers.Is that clear?
Ss:Yes.
T:(Five minutes later.)Are you ready now?(Ss:Yes.)Now,let’s describe the life of people in the Stone Age together.
T and Ss:The people of the Stone Age ate wild fruits and animals.They usually lived in caves.They used bones of animals,fur and pottery to decorate their caves.The tools they used were mainly stones,sticks and bones of animals.They used bones of animals to make necklaces and bone pins.They were able to make jades.The entertainment for them was to shout and dance with rhythm together.
T:OK.Who’d like to describe the life of people in the Bronze Age,the Han Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty one by one like what we did just now?
Ss:…
Suggested answers:
Stone Age Bronze Age Han Dynasty Tang Dynasty
Food wild fruits, wild animals grain,wheat,rice,bean,domestic,animals,meat,broomcorn,millet wheat,rice,wine,vegetables,sugar pancake,tea,spinach,wine
Housing caves houses made of mud and straw houses made of bricks and tiles houses made of bricks and tiles palaces
HomeDecoration Bones of animals, fur, pottery, jade bronze mirrors,bronze jade silk,stone and brick statues, wood statues,frescoes china,pottery,jade,silk
Tools stones, sticks, bones, axes made of stone knives, sickles, axes, fishhooks iron objects,ploughs,hoes Quyuan ploughs,tools used to lift water by water-wheel
Artefacts necklaces made of bones,bone pins,pottery,jade bronze tripods and quadripods,textile,embroidery silk, paintings on silk, stone, brick and wood statues tri-colored glazed pottery of the Tang Dynasty,China
Entertain-ment shouting and dancing with rhythm singing,dancing,drinking wine playing the instruments acrobatic show having a swing,boat race,playing polo
T:We know there are many important discoveries from these different periods.Please look at the following four pictures.Can you tell us where they were unearthed and where we can go and see them?Discuss in groups of four.After a few minutes,I’ll ask some students to talk about them.Is that clear?
Ss:Yes.
(Teacher shows the four pictures on the screen.)
1 3
2 4
T:Liu Qian,talk about the first picture,please.
S11:…
Suggested answers:
Picture 1:The picture shows the serials bells of the Warring States,which was unearthed in Sui County of Hubei Province.If you want to see it,you can go to Hubei Province.
Picture 2:This is the famous Dunhuang frescoes,which lie in Dunhuang of Gansu Province.They were painted in the Tang Dynasty.We can go to Dunhuang of Gansu Province to enjoy them.
Picture 3:This is a skull of a Peking ape-man,living in the Stone Age.Archaeologists found it in Zhoukou of Beijing.We may go to the Chinese History Museum to see it.
Picture 4:This is a work of coloured pottery.The persons were performing acrobatics.It was made in the Han Dynasty and unearthed in Luoyang of Henan Province.Luoyang is the place where you can enjoy the work of coloured pottery.
CStep Ⅳ Listening
T:Now,let’s do some listening.Look at the Listening part at Page 74.Listen to the tape carefully and try to make a drawing of the tool.
(Teacher plays the tape for the students to listen for the first time.After that,give the students one or two minutes to draw it.If they have some difficulty with it,play the tape again and stop where there are important information related to the drawing.At last,check the drawing with the whole class.)
T:Good.Now,let’s go on with the exercises in Listening.Please listen to the tape again and then finish Ex.2 and 3 in turn.
(Teacher plays it again and gives the students enough time to write down some important information.Finally check the answers with the whole class.After that,let the students discuss Ex.4 in groups of four and check them.)
CStep Ⅴ Speaking
T:OK.In our daily life,we often come across the topic that we’re interested in and we’re anxious to get some information about it.In order to get some suggestions from others,how do you express your curiosity?Now, look at the screen.These are very useful expressions.You should remember them and use them freely.
(Teacher shows the following on the screen.)
I wonder what/who…
I really want to know…
I’m curious to…
I’d love to know…
I wonder if/whether…
What I’d really like to find out is…
I’m curious about…
I’d like to know more about…
(Teacher goes through the useful expressions with the whole class.)
T:Now,let’s listen to a dialogue between Student A and Student B.Student A talks about a topic he/she is interested in,while Student B gives suggestions.
(Teacher plays the tape for the students.After that,teacher says the following.)
T:Well,open your books and turn to Page 74.Look at Speaking.Please underline the sentences used to express curiosity.After a while.I’ll ask one of you to read out the sentences.Do you understand?
Ss:Yes.
T:(After a while)Have you finished?(Ss:Yes.)Any volunteer?
S12:I’d like to know more about…
I wonder what…
I’d love to know…
What I’d really like to find out is…
T:Quite right.Please practise the dialogue with your partner for a while.After that,I’ll ask some pairs to act out the dialogue before the class.Is that clear?
Ss:Yes.
(Several minutes later,teacher asks some pairs to act out the dialogue before the class.)
T:Thank your for your excellent performances.
CStep Ⅵ Practice
T:Now,let’s do some speaking practice.Work in pairs or groups and talk about archaeological finds,such as artefacts,tombs or unearthed towns.You can use the expressions we learnt just now to help you carry out the task of speaking.Five minutes later,I’ll ask some pairs to perform their dialogues before the class.
One possible dialogue:
A:Hi!Jack.Have you heard of the Sanxingdui Ruins Site?
B:Yes.It’s in Guanghan of Sichuan Province.
A:I want to know when it was discovered?
B:In the spring of 1929.
A:Can you tell me who found it?
B:Yes.It’s a farmer’s son who found it.
A:I’m curious about how he found it.
B:He found it by chance.When he and his father were working in the field,he dug up a round piece of jade.Then they found a hole filled with more than 400 jade objects.
A:Oh,so strange!What I’d really like to know is what effects its discovery will have on the study of Chinese history and culture.
B:I think it must have important effects.It is said that it has become one of the cultural relics of the world.
A:Great!I’d like to know more about it.
B:You can surf the Internet or go to visit it yourself.
CStep Ⅶ Summary and Homework
T:In this class,we’ve talked about archaeological discoveries and learnt about the life of people during the different periods.We’ve also done some listening practice and speaking practice.In the Speaking part,we’ve mainly learnt to express curiosity using the useful expressions.These expressions are:I wonder what/who…I’m curious to…I wonder if…(Teacher writes them on the blackboard.)After class,practise them more.Besides,remember to prepare for the next period.OK.That’s all.Class is over.
CStep Ⅷ The Design of the Writing on the Blackboard
Unit 20 Archaeology
The First Period
Useful Expressions:
I wonder what/who…
I really want to know…
I’m curious to…
I’d love to know…
I wonder if/whether…
What I’d really like to find out is…
I’m curious about…
I’d like to know more about…
CStep Ⅸ Record after Teaching