Unit 3 Amazing people
Part One Teaching Design
Aims and requirements
? Read an article about a famous explorer and an article about a Chinese astronaut
? Listen to a list of requirements
? Talk about famous people and unknown places, and introduce a person
? Write a biographical article
? Interview a professional
Procedures
● Welcome to the Unit
Step 1 Brainstorming
1.?????? Some amazing people have made our world better through their thoughts and actions. Though Mother Teresa, bill Gates, Beethoven and Zhang Heng are of different times and nationalities, they all devoted themselves to their fields and contributed a lot to the world.
Here are some great people in the pictures. Do you know them? (politician, musician, painter, scientist, astronaut and so on)
?(图片略)
They are great and amazing, because they have made the world or China better and changed a lot through their thoughts and actions, as we all know. Do you know some other amazing people like them? Yes, there are many in the world. Open your books to page 41, you will find four great people here.
Though Mother Teresa, Bill Gates, Beethoven and Zhang Heng are of different times and nationalities, they all devoted themselves to their fields and contributed a lot to the world.
Discuss their achievements and express your personal opinions about who you consider heroes/heroines. Try to fully participate and actively discuss your ideas.
2. Read the instructions and focus on the four pictures. Try to think of information you know about each person. I’ll give you a brief introduction first.
We are going to talk about four persons. Though they are of different nationalities living in different times, they have a lot in common. What are the common things they share? Try to find the answers by discussing each of the four pictures with your group.
Mother Teresa
Who was Mother Teresa? How much do you know about her?
What contributions did Mother Teresa make to people?
When was she awarded the Nobel Peace Prize?
Do you think Mother Teresa set a good example for us to follow? Why?
What can you learn from Mother Teresa?
It is reported that after she died, about 400 important figures including queens, presidents, prime ministers and the former First Lady Hillary Clinton came to pay final tribute to her. Do you think she was worth respecting?
Bill Gates
Who is chairman of Microsoft Corporation and the worldwide leader in software?
Do you agree Bill Gates has had a dramatic effect on the world of computer technology? Give your reasons.
What other information have you got about him?
Bill Gates and his wife set up a foundation focusing on improving global health. Is Bill Gates one of your heroes?
Beethoven
What would our world be like if we had no music?
How about listening to a piece of music?
Are you familiar with the melody? And your feeling?
Who wrote it?
From your point of view, was Beethoven an amazing person? Was he a musician by nature?
Did Beethoven become discouraged and frustrated when he became deaf?
Do you think his role could be compared with Bill Gates?
Zhang Heng
Just now we talked about amazing people from other countries. What about the great people in our country? Have you heard of Zhang Heng?
How much do you know about him?
What do you think of his invention?
Is he worthy of being called an amazing person?
All pictures
What are the common characteristics these four people share?
What can we learn from them? Are they your heroes/heroines?
Below are some famous sayings or quotes from these famous persons. Please match them.
Beethoven Bill Gates Mother Teresa
1.?????? “One thing I love about this「decade」is this is a period where the reality is driving the expectation.”
2.?????? “…Music is neither old nor modern: it is either good or bad music, and the date at which it was written has no significance whatever. Dates and periods are of interest only to the student of musical history…”
3.?????? “The other day I dreamed that I was at the gates of heaven…And St. Peter said, “Go back to Earth, there are no slums up here.”
Keys: 1 Bill Gates 2 Beethoven 3 Mother Teresa
Step 2: Sharing information
1.?????? Three or four of you form a group and discuss the three questions please.
2.?????? Please express your opinions on the three questions, especially on Questions 2 and 3. Then talk about the effects of these people’s achievements on our lives.
Sample answers
1.?????? Yes.
2.?????? Nowadays we can do shopping at home, borrow books from the library without leaving our home and conclude transactions just by a punch of the keyboard. These may have seemed strange ten years ago, but now computers have turned them into realities.
Computers bring a lot of convenience to our daily life. With computers, we can find information we’d like to know; we can solve many complex calculations easily; we can always find solutions to difficult problems.
Because of computers, a lot of time and effort have been saved. Work is done more efficiently and communication has become much easier.
In the modern age of information, the convenience of computers is self-evident.
3.?????? Thomas Edison
During his career, Edison patented more than 1,000 inventions, including the electric light, the phonograph and the motion-picture camera. These three inventions gave rise to giant industries---electric utilities, phonograph and record companies, as well as the film industry. All these changed the work and habits of people throughout the world. During his lifetime, he received honours from all over the world.
3.?????? After class please read Part B in Reading on page 101 in Workbook as your homework to get some information about Albert Einstein, another great man.
Resources
Mother Teresa
She was born on 27 August, 1910 in what is now Skopje, Macedonia. She received the Nobel Peace Prize for her work with the poor around the world. For more information, check the following website:
http://almaz.com/nobel/peace/1979a.html
Bill Gates
He was born on 28 Oct, 1955 and grew up in Seattle. His father is a Seattle attorney while his late
mother was a teacher. He discovered his interest in software and began programming computers
at the age of 13. For more information, check the following website.
http://www.microsoft.com/billgates/bio.asp
Ludwig Van Beethoven
He was born on 17 December, 1770 in Bonn. His father and grandfather were court musicians and both influenced him a lot. He carried on the family tradition in exemplary form and became one of the world’s greatest composers. For more information, check the following website:
http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/95dec/beethoven.html
Zhang Heng
He was born at the time of the Eastern Han (sometimes called Later Han) Dynasty. He invented the first seismograph for measuring earthquakes. For more information, check the following website:
http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians /Zhang_Heng.html
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