Unit 4 Astronomy: the science of the stars,Warming up,What are the names of the eight planets that circle our sun?,土星 Saturn,天王星 Uranus,金星 Venus,地球 Earth,火星 Mars,木星 Jupiter,海王星 Neptune,水星 Mercury,The sun,Do you know any questions that astronomers are interested in?,How did the universe begin? How did life begin? Is there life on other planets? Are there other life forms in the universe? What happened to all the matter after the “Big Bang”? What are “black holes”?,1. The origin of life on earth is a question that interests astronomers. What do you know about it? How old is the universe? (several billion years ago) How old is the Earth? (between 4.5 and 3.8 billion years ago) Which were the first creatures or plants on Earth? (extremely small plants),Pre-reading,2. Each religion and culture has its own ideas about how life began on earth. What do you know? In China, we all know that Pangu separates the sky from the earth and Nvwa made humans.,Pangu separates the sky from the earth.,中国神话传说中有盘古开天地的说法。巨人盘古用一把利斧劈开混沌, 将天地分开。死后, 他的气息化成风和云, 声音变成轰轰的雷声, 左眼化为太阳, 右眼化为月亮, 手足与四肢变成大地的四极与五方的名山, 血液化成江河,筋脉铺成道路, 肌肉形成田地, 须发成为星星, 牙齿和骨骼化为金属、珍珠、玉石, 汗水成为滋润万物生长的甘霖和雨露。,Nvwa made humans.,Other legends about the beginning of universe.,The Biblical Account,Day 1: God spoke and separated light from darkness creating Day and Night. Day 2: God spoke and separated the water creating sky and ocean. Day 3: God spoke and created dry land.,Day 4: God spoke and created the sun, moon and stars. Day 5: God spoke and created living creatures in the air and sea. Day 6: God spoke and created the land animals and man. Day 7: God rested and blessed this day calling it Holy.,How life began on the earth,“Big Bang”,other bodies,_,stars,Earth: a cloud of _,atoms,dust,Summary,a solid _,the earths _,other 4. _,Water: _ to the development of life,water vapour,nitrogen,carbon,extremely small _ on the surface of the water,globe,gases,atmosphere,fundamental,plants,early _ and all sorts of fish,green plants on land,land animals,insects,amphibians,_,huge animals (dinosaurs),the rise of _,human beings,shellfish,reptiles,mammals,Comprehending,1. Read the passage carefully and analyse its structure. Write the main idea for each paragraph.,Para. 1 The formation (形成) of the earth. Para. 2 The importance of water for life. Para. 3 A widely accepted theory about the formation of the universe. Para. 4 The arrival of humans and their impact on the earth. Para. 5 The development of plants and animals on the earth.,The order of development of life,The universe began with a “Big Bang”. The earth was a cloud of dust. The earth became a solid ball. Water appeared on the earth. Small plants grew on the water. Shellfish and other fish appeared.,Plants began to grow on dry land. Insects and amphibians appeared. Reptiles appeared. Dinosaurs appeared. Mammals appeared. Clever animals with hands and feet appeared.,Think about what you have read and discuss these questions in pair.,1. Why was the earth different from other planets? The water remained on the earth. 2. Why did the plants grow before the animals came? Because plants provide oxygen for animals to breathe.,3. Why is it wrong in films and stories to show dinosaurs and people together? Because dinosaurs died out long before human beings developed on the earth.,4. There used to be nine planets in the solar system. Recently scientists have decided that one of them can no longer be considered a planet. Do you know the name of that planet? Do you know why they removed it? Pluto. Scientists now think it is too small to be called a planet.,5. What problem is caused by human beings? Human beings caused global warming.,Read the passage again and underline all the discourse markers and sentence connectors.,Discourse markers: however, next, after that, later, finally, thus, as a result of this Sentence connectors or conjunctions: and, but, because,The other puzzles hidden the passage are:,How did the earths atmosphere develop? Why did water stay on the earth but not on the other planets? How did life forms develop? Why did some life forms disappear?,Language points,system n. 系统；体系；制度 They have a warning system in the house. The legal system are quite different in these countries. solar system 太阳系 systematic adj. 有系统的；系统化的,2. However, according to a widely accepted theory, the universe began with a “Big Bang” that threw matter in all directions. begin with=start with：“以开始”. to begin with=to start with 以为起点; 开始(做) 这两个词组都可以单独使用,表示“首先; 第一; 起初; 最初”。 在句中作时间状语。 e.g. To begin/start with, I couldnt like him at all.,3. They were in time to produce carbon, which were to make important is in time: 及时;最终 in time (for sth. /to do sth.): 及时；不迟 我迟早会遇见他. Ill see him_. 她会及时回来准备晚餐. She will be back _ to prepare dinner. 你认为我们能及时赶上火车吗?,Do you think we can get