Unit 9: “ SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY”
1- Environmental problems
2- Technology
3.- Robotic
4.- Science challenges.
5.- Women in Science
1.- Environmental
problems
The main enviromental problems on
Earth are: air pollution, water pollution, overpopulation, deforestation and
overfishing. They are also factors that produce
the climate change.
1.1.- Air pollution
Air
pollution occurs
when gases, dust, smoke, or odor get into the air and make it unclean. Air pollution is unsafe for humans, plants and
animals to breathe.
1.2.- Water pollution
Water
pollution is what happens when various harmful substances
get into a stream, river, or ocean, and contaminate it. These harmful substances cause the overall quality of the water to
decrease and make it toxic to living creatures and the surrounding environment.
1.3.- Overpopulation
Overpopulation
is the state whereby the human population rises to an extent exceeding the
carrying capacity of the ecological setting. In an overpopulated environment,
the numbers of people might be more than the available essential materials for
survival such as transport, water, shelter, food or social amenities. At this
point it is important the concept of carbón footprint.
1.4.- Deforestation
Deforestation is the clearing, or
cutting down, of forests. The word
is normally used to describe the actions of humans in removing forests from the
planet, rather than destruction caused by such natural events as hurricanes.
People have been cutting down trees for thousands of years.
1.5 .- Overfishing
Overfishing is the overharvesting of
fish and marine animals. The
practice involves catching so many of one species at such a rate that the
species is unable to recover to normal quantities. Overfishing reduces some
species to such low numbers that their survival is endangered. It drives others
to extinction.
Activities
1.- List the most important environmental problems.
2.- When do air pollution occur?
3.- When do water pollution happen?
4.- What is overpopulation?
5.- What is deforestation?
6.- What is overfishing?
2.- Technology
Technology influences in our lives. It helps us at
work, at home and in our free time. There are a lot of inventions which make us our live easier
such as phones and machines at home,
§ Phone.- Phones are small computers.You
can send messages, find information
on internet, listen to music and so on.
§ Machines at home.- Some
examples are: dishwashers, microwave,refigerators and so on.There are energy-saving light bulbs
are very efficient.
Technology is in everywhere: industry,
education, transport, free time and
health.
§ Industry.-There are
also industrial changes. Companies are
using enviromentally friendly new
machines. Government create laws to control
industries.
§ Education.-We can find
in our classrooms digital boards, tablets and e-books.
§ Transport.-Thanks to the technology our methods of
transports are more fasters and secure. Some of them are environmentally friendl using eco-fuel,
bio-diesel or solar energy.
§ Free time.- You can watch
a movie on TV or at the cinema in three dimensions and special effects. Most mobile phones allow us
to make photos or a video.
§ Health.-Examples of
technology in a hospital are X-ray, CT scans which help us to detect diseases. There are devices to measure
the level of sugar in blood and blood pressure.
Activities
1.- List the places where the
technology has changed our lives.
2.- Explain the health changes.
3.- Explain the free time changes.
4.- Explain the education changes.
3.- Robotic
3.3.1.-What is robotics ?
Robotics is a branch of engineering
and computer science that involves the conception, design, manufacture and
operation of robots. The objective of the
robotics field is to create intelligent machines that can assist humans in a variety
of ways. Robotics can take on a number of forms.
332.- What is a robot?
A robot is an autonomous machine
capable of sensing its environment, carrying out computations to make
decisions, and performing actions in the real world.
3.3.3.- Common types of robots
-
Articulated
Robots. The robotic arm
-
Humanoids.
...
-
Robots
in medicine
-
Robots at home such as cooking
robots and vacuum cleaner.
Activities
1.- What is the objective of the robotic field?
2.- Can robots perform actions in real life?
3.- Which type of robot do you prefer? Draw.
4.- Science challenges
Science faces many
challenges today, including climate change, disease, astronomy, economy
and inequality. These challenges require new scientific discoveries and
innovation.
·
Climate change.- Climate change refers to long-term changes in temperatures and weather.
·
Diseases.- Medicine advances with technology make
our life easier.
·
Astronomy.- Technology
facilitates space explorations and involve expeditions to the other planets and settlements on the
Moon.
·
Economy.- There
are three fundamental economic problems: what to produce, how to produce, and for whom
to produce.
·
Inequality.- The most important is to build bridges between cultures, fairness,
tolerance, and inclusión. In some countries women don´t have the same
opportunities tan men to get a job.
Activities
1.- List the science challenges in
today´s world.
2.- Which is the most important for you? Discuss with your
patner.
5.- Women in Science
The most remarkable ones
are:
1.- Hipatia de Alejandría.- She was the
first scientist woman in History. She was the inventor of various equipaments
for Physics and Astronomy.
2.-
Ada Lovelace.- She invented the analitic machines
which was very important in the computation field.
3.-
Marie Curie.- She estudied the radioactive materials
for which gained the Nobel Prized in Physics
and Chemistry.
Activities
1.- List 3 important women in
Science.
2.- Which is the most remarkable for you? Discuss with your
patner.
