2. EXERCISES FOR DISCUSSION
2.1 WHAT DO YOU DO? What do you do to save energy?
- Turn off lights
- Use stairs, not lifts
- Walk, don´t drive
- Energy-saving light bulbs
- Use heater / AC less
- Tell others to save energy
2.2 EXPRESS YOUR OPINION:
- I strongly believe we have run out of time to save the Earth.
- I strongly believe the Earth will survive.
2.3 SAVE: Which of these things do we need to save most? Rank them in order of most important:
- wild animals
- energy
- money
- polar ice caps
- the Amazon
- our rivers
- the seas and oceans
- vegetation
- lives
2.4 CLIMATE CHANGE DISCUSSION: Here are some questions you can try asking yourself before you come to our discussion on Wednesday:
- What did you think when you read the headline?
- What springs to mind when you hear the phrase 'climate change'?
- What difference do you think Earth Hour will make to the world?
- Do you think Earth Hour is a good idea?
- Do you agree that Earth Hour is "too little, too late"?
- Did you turn off the lights for Earth Hour?
- Is Earth Hour more than a "feel-good exercise"?
- What are the dangers of climate change?
- What did Clive Hamilton mean when he mentioned the Titanic?
- Have you taken part in any other climate change events?
- How long do you think it will take people to forget about Earth Hour?
- Do you think people around the world are actually concerned about climage change?
- Do you think it´s possible for everyone to reduce their daily energy consumption?
- What do you do every day to help save energy or save the planet?
- Has your life already been affected by climate change?
PREPARING A DISCUSSION IS FUNDAMENTAL:
THIS MUST BE DONE IN TWO DIRECTIONS:
FIRST, YOU NEED TO LEARN NEW VOCABULARY AND EXPRESSIONS THAT YOU WILL HAVE TO USE FOR THE DISCUSSION.
SECONDLY, YOU HAVE TO PREPARE THE TOPIC BY LOOKING UP INFORMATION IN THE INTERNET, BOOKS, ENCYCLOPAEDIAS.
THIS WAY YOU WILL FEEL MUCH MORE CONFIDENT AND AT THE SAME TIME YOU WILL HAVE MUCH MORE TO TALK ABOUT.
FINAL TASK:
HERE IS ONE FINAL TASK THAT YOU MAY DO AND THIS WAY YOU WILL COVER THE FOUR SKILLS YOU MUST IMPROVE WHEN LEARNING A LANGUAGE: LISTENING, READING, SPEAKING AND WRITING.
WRITING:
Write a composition of not more than 180 words and leave it in the blog as a comment to Session 11, I will edit it in the blog so that everybody can learn from other people´s opinions.
Choose one of the following options:
- Write an article about climate change and the future of the Earth. Include imaginary interviews with someone who thinks it´s too late to save the Earth and someone who thinks we have plenty of time.
- Express your opinion: 'Climate change is definitely going to affect the future of the Earth in many different ways.'
Our responsibility as consumers is really very important for the future of the planet and of course the future of our children. I recommend you to have a look at "Story of Stuff" by Annie Leonard:
http://www.storyofstuff.com/pdfs/annie_leonard_footnoted_script.pdf
Recently, we have been witness of an action organized by the World Wildlife Fund., the Earth Hour, it entailed switching off lights as a vote for Earth.
ReplyDeleteWe are together with Paul Pessimis of Don’t Do it Association and with Mary Ann Chatterbox of We Have Time Foundation, in order to talk about if we can do anything to save the Earth.
“Well, Mr Pessimis, Is it necessary save the Earth?
- In my opinion, it is not necessary do anything because we have inflicted a badly damage on our planet, so nothing will be the same as in the past.
- Ms Chatterbox, what do you think about it?
- Obviously, Earth has been attacked by technological progress the last hundred years. However, the planet has been revolving round the sound for a millions of years, so we can spend the next hundred years to repair the damage and things will become as they were to be.
We have known your controversial opinions and now, public has to choose their own ideas and decide what they have to do. Thank you.
Personally, I agree with environmentalist Mark Alexander-Warne’s point of view: I think we must reduce our daily energy consumption. What is more: we must do it every day, in every process we take part: do I need to switch on the lights all the time in the office? Usually, we have a big window, a glass wall there, and we are working with the computer screen on, but what you can see if you go to that stylish bank branch is a big advertising surface covering all the windows and an excess of fluorescent lamps lightning every corner of the room!
ReplyDeleteIt could be very useful to adopt, for instance, the habit of switching off the electronic and electrical machinery all the time we aren’t using it with a simple an easy gadget: a socket with a switch. We can save a lot of energy doing that action: more than staying in a room darkly.