Do you want to get more information?

　　2. Tell them: today we will learn something about how life began on the earth. Turn to page 25. let`s come to Warming up.

　　Step 2 Warming up

　　1. In our solar system eight planets circle around the sun. They are: Uranus天王星, Venus金星, Earth地球, Mars火星, Mercury水星, Jupiter木星, Neptune海王星, Saturn土星.

　　2. What interests you in astronomy? Do you know any questions that astronomers are interested in?

　　Step 3 Pre-reading

　　1. First get students to discuss the questions with their partners:

The origin of life on earth is a question that interests astronomers. Do you know about it?

Each religion and culture has its own idea about how life began on earth. What do you know about them?

　　2. Get them to tell their stories. Encourage them to tell different stories.

　　3. Get them read the title and predict what the reading will be about.

　　Step 4 Reading

　　1. Fast reading: get them read the passage quickly and then write down the main idea for each paragraph and the whole passage in the following chart.

How life began on the earth Paragraph 1 A widely accepted theory about the formation of the universe. Paragraph 2 The formation of the earth. Paragraph 3 The Importance of water for life. Paragraph 4 The development of plants and animals on the earth. Paragraph 5 The arrival of humans and their impact on the earth. The passage A brief introduction on how the universe developed and how life began on the earth. It provides a scientific background to any investigation into space and it is factual. 　　

　　2. Intensive reading: allow them several minute to read and get the important details, then finish the following.

Time Events Between 4.5 and 3.8 billion years ago The dust settled into a solid globe, which was the earth. The earth exploded with fire and rock. They were in time to produce carbon, nitrogen, water vapor and other gases, which were to make the earth`s atmosphere. When the earth cooled down, water appeared. Water also appeared on other planets like Mars but unlike the earth, it had disappeared later.