Unit 1 Great Scientists

The 4th Period  Reading and Writing

福建省武夷山一中   杨菲   2007年8月4日

Teaching Objectives:

Through reading activities, students can consolidate some reading strategies, such as prediction, finding key words, etc; by accomplishing the persuasive writing, most students know how to find the evidence to support the ideas; after reading the passage, most of the students will be able to have a better understanding of Copernicus, his revolutionary theory and even the spirit of science.

Difficult and Important Points:

How to shift from reading to persuasive writing naturally is the most difficult and important point.

Teaching Methods:

Task-based approach; skimming and scanning methods; collaborative learning; comparative method 

Teaching aids:

Multi-media

Teaching Procedures:

Step 1 Duty report

Step 2 Warming up

Activity 1.Show the picture and key words about Copernicus to the students. Ask them try to use the key words to give a brief introduction to Copernicus.

(1473, Poland, publish, 1543, astronomer, founder, influence)

Step 3 Pre-reading

Activity 2. Look at the title of the passage and think about the Q(s).

Q1: Why did the author use the word “revolutionary” to modify Copernicus’ theory?

(Q2: Could you put the title into a proper Chinese phrase?)

Step4 Reading

Activity 3. Scan the text and try to complete the table.

                               Two Theories of the Universe

Items	Christian Church’s theory	Copernicus’ theory
Belief	____is the centre of the solar system.	_____is the centre of the solar system.
Reason	­­­­­____ had made the world and____ was special.	Only the theory could explain the changes in the _______ of the planets and the in the _______ of the stars.
Base	Subjective thought	Objective __________ and ___________

 

Activity 4. Scan the passage again and try to answer the following questions:

Q1: When did Copernicus complete his theory?

Q2: When did he publish his theory?

Step5. Post-reading

Activity 5: Discuss with partner:

Q: If you were Copernicus, would you have hidden your theory for so many years? Why? Write the reasons in Ex2.

Step6.Persuasive Writing

Activity 6. Show the requirement of the writing as well as the useful writing resources to the students. Let students suppose they are astronomy fans and want to know Copernicus’ theory eagerly, so they need to write a short letter to persuade him to publish his ideas so everyone can read them.

Writing Requirement

1.       Write within 10 minutes; 2.       Make sure your writing is in form of letter; 3.       Try to make the evidences support the reasons and in logical order.

 

Activity 7.Assessment by answering the following questions:

        Q1: Is it in the correct form of letter?

        Q2: Can the evidences support the reasons? Are they in logical order?

        Q3: If you were Copernicus, would you be persuaded by your partner’s letter?

 

Writing Plan

Beginning: Tell Copernicus who you are and why you want him to publish his ideas.(study astronomy, interested in history, fan, eagerly want) Paragraph 1: Reason 1 and evidence.( present theory, problems, in the centre of the universe, explain, changes, movements, planets, brightness, stars, necessary) Paragraph 2: Reason 2 and evidence.(carry out, observations, mathematical calculations, prove, brave, achievements, science, develop ) Summing up: Ask him to think again about publishing his ideas.( hope,wish, sincerely)

 

 

One possible version:

 

Dear Nicolaus Copernicus,

I am a student studying astronomy and I am eagerly want to read your new theory about the solar system. I hope you will publish it for several reasons.

I understand the problems with the present theory. If the earth was the centre of the universe, it was impossible to explain the changes in the movements of the planets and in the brightness of the stars. So I agree with you that we need a new theory.        

I know you have carried out your observations and mathematical calculations carefully over many years. Now you are supposed to be brave enough to publish your ideas. Science can never advance unless people have the courage of their beliefs. I know you worry about what will happen if you publish your new theory. No matter how people oppose it, time will show if your ideas are right or wrong.

       So I do wish you could reconsider your decision.

                                                        Yours sincerely,

                                                            Zhang Hua

Step 7. Summary

i.                   Reading

Learning Tip for Reading

1.       Comparison 2.       Key words

 

ii.                 Writing

            Learning Tip for Persuasive Writing

3.       change somebody else’s point of view 4.       evidence 5.       discussion 6.       plan 7.       logical order

 

Step8. Homework assignment

1.Try to explain the graph on Page 7.

      2. Revise the letter and hand it in tomorrow.

3. Tick out three sentences you like best in the passage and try to memorize them.

 

Appendix

Nicolaus Copernicuswas a Polish astronomer (1473-1543). Born in Torun, he began his university studies in Krakow in 1491, where he studied canon law and Latin and Greek classics. However he also had an interest in mathematics and astronomy. After obtaining his degree of Doctor of Canon Law (教会法规博士学位)in Italy in 1503, Copernicus returned home to Warmia in Poland to serve as Canon (=priest) .

 

In 1530, Copernicus completed his great work De Revolutionibus (《天体运行论》).Copernicus knew that these findings would lead him into trouble with the Roman Catholic Church (罗马天主教教徒), so he  was in no hurry to publish his theory. He only published it as he lay dying in 1543.

 

Though Copernicus did not live to hear of its extraordinary impact, the book which first suggested that the Sun, not the Earth, is the centre of the universe is now recognized as one of the most influential scientific works of all time.

 

 

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