Using language to think and reason

Learning outcomes (LOs)

LO 5

Thinking and Reasoning

The learner will be able to use language to think and reason, as well as to access, process and use information for learning

Assessment standards(ASs)

We know this when the learner:

5.1.1 applies thinking and reasoning skills in a variety of contexts across the curriculum;

LO 6

Language Structure and use

The learner will know and be able to use the sounds, words and grammar of the language to create and interpret texts

We know this when the learner:

6.1 works with words:

6.1.1 using a range of different strategies to spell unfamiliar words;

6.2 works with sentences:

6.2.6 using a range of punctuation appropriately.

Memorandum

ACTIVITY 1

1. What is a fable : A tale, especially with animals as characters, conveying a moral

2. La Fontaine: Jean de la Fontaine was one of the great poets of his age and is justly famous for his fables. He was a vivid story-teller, who drew his material from the great stories of Aesop, putting them for the first time into verse.

3.

Maxim:

a general truth or rule of conduct expressed in a sentence.

:Avarice:

greed

Gain:

increase of possessions; the acquisition of wealth

Hoard:

an amassed store

Treasure:

accumulated wealth

Miserly:

niggardly, not giving out easily

beyond all measures:

excessively

slew (from “to slay”):

killed

Wealthy:

rich

Moral:

a life lesson teaching right from wrong

1. Typical characteristics of a fable:

Uses animals as main characters

Has a moral

Is short

Is amusing.

Is a narrative

5. What did he do that was so stupid? He killed the very thing that assured him of wealth.

ACTIVITY 4

2. Give a definition of ‘global warming’.

As the ozone layer (which cushions the Earth from the sun’s rays), thins, more heat of the sun comes through, warming the Earth beyond what it has experienced before.

3. Mention some of the effects of global warming:

The ice-caps will be affected, the flora and fauna and weather patterns.

4. What is ‘El Nino’? A high-pressure area that sits over the Atlantic that prevents cold fronts from reaching South African shores which means we have a long summer, with little rain.

5. How do pesticides affect the environment? They poison the soil, human beings, insects and birds of prey who eat an animal that has died from poisoning.

6. What is meant by genetically-modified foods? Is there a problem?

Some foods have been genetically modified to have resistance to pests etc, but the fear is that these plants do not generate their own modified seeds and so new plants will have to be bought constantly which makes it expensive and possibly abusive as food markets affect the economy of a poor country which constantly have to buy new modified seeds from these mother companies.

7. What would be the consequences of water shortages in the long-term on mankind?

Explain your opinion.

Man would die. mankind cannot live without water!

8. Why we should look after endangered species with particular care. In your view.

Leave this open-ended and let learners air their views.

9. How does man’s greed affect the environment? Try to summarise your view.

We take so much land away from animals, plants and insects; we affect the life cycles of species that live on a particular stretch of land only and this we take away; we hunt where it is not necessary; we poach – mainly to feed our own ego’s (jewellery; love potions etc); we make money our God;

we litter; we waste; we make films merely for our amusement and to make money and in the process, we ruin the landscape; we hurt animals because we do not care about or for them. . .

10. What can one person do to help? Number your ideas.

Join a society and do volunteer work.

Teach your peers and young children about Nature.

Write letters when something happens that is not right in your view.

Let the learners come up with their own ideas and share these ideas.

1. What do the following terms mean.

A. Biodiversity:

B. Deforestation: to clear forests / trees

C. Rain forests: luxuriant tropical forest with heavy rainfall

D. Desertification: the process of making or becoming a desert

E. Earth Summit: a global meeting of environmentalists discussing world environmental issues

F. Fossil fuels: a natural fuel such as coal or gas formed in the geological past from the remains of trees

G. Greenhouse effect: the trapping of the sun’s warmth in the lower atmosphere of the earth caused by an increase in carbon dioxide which is more transparent to solar radiation than to the reflected radiation from the earth.