Lesson 2

The lesson plan

1. Introduction (1 min)

2. Listening (20 min)

3. Lexical exercises (10 min)

4. Active vocabulary (10 min)

5. Reading (25 min)

6. On/offline activity. Speaking practice. Work in groups (25 min)

7. Homework

LISTENING

Transcript

Before listening to the text ask students if they know the meaning of the word forecast (прогноз погоды).

Weather Forecast

Two men were travelling in a very wild part of America. They did not see any houses but only tents where Indians lived. One day the men met an old Indian who was sitting near his tent. He was smoking. The Indian was a hunter and knew everything about the forest and the animals living in it and many other things. He could also speak English rather well.

"Can you tell us what the weather will be like during the next few days?" one of the two travellers asked him.

"Oh, yes," he answered. "Rain is coming, and wind. There will be snow for one or two days, but then the sunshine will come again and the weather will be fine.»

"These old Indians know more about the world than we with all our knowledge of physics, maths and other sciences."

"Tell me," he asked, "how do you know all that?'

The Indian answered: "I heard it over the radio."

T. Polyakova, E. Sinyavskaya, Moscow, 2007

Listening comprehension

1. They traveled in a wild part of America.

2. They met an old Indian.

3. The old Indian was sitting near his tent and smoking.

4. The men asked the Indian about the weather during the following few days.

5. The old Indian knows everything because he listens to the radio.

6. The weather forecast are made up now with the help of satellites.

Speaking

b) to retell the story:

c) to reproduce the situation in a dialogue:”You are the Indian. Tell your friends about the incident, using active vocabulary.” (students like to do this task, to dramatize the dialogue in parts, imaging that they are sitting near the fire, so encourage them to create the situation).

LEXICAL EXERCISE

We advise to refresh new words from the previous lesson, doing this exercise: ask students to match the words and their suitable definitions given below; if they have some difficulties, ask them to translate from English into Russian to check their knowledge of the words:

Prominent, to be expelled, fortress, science, scientist, scientific, founder, nuclear, to establish, incredible, to devote to, defence, entirely, technology, common knowledge, to transmit, to prove, to disprove, capable, to list.

well-known–prominent (хорошо известный, выдающийся);

to be officially forced to leave a place, organisation, or school – to be expelled (быть исключенным, изгнанным);

a strong building used for defending a place – a fortress (крепость);

the study and knowledge of the physical world and its behaviour – science(наука);

someone who is trained in science – a scientist (ученый);

relating to science, or based on the methods of science – scientific (научный);

a person who starts an organization or institution – founder (основатель, учредитель);

relating to energy that is produced by changing the structure of the central part of an atom – nuclear (ядерный);

to make something to start to exist or start to happen – to establish (учредить, установить);

surprising or difficult to believe – incredible (невероятно, неправдоподобно);

to spend a lot of time or effort doing something – to devote to (посвятить);

protection – defence (защита);

completely – entirely (всецело, совершенно);

advanced scientific knowledge, that is used for practical purposes – technology (техника, технология);

something that everyone knows – common knowledge (общеизвестный);

to send an electronic signal such as a radio or telephone signal – to transmit (передавать, сообщить);

to provide evidence that shows that something is true – to prove (доказать);

to prove that something is not correct – to disprove (опровергнуть);

to able to do something – capable(быть в состоянии, мочь);

to mention or write things one after another – to list (вносить в список).

ACTIVE VOCABULARY

Ask students if they know synonyms or close meanings to the following words;

invention – something that someone has made, designed or created, that did not exist before (изобретение);

inspiration – the condition of creative rise, inflow of a creative power (вдохновение);

closet – subsidiary room in an apartment house (шкаф, кабинет, подсобная комната) ;

bulb – the lighting or heating device of a various kind and the device (лампочка);

nap(to take a nap) – to be in a condition of a light slumber (дремота, вздремнуть);

wax – solid substance that becomes liquid when it is heated. Wax is used, for example, to make candles (воск);

phonograph (US, gramophone) – the first device for mechanical record and reproduction of a sound (граммофон, патефон);

genius – outstanding abilities, talent, talent in the certain field of activity (гений);

perspiration – the liquid allocated during physical activities, or during excitement (пот);

research – the detailed study of something in order to discover new facts (исследование);

to be alone – if you are alone, no one else is with you (один, одинокий, единственный).

Macmillan Essential Dictionary, International Student Edition,

Paul Falla, Collin Howlett, The Oxford Russian Dictionary, Oxford-Moscow

LEAD-IN

Discovery – the act of finding or learning about someone or something that was hidden or not known. Invention – something that someone designed the first

This is the photo of one of the most outstanding American inventors – Thomas Alva Edison. He invented so much that it is difficult to say which of his achievements is the greatest. He was an experimenter and a practical man more than a theoretician. He improved Bell’s telephone, organized the first world electrostation in New-York in 1882, etc.).

Reading comprehension

I. 1. to invent, 2. laboratory, 3. a nap, 4. a closet, 5. hired, 6. light bulb.

II.1. b. built a laboratory in his house

2. a. worked day and night

3. c. more than 1,300 things

III. 7 He died in 1931, at the age of eighty-four.

4 With this money he started to invent.

1 Edison was ten when he read his first science book.

61876, he invented the phonograph.

2 After that, he built a laboratory in his house.

3 When he was twenty-three, he made a lot of money.

5 He started his own laboratory at Menlo Park.

IV.1. invented, 2. made, 3. sold, 4. hired, 5. worked, 6. took

Reading the article

resin – a thick sticky liquid that comes out of some trees;

to chew – to bite food several times before swallowing it;

sapodilla tree – tropical fruit tree;

exile- a situation in which you are forced to leave your country and live in another country;

frustrated – feeling annoyed, upset, and impatient, because you cannot control or change a situation, or achieve something;

vending machines – a machine that you can get cigarettes, chocolate, drinks etc. from by putting money in.

SPEAKING PRACTICE

On/offline activity

The teacher may give this task for homework and ask to find the information about other inventors, constructors, for example, Alexander Bell, Leonardo da Vinci, etc. and to make a brief retelling about their life, activity, inventions.