Opportunities

Name .. Class .. GOOD WORLD, BAD WORLD

u p p e r - i n t e r m e d i a t e

1 Which of the inventions below do you think have had most impact on humankind? Which has been the most positive and which has been the most negative? the atomic bomb the aeroplane the car the computer electricity guns gunpowder/explosives penicillin and antibiotics photography and the cinema printing television vaccinations

2 Write notes to back up your opinions. Think of these things: when and where it was invented what effects it has had and how it affects our lives how it might affect the future 3 Discuss the inventions and, as a group, decide which is the most important. 4 Tell the class your opinions. Have a class vote! 1 The most beneficial invention is . 2 The most damaging invention is ..

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Opportunities
LESSON NOTES Materials: copies of discussion worksheet Good World, Bad World. Time: fifty minutes or one class

u p p e r - i n t e r m e d i a t e

This discussion activity can be done at any time after Module 5 of Opportunities Upper-Intermediate. Step 1: Give out the sheets. Find out what students know about the inventions. If necessary, provide some background facts and information: the atomic bomb - First built during World War 2 and dropped on Hiroshima in Japan in 1945. the aeroplane - Early attempts to fly failed because they were based on human energy. The design of 19th century gliders helped the Wright Brothers who added an internal combustion engine. They made the first powered and controlled flight on 17 Dec 1903. the car - Steam-powered vehicles were invented in the late 18th and early 19th century - but only with the internal combustion engine did the horseless carriage become practical. The Daimler brothers produced an engine which Karl Benz developed to produce the first cars by 1890. the computer - The first practical machines were built in the USA and Britain during the World War 2 - the ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) has the best title as the first computer and it was developed by the US navy. electricity - Static electricity was known about by the ancient Greeks but current electricity was not demonstrated until the early 19th century by Volta, Ampere and Faraday. guns - Practical cannons were invented in the 14th century (by a German monk - Berthold Schwarz). Primitive guns were first developed in the 15th century - pistols, rifles and machine guns being developed subsequently. gunpowder/explosives - Gunpowder (a mixture of potassium nitrate, sulphur and powdered charcoal) was invented in China. Modern explosives that were much more powerful were developed from the 19th century onwards e.g. dynamite was invented by Nobel in 1864. penicillin and antibiotics - Penicillin was discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1928 and this was later developed as an antibiotic (=a drug which kills bacteria that cause infections). photography and the cinema - The first photograph was taken in 1826 by Joseph Nicphore Nipce. Dauguerre invented the first practical camera in www.longman.com/opportunities
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Opportunities

u p p e r - i n t e r m e d i a t e

1839.The first motion picture (=film) was shown to an audience by Louis and Auguste Lumiere in 1895. printing - The oldest methods appeared in China and Japan before 800 AD. In 15th century Europe movable print was developed and this made printing much more economical. television - This was invented by John Logie Baird in 1926. He produced colour pictures in 1928. vaccinations - The first was performed by Edward Jenner in 1798. Jenner noticed that people who caught a mild form of a similar disease never contracted smallpox. He then injected patients with very small doses of smallpox and this protected them from the disease. Step 2: Give time for students to think about their choices and to write notes. Make sure that students do not write out what they are going to say. Refer students to the Function File in Lesson 12 in Module 4 (giving opinions, agreeing and disagreeing). Step 3: Divide the class into groups of three or four. Students discuss their choices. Go around and make a list of important mistakes. Step 4: Find out the opinions of each group. Finish off by having a class vote on the inventions. Finally, if you have time, go over the important mistakes that were made during the discussion. Write them up on the board and ask students to correct them.

Michael Harris

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PHOTOCOPIABLE

Pearson Education, 2002