☰ Contents · English

Improving the world, a project and an eco story

Lessons 61–63 · 3 lessons · S. Khan, L. Kamalova, L. Jurayev. Teens’ English 8 (English, Grade 8). “O‘qituvchi” Publishing House, Tashkent, 2020
61

How can we help improve the world?

Textbook: p. 74
GoalImproving the world: how long waste lasts in nature; the difference between climate and weather; predictions with the Future Simple (will).
New words
landfill · chiqindixonadecompose · parchalanmoqweather · ob-havoclimate · iqlim
Explanation

Weather is the condition today and in the coming days; climate is the long-term average. Different waste decomposes at different speeds: a banana peel in a few weeks, a paper bag in about a month, aluminium cans in hundreds of years, a plastic bottle in about 450 years, and glass even longer (these are approximate figures). To predict we use will: A banana peel will disappear in a few weeks. A plastic bottle will stay for hundreds of years. Question: How long will it last? To improve the world it helps to know everyone’s role: choose options that make less waste, repair things instead of throwing them away, and help plant trees. Every small action matters. Most climate scientists (more than 97%) say that the present warming is mainly caused by human activity.

Worked examples
How long will each thing last in a landfill? A banana skin will be gone in about a month. A paper bag will last several weeks. An aluminium can will stay for a very long time, possibly more than a hundred years. A plastic bottle will not disappear for centuries.
Climate or weather? It is raining today – weather. Summers in the desert are hot and dry – climate.
Class activity

“How long will it last?”: guess for each item card (will last), then compare with approximate figures.

Practice
1
Weather or climate: It is snowing today.
2
Weather or climate: Winters in Siberia are cold.
3
Prediction: A plastic bottle ___ (stay) in a landfill for centuries.
4
Why is recycling plastic important?