Unit 19 Modern Agriculture
I. 单元教学目标
Talk about modern agriculture and the effects it has on people’s life
Practise giving advice and making decisions
Learn to use “it” for emphasis.
Learn to read statistical graphs.
Write a plan for a vegetable garden
II. 目标语言
功能句式
1. Giving advice and making decisions
You’d better…
In my opinion, you should…
You need to…
If I were you, I’d …
Shall we…?
What/ How about…?
Why don’t you…?
Why not…?
As far as I can see, the best thing would be…
Wouldn’t it be better if…?
I think he’s right…
We have to make a choice / decision.
The other idea sounds better to me.
2. Intensions and plans
I’ll…
I’m going to…
I’d like to…
I want to…
I’d rather …
I’m ready to…
I’m thinking of…
I don’t want to…
I won’t …
重点词组
1. over the years
2. in early times
3. be used for
4. farming technique
5. make use of
6. allow sb. to do sth.
7. bring in
8. in the 1980s
9. be harmful to
10. be friendly to
11. depend on
12. as well as
13. not…but…
14. be protected from
15. no matter
16. be different from
17. stand for
18. in other words
19. get ripe
20. have a long history
21. a variety of
22. have a long history
23. research into
24. advice on
25. the following subject
26. at the right time of year
27. go against
28. year after year
29. pass on
30. from generation to generation
语法结构
it形成的强调结构
佳句记忆
1. It is on this arable land that the farmers produce food for the whole population of China.
2. To make as much use of the land as possible, two or more crops are planted each year where possible.
3. It was from the early 1990s that scientists started to develop new techniques to increase agricultural production without harming the environment.
4. New techniques should increase agricultural production but also be friendly to the environment.
5. Future agriculture should depend on high technology as well as traditional methods.
6. Not only is food production important but also taking care of the environment.
7. The temperature is controlled with computers, no matter how the weather is outside.
III. 课时分配
Period 1：Listening
Period 2：Reading --- Modern Agriculture
Period 3：Speaking
Period 4: Language study & grammar
Period 5: Integrating skills
Period 6: test of the unit
Period 7: check the test and evaluate students’ writing
IV. 分课时教案
Period 1 listening
(ppt. listening)
Teaching Aims:
1. To get students familiar with some words about agriculture
2. To practise getting details from listening
Teaching steps:
Step 1 Pre-listening
1. Brainstorm: What comes into your mind when you hear the word “agriculture”?
(possible answer: farmer, land, soil, farm, tractor, vegetable, wheat, rice, irrigation, to plant, fertilizer, harvest, pest, weed killer, seed, to water, fruit, livestock, dike etc.)
Introduce the words fertilizer and dike to the students.
2. Match the words with the pictures to get students well prepared before doing the listening comprehension.
Step 2 While-listening
1. Read some statements about agriculture and guess whether they are right or not according to your knowledge.
2. First listening – Listen to the passage and find out the subjects which are talked about.
3. True or False
4. Second listening – Listen to the passage again and complete the sentences by using your own words.
Step 3 Post-listening
There are some sentences in the passage worth remembering. Please pay attention to them.
Good sentences for you to remember:
1) Farming and nature are like two flowers on the same tree.
2) When farming goes against nature, all kinds of environmental problems are the result.
3) Agriculture in this way destroys nature and results in floods and droughts.
4) They built dikes around the fields turning the fields into fish ponds.
Step 4 Listening on WB
1. Look at the picture and guess what the passage is probably about by answering three questions.
2. First listening – Listen and complete the passage. (Perhaps listen to the passage for twice is more appropriate. Pair work is permitted if necessary.)
3. Second listening – listen and answer the questions.
Homework:
1. Learn the new words by yourselves with the help of your dictionary.
2. P47 Word Study
Period 2 Reading
(ppt. reading)
Teaching Aims:
1. To make students know how to read statistical graphs.
2. To enable the students to read through and understand the given materials.
3. To enlarge students’ general knowledge about agriculture, its history and recent technological development.
Teaching Steps:
Step 1 Pre-reading
1. Discuss about the questions on page 43 about the graph to make students know how to read statistic information and think about the change of agricultural produce over the years.
2. Look at some picture and try to describe them. Some useful words can be given to help the students. Then ask the students to classify the pictures into a) Traditional farming b) Modern farming c) Hi-tech farming
3. Questions:
What’s the difference between traditional farming and modern farming?
What to you think the reading passage is about according to its title?
Step 2 While-reading
1. Read the passage quickly and finish Ex 1 on page 46.
2. Read the passage more carefully to find out what each paragraph is about.
3. Ask students to pay attention to the structure of the passage which is very useful for their own writing.
Part I an outline of Chinese agriculture
Part II The new development of Chinese agriculture
Part III the future development of Chinese agriculture
4. Answer the following questions:
1) What does the writer mean by saying “It is on this arable land that the farmers produce food for the whole population of China.”?
2) What does the writer what to tell us by saying “Not only is food production important but also taking care of the environment.”?
3) What do you think the future of Chinese agriculture will be like?
Step 3 Post-reading
Look at some pictures of GM produce and discuss about the advantages and disadvantages of GM.
Homework:
1. Read the passage and find some good sentences.
2. P108 Vocabulary Ex 1 & 3.
3. Writing assignment:
You have just had a heated discussion with your classmates on the advantages and disadvantages of GM food. Please write about your discussion and also your own opinion.
Period 3 Speaking
(ppt. speaking)
Teaching Aims:
1. To practise giving advice and making decisions
2. To encourage and enable students to invent their own ideas on a specific subject and give reasons
Teaching Steps:
Step 1 Lead-in
1. Show a picture of a farm to the students and ask them if they are the owner of the farm, what they would like to do with it. ( Their answers may be some items like growing crops, growing vegetables, growing cash crops, growing trees, raising livestock, fishery, etc)
2. Students work in groups and discuss about the advantages and disadvantages of the raised items.
Step 2 Speaking
1. Introduce a group of farmers who have been given a large piece of land. Together with the village leader, they have to decide how to use the land. Each of them has different idea.
2. Question: What expressions do we normally use to lead a discussion, participate in a discussion, express agreement and express disagreement?
3. Role play: Students work in groups of five and each of them will play one of the roles and give their own opinions. After the role play, the village leader will give a report. ( Students can refer to Page 44 & the useful expressions mentioned just now)
4. Presentation:
A. Several groups will present the process of their discussion.
B. Group leaders will report the result of the discussion of their group.
Homework:
Writing assignment:
Suppose you are one of the four villagers and will talk about your opinion towards the piece of land in the village meeting. Please write a passage that you think can make the villagers support you. (Words: 100-120)
Period 4 Language Points and Grammar
(ppt. Unit 19 Language points )
(ppt. Unit 19 Grammar)
Teaching Aims:
1. To make students grasp the language points of this unit and know how to use them.
2. To analyze the use of “it” for emphasis
Teaching Steps:
Step 1 Language Points:
1. 介词over 表示时间的用法
2. 动名词作定语表示用途的用法
3. 认识强调句
4. to make use of的用法
5. 省略形式where possible
6. to bring in的用法
7. be harmful to 的用法
8. depend on的用法
9. as well as的用法
10. Not only … but also…用于句首时的倒装问题
11. not…but…的用法
12. hang的用法
13. protected from的用法
14. no matter 的应用
15. “的”的英文译法
Step 2 Grammar
(ppt. Unit 19 Grammar)
Homework:
1. P47 Ex 1, Ex 2.
2. P109 Vocabulary Ex 2, Grammar Ex 1-3
Period 5 Integrating Skills
( ppt. integrating skills)
Teaching Aims:
1. To enable students to know about Jia Sixie and his ideas about farming and gardening.
2. To help students to work out a plan for a vegetable garden.
Teaching Steps:
Step 1 Pre-reading
1. Show the pictures of four seasons in a year and ask students whether what farmers should do in different seasons.
2. Question: Do you know any early agricultural scientists in China?
Step 2 While-reading
1. Listen to the first two paragraph and learn the information about Jia Sixie and his famous works Qimin Yaoshu.
2. Read the third paragraph and fill in the form with the information given.
Step 3 Post-reading
Matching game:
Imagine that you are to plant something in your vegetable garden. What will you do in every month? Please match the months with the things to be done.
(This activity can be done in to ways:
You can have every student have a complete form and let them work in groups to get the answer.
You can also cut the months and things to do into separate pieces and give the scattered paper to every group and let them finish the matching game. The quickest one, of course, is the winner. This one is more challenging and needs more time.)
January A. We have to plough the land for the first time. The ploughing has to be done deep. Spread manure and old leaves on the land and plough them under.
February B. We should harvest green peppers and tomatoes before the cold winter comes. Water and weed the crops that were planted in August.
March C. We should buy enough seed to plant for two or three crops. Check the condition of the soil. Improve it if it’s not good enough. Put manure and dead leaves on the land if you didn’t do it in November. Get the seedbeds ready for growing plants such as tomato, pepper and eggplant.
April D. We should plant the seedbeds. Prepare the land for planting. Let sheep or cows walk on the land. Prepare seeds for planting in April.
May E. We should plant beans, corn, eggplant, peas, peppers, tomatoes and watermelons. Remove weeds and grass.
June F. We have to harvest vegetables such as beans and peas. Prepare the land for planting new crops. Take care of irrigation.
July G. we have to plant broccoli, cabbage, carrots and onions. Make sure to water the plants enough. Harvest ripe fruit and vegetables.
August H. We should give some attention to the early-planted seedbeds. Add a little fertilizer to the young plants. Plough the land a second time to prepare it for the warm-season vegetables.
September I. We should make a plan for our vegetable garden for next year. Check the seeds left over. Repair tools and make a list of new tools to buy.
October J. We should make a plan for the crops we want to plant in autumn. Fight drought with enough irrigation of the land. Remove weeds. Plant second crops of tomatoes, corn and beans.
November K. We have to watch out fro insects. Fight against insects and disease when you see them. Water the plants when needed. Build a frame of wood or bamboo for beans to climb on.
December L. The last crops are harvested. Put dead plants, old leaves and other materials together. Store animal manure for use as fertilizer next year. Start thinking about your garden plans for next year.
Keys: January--C; February – D; March-H; April-E; May-K; June-F; July –J; August-G; September – B; October-L; November-A; December – I.
Step 4 Writing
Read the passage about kiwi fruit on page 112. Ask students what it is mainly about. Then ask students to write a short essay introducing a kind of fruit or vegetable as their homework. The questions on page 112 can be referred to.
Homework:
1. Write an essay introducing a kind of fruit or vegetable.
2. P111 Reading