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THE ARTICLENASA telescope to look for other EarthsNASA has successfully launched a rocket carrying a planet-hunting telescope. The powerful Kepler telescope will search for planets similar to the Earth. Scientists believe there are good chances of finding a planet like ours somewhere out there in the galaxy. There are billions and billions of stars in the heavens. If one planet is the right distance from one of these stars, then conditions might be right to support life. The planet’s atmosphere should neither be too hot nor too cold. The planet would also need water. The telescope is named after the German 17th-Century astronomer Johannes Kepler. It will spend more than three years looking for dark specks against the brightness of a hundred-thousand stars. These specks could be Earth-like planets.
The manager of the $600-million project Jim Fanson said: "We have a feeling like we're about to set sail across an ocean to discover a new world." NASA’s space science boss Ed Weiler agreed that the mission was a “historical” landmark in space exploration. However, he couldn’t say whether or not the telescope would find another Earth. “It very possibly could tell us that Earths are very, very common...or that Earths are really, really, really rare - perhaps we're the only Earth,” he said. He told reporters how important Kepler’s journey was, saying: "It really attacks some basic human questions that have been asked since that first man or woman looked up at the sky and asked, 'Are we alone?’”
WARM-UPS1. SPACE: Walk around the class and talk to other students about space. Change partners often. After you finish, sit with your partner(s) and share your findings. 2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting and which are most boring.
Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently. 3. EXPLORATION: Write about the benefits of these kinds of exploration. Talk about what you wrote with your partner(s). Change partners and share what you found out.
4. ALIENS: Students A strongly believe aliens exist; Students B strongly believe they don’t. Change partners again and talk about your conversations. 5. WELCOME TO EARTH: What would you show an alien visitor to Earth? Complete the table with your partner(s). Change partners and talk about what you wrote.
6. NASA: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the space agency ‘NASA’. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories. BEFORE READING / LISTENING1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):
2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:
3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one. combination is possible):
WHILE READING / LISTENINGGAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text.
LISTENING: Listen and fill in the spaces.NASA has successfully launched a rocket carrying ____________________ telescope. The powerful Kepler telescope will search for planets ____________________. Scientists believe there are good chances of finding a planet like ours somewhere ____________________. There are billions and billions of stars in the heavens. If one planet is the right distance from one of these stars, then conditions might be ____________________. The planet’s atmosphere should neither be too hot nor too cold. The planet would also need water. The telescope ____________________ German 17th-Century astronomer Johannes Kepler. It will spend more than three years looking for dark specks ____________________ of a hundred-thousand stars. These specks could be Earth-like planets. The manager of ____________________ Jim Fanson said: "We have a feeling like we're about to set sail across an ocean ____________________." NASA’s space science boss Ed Weiler agreed that the mission was a “historical” landmark in space exploration. However, he couldn’t ____________________ the telescope would find another Earth. “It very possibly could tell us that Earths are very, very common...or that Earths are really, really, really rare - ____________________ Earth,” he said. He told reporters how important Kepler’s journey was, saying: "It really attacks some ____________________ that have been asked since that first man or woman ____________________ asked, 'Are we alone?’” AFTER READING / LISTENING1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘planet’ and ‘Earth’.
2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.
3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…? 4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings. 5. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall how they were used in the text:
STUDENT ALIEN PLANET SURVEYWrite five GOOD questions about alien planets in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper. When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.
ALIEN PLANET DISCUSSIONSTUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)
LANGUAGENASA has successfully launched a rocket (1) ____ a planet-hunting telescope. The powerful Kepler telescope will search for planets similar to the Earth. Scientists believe there are good (2) ____ of finding a planet like ours somewhere out there in the galaxy. There are billions and billions of stars in the heavens. If one planet is the right distance (3) ____ one of these stars, then conditions might be right to support (4) ____. The planet’s atmosphere should neither be too hot nor too cold. The planet would also need water. The telescope is named (5) ____ the German 17th-Century astronomer Johannes Kepler. It will spend more than three years looking for dark specks against the (6) ____ of a hundred-thousand stars. These specks could be Earth-like planets. The manager (7) ____ the $600-million project Jim Fanson said: "We have a feeling like we're about to set sail across an ocean to discover a new world." NASA’s space science boss Ed Weiler (8) ____ that the mission was a “historical” landmark in space exploration. However, he couldn’t say whether or not the telescope would find (9) ____ Earth. “It very possibly could tell us that Earths are very, very (10) ____...or that Earths are really, really, really rare - perhaps we're the only Earth,” he said. He told reporters how important Kepler’s journey was, saying: "It really attacks some (11) ____ human questions that have been asked since that first man or woman looked up at the sky and asked, 'Are we (12) ____?’” Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.
WRITING:Write about aliens for 10 minutes. Correct your partner’s paper. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ HOMEWORK1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word. 2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find out more about the Kepler telescope and its mission. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson. 3. LANDMARKS: Make a poster about the five most important landmarks in space exploration. How have they changed life on Earth? Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things? 4. WORTH IT?: Write a magazine article about whether or not it is worth it to spend money on space exploration. Include imaginary interviews with NASA’s space science boss Ed Weiler and some poor people who have little money for food, healthcare and education. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s). 5. LETTER: Write a letter to NASA’s space science boss Ed Weiler. Ask him three questions about the Kepler mission. Give him three pieces of advice on what he should do if he finds aliens. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions. ANSWERSTRUE / FALSE:
SYNONYM MATCH:
PHRASE MATCH:
GAP FILL: NASA telescope to look for other EarthsNASA has successfully launched a rocket carrying a planet-hunting telescope. The powerful Kepler telescope will search for planets similar to the Earth. Scientists believe there are good chances of finding a planet like ours somewhere out there in the galaxy. There are billions and billions of stars in the heavens. If one planet is the right distance from one of these stars, then conditions might be right to support life. The planet’s atmosphere should neither be too hot nor too cold. The planet would also need water. The telescope is named after the German 17th-Century astronomer Johannes Kepler. It will spend more than three years looking for dark specks against the brightness of a hundred-thousand stars. These specks could be Earth-like planets. The manager of the $600-million project Jim Fanson said: "We have a feeling like we're about to set sail across an ocean to discover a new world." NASA’s space science boss Ed Weiler agreed that the mission was a “historical” landmark in space exploration. However, he couldn’t say whether or not the telescope would find another Earth. “It very possibly could tell us that Earths are very, very common...or that Earths are really, really, really rare - perhaps we're the only Earth,” he said. He told reporters how important Kepler’s journey was, saying: "It really attacks some basic human questions that have been asked since that first man or woman looked up at the sky and asked, 'Are we alone?’” LANGUAGE WORK
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