Урок-конференція "Ecological Problems of Our Planet"

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Урок-конференція "Ecological Problems of Our Planet" спрямований на розвиток комунікативних навичок, критичного мислення, спонукає учнів алізувати критичну екологічну ситуацію на планеті та причини,що призвели до катаклізмів.

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УРОК-КОНФЕРЕНЦІЯ

LEVEL B1

Topic: ECOLOGICAL PROBLEMS OF OUR PLANET

Objectives:

to develop critical thinking skills;
to improve reading and speaking skills;
to broaden students’ outlook;
to foster the desire to lead a healthy way of life saving our planet clean;

Learning outcomes:

At the end of the lesson learners will be able to:

speak exchanging opinions;
analyze and compare the situation;

Equipment: SB Kalinina L.V., Samoilyukevych I.V. Your English Self,11, pictures of disasters, slides, diagrams, students’ drawings, sheets of paper with information, IT.

PROCEDURE OF THE LESSON

I. INTRODUCTION

1.Greeting

T: Good morning, students. Our lesson is devoted to ecological problems of our planet and industrial disasters which cause a great damage. Today we are going to speak, read and discuss the future of our planet. The epigraphs of this conference are:

“Look after this planet , it is the only one we have.”(Prince Philip of Britain, the president of the World Wide Fund for Nature)

“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's greed.”
( Mahatma Gandhi).

“Modern technology Owes ecology An apology”. (Alan M. Eddison)

II. MAIN PART:

1. Speaking.

T: People have always polluted their surroundings. But until now pollution was not such a serious problem. In past most people lived in uncrowded rural areas and didn’t have pollution-causing machines. But with the development of crowded industrial cities the problem of pollution has become more important. Using automobiles and other machines made pollution steadily worse. Since the 1950’s people have become alarmed with the danger of environmental pollution. Air, water, and soil are necessary for existence of all living things. But polluted air can cause illness, and even death. Polluted water kills fish and other marine life. On polluted soil, food products can’t be grown. In addition environmental pollution spoils the natural beauty of our planet. The world is not only beautiful, but also everything is connected on the Earth. The harmony is the main feature of our life and if the harmony exists we can live happily. But the situation is not perfect now. There are many problems that we can’t but discuss. Let’s start our conference.

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S1: Ecological problems of the modern world are becoming more and more public and this is the reason why ecology has become very much “public term” despite of its originally scientific character. Literally the word ‘ecology’ means “a study of home”. One definition given by The American Heritage Dictionary is “the study of the detrimental effects of modern civilization on the environment with a view toward prevention or reversal through conservation”. Simply put, ecology means discovering what damage man has done and then finding ways to fix it. The term “ecology” was used for the first time in 1866 by German biologist Ernst Heinrich Haeckel , and its root in Greek word “oikos” (house ) which is completely exact root as of the word economy which would imply studying of economy in nature. Modern ecology is generally connected with Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution and natural selection where Darwin pointed the firm connection between animals and their natural habitats. But many people think that Earth has just one purpose, namely to satisfy their needs.

S2: The biggest pollutions on our planet are the result of fossil fuels use. Modern society is simply unthinkable without gasoline, oil and coil, as they are dominating industrial world. The governments of rich states instead turning to alternative energy resources like wind energy, sun energy and geothermal energy are still more focused on decreasing the pollution caused by the use of fossil fuels rather than the search for acceptable alternatives. Also, alternative energy resources are only used in rich countries in order to decrease the pollution in their own lands. To make things even more worse, rich countries transfer their own dirty industries to poor countries that do not have nor the appropriate knowledge nor the means to even think about ecology. People still do not have so much needed ecological conscience and do not see that they are only ones responsible for salvation of our planet.

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S3: Our mother Earth was born more than 4,5 billion years ago, and took more than billion years after her birth for life to appear. These were very simple organisms but extremely important as they started evolution of life. As a result of this evolution humans came along, or more precise version modern humans first appeared in Africa about 200,000 years ago.

S4: It did not take long for humans to become primary force on Earth. Humans thought that fast developing science and industrial progress would be enough to substitute the nature. We were born in nature, and we belong to nature, we are in fact children of the nature just like all other living species on our planet. But unlike the other species that live on our beautiful planet we are ungrateful children.

We were the ones chosen by the nature, chosen to receive the gift of reason, gift that should not only help us by making our life easier, but also the gift to separate right from wrong. With such big gift, we also received the big responsibility, a big duty to ensure survival of all life on Earth.

All of the sudden we were victims of our greed that drives our entire society and threatens the survival of all life on our planet. Our life depends upon the life of our planet. Our planet is our only home, and if we destroy it, we will also destroy ourselves.

S5: The concept of life on our beautiful planet is so simple, and yet so efficient. One life in order to survive needs another life and all living species are members of the perfectly designed “circle of life ”. Our role in this circle of life carries the great responsibility since humans have enough power to destroy the balance of this unique system. We can choose to close our eyes but that will not change the picture we manage to create. This sad picture is nothing but the reflection of our reality. The condition of our planet is currently reflects condition of our conscience and our moral. What has happened to us? Has money become only thing we really think about?

The right answer to this question can be found in the latest oil prices. Newspapers, TV, internet, they all write stories about the skyrocketing oil prices like this is the biggest catastrophe of all time. “Who cares about pollution and global warming – just give us some cheap oil and we’ll all be satisfied ” is the living credo of many people .

Who cares about future generations? But not only care about future generations but also for millions of people that die because of hunger each year. And things will only become worse because new negative trend was born, trend to transform food into the fuel , trend of biofuels. People across the world die of hunger and rich states transform food into the fuel. If people treat other people on this way then how can we expect better treatment for our mother Earth?

S6: We live in the time of the worst crisis in the history of humanity . So many people in this world live in hunger and poverty, but we try not to look at them and their problems. We are not worried with other people problems , and though we have enough, we are always hungry for more. This uncontrolled hunger for more is the main reason why the word ecology is today used only in negative context. Our greedy nature of always wanting more has put aside ecology and environment in the name of progress and almighty dollar.

T: And now let’s talk about the most important problem of nowadays – global warming.

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S7: Global temperatures this year are about 1.2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial ones—dangerously close to the warming limit of 1.5C that politicians hope to achieve, as agreed during last year’s round of talks in Paris. Particular hot spots include Arctic regions, which are heating up at twice the rate of the rest of the world. While a single degree’s shift in temperature may have noticeable effects at the equator, in the Arctic it changes ice to water, totally altering the landscape. Once more sea-ice levels in the region remained worryingly low this year. In the early part of 2016 the climate phenomenon El Niño, which affects sea temperature in the tropical Pacific and thus rainfall patterns around the world, explained much of the global heat. Some scientists believe the event may also mean that the world’s plants have become a less potent carbon sink than in recent years. This is another unwelcome switch. Rising concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are warming the world apace. As of this year, levels of carbon dioxide are unlikely to dip below 400 parts per million until technologies to suck the stuff out of the atmosphere are deployed at scale. Millions of years have passed since the last time the concentration was this high. The weather is really changing. These weather changes are evidence of global warming – the so-called greenhouse effect run amok . Explains the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency :”The greenhouse effect is the rise of temperature that the Earth experiences because certain gases in the atmosphere trap energy from the Sun . Without these gases , heat would escape back into space and Earth’s average temperature would be about 33F° colder .”

S8: Ecological problems are today far more serious than ever before , and we simply have to do more than hope that these problems will simply go away after some time . Hope won’t be sufficient this time around , mainly because these problems now occur on global level . Global ecological problems require global action , action of the whole world. Can this happen?

2. Discussing.

T: And now let’s discuss some ecological problems and listen to our pupils’ thoughts .

S1: Let me start this talk. In the first place, there are many occasions for talking about nature and the weather. They include anxiety and fear due to grave situations caused by rainstorms, floods, severe winds, and thunderstorms all over the world. These two grave phenomenon (weather and nature) are inseparably connected with problems all over the world. Horrible weather carries grave disasters to people. The worst thing is the helplessness of people to solve these burning problems and to prevent disaster .

S2: Oh, excuse me for interrupting you, but you were speaking in such a way as if weather were the end of the world. If I listened to all of the news that happened in the world, I would get crazy. Therefore, I propose that we change the subject and speak about more pleasant and better things .

S3: I agree with you to some extent. Of course it is possible to speak about pleasant things connected with weather and nature. But we can’t be indifferent to the greenhouse effect and pretend that global warming is not taking place on our planet. It has become a matter of grave concern to people all over the world. Such grave concern is precisely explained by the severe rainstorms, caused by global warming, that cause train (car, bus) accidents that injure a lot of people in different countries. Severe rain also causes mudslides and flooding. Floods can lead to drowning, homes being ruined, and possibly diseases.

S4: Taking into consideration the pupils’ statements I came to the conclusion that the catastrophic floods and severe storms prove that they are the consequences of global warming.

S5: I also want to add a few facts concerning this matter. Some scientists believe that there are explosions in the sun that cause magnet storms. Such magnet storms can influence a person’s health.

S6: What is happening on our planet? Fortunately in the central part of Ukraine the weather is rather calm. But the western part of Ukraine undergoes floods. Especially in spring when the Danube River floods due to severe rains.

S7: Yes, you are right. Many newspapers, TV programs, and radio stations give wide coverage of the events connected with weather forecasting, the sun and global warming. It seems unthinkable that in the North Pole the Arctic ice is melting. The greenhouse effect is the rise of the temperature that the Earth experiences because certain gases in the atmosphere (water , vapor , carbon dioxide , nitrous oxide and methane) trap energy from the Sun. Without these gases, heat would escape back into space and Earth’s average temperature would be about 33 degrees Fahrenheit colder .

S8: Climate change is the most talked about ecological issue in the last decade. Many scientists agree that climate change is inevitable, and that we are no longer able to stop global warming. The only thing we could do is to adapt, and to make sure we do not make things even worse. The future outlook doesn’t look good, and scientists predict floods, droughts, rising sea levels, and extinction of many animals as the worst climate change consequences .

Many scientists agree that only chance to prevent the worst possible climate change scenario is to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions on global level. Our industries and economies are based on fossil fuels , and fossil fuel burning is the main source of carbon emissions on our planet . In order to cut our dependence on fossil fuels we would need a quick development of clean, renewable energy sources but this sadly doesn’t look like happening any time soon. Will climate change leave us enough time for transistion to renewable energy ?

Difficult to tell, but if temperatures continue current warming trend at one time we will pass the point of no return, and we will not be able to prevent the worst of climate change. Many scientists are convinced that if we fail to significantly reduce emissions in the next few decades , we will see this point of no return very soon, even before the end of this century. World leaders still fail to find a mutual language when discussing climate change issue , and each country wants to promote its own interests before and against the global interests. In such atmosphere new climate change deal is impossible and this was clearly shown last year in Copenhagen.

The stakes are really high , and yet the politicians continue to gamble with our planet’s health like this is some stock on the market. This needs to change very soon .

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S9: Ecological problems like climate change, deforestation, endangered animals, and different forms of pollution are causing great damage to our environment. Each new day means more negative reports about damage that has been done to our environment, and yet so few people take this problems seriously. Why is that? I believe this has to with the lack of ecological conscience. In this world everything is about money and making profit, and economy doesn’t seem to fit into such concept so very few people think about it.

People seem to be only thinking about damage that is done to our environment once world becomes witness to some huge environmental disaster, the fresh example to this of course the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that is getting lot of media attention. What is wrong with us? Do we really have to wait for worst to happen before being able to think straight? Sadly, the answer to this question may indeed be yes, and climate change definitely supports this thesis. Imagine this, thousands of scientists across the globe have warned world leaders that they need to act immediately to stop further strengthening of climate change impact by drastically reducing carbon emissions on global level, and still there is no new climate deal .

In politics everything is about interests, money and power, and neither of the big players wants to make the exception, and show the world that global interests are more important than individual benefits. United States are afraid that they will lose their dominant position in the world as the world’s top economy, China fears that new climate deal might jeopardize its tremendous economic development , and so on .

S10: As you can see it’s all about economy and industry. Ecological problems are closely connected with industrial disasters. Industrial disasters are the disasters caused by industrial companies either by accident, negligence or incompetence and which are a form of industrial accident where great damage, injury or loss of life are caused. Many technological disasters have marked the XX century. Minamata in Japain (1953), Three Mile Island in the USA (1979), Bhopal in India (1984), Chernobyl in Ukraine (1986) and the Fukusima Daiichi nuclear disaster (2011) permanently disrupted the lives of population and changed their environment. The Chernobyl Nuclear disaster is widely considered to have been the worst power plant accident in history, and is one of only two classified as a level 7 event on the International Nuclear Event Scale (the other being the Fukushima, Daiichi disaster in 2011). The battle to contain the contamination and avert a greater catastrophe ultimately involved over 500,000 workers and cost an estimated 18 billion rubles. The radioactive cloud, which was formed as a result of the disaster covered not only Ukraine, but other countries: Russia, Belarus, Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, Great Britain and eastern parts of the USA. The long term effects of Nuclear disasters can often spread over thousands of years. It is estimated that Chernobyl won’t be inhabited for at least another 20,000 years.

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Despite the threat of Nuclear disasters, believe it or not, Nuclear Power Plants are prominent and provide approximately 5.7% of the world’s energy and 13% of the world’s electricity. With 437 Nuclear Power Plants worldwide, there are bound to be incidents every now and again. Small incidents occur and can be rectified, but when there are large incidents, the impact can often be catastrophic.

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S11: The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster was a series of equipment failures, nuclear meltdowns and releases of radioactive materials at the Fukushima, Nuclear Power Plant, following the Tohoku Tsunami on 11 March, 2011. It is the largest nuclear disaster since the Chernobyl disaster of 1986 and only the second disaster (along with Chernobyl) to measure Level 7 on the INES.

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S12: On January 28, 1986 the morning sky of Florida was illuminated by a horrible explosion. It was the explosion of the space shuttle. Why did it happen?

It was meant to be one of the routine space flights. In previous years “Challenger” flew on 85% of all space shuttle missions. “Challenger’s ” many spaceflights accomplishment included the first American woman, African-American in space; three Spacelab missions; and the first night launch and night landing of a space shuttle.

This time the crew had to launch a new sputnik to make some experiments on board a space ship.

Lots of spectators and journalists were looking forward to watching a spectacular show of the space flight. It was a very exciting moment and nobody could even think that in a few seconds after the rocket’s launching there will be a terrible explosion, which will cause the death of all the space crew.

Challenger was destroyed in the second minute of the orbiter’s tenth mission.

This disaster stopped the development of American space program for years. Though the presidential Commission on the space Shuttle Challenger accidents reviewed in detail, all available data, reports and records, directed and supervised numerous tests, analyses and experiments by NASA and developed the range of most possible causative factors, the human’s kindhearted attitude to space research vanished for ever. America was shocked. The country made 55 successful flights and their safe landing were taken for granted. By 1977 the first space shuttle was launched, and by the mid 1980’s trips into space were so common as to be boring. This tragic explosion of the space shuttle not only froze any new space programs for many years, but along with the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in the same year made Americans doubt for the first time the power of science.

S13: There was another environmental disaster. The Transocean rig Deepwater Horizon exploded on April 20, 2010 and sank on April 22 resulting in an oil leak spotting as much as 50000 barrels of oil a day. Besides, the oil slicks on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, which is visible from space and presents an acute hazard to fish, turtles, marine mammals and birds.

Scientists say there are under water plumes that could decimate ocean life from the surface to a depth of one mile where the broken well is found. The “British Petroleum” spill is considered the world’s largest accidental oil release into marine waters. Oil field engineering companies have deployed four remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) to the wellhead about 5000 feet below the ocean surface. While ROVs have been used by the oil and gas industry for more than 30 years, this particular mission is highly complex due to the great depth of the wellhead, as well as the first of its kind.

The environmental, social, economic and political fallout from the spill are difficult to predict, but could be long-lasting. Looking for the future, some seafood production in the US could be halved; fish, turtle, marine mammals and bird life could be significantly harmed by the oil spill; and the spill itself could spread far up the East coast after it is caught in the Gulf of Mexico loop current.

S14: Current situation with our planet is more serious than ever before in our history. World is today facing a battle against variety of different ecological problems, and the worst thing is that we are still not prepared enough to win this battle. Why aren’t we still prepared? Mostly because many think there is still enough time left to think of possible solutions . Modern world is really modern in lot of things but when it comes to ecology not much has changed in the last 300 years, ecology is still miles behind economy, and almighty dollar still rules the world .

Thing that frightens me the most is not really the fact that there are so many ecological problems, what really frightens me is the fact that all these problems are closely connected and that we cannot solve one by one. It’s really all or nothing situation? Why is that? It is because humans are responsible for all these problems , we are really origin of all ecological problems .

S15: Forests, especially rainforests are not only home for many unique animals and plants but they also protect us from stronger global warming impact by absorbing carbon dioxide from atmosphere. Deforestation has become big problem around the globe because many forests are being cleared to make room for new farms, and less trees means more impact to global warming and climate change. Not only this, deforestation is also responsible for about 20% 0f total CO2 emissions from human activities. To save our planet we definitely need to save our forests .

Current rates of deforestation are alarming in many parts of the world, and if this trend continues many forests and rainforests will vanish by the end of this century. Millions hectares of forests are being cleared annually, and deforestation is with no doubt one of the biggest ecological problems world is facing today. Rainforests have the richest biodiversity on our planet, but if current rates of deforestation continue many animals and plants will perish from existence. Just imagine, in less than 100 years we could destroy what nature was developing for millions of years. What an irony this would be …

S16: The problems of climate change is also connected with forests and deforestation. Deforestation is responsible for 20% of total CO2 emissions, and if world really plans to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation will have to be stopped immediately. Forests have natural ability to act as a carbon sink and can slow down increase of CO2 emission into the atmosphere which can be our strong weapon against global warming. The more forests remain the stronger we are in fight against global warming .

Sadly, many people around the world are still unaware of how important forests really are despite the climate change problem knocking on our door. Many people still do not care whether we’ll protect our forests and stop deforestation or not. Public awareness is still not on sufficient level , and this has to change as soon as possible. World needs to hear sad truth about our forests and do everything to stop deforestation. Without our forests, our defense against global warming and climate change will be completely broken. It is really time to wake up from this nightmare, and do everything that is in our power to secure sweet dreams for our future generations.