9.1 Energy around us!

UNIT 9

What’s the weather like?

How are the characters in the sketch feeling? Why?
Which of the following do you see in the sketch: oil spill, drought,

volcanic eruption, flood, melting ice?

With your partner, decide on a suitable title for this picture.
What is causing drought and flooding in different parts of the world? Discuss your

answers in small groups and compare your ideas with the class. Make a list of other
problems caused by climate change.

Topic	What’s the weather like?
	Grammar	Using Reported speech
	Reading Skills	Skimming through a text and make brief notes to report to a group ing Matching photographs to text
	Listening Skills	Predicting what the speaker is going to say Listening for specific words
	Writing Skills	Writing a report of events
	Functions	Reporting facts
	Vocabulary	Weather, climate, energy sources; environmental damage, power resources and energy consumption

Strategies:	I can write a text and expand it by giving examples, explanations and personal evaluation of how I feel about the situation I can talk about people and places in a picture I can report what somebody said

Lesson 1

AIMS

To provide opportunities to discuss energy
sources and possible solutions.
To skim through a text and make brief
notes to report to a group.

Lead-in
Task 1

A.	With your partner, look at the picture below. Which sources of energy from those in the box can you find? Match them with numbers 1-6.

B.	How are these sources of energy used in the picture?

Sources of energy
sun (solar)
wind (Aeolian)
steam
gas
petrol
biomass
sugar cane
water

Task 2

A. Use your ideas from Task 1 to choose the right option in the statements below.

Underground water from a geyser is used to make (steam / tea / wind).
The gerbil spins a wheel to produce (steam / chemical energy / electricity)
(Solar / Wind / Water) panels on the scoreboard collect energy and convert it into electricity.
The wind moves the windmill which produce (gas / fuel / electricity) to operate a water pump.
Organic material in the garden produces (thermal / heat / solar) energy as well as methane gas.

B.	In pairs, use the words in the sentences above to help you make one more statement about an energy source in the picture

(e.g. Electricity is produced by a windmill).

Energy around us!

Speaking

Task 3

A.	With your partner, discuss which source of energy (wind, wave, sun, fossil fuels) you could use if you lived:

i) on a Greek island?
ii) in the mountains in Greece?
iii) in a big city?
iv) in a small town?

Example: In Tinos, wind can be used as a source of energy, because Tinos is a very windy

place and wind power is environmentally friendly.

B.	With your partner, think of the advantages and disadvantages of using each of the above sources of energy. Think about: how renewable each one is; how environmentally friendly it is; the cost; the problems.

Reading

Task 1 - Pre-reading

i) What is the main element in hydro-power?
ii) Why does Iceland only have a few hours of
sunlight everyday in the winter months?
iii) Which of the following would you NOT
expect to see on a farm in India? Why?
a) gas lamp b) wood c) computer

Task 2

In an international project, schoolchildren were asked to send in letters and

pictures that describe how energy sources are used in their community and the

impact on the environment and their lives. In groups of three, choose one of the

texts A, B or C and skim quickly through it to find the energy sources mentioned.

Then report back to your group.

A.
Beijing bicycles
Hello! My name is Jiang An Li. I live with my mum and dad in Beijing, which is the

capital of our country. Because the streets are polluted from the cars, mum says that

everyone should go on bicycles because then the air would be cleaner.
When I asked her how this could happen, she said that the government should ban all

cars. When I don't have school or things to do around the house, I go for a ride on the bike

with my sister and friends.
Our electricity comes from a power station outside Beijing that burns coal. This makes

the air very dirty, but at least it's not in our house. In Shanghai people also have electricity,

but it comes from hydro-power. The hydro-power comes from the water falling over the big

Three Gorges dam, which has been built across the Yangtze River.

Draw a line to match each photograph with the corresponding part of the text.

Lesson 1

B
Boiled alive!
Hello! My name is Brynja. I live in the capital of Iceland. In winter we have only four
hours of daylight. When my cousin from Spain visited us last year he said it felt strange to
have the lights on during the day. He told me that in Spain people used solar power to heat
their houses and for showers. The water for the shower in our house comes from
underground, where it gets heated by lava. The pipes sometimes freeze because of the low
temperatures and we have no hot or cold water.
This water also bubbles up and fills the lakes and ponds. In winter, the water is really
hot, so we can go swimming. We all love to spend our free time in this way. My mum asked
me if I wanted to go swimming this afternoon at an outdoor pool. Of course, I agreed. As
for public transport here, our new buses run on electricity instead of petrol and they don't
produce exhaust fumes. It is much cleaner than the combustion engine which runs on fossil
fuels like petrol.

Draw a line from the photographs to the corresponding parts of the text.

C.
An Indian summer
Hello, my name is Lalita. I live in India. Our farm is miles away from everywhere and
we use a horse-driven cart to get around because we don't have a car. Travelling around
is a real problem.The capital Bombay is nearly 1,000 kilometres away. I have never been
there but my mum told me that it was a huge city. Horrible smoke and fumes come out of
the exhaust pipes of old buses and cars. This pollution is really smelly.
Although we are extremely poor, we are happy. Mum cooks in the small room using a
wood fire. We don't have enough wood to heat water to wash in, so I wash under the pump
in the yard. Dad has told us that one day he would build us a new house. Each day, after
school I collect firewood or help mum with dinner. When it gets dark we light our kerosene
lamp, which lights our room with a bright flame. Mum sings and dad tells stories.

Draw a line from the photographs to the corresponding parts of the text.

Task 3

Find the countries where the speakers live on the map.

What else do you know about these countries (e.g. famous sites and landmarks,

lifestyle, food, means of transport)? Do you know any other countries using the

same energy sources and with the same lifestyle?

Would you rather live in one of these countries or in your own? Why? Which of

these countries would you like to visit? Why? Discuss as a class.

Task 4

Complete the following chart with information from the texts.

COUNTRY	DIFFICULTIES	SOURCE OF PROBLEM	PASTIME ACTIVITY
China
Iceland
India

Greece

Energy around us!

Task 5

What's the weather like today?

A.	In pairs, look at the weather map on the right and make a short list of the information the map gives about climate. What season is it? How do you know?

...........................................................

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/

Task 6: Mini-project - Mediation

The weather in 2100

Your class is participating in a

European project to prepare a

weather forecast for 2100. Use

the weather report for Greece

on the right to help you prepare

a weather report for winter

2100. Draw a map of Greece

and add symbols for the

weather. Present your report to

the class.

Game - Chinese whispers

Αραιές νεφώσεις και μέτριες θερμοκρα-
σίες στο μεγαλύτερο μέρος της χώρας

Λίγες νεφώσεις. Η θερμοκρασία θα φτά-
σει στους 19 βαθμούς. Ασθενείς μετα-
βλητοί άνεμοι στον Σαρωνικό και τον
Νότιο Ευβοϊκό.

Λίγες νεφώσεις. Η θερμοκρασία θα φτά-
σει στους 19 βαθμούς. Ασθενείς άνεμοι
μεταβλητών διευθύνσεων στον Θερμαϊκό.

Use the completed weather map in Task 5 to make a statement about the weather in

ONE European country. Then whisper the statement to the next student. Continue

like this until all the class has passed it on it. The last student says what was said

aloud.

Example:
Student 1: It's raining in Scandanavia.
Student 2: He says that it is raining in Scandanavia.