Unit 4 Life on Mars
Reading (I)
I. Teaching aims and learning objectives By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:
1. learn about what life would be like on another planet in the future;
2. tell the differences between the life on Mars and that on Earth, talk about the advantages and disadvantages of living on Mars, and have a debate called “Life on Mars will be better than that on Earth”; 3. develop their abilities of reading, like guessing the word meanings from the context; 4. be engaged in class activities actively and improve their ability of critical thinking.
II. Teaching contents
1. New words and phrases: planet, crowded, polluted, rapid, increase, passenger, uncomfortable, oxygen, tasty,
specially, float, compare, interplanetary, network, challenging, rapidly, all over again, at a/the speed of, in the form of, compare to/with
2. New structures: Food would most probably be in the form of pills and would not be so tasty.
The gravity on Mars is only about three-eighths of that on the Earth. Compared with life on the Earth, people would have more space.
III. Focus of the lesson and predicted area of difficulty
1. To learn about what life would be like on another planet in the future. 2. To talk about the advantages and disadvantages of living on Mars and Earth.
IV. Teaching procedures Step 1 Pre-reading 1. Free talk
T: Do you know anything about Mars? S: …
T: Mars is the nearest to Earth. The surface of Mars is a little like the surface of Earth.[来源:Z§xx§k.Com] We can build a better world on Mars in the future. Do you want to live on Mars? Maybe you will be the first settlers on Mars if you’re lucky enough. 【设计意图：激活学生的背景知识，为导入火星上的生活做好铺垫。】 2. Predicting
Brainstorming: Imagine what life will be like on Mars. T: What will life be like on Mars? S: …
Food clothes Transport Life on Mars home … school[
T: You have wonderful imagination. Daniel wants to find out more about life in space in the future too. Look, he
has found an article by a famous scientist who thinks humans could live on Mars by the next century. Do you want to read it?
【设计意图：在阅读文本前，让学生充分发挥想象力，激发学生的阅读兴趣，引导学生对文本内容进行预测和思考，读前有效的预测能使学生成为积极的阅读者。】
Step 2 While-reading
1. Task One: Skim the text and get the main idea
Divide the text into four parts and get the main idea of each part. Part 1 Para 1 Problems on Earth Part 2 Paras 2-4 Life on Mars in some ways Part 3 Paras 5-6 Advantages of life on Mars Part 4 Para 7 Conclusion
【设计意图：引导学生快速浏览课文，划分段落，小组讨论，概括段落大意，从而把握文本的脉络，为理解火星上的生活做好铺垫。】
2. Task Two: Scan the article and answer some questions (1) How long does it take to fly to Mars at present? A. Hours. A. We will carry air tanks.
C. We will live in domes. (3) Will gravity be a big problem?
A. No, we will tie ourselves to the planet. C. No, we will wear special boots.
(4) How will we study, do our homework and take exams? A. We will not need to learn anything.
C. In normal schools.
(5) Will the journey to Mars be enjoyable? A. Yes, it will be very comfortable. C. No, it will be terrible. 3. Task Three: Detailed reading
Read Para 1 and answer two questions. (1) When can we live on the planet Mars? (2) Why do we need to move to Mars? Read Para 2 and fill in the blanks.
B. No, it will be very uncomfortable. B. In online schools. B. Yes, many people will get lost.
B. Months.
C. Years.
(2) How are we going to breathe on Mars?
B. Plants will produce oxygen.
at present by the year 2100
At present, spacecraft are ________ and it takes ________ to fly to Mars.
By the year 2100, they would travel at ____________ and it might take _________________. Read Paras 3 & 4 and do some T or F exercises. ( ) (1) Humans need food, water and air to survive.
( ) (2) Plants can produce oxygen and water that humans need. ( ) (3) Mars has three times the gravity of Earth.
( ) (4) People would have to wear special boots to prevent themselves floating off into space. Read Paras 3 & 4 and fill in the blanks. Disadvantages of life on Mars
(1) Meals will probably be in the form of ______ and will not be as ____ as they are today. (2) Space travel makes people feel ______ and very ______________. Read Paras 5 & 6 and fill in the blanks. Advantages of life on Mars
(1) People will have ________ space. (2) ________ will do most of our work. (3) We’ll have more time for ________. (4) Students will study in ________ schools.
【设计意图：教者希望能由问题导出文本，并引导学生结合上下文去理解生词和词组的含义，努力培养学生在真正的阅读中猜词悟义的能力。】 4. Task 4: Further thinking
T: What does the writer think of the life on Mars? S: He thinks it would be interesting as well as challenging. T: Do you agree with him? Why or why not?
【设计意图：为了培养学生的思维能力，教者设计了深层次思考的问题，引导学生立足文本、深入阅读，从而理解句子之间的逻辑关系，让学生成为阅读的积极思考者。】
Step 3 Post-reading 1. Retell the article
T: Say something about life on Mars with the help of key words
【设计意图：让学生根据关键词复述未来火星上的生活，从而进一步帮助学生抓住课文的核心内容。】 2. Group discussion
T: Work in groups and talk about advantages and disadvantages of life on Mars and Earth.
Life on Mars Advantages
1. Not crowded or polluted 2. No heavy traffic 3. Have more space 4. Robots will do our work. 5. More time for hobbies …
Disadvantages
1. Low gravity is dangerous. 2. Food is not fresh or tasty. 3. Travel will make people sick. 4. Too cold to go outside 5. Far away from friends. …
Life on Earth
译林版九年级英语下册Unit 4 Reading(I)
