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Integrating the Tenets of Peace and Care of Planet Earth in Reading Comprehension Passages of the English Language Curriculum for Junior Secondary Schools in Nigeria

Hanna Onyi Yusuf

Department of Educational Foundations and Curriculum, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Nigeria

Abstract: The paper examined the various ways in which the tenets of peace and care of planet earth can be integrated into the reading comprehension passages of the English language curriculum for junior secondary schools in Nigeria. Samples of reading comprehension passages on the tenets of peace and care of planet earth developed by this author were provided for integration into the English language curriculum for junior secondary schools. The paper suggest that schools should adopt a holistic and integral approach in promoting tenets of peace and care of planet earth by encouraging students to engage in meaningful activities such as dramatization, miming, singing etc. students should also be exposed to practical activities such as field trip that would give them opportunities to demonstrate the tenets of peace and care of planet earth. The more children are exposed to the tenets of peace in the classroom, the less they are likely to find fault with one another and the more they are able to live and work together in peace as future adults for the benefits of mankind and for the good of the society. Similarly, the more children are exposed to caring for the planet earth, the less they are likely to engage in activities that can cause damages to the planet earth and the more they will be able to make scientifically informed decisions in future about the consequences of not caring for the planet earth.

Keywords: integrating, tenets, peace, planet, earth, reading, comprehension

Citation: Hanna Onyi Yusuf, Integrating the Tenets of Peace and Care of Planet Earth in Reading Comprehension Passages of the English Language Curriculum for Junior Secondary Schools in Nigeria. American Journal of Educational Research, 4 (7). 512-518. January 2016. doi:10.12691/education-4-7-3

1. Introduction

The planet earth is the most beautiful of all planets in the universe. It is the loveliest with mountains and oceans spread across. Many kinds of creatures, including humans inhabit the planet earth. Unfortunately, violence conflicts, war are almost a daily occurrence causing natural diseases to happen more frequently. The rising of the earth’s temperature has also disrupted the order of nature resulting in abnormal climates and natural diseases. The increasing global temperature is caused by green house gases in the atmosphere trapping the earth’s heat. Despite the call by the United Nations to industrialized nations to cut down on the green house gas emissions in the past few years, there has been a continuous increase of green house gases. If this goes on, the planet earth will continue to undergo destruction, jeopardizing the lives of all creatures including humans. Unfortunately also, social injustice, war, and other forms of violence have caused death, destruction and horrific suffering but humanity has not yet been able to wage a successful collective effort to transform this condition. [4,5,6].

The question is, can individuals young and old be awaken to the urgency of the global challenges facing the planet earth? Can a sustainable future be created before ecological and social disasters make this impossible? Whether we like it or not, all individuals who live on planet earth, have a share in the blame one way or the other. Something needs to be done urgently for our beloved planet earth. Perhaps, a change in consumer lifestyle to a more environmentally friendly one like eating vegetarian diet.

This author is of the opinion that the hope of reversing these calamities lies in inculcating the virtues of peace and care of planet earth in the young ones of today through the curriculum. Unfortunately, teachers in Nigeria who are the custodians of knowledge lack awareness, training and instructional materials to teach tenets of peace and care of planet earth [2]. Tenets of peace and care of planet earth are not taught in reading comprehension lessons in Nigerian schools. There is need for a paradigm shift which is the focus of this paper. This paper is therefore, aimed at exposing teachers to some reading comprehension passages on tenets of peace and care of planet earth that can be integrated into the reading component of the English language Curriculum for junior secondary schools in Nigeria.

2. Review of Related Literature

Culture of Peace

Education that promotes a culture of peace according to Castro and Galace [3], is essentially transformative. It cultivates the knowledge base, skills, attitudes and values that seek to transform people’s mindsets, attitudes and behaviours that in the first place have either created or exacerbated violent conflicts. Culture of peace refers to the absence of violence and war. It is the absence of hostilities, quarrels, bitterness and angry or violent disagreements. Peace according to this author goes beyond mere absence of war. It is a situation that allows human beings to cooperate, listen and understand one another. It is the state of living in love, friendship and harmony with everyone.

The journey towards peace begins within inner self, since actions come from one’s inner being. Individuals can promote peace and practice non-violence as a way of life by being mindful of the consequences of their actions, fostering co-operation and collaboration rather than competition, allowing conflict and its resolution, following up the expression of anger with forgiveness and reconciliation. Peace begins with the individual and spreads to the family, school, community, nation and to the global village. Researchers such as Lin [9], Nario (2006) Adejobi and Adesina [1] have revealed that violent conflicts are widespread and the cause of great suffering all over the world. Members of the society need to be oriented towards peace and tolerance rather than towards violence. No country can hope to establish lasting conditions for peace unless it finds ways through inclusive education system that promote mutual understanding, respect, tolerance and dialogue. To this end therefore, it is crucial to integrate tenets of peace in the English language curriculum to foster a long lasting culture of peace, peace-building processes dialogue and reconciliation in youths and young adults in our country and global society in general.

Caring for the Planet Earth

The earth is the only planet that can support human life. Unfortunately, there are many strains caused by human activities that are devastating and destructive to the planet earth. The earth is threatened by challenges of enormous proportion worldwide ranging from global warming, natural disasters to nuclear disasters, chemical oil spills and deforestation. The dominant pattern of production and consumption are causing environmental devastation, the depletion of resources and a massive extinction of species. An unprecedented rise in human population has over burdened the ecological and social systems [5,7,8]. These trends are perilous but not inevitable. The well being of humanity depends upon preserving a healthy rich variety of plant, animals, fertile soils, pure water and clean air. The global environment with its finite resources should be a common concern of all people.

The protection of earth vitality, diversity and beauty should be the sacred trust of all, especially the youth of today. Children in secondary schools should be given a chance to be custodians of the planet earth. They should be taught the importance of caring for the planet earth which gives life and determines the survival of human existence. They should be exposed to reading comprehension passages on caring for the planet earth.

Exposing students at the junior secondary school level to reading comprehension lessons on how they can care for the planet earth and the consequences of not caring for the planet earth is the focus of this paper and it is indeed, a step in the right direction since the junior secondary school is the foundation level upon which other levels of education are built.

Integrating tenets of peace and care of planet earth into reading comprehension passages of the Junior Secondary School English language Curriculum

English Language is a subject that cuts across the curriculum. It is a compulsory subject for all students in all classes at the primary and secondary levels of education in Nigeria. Reading comprehension is one of the fundamental language skills children are expected to be exposed to all through their schooling [11,12]. In view of this, young children need to be constantly inspired through meaningful reading comprehension lessons. This will make students to develop positive mental attitude that will ultimately help them in life. This author has created and developed a few reading comprehension passages with tenets of peace and care of planet earth that can be included in the reading component of the English Language curriculum for junior secondary schools in Nigeria. This author strongly believes that students should be made to be agents of change. One way of making this to happen is by exposing students to reading more stuff about peaceful co-existence, care of planet earth, preservation of the earth, respect for the human race, and so on. When students learn positive things about the world, they will grow to become peace loving and caring citizens that would ultimately change the world for good.

3. Methodology

The paper was written with the aim of encouraging teachers to expose their students to practical and meaningful activities such as field trip, dramatization, miming, and singing in order to give them the opportunity to demonstrate the tenets of peace and care of planet earth. The author of this paper has painstakingly provided samples of reading comprehension passages on tenets of peace and care of planet earth. Lesson plans for each reading comprehension passage were also provided to serve as a guide for classroom teachers. The titles were carefully selected, taking into cognizance its relevance and interest to students at the junior secondary level. In developing the sample reading comprehension passages, the author made sure the stories selected were rich in local content and suitable for the background of students in junior secondary schools in Nigeria, Africa as well as other similar countries in the world.

Proposed Reading Comprehension titles on tenets of peace and care of planet Earth

The following are tenets of peace and care of planet Earth that can be included in the titles of reading comprehension passages of the reading component of the English Language Curriculum for Junior Secondary Schools.

Sample reading comprehension passages with questions developed by this Researcher

Working for the common good of all

One day, it occurred to the members of the body that they were doing all the work and the belly was getting all the food. They held a meeting, and after a long discussion, decided to go on strike until the belly did its proper share of the work. For a day or two, the hands refused to take the food, the mouth refused to receive it, and the teeth had no work to do. After a while, the members began to find that they themselves were not in good condition. The hands could hardly move, the mouth was parched and dry, while the legs were unable to support the rest. So, they found that even the belly, in its quiet way, was doing necessary work for the body, and that all must work together or the body will not be well. In the same vein, we must all play our individual role in caring for the planet earth. If everyone plays his or her own part dutifully, by avoiding the things that could destroy it, all will be well.

Questions

(1) The members of the body thought that belly wasn’t doing its fair share. What happened when the members of the body stopped doing their fair share?

(2) For each job, everyone must do their fair share by completing their part of the job. What does a job entail?

(3) What can you do to care for the planet earth?

(4) How do you intend to play your own part in caring for the planet earth?

Introduction

Teacher should introduce the passage above by asking some pre-reading questions such as

a) What does it mean to work for the common good of all?

b) Why do we need to work together?

c) What are the benefits of working together for the common good of all?

d) What does the title of the passage suggest?

Presentation:

Step 1 Teacher should stimulate meaningful discussion on the passage through the above questions.

Step 2 Teacher should read the first sentence and ask the pupils what they think the passage is about.

Step 3 Teacher should read the first few sentences together with the pupils to confirm their predictions.

Step 4 Teacher should read the passage and ask the pupils why all members of the body should work together for the common good of all.

Step 5 Teacher should make pupils demonstrate and act a short playlet on the content of the passage.

Step 6 Teacher should discuss answers to the comprehension questions.

Evaluation: Teacher should discuss ways of making peace and what pupils can do to live in peace with one another. In addition, pupils should answer the questions after the comprehension passage.

Conclusion: Teacher should give students homework to list ways they can live in peace with their fellow classmates.

4. Lets Go Green Now

Earth is the planet we all live in. It is the third planet from the sun and it is the fifth largest of the eight planets in the solar system. The planet earth is our only home in the galaxy. We need to take care of it. We all need to make a commitment to love our planet earth. There are many ways to show love to our planet earth. If we all make it a point of duty to show love to our planet earth, we can make a big difference. We can achieve this for instance, by making sure we turn off all electronics, light bulbs, switches etc. we should also unplug all extension cables, chargers etc. it saves power and it lowers electricity bills. Devices such as laptop chargers can actually eat up “phantom” energy. Even when an appliance is turned off, it may still use power. So it is better to unplug such appliance to save power. We can also show care for the planet earth by conserving water. It is advisable to take shorter showers instead of long showers. By so doing, we can cut down on our water usage. For instance we can shorten our shower time to five (5) minutes instead of ten (10) minutes. It is also advisable to reduce consumption by removing off either tap or shower while soaping. We should also not run the tap all the time while washing dishes, cloths or hands. We should turn it off or run it lighter. Cultivating the good habit of conserving water can accumulate to a huge amount of water saved over time. It is advisable to hang clothes on the clothes hanger or clothes line than using the washing machine dryer. It is also advisable to wash your clothes manually at times instead of using the washing machine all the time. We can also care for our planet earth by keeping our houses and surroundings clean. By keeping our shoes shiny all the time and replacing them when they are worn out. We can keep our school bags and uniforms clean and constantly washing them. We can replace them with new ones when they are old or ragged. Go green for all bank statements, subscriptions etc by reading them on line. Plant trees in your local area. Do not liter anywhere, anytime. Encourage everyone to go green and keep an eye on parks and recreational areas. The planet earth is not a thing like shoes, bag, uniform etc. It is living and breathing. If we all can make a vow to do all of the above, we can be sure to leave the gift of a better life to our future children and grand children.

Questions

1. Why do we need to keep our environments clean?

2. Mention ways of showing love to our planet earth?

3. How can we conserve energy?

4. How can we go green?

Introduction

Teacher should introduce the passage above by asking some pre-reading questions such as

a) What does it mean to go green?

b) Why do we need to take care of the planet earth?

c) Why do you think we need to show love to our planet earth?

d) What are the benefits of caring for the planet earth?

e) What does the title of the passage suggest?

Presentation:

Step 1 Teacher should stimulate meaningful discussion on the passage through the above questions.

Step 2 Teacher should read the first sentence and ask the students what they think the passage is about.

Step 3 Teacher should read the first paragraph together with the students to confirm their predictions.

Step 4 Teacher should read the first sentence of the second paragraph and ask the students to discuss ways of keeping their houses and surroundings clean.

Step 5 Teacher should read the second paragraph with the students to confirm their predictions.

Step 6 Teacher should read the first sentence of the last paragraph and ask the students to discuss ways they can go green at home and in school.

Step 7 Teacher should make students demonstrate and act a short playlet on the content of the passage.

Step 8 Teacher should discuss answers to the comprehension questions.

Evaluation: Teacher should discuss ways students can go green at home and in school. In addition, students should answer the questions after the comprehension passage.

Conclusion: Teacher should give students homework to list ways they can go green and show love to the planet earth.

5. Ada, the Little Child of Peace

Little and her mother spent Saturday afternoon cleaning out the kitchen. The mother took it upon herself to explain the function of each equipment to young . She was intrigued. She tries putting to work some of the equipment: the electric and gas cookers, switch on the gas cylinder and off; set the light/flame to the acceptable mode; switch between electric current and gas freely without making mistakes; try toast some bread; blend some juice; manage the kitchen. She was grateful to her mother for everything. Indeed, she confessed it was her best moment spent in the home and with her mother ever. As the job wears them down, they sat at a stool and ate some of the food little just prepared “if you continue like this my darling daughter, you will be one of the greatest chefs will produce”, her mother said.

She studied her mother closely and saw tears forming in her eyes. “Mummy! Are you ok!”, she asked. Her mother nodded on the affirmative. She came down from her stool, with some tissue paper together and handed it to her. “You are the best mum in the world and you are very beautiful”, she said. “Is it daddy?”

For some time now, Ada had noticed that her father seldom come home early, and when he comes, he goes straight to bed. They don’t eat together anymore. No more movies. He no longer helps her to do her homework or ask her who offended her in school. Little Ada knew that that is what is making mother to sob. She left the kitchen in a hurry. She went straight to daddy’s room. This time her father was awake, with the Saturday paper in his hand. “Good morning daddy”, she greeted. Her father invited her for a hug but she declined. He made to catch her but she ducked. He finally grabbed her but she wriggled out of his hold. “Leave me alone,” she yelled.

“Ok princess, what is it this time” her father asked. “You don’t seem to love mummy anymore. She is crying in the kitchen. Now go and talk to her”. He looked at his daughter and thought for a moment.” My daughter just four years, saying this? Her mother must have gotten into her head.”

“Alright little mum, I will go talk to her later” “No dad. Right now” she replied. Her father stood up although reluctantly and strolled through to the kitchen. He grabbed his car keys in a way that Ada didn’t notice. The next thing she heard was a car engine buzzing. She rushed outside and saw her father driving off. In less than ten minutes he was back. She could see very beautiful flowers at the back of the car. “Where is mummy?” “In her room, upstairs”. He walked through the stairs to his wife’s room, little Ada following behind. He knocked at the door. “Mum, open the door”, she cried. When the mother heard her, she opened the door. She was not pleased with Ada because she was with her father. “What is this Ada?” she asked. “Dad, say something”, Ada said.

Her dad gave her the flowers and said he was really sorry for everything. That he never thought of doing anything to hurt her but Ada’s mum rejected it. “Mum, please. Dad said he is sorry for everything”, Ada pleaded on her father’s behalf.

Together, they embraced and from then on, peace reigned supreme in their house, thanks, however, to little Ada.

6. Answer these questions

1. What drove to make her father apologize to her mother

2. Do you think she is rude to her father?

3. Why do you think Ada wanted her father to make peace with her mother.

4. What would you have done if you were in Ada’s shoes?

5. Why is it always good to make peace in the home?

6. What is the overall lesson learnt from this passage?

Introduction

Teacher should introduce the passage above by asking some pre-reading questions such as

a) What does it mean to live in peace?

b) Why do we need to live in peace?

c) Why do you think little Ada is called the child of peace?

d) What are the benefits of living in peace with our classmates, schoolmates and neighbours?

e) What does the title of the passage suggest?

Presentation:

Step 1 Teacher should stimulate meaningful discussion on the passage through the above questions.

Step 2 Teacher should read the first sentence and ask the students what they think the passage is about.

Step 3 Teacher should read the first paragraph together with the students to confirm their predictions.

Step 4 Teacher should read the first sentence of the second paragraph and ask the students why people should live in peace.

Step 5 Teacher should read the second paragraph with the students to confirm their predictions.

Step 6 Teacher should read the first sentence of the last paragraph and ask the students why they think Ada wanted her father to make peace with her mother.

Step 7 Teacher should make students demonstrate and act a short playlet on the content of the passage.

Step 8 Teacher should discuss answers to the comprehension questions.

Evaluation: Teacher should discuss ways of making peace and what students can do to live in peace with one another. In addition, students should answer the questions after the comprehension passage.

Conclusion: Teacher should give students homework to list ways they can live in peace with their fellow classmates.

The way forward

The way forward is to make foundational changes needed in our values, institutions and ways of living by cultivating a culture of peace and care for planet earth or risk the destruction of ourselves and the diversity of life. We have the knowledge and technology to provide for all and to reduce our impacts on environment.

As citizens of different nations and of one world, everyone must share responsibility for the present and future well-being of the human family and the larger living world. The spirit of human solidarity and kinship with all life is strengthened when we live in peace, have reverence for mystery of being, gratitude for the gift of life and humility regarding the human place in nature. If all of these tenets and values are inculcated in the young ones (who are the leaders of tomorrow) early enough through reading comprehension lessons, the earth will be a better place.

7. Conclusion

The “seeds” for building a long lasting culture of peace and care of planet earth in Nigeria and in the world at large, are the young ones in Junior Secondary Schools scattered all over the country/world. In view of this, the culture of peace and care of planet earth should be inculcated and planted early in the hearts of children at the basic education level. The more children are exposed to the tenets of peace in the classroom, the less they are likely to find faults with one another and the more they are able to live and work together in peace as future adults for the benefits of mankind and for the good of the society. Similarly the more children are exposed to caring for the planet earth, the less they are likely to engage in activities that can cause damages to the planet earth and the more they will be able to make scientifically informed decision in future about the consequences of not caring for the planet earth.

8. Recommendations

• Curriculum planners in Nigeria should include the tenets of peace and care of planet earth in English language curriculum for junior secondary schools in Nigeria. This will help to raise a new generation of peace loving citizens as well as citizens who will take special interest in preserving and caring for the planet earth.

• Schools should set aside a day or time as “peace day” and “care of planet earth day”. On such days, students should be taught to practicalize or demonstrate the tenets of peace and care of planet earth through various activities within and outside the school community.

• Students should be exposed to practical activities such as field trips/educational visits. They should be exposed to projects and exchanges to heighten local and global awareness on care of planet earth and peaceful co-existence.

• Schools should adopt a holistic and integral approach in promoting tenets of peace and care of planet earth by encouraging students to engage in meaningful activities such as dramatization, miming, singing etc.

• Curriculum planners should ensure that the tenets of peace and care of planet earth such as kindness, compassion, unity, peaceful co-existence, lets go green, care of planet earth, etc are included in reading comprehension passages of the English Language curriculum.

• Workshops/seminars on tenets of peace and care of planet earth should be organised periodically to acquaint teachers and school communities on knowledge of how to preserve the earth and have peaceful co-habitation and tolerance with people irrespective of culture, religion, gender and social status.

• Teachers need to change their orientation and thinking mentality to accommodate new changes in the curriculum. They need to change the way they think about themselves and about the planet earth. They need to start doing the things that can preserve the earth as well as promote peaceful co-existence. For instance, as individuals they can reduce greenhouse gases by reducing consumption and recycling. They can reduce pollution, conserve resources and prevent mountains from being destroyed. Conserving electricity and water also helps prolong these resources.

• People need to switch to eco-friendly living habits and life style. When everyone switches to eco-friendly living habits, we can curb pollution, mitigate global warming and save Earth’s resources. Our collective efforts can protect and save our planet earth. It is only when our planet earth is well that we can also be save and well. Collectively we can make this world more peaceful and good for all humans, planet earth and the whole cosmos. “Yes, we can”.

References

Appendices

Appendix I

Carbon foot print Reduction

Big automatic industries, refineries, commercial farmers, and others are the main bodies with the highest carbon emissions. This is because people rely on them to provide products and food that we enjoy at home. This means if people can reduce their reliance on these big industries, they won’t have to produce more.

So, a good way to solve the problem may be from the government and legislative level to regulate these big companies. Leaders can be encouraged to make laws that discourage activities that have high carbon footprint. But many leaders have been a little bit of a disappointment. So it is time for you and I to do our own bit. We can start by reducing our carbon footprint. Our carbon footprint is the sum of all emissions of carbon dioxide, which were produced by our activities in a given time frame. Vehicles and motorcycles produce greenhouse gases.

As a family, go to school, work, market, place of worship on a bus rather than in daddy’s car. It’s cheaper too, and one can save some money.

Walk to shop, Eatery, farm, fun arena and everywhere. Sometimes there are too many cars causing heavy traffic and it is better to walk. It is also great exercise.

People can always ride down to almost everywhere. It’s great fun and very good exercise!

We need to cut down on the use of air conditioner and use fans or leave our windows open for natural air. In harmattan or winter period, we can leave room heater and cuddle up in a blanket to energy and unnecessary consumption of power.

Questions

1. What is carbon foot print?

2. What are the things that produce green house gases?

3. How do you reduce your carbon footprint?

4. How do we reduce our reliance on big industries?

Introduction

Teacher should introduce the passage above by asking some pre-reading questions such as

a) Do you understand by carbon foot print?

b) How do we reduce carbon foot print?

c) How do we reduce our green house gases?

d) What does the title of the passage suggest?

Presentation:

Step 1 Teacher should stimulate meaningful discussion on the passage through the above questions.

Step 2 Teacher should read the first sentence and ask the students what they think the passage is about.

Step 3 Teacher should read the first paragraph together with the students to confirm their predictions.

Step 4 Teacher should read the first sentence of the second paragraph and ask the students what carbon foot print is.

Step 5 Teacher should read the second paragraph with the students to confirm their predictions.

Step 6 Teacher should read the first sentence of the last paragraph and ask the students to explain ways that we can reduce carbon foot print and green house gases.

Step 7 Teacher should make students demonstrate and act a short playlet on the content of the passage.

Step 8 Teacher should discuss answers to the comprehension questions.

Evaluation: Teacher should discuss ways of reducing carbon and what students can do to reduce carbon foot print. In addition, students should answer the questions after the comprehension passage.

Conclusion: Teacher should give students homework to list ways they can reduce reliance on big industries.

Appendix II

The Bundle of Sticks (Working Together)

An old man gathered his ten children around him to give them some good advice. He pointed to a bundle of sticks and said to his eldest son, “Break it.” The son strained and strained, but with all his efforts, he was not able to break the bundle. The other sons and daughters also tried, but none of them were successful. “Untie the bundle,” said the father, “and each of you take a stick.” When they had done so, he called out to them. “Now break,” and each stick was easily broken. “You see my meaning,” said their father, “Union gives strength”. There is strength in unity.

None of the children could break the whole bundle of sticks. But, if each child broke one stick, the entire bundle could be broken. “Together, they stand but divided they fall”.

Questions

(1) Why do you think the children couldn’t break the bundle?

(2) What do you think “Union gives strength” means?

(3) How have you worked together with others to get something done?

Introduction

Teacher should introduce the passage above by asking some pre-reading questions such as

a) what does it mean to live in peace?

b) Why do we need to live in peace?

c) What are the benefits of living in peace with our classmates, schoolmates and neighbours?

d) What does the title of the passage suggest?

Presentation:

Step 1 Teacher should stimulate meaningful discussion on the passage through the above questions.

Step 2 Teacher should read the first sentence and ask the pupils what they think the passage is about.

Step 3 Teacher should read the first paragraph together with the pupils to confirm their predictions.

Step 4 Teacher should read the first sentence of the second paragraph and ask the pupils why “the teacher decided to come to the class with six bigger boys”

Step 5 Teacher should read the second paragraph with the pupils to confirm their predictions.

Step 6 Teacher should read the first sentence of the last paragraph and ask the pupils “why the entire became friends with the new boys and Tunji became an outcast”.

Step 7 Teacher should make pupils demonstrate and act a short playlet on the content of the passage.

Step 8 Teacher should discuss answers to the comprehension questions.

Evaluation: Teacher should discuss ways of making peace and what pupils can do to live in peace with one another. In addition, pupils should answer the questions after the comprehension passage.

Conclusion: Teacher should give students homework to list ways they can live in peace with their fellow classmates.

Appendix III

Greenhouse gases and Electricity Appliances

Human beings’ reliance on artificial things, such as the things that make us comfortable at home, has contributed immensely to the emission of more greenhouse gases more than ever before. These gases in the atmosphere have trapped more heat on the earth’s surface and made it warmer. This is known as Global Warming.

In this new era also known as (the age of industrialization), the earth is full of industries. Millions of vehicles, aeroplanes and engines are produced every year. A lot of artificial things have been produced and have ended up in waste dumps. Human being have produced much more waste than ever before.

People produce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in a way, by the things we use at home such as gas cooker, TV, radio, fan, iron, electric kettle, bulb etc.

It is very important that people turn off all electrical appliances when they are not in use. This is good practice. When people cultivate this good habits, they will end up saving some money too.

Everything humans have at home or workplace need power to work. This power comes from burning fossil fuels and other natural sources. The more fuels are burnt, the more carbon dioxide are produced into the atmosphere. This means each time someone turns on an electrical appliance, they are indirectly adding to the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This is not very good, as we are all contributing to global warming and climate change.

Questions

1. What are greenhouse gases?

2. What can you do to prevent Global warning?

3. List some of the items in our homes that produce greenhouse gases.

4. What can you do to prevent the production of greenhouse gases.

Introduction

Teacher should introduce the passage above by asking some pre-reading questions such as

a) what does it mean to live in peace?

b) Why do we need to live in peace?

c) What are the benefits of living in peace with our classmates, schoolmates and neighbours?

d) What does the title of the passage suggest?

Presentation:

Step 1 Teacher should stimulate meaningful discussion on the passage through the above questions.

Step 2 Teacher should read the first sentence and ask the pupils what they think the passage is about.

Step 3 Teacher should read the first paragraph together with the pupils to confirm their predictions.

Step 4 Teacher should read the first sentence of the second paragraph and ask the pupils why “the teacher decided to come to the class with six bigger boys”

Step 5 Teacher should read the second paragraph with the pupils to confirm their predictions.

Step 6 Teacher should read the first sentence of the last paragraph and ask the pupils “why the entire became friends with the new boys and Tunji became an outcast”.

Step 7 Teacher should make pupils demonstrate and act a short playlet on the content of the passage.

Step 8 Teacher should discuss answers to the comprehension questions.

Evaluation: Teacher should discuss ways of making peace and what pupils can do to live in peace with one another. In addition, pupils should answer the questions after the comprehension passage.

Conclusion: Teacher should give students homework to list ways they can live in peace with their fellow classmates.

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