Life is full of diversity, and therefore so is the biology of living things. Hence, we have the word, biodiversity. Biodiversity is a wonderful concept and displays the various facets of life on the earth as we know it. This week we will learn a bit more concerning the biodiversity of life in Unit 8, and then move on to Unit 9, Preserving Biodiversity, which focuses fully on the question of the variety and number of organisms in the world today.
The homework for this week was 8.2 Reading A1; B1, 2, 3; C 1, 2; E 1, 2; F 1, 2. Most of you did quite well on A and B1 and 2, a few of you couldn't quite finish B3. I wrote many comments on your homework in google drive, and I'll explain them to you in class. In addition, C2 seemed to confuse a lot of people, but it is really not that hard. I'll explain that to you in class as well. E was not a problem for most students; however F both 1 and 2 seemed to a bit problematic. I will explain these in class to you as well.
In addition to checking the homework, we will probably read the Biosphere and Ecosystems together. Then we will move on to Unit 9, Preserving Biodiversity, which will help us learn about the fragile systems of the biological world. Preserving biodiversity is akin to saving the environment or conserving the natural world for other after us. We will learn about the fragmentation of habitats and about problem with exploiting our natural resources. We will also learn about a change in the gene population and preserving the natural habitats on the earth.
The homework for the following week will probably by 9.1 Vocabulary (what we don't do in class), 9.3 Extending Skills (not sure what sections yet), and perhaps some on 9.4 Extending Skills, which is particularly interesting and useful. It looks like a lot of reading but it is very useful for you. Please keep on trying! See you in the next class.
Thursday, October 29, 2015
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Ecosystems
Thank you all for your comments on the video, "Exporting Harm." This video is very strong because the problem is very deadly, and can harm the fragile ecosystem. This is why I wanted to show it to you, because the next unit, Unit 8, will cover that topic, Ecosystems. In this unit we'll learn about the connection between animals and plants and focus on biodiversity. We'll also examine the biosphere and its relationship with the ecosystems of the world. We'll focus on the food chain and food webs, and we'll also learn about the planet's life support system.
In today's class, we'll review the homework regarding the Internet Research Log. In the log, you had to focus on recycling issues. The particular issue you wanted to research was up to you. Many of you wrote about recycling problems and demerits. From this I hope you could learn that recycling is not a perfect science, and there are many insufficiencies. In addition, recycling things can sometimes cause other waste to be generated.
A few others wrote about special recycling efforts around Kumamoto, some of which I wasn't aware of. For instance, Kumamoto has the least quantity of garbage per person in all of Japan. Reducing garbage bags, and repair person where one person uses 230 garbage bags for one year. In addition, some PET bottles were made into carpets, uniforms, and seats. I think it's a very good way to recycle things we use every day. Also paper is made into solid fuel. Garbage diet pride is also in Kumamoto to promote the reduction of garbage in Kumamoto. That's good news. Way to go Kumamoto!
In today's class, we'll review the homework regarding the Internet Research Log. In the log, you had to focus on recycling issues. The particular issue you wanted to research was up to you. Many of you wrote about recycling problems and demerits. From this I hope you could learn that recycling is not a perfect science, and there are many insufficiencies. In addition, recycling things can sometimes cause other waste to be generated.
A few others wrote about special recycling efforts around Kumamoto, some of which I wasn't aware of. For instance, Kumamoto has the least quantity of garbage per person in all of Japan. Reducing garbage bags, and repair person where one person uses 230 garbage bags for one year. In addition, some PET bottles were made into carpets, uniforms, and seats. I think it's a very good way to recycle things we use every day. Also paper is made into solid fuel. Garbage diet pride is also in Kumamoto to promote the reduction of garbage in Kumamoto. That's good news. Way to go Kumamoto!
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
The Earth's POWer!
Yes, the earth does. Have power that is. Hello SE II students. Thank you for the homework. I am checking it as the day wears on. Most of you have good answers, so to save paper and ink, I will not print out the answers as I was originally intending to do. I will go through the answers and only if you have mistakes will I edit your answers in drive. If you receive no notification, then your answers are fine. This week's homework by the way was 7.3 Extending Skills C, D as well as 7.4 Extending Skills A, B, C.
In addition to this homework, you were to make your own Science English blogs. I hope your blogs went successfully. I will give you an opportunity to work on/touch them up in the next class. I would also like to get your blog addresses.
Also in the next class I would like to devote a bit more time to the recycling issue. We will do another recycling activity and perhaps some reading, and then we will move on to Unit 8, Ecosystems. This is a very important unit as well because ecosystems are the system of natural life around us. Ecosystems consist of food chains and food webs, as well as the biosphere where all life exists. Hence, what a very important topic this is.
In the next class as well, we may talk about the next project. I am thinking about having you make a podcast or short video on the topic of your environmental interest as you sent my several months ago. This is a good opportunity for you to think about sharing your ideas with the rest of the world.
Until next time, young environmental-English-using students! I bid you a fine farewell.
In addition to this homework, you were to make your own Science English blogs. I hope your blogs went successfully. I will give you an opportunity to work on/touch them up in the next class. I would also like to get your blog addresses.
Also in the next class I would like to devote a bit more time to the recycling issue. We will do another recycling activity and perhaps some reading, and then we will move on to Unit 8, Ecosystems. This is a very important unit as well because ecosystems are the system of natural life around us. Ecosystems consist of food chains and food webs, as well as the biosphere where all life exists. Hence, what a very important topic this is.
In the next class as well, we may talk about the next project. I am thinking about having you make a podcast or short video on the topic of your environmental interest as you sent my several months ago. This is a good opportunity for you to think about sharing your ideas with the rest of the world.
Until next time, young environmental-English-using students! I bid you a fine farewell.
Thursday, October 8, 2015
October and Fall
Hello all students. This week's homework entailed preparing your answers in the book on 54, letters C, D, E and F. We will check those in class tomorrow. In addition, we will practice reading page 55 together, and do a little bit on page 57 and 58. Interestingly, a recycling 'sorting' facility is offered on page 59, which is similar to the project we did in class. I think this unit is very useful and practical because recycling should be continued by every country far into the future. One worthwhile project of course is: how to create new energy resources from the recycling process itself. If you were to figure this out, you would make big inroads into both recycling and energy creation. Let's work on it.
In addition, tomorrow we will do some reading about the recycling industry and learn some new vocabulary. We will also view 2 or 3 videos relating to recycling waste. They are in English, but the speaking is slow and clear, and will be good for your English listening and speaking practice. These videos are also informative and interesting and shed some light on the problems with recycling waste in this day and age.
The homework for next week will probably be to write a short paragraph on how you think various kinds of waste should be collected and how you think this waste could be recycled. We will think deeply about the problem of recycling waste.
In addition, I would like to introduce blogging to the class. I will explain how to make a blog if no one has done this yet. Then I will ask you to follow this blog. This can help you read this blog automatically. When you create a blog, you can share your ideas easily with the class members. I may ask you to comment on this Environmental Science blog from time to time as well. We will start to make blogs tomorrow.
That's all for this blog. See you all tomorrow.
In addition, tomorrow we will do some reading about the recycling industry and learn some new vocabulary. We will also view 2 or 3 videos relating to recycling waste. They are in English, but the speaking is slow and clear, and will be good for your English listening and speaking practice. These videos are also informative and interesting and shed some light on the problems with recycling waste in this day and age.
The homework for next week will probably be to write a short paragraph on how you think various kinds of waste should be collected and how you think this waste could be recycled. We will think deeply about the problem of recycling waste.
In addition, I would like to introduce blogging to the class. I will explain how to make a blog if no one has done this yet. Then I will ask you to follow this blog. This can help you read this blog automatically. When you create a blog, you can share your ideas easily with the class members. I may ask you to comment on this Environmental Science blog from time to time as well. We will start to make blogs tomorrow.
That's all for this blog. See you all tomorrow.
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