THEME PARK

Science and Technology

Reading

E

What Is Matter?

Matter is anything that takes up space and has weight. A desk is matter. It weighs something and takes up space. Paper is matter. It takes up space in your notebook or in your desk! The air that we breathe is matter. It takes up space and has weight, but you can’t see it. You can see it take up space if you blow up a balloon! The balloon is full of air. Water is matter. It takes up space and has weight. Everything in our whole world is made of matter!

Matter can be classified. To classify is to sort things into groups they belong in. The three forms of matter are solids, liquids, and gases.

A solid is something you can touch and that keeps its shape. A desk is a solid. You can touch it and it keeps the same shape all of the time. A piece of paper is a solid. You can cut it and make different shapes, but if you put the pieces back together, you’d still have the same shape. A ball is a solid.

A liquid is a form of matter that pours and changes shape to fit the container it is put in. Water is a liquid. You can pour water. Water takes the shape of the bottle, pan or glass you pour it in. Milk and soda are liquids. Juice is a liquid, too. The gasoline your parents put in their cars is a liquid.

A gas is a form of matter that changes shape to fit the container it is in. It is not the same type of gas that goes in your car! That kind of gas is a liquid. Gases do not weigh much compared to liquids and solids. Most gases cannot be seen. Water vapor is a gas. You can see water vapor when you mom or dad boils water in a pan. When the water boils, steam rises up from the pot. That steam is water vapor. Air is a mixture of different gases. Helium is a gas. It is the gas that makes balloons float up when they are filled with it.

Directions:

I. Before you read, look at the title of the report and the pictures. Use these to answer the questions below.

II. Read the report to find out if your predictions are right! Draw a star by each prediction that is right.

1. What do you think this report will tell you about matter?

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2. List three things you think you will learn about by reading this report.

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3. Is this report fact or fiction? How do you know?

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I

The Great Meteor

I. Before you read

Cover the text. Are these sentences true (+), false (-) or possible (?)? Write +, - or ? in the Before boxes.

II. Read the text and check your ideas. Write +, - or ? in the After boxes in exercise I.

The Earth’s surface is made of huge sections, or “plates”. On some of these plates, but not all of them, are the continents. The plates can move, and they are moving all the time, very slowly.
Some scientists think that there was once only one enormous continent – a super-continent. They call this super-continent “Gondwanaland” or “Gondwana”. But what happened to Gondwana? Why did it crack into pieces?
A team of American scientists have this idea: about 250 million years ago, they suggest, a huge meteor crashed into the Earth, probably near the coast of Argentina. It smashed into the Earth at about 375,000 kilometres per hour. Gondwana broke into pieces – the meteor made the pieces which we now call the plates.
At the time of the meteor’s crash, the scientists think, huge reptiles lived on the Earth. But the crash created a cloud of dust and smoke. The cloud covered Gondwana and there was no light from the Sun, so about 95 per cent of the reptiles died. The Earth and its animals and plants suddenly changed, in one enormous BANG!

III. Look at the two diagrams and match them with two of the paragraphs of the text.

IV. Vocabulary work

Read the text again. Match words in box A with words in box B which have the same meaning.

A

B

Example: break – crack

V. Read the text one more time. Which paragraphs answer these questions? Write the paragraph number in the boxes.

1. Why did Gondwana break into pieces, or “plates”? 2. Why was there no light from the Sun after the meteor’s crash? 3. Why did 95 per cent of the Earth’s reptiles die at that time?

Now write answers to the questions. Use Because…

VI. Reading puzzle

Read the puzzle and guess: what is it?

Answer: It’s __________

Writing

A

The Effects of Technology

I. Particle, Wave, Field

II. Reading Assignment

Read the texts: 1. The Dreams of Science Fiction; 2. Once and Future Mars; 3. Challenger: Reflections on a Tragedy; 4. Editorial, T.H.E. Journal.

1. The Dreams of Science Fiction

Famous science fiction writer Isaac Asimov describes several goals that people would like to see in the future.

Population Control – An indefinite population increase will surely bring about starvation and ruin the environment irretrievably. The human population on Earth cannot continue to increase for much longer, and the only way to prevent such an increase humanely, without bringing about the very death and destruction that will ruin our civilization (perhaps permanently), is to reduce the birthrate. Perhaps we can work out some chemical or hormonal control of reproduction that will have no undesirable side effects, or perhaps we can develop some benign social manipulation to reduce the birthrate…

Permanent Energy Sources – The Industrial Revolution was supported on the back of the fossil fuels, first coal and then oil – but both, especially the latter, are in temporary supply. If we are to continue advancing, we need energy sources that are permanent, safe, and copious. There are two clear alternatives: Earth may someday be run by nuclear fusion and solar power…

Weather Control – Most of the great natural disasters involve weather extremes: heat waves and cold waves; droughts and floods; hurricanes, tornadoes, and blizzards. We already air-condition buildings and the time may come when the planet as a whole is air-conditioned, so to speak… One possible way of insuring this would be to have our population retreat underground, where there is no weather, and where time-passage need not be fixed by the uncontrollable alternation between day and night.

Robots – Throughout history, human beings have used animals and other humans to do the brute manual labor of the world. Machines have now replaced muscle in many cases, but why not develop machines with an approach to human versatility and for that matter human appearance? Robots can be the new servants – patient, uncomplaining, incapable of revolt. In human shape they can make use of the full range of technological tools devised for human beings and, when intelligent enough, can be friends as well as servants…

Computerized Education – The advance of computers makes the thought of a global computerized library a tenable one. It would be one from which any item of human knowledge could be retrieved. If communications satellites and laser beams are used to give each human being a private television channel, each human being can use his own computers to hook up to the computerized library, so that he will have an advanced teaching machine. Each individual could study whatever he wants at his own pace and in his own time, and the result could be that education can be efficient, pleasurable, and lifelong…

Exploitation of Near Space – Space supplies us with many things we do not have enough of, or at all, on Earth. We can collect solar energy in space more efficiently than we can on Earth’s surface. The Moon is a new and untouched source of vast mineral supplies. Space itself offers us an infinite supply of hard vacuum, both high and low temperatures, hard radiation, gravity-free conditions – all of which are useful in various industrial processes. We could have whole industries, laboratories, observatories in orbit about the Earth run on Lunar material and Solar energy. This would free Earth of the various disadvantages of industrialization and return it to the benefits of an agricultural/pastoral/wilderness pattern, while not depriving it of the benefits of science and industry that would be only a few thousand miles away – straight up.

Terraforming – None of the worlds of the Solar system, other than Earth, are now hospitable to human life. To settle such worlds, human beings would have to live under pressurized domes or underground. Earthlike conditions would have to be developed in relatively small regions. Why not, however, transform whole worlds into new Earths by importing water, or air, adjusting temperature, altering rotation rates, and so on? Human beings would then have the freedom of the surface and could move about without space suits.

Isaac Asimov
from Asimov on Science Fiction

surely: without a doubt, certainly
starvation: a state in which a person dies or comes near to death because there is no food
irretrievably: without any possibility of change
undesirable: not wanted
benign: not harmful
latter: of two things, the second listed
copious: in great quantity
droughts: conditions in which there is not enough rain for a long period of time
blizzards: very serious snow storms
insuring: making certain
retreat: move away from danger
versatility: ability to change with new conditions
servants: those who do domestic or other less valued work for low wages
uncomplaining: not saying anything against one’s condition
shape: form, appearance
range: total number or variety
tenable: able to be achieved
laser beams: concentrated light in a narrow path
hook up to: connect with
pace: speed
pleasurable: causing pleasure or enjoyment
vast: very large or great amount
vacuum: a state where there is no oxygen, as in space
wilderness: land not used by people and which is in its natural state
depriving: not allowing someone to have a thing
pressurized: air is kept at a constant pressure, as in an airplane
domes: buildings that are round with a base in the shape of a circle

Discussion:

1. How do science fiction movies represent the future? Are they realistic?

2. How will people react to some of the changes that Asimov suggests?

3. Can you think of other ways that our lives will be better in the future?

2. Once and Future Mars

Most of us hope that in the not too distant future humanity will be taking the first steps to a permanent colonization of the Solar System. The only planet on which it will be possible to establish a viable early settlement in Mars. The Martian environment is the least hostile of any known planet, save the Earth itself, and its resources are likely to be considerable. The atmosphere and the surface rocks of Mars possess all the elements necessary for life and for the construction of a settlement. The wan sunlight bathing the planet’s surface and Mars’ thin winds would be adequate power source.

An ultimate goal of any Martian colonists may be to terraform their adopted homeworld, to engineer its environment towards a state of Earth-like habitability. It would be a distant dream, but a powerful one: to stand on the shores of a Martian prairie; or even to build the canals that Percial Lowell thought he saw and which found their way into the fiction of Edgar Rice Burroughs and Ray Bradbury.

Martyn J.Fogg
from Analog Magazine

humanity: people, homo sapiens
colonization: sending people to live in a new, uninhabited area
viable: able to survive
settlement: place where people have come to live
save: except for
considerable: in great quantity
wan: pale, weak
bathing: covering
terraform: to make like Earth
shores: edges of land near the ocean
prairie: flat fields of grain plants
Percival Lowell: astronomer who saw canals on Mars
Edgar Rice Burroughs: creator of the Tarzan and John Carter of Mars series
Ray Bradbury: modern science fiction author of The Martian Chronicles

Discussion:

1. How do you think studying at a college or university will be different for your children or your grandchildren?

2. How do you think people will live differently in the future?

3. Would you like to live on another planet? What would it be like?

4. What problems of today do you think will be solved in the future?

3. Challenger: Reflections on a Tragedy

On January 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger shortly after launch. Everyone in the crew died, including a civilian teacher, Christa McAuliffe. The launch was broadcast on national television. Millions saw the disaster live or later on the news. Malcolm McConnell writes about why the accident happened.

In the early 1960s, our leaders committed this nation to the exploration of space. In the 1980s, the space shuttle was the vehicle of this quest, and it became our phoenix. It lifted our national pride from the ashes of military defeat and political strife. The shuttle was everyone’s dream of how good America could be. But after Challenger’s explosion, it became clear that our brave quest was tragically flawed.

In the confused era following Vietnam and Watergate, a time of thinking small, we had tried to build humanity’s most complicated machine on the cheap. As a result, the design was flawed almost from the beginning. The solid rocket booster was built to drop into the ocean and be used again. The orbiter itself was deprived of the engines that would have allowed it to land like a regular jet plane – the intention of the original design team. Unlike the daring Apollo moon project, the space shuttle’s development was erratically funded and managed. And it was declared “fully operational” much too early, so that it could begin “paying for itself”. Commercial satellite launches were planned on a regular schedule…

Access to the space frontier became “routine”, according to NASA press releases. Twenty-four times those 2250-ton vehicles had risen from the sand dunes of Cape Canaveral and returned safely to earth. Few of us bothered to consider the numerous near-disasters during those successful flights: engines coming close to explosion before snuffing out in flight, last-second aborts on the launch pad, computer failures in orbit.

We were too impatient. Besides, we reveled in the breathtaking vision of the spacecraft rising on its fiery tail, of astronauts pirouetting through the sunlit vacuum as they retrieved and repaired stricken satellites.

On January 28, NASA proceeded with Challenger’s launch despite danger signals… In retrospect, there seems little doubt that NASA was stretching its highly touted fail-safe rules in order to get on with the year’s busy schedule…

America needs a space program. We cannot retreat from that frontier or turn our backs on the high-technology future because of one tragic accident. But we must learn patience. We must never again blindly “press on” to meet unrealistic schedules, or succumb to public-relations pressures that override common sense. To exploit the space frontier, we must balance restraint with boldness and replace bravado with wisdom. We must not, however, surrender our pioneering heritage.

Malcolm McConnell
from Reader’s Digest

quest: a search for an important goal
phoenix: a bird in mythology that died and was reborn from its own ashes
strife: conflict, fighting
flawed: containing an error or mistake
booster: the large rocket used to lift the shuttle into space
deprived: not allowed to have
erratically: without a consistent pattern
bothered: took the time or made the effort
snuffing out: stopping, putting out, as in a fire
reveled: enjoyed, with a sense of pride
pirouetting: turning around like a classical dancer
stricken: seriously damaged
retrospect: looking back
touted: advertised, publicized
blindly: without thinking
succumb: give in, go along with
override: replace
bravado: a show of courage, which may be false
heritage: traditions passed down from our ancestors

Discussion:

1. In this case, people relied on technology too much. Can you think of another case in which that has happened?

2. Why do you think we have confidence in technology, sometimes more than in people?

4. Editorial, T.H.E. Journal

The advent of the relatively inexpensive microcomputer led to massive installations of computers in schools and universities. Today, technology is playing an increasingly greater role in a student’s academic life… The number of computers, VCRs, videodisc players and satellite dishes has greatly increased, and their use greatly improved. The use of images – whether still or full motion, live or pre-recorded, computer-generated or photographic – as well as sound is being accomplished. Further, the many new developments in multimedia, telecommunications and networking promise even better performance at lower costs… Such progress in the area of communications has transported the world into a true, global community.

Sylvia Charp

relatively: compared to other similar things
massive: very large
videodisc: a way to store moving images (also a laserdisc)
full motion: video or film moving images
multimedia: use of different modes to carry information (pictures, video, sound, graphics, and text) in a single package
telecommunications: communicating electronically

Discussion:

1. How has using a computer in this class changed the way you write or think about writing?

2. Do you use technology in your other classes? How?

3. Does your school have a computer lab? What do students do there?

4. Do you learn more when you can watch videos, use computer programs, or have access to other types of technology?

III. Rewriting Techniques: Cube

Cubing is a way of looking at a subject from different angles. It helps you focus on specific aspects of a topic. It’s good for examining objects and the way they affect behavior, society, or other objects.

We call it a cube because you look at your topic from six directions, like the faces of a cube. In fact, you can make yourself a cube like the one below to help you remember the six directions: describe, compare, associate, analyze, apply, and argue. When you use the cube, you should try to address all six faces. However, you may find that it will be easier to do some faces than others with some topics.

IV. Cubing

What technological device or innovation are you writing about?

Face 1. Describe

Can you describe the device or innovation physically in color, shape, size, and so on? List its characteristics, its parts, or its qualities.

Face 2. Compare

List other things that are similar to and different from your subject. Explain the similarities and differences in detail.

Face 3. Associate

What does your subject make you think of? What does it remind you of? List the things associated with your subject and how they are associated.

Face 4. Analyze

Categorize the characteristics, parts, or qualities of your subject. Explain how the parts fit together.

Face 5. Apply

Explain how using this device or innovation has changed or will change your life.

Face 6. Argue

Face the different views, opinions and controversies on the technological device or innovation you have chosen.

V. Organizing your Topic

Cubing usually produces much more information than you can use in one paper. Before you start your rough draft, you should decide on a direction to take. When you are writing about technology, it’s very easy to write in too much detail, especially if you know a lot about the technology and are really interested in it. Your audience is very important. If you assume too much, some people won’t be able to understand it. If you start with the basics, some people will be bored.

VI. Writing Assignment

Make a cube on one of the following topics.

1. Select one technological item and consider how it has changed people’s lives.

2. Technology seems to change faster every decade. Can people keep up with the changes?

3. Here are some technological innovations in American society: disposable diapers, automatic teller machines, telephone answering machines, cable TV, remote controls for TVs and VCRs, computer games, and price scanners for stores. Select one and think about what its use tells us about Americans.

4. Think of a technological device that has recently been introduced in Russia. How did people react?

5. If you could invent a new technological device, what would it be? Why would it be useful?

6. How would humans have to change Mars (or any other planet) to be able to live there?

7. What will the library of the future be like?

8. Think about any services which we now enjoy: transportation, communications, entertainment, sports. Speculate about what changes will take place in the future.

9. How will family life be different one hundred years from now?

10. What will your chosen career be like one hundred years from now? Will it still exist?

Speaking

A

Which Items Do You Think Are Representative of the U.S. Today?

I. Read

The city of New Orleans, Louisiana, has decided to construct a new city administration building. The Mayor thinks it would be a good idea to follow tradition and place a time capsule inside the cornerstone. The time capsule, which will be opened 200 years from now, will give the people of the future an idea of life in the United States today.
As a member of the New Orleans Historical Commission, you have been given the job of selecting 12 items that will be placed in the box (3x3x3 inches).

time capsule: container with historical items in it
cornerstone: part of building that contains time capsule

II. Consider

1. Remember that the articles in the box are to be representative only of present U.S. culture, not of world conditions.

2. Remember that size is a factor; you cannot choose something so large that it will not fit in the box.

3. The following is a list of possibilities. You must choose at least two items that are not on the list:

a quart of oil
a movie starring _______
an American English dictionary
a computer chip from the most sophisticated American computer
a handgun
a ticket to Disneyland
an empty box of Kentucky Fried Chicken
a videotape of the Number 1 TV show
a pillbox of tranquilizers
a pair of running shoes
a pornographic magazine
a test tube
a sample of water from the Mississippi River
a Bible
a bumper sticker reading: “Say No to Drugs”
the keys to a car
the new C.D. by _________
an advertisement page of a newspaper listing food prices
a pair of worn-out blue jeans
a football helmet
a book entitled __________
a T-shirt with “Gay Rights” printed on it
a telephone directory of __________
a sack of garbage from the house of a middle-class family
the most recent State of the Union message by the President

tranquilizers: pills that allow one to relax and maybe sleep
State of the Union message: annual speech the U.S. President makes in Jan. in front of Congress and the country

III. Decide and Write

Item 1: _________________________________
Reason ________________________________
Item 2: _________________________________
Reason: ________________________________
Item 3: _________________________________
Reason: ________________________________
Item 4: _________________________________
Reason: ________________________________
Item 5: _________________________________
Reason: ________________________________
Item 6: _________________________________
Reason: ________________________________
Item 7: _________________________________
Reason: ________________________________
Item 8: _________________________________
Reason: ________________________________
Item 9: _________________________________
Reason: ________________________________
Item 10: ________________________________
Reason: _________________________________
Item 11: _________________________________
Reason: _________________________________
Item 12: ________________________________
Reason: _________________________________

IV. Discuss

Verbally compare your decisions with those of the classmates in your discussion group. Explain and defend your opinions. Listen carefully to your classmates’ opinions, but do not be afraid to disagree with those opinions. Try to reach a group consensus on the best solution to the problem. One person in the group should write down the group’s decision.

V. Extend

1. People who come from very old countries, such as India and China, often say that the U.S. has no culture. What do you think? How would you describe American culture?

2. Considering the well-publicized problems of American society, why do so many people immigrate to the U.S.?

3. Why would you like to or not like to come to the United States to study?

4. Rate these in importance to Americans (1 = important, 5 = not important).

5. There are many countries that export products, but the U.S. is one of the few countries that export culture. What American ideas/products appeal to people in other countries?

Compiled by Galina Goumovskaya