Last Sunday our class went camping to the forest. We took food, a compass, matches, a pen-knife, a cauldron, bottles of water, tins. On the way to the campsite we found a little rabbit and took it with us. At the campsite we cut down some small trees for a campfire. Then we cooked food.
The boys opened tins and water bottles. The girls ate sweets. After dinner Anton and Victor buried tins under a tree. Anna and Marina burnt plastic bottles in the campfire. We left paper plates and glass on the ground at the campfire. It was the happiest day of the year.
The Earth.
The Earth is a planet which moves around the Sun and gets light from it. It is turning all the time, but we can’t see or feel it.
If you look down at the Earth from a plane, you will see how wonderful our planet is. You will see blue rivers, lakes, seas and oceans. You will see high snowy mountains and hills. You will see forests and fields.
The Sun shines on the Earth, the rain falls on it, the wind blows on it.
There are more water on the Earth than anything else, more water than land, forests and mountains. There is water in the rivers, lakes, seas and oceans. There is water in plants and in air. Nothing can live without water, air and the Sun.
The Earth is the only planet in our Solar System where there is life. In the woods there live different animals and birds. The rivers, lakes and seas are full of big and small sea animals and fish. Wonderful plants, trees and flowers grow on the Earth.
The world around us is wonderful. There are many interesting things in the world to see if you keep your eyes open.
Forest Fires
At the beginning of the 21st century there were terrible droughts and heat waves. Devastating forest fires claimed human lives and became national disasters.
What are the main causes of forest fires? There are two of them: man-made and natural. Man-made fires are the result of people being careless. Dropped cigarettes, matches, camp fires that are not put out properly, glass bottles and fragments of glass. Did you know that glass can act as a magnifying glass and cause a flame? In fact this is a common cause of fires in Siberia and the Far East, both man-made and natural. The major causes of natural fires are peat bogs and lightning.
How can forest fires be prevented? We should all put out man-made fires. You can extinguish fires with sand and green twigs. If this fails, call the fire brigade. Never try to put out burning peat. The fire is usually underground and it burns whatever is above it. If you try to fight such a fire, you may fall into a burning pit.
Animals in danger
Penguins are killed because of pollution caused by oil from ships and other things.
Mountain gorilla that weighs over 100 kilos and is very strong lives high in the mountains of Uganda. They are killed because their hands are used to make souvenirs. Musk ox from India and Nepal is almost extinct now. Musk oxen are killed because people use their musk when making perfume.
Arabian onyx lives in Arabia and is in danger because of its horns. They are used for ornaments. African elephants are hunted and killed. People do it to take their tusks and make souvenirs from them. There are not many elephants left now.
People in danger
There are more rats than people. Rats like eating our old food. Rats can climb trees and run up walls. They can swim non-stop foe three days. Wild rats are dirty and spread disease that can be very dangerous for people’s health.
In our streets there are a lot of so called “street” dogs. Some of them are not dangerous but the others are. They are very aggressive and can cause a lot of accidents. A child can be frightened because of them and in the best case it can be just a fear of dogs. But sometimes they can even bite to death.
Pollution
Man has been trying to make his life easier for many centuries. In doing so, he invented machines and instruments. They have been working – and polluting the world we live in.
One of the most important pollution problems is the oceans. Many ships sail in the ocean water – fishing ships, some ships carrying people, some carrying oil. If a ship loses some of the oil in the water, or trash from the ships is put into the ocean, the water becomes dirty. Many birds and fish die because of the polluted water.
The second important problem is air pollution. Cars and factories pollute the air we use. It also destroy the ozone layer which protects the Earth from the dangerous light of the Sun.
Another problem is that our forests are dying from acid rain. This, in turn, affects the balance of nature.
If we want our children to live in the same world, we must learn to protect the water, the air and the earth from pollution.
Д/З: подготовить топик - пересказ и мини-проекты на тему «Животные в опасности», «Красная книга».
УРОК 16-17. Климат. Погода.
Climate is the weather a certain place has over a long period of time. Climate has a very important influence on plants, animals and humans and is different in different parts of the world. Some scientists think that the world is becoming hotter.
Winters have become warmer. Sometimes there is little snow in January, and there were winters when it rained on the New Year’s Eve. Many people say that it it so because of the greenhouse effect. During the last 100 years people have produced a lot of carbon dioxide.
This gas in the atmosphere works like glass in a greenhouse. It lets heat get in, but it doesn’t let much heat get out. So the atmosphere becomes warmer. Where does the carbon dioxide come from? People and animals breathe in oxygen, and breathe out carbon dioxide. We produce carbon dioxide when we burn things. Trees take this gas from the air, and produce oxygen. But in the last few years, people have cut down and burn big areas of rainforest. This means there are fewer trees, and, of course, more carbon dioxide!
As we see the climate in different parts of the world changes a little from year to year. These changes can be dangerous for our planet, which needs protection. Earth is millions of years old, much older than the humans. We know many of its secrets. Yet there is still much to learn.
Climate has a very important influence on plants, animals and humans and is different in different parts of the world. Some scientists think that the world is becomming hotter. During the last 100 years people have produced a lot of carbon dioxide. This gas in the atmosphere works like glass in a greenhouse. It lets heat get in, but it doesn't let much heat get out. So the atmosphere becomes warmer. People and animals breathe in oxygen, and breathe out carbon dioxide. We produce carbon dioxide when we burn things. Trees take this gas from the air, and produce oxygen. But in the last few years, people have cut down and burn big areas of rainforest.
These changes can be dangerous for our planet, which needs protection.
The year is divided into four seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter.
In spring nature awakens from her long winter sleep. The trees are filled with new life, the earth is warmed by the rays of the sun. The fields and meadows are covered with fresh green grass. The sky is blue and cloudless.
When summer comes the weather gets warmer still and sometimes it’s very hot. Sometimes the skies are overcast with heavy clouds. There are storms with thunder, lightning and hail.
Autumn is a rainy season of the year. When it rains the weather is nasty. The sky is covered with heavy clouds. It drizzles. It is muddy and wet.
When winter comes, we’re obliged to spend more time indoors because out-of-doors it’s cold. Ponds, lakes, rivers and streams are frozen, and the roads are covered with ice or deep snow. The trees are bare.
Экологические проблемы в современном мире.
Sunlight gives us heat. Some of the heat warms the atmosphere and some of the heat goes back into space. Nowadays the air surrounding the earth has become much warmer because the heat can’t go back into space. That’s why winter and summer temperatures in many places have become higher. During the last 100 years people have produced a lot of carbon dioxide. This gas in the atmosphere works like glass in a greenhouse. It let’s the heat get in, but doesn’t let get out. So the atmosphere becomes warmer.
What is the main reason for the greenhouse effect?
Every year more and more plants and animals disappear never to be seen again. In many lakes the fish are dying. Scientists are beginning to get worried. What is killing the fish?
The problem is acid rain. Acid rain is a kind of air pollution. It is caused by factories that burn coal or oil or gas. These factories send smoke high into the air. The wind often carries the smoke far from the factories. Some of the harmful substances in the smoke may come down with the rain hundreds of miles away. The rain in many places isn't natural and clean any more. It's full of acid chemicals. When it falls in lakes, it changes them too. Acid water is like vinegar or lemon juice. It hurts when it gets in your eyes. It also kills the plants and animals that usually live in lake water. That is why the fish are dying in lakes. Scientists are finding other effects of acid rain. In some large areas trees are dying. Not just one tree here and there, but whole forests. At first scientists couldn't understand why. There were no bugs or diseases in these trees. The weather was not dry. But now they think that the rain was the cause. Acid rain is making the earth more acidic in these areas. Some kinds of trees cannot live in the soil that is very acidic.