Teaching Goals 

Upon completion of this unit, teachers are expected to have enabled students to:

■ have a thorough understanding of the text linguistically and contextually;

■ build up a basic vocabulary about humanity’s water problem and learn to use the key words and expressions;

■ discuss the water situation in the world and in China;

■ explain why water is going to be the greatest challenge facing mankind in the 21st century;

■ propose ways to help conserve water;

■ write a passage centering around a topic sentence about water conservation.

 Culture Notes

1) Kennedy's moon-shot speech

On May 25, 1961, while speaking to Congress, US President John F. Kennedy challenged Congress and the American people to put a man on the moon, and return him safely to Earth by the end of the decade. The speech is later known as “the moon-shot speech”. 

         美国总统约翰·F·肯尼迪于1961年5月25日在国会发表演说时，向美国国会和人民提出挑战，要求在十年内完成登月计划并让宇航员安全返回地球。这篇演说后来被称为“登月演说”。

2) Hydroelectric dam

         Hydroelectric power is produced as water passes through a dam, and into a river below. The more water that passes through a dam, the more energy is produced. The Chinese Three Gorges Dam is the world’s largest power station in terms of installed capacity (22,500 MW).

         水力发电的原理是利用水流流经大坝、流入下游河道时所产生的势能，推动发电机，进而转化为电力。流经大坝的水量越多，转化而成的电力越多。我国三峡大坝是当今世界最大的水力发电工程。

Pair Work: Watch the video clip twice and complete the following sentences according to what you have heard. Compare notes with your partner. The words in the box below may be new to you.

1. The speaker is talking about________.

2. Water is the key component in our daily life, not only for_______, but for energy, industry,______, and livestock.

3. If you look at______, you will notice that over 75 % of our blue planet is water. But the problem is only 3% of that warter _____________________.

Task 2: Watch the video “Are we running out of clean water?” and answer the following questions according to what you have heard. 

1. Is water scarcity the only water problem?

2.What do you think after seeing the video？

Task 3: Watch the video clip twice and complete the following tasks.

1. Pay special attention to statistics data. 

   
   

   1. Fill the missing statistics.

 Salty  water:                       ; 

fresh water :                      .

 Water in form of ice:                      . 

 Safe consumption water:                      .

 People live in water scarce places:                      .

In last 100 years, 

population:                     ， 

water consumption :                       ,

water supply :                           .

2. According to the video，what can be done to address the challenge of water scarcity? What can be done to address the challenge of water scarcity?

1)  Agriculture:________________

2)  Industry:____________________

  3) City infrastructure :

Developing countries: ______________________________

_______________________：Upgrading, use advanced sensors to pinpoint and fix pipes

Water scarce coastal regions：________________________

3. What do you know about China’s measures to tackle water problem throughout history?