Unit 3 Inventors and Inventions

warming up & reading

tasks for each group

Group 1: discovery & invention

(definition, examples)

Group2: modern inventions

Group3: a short story about an invention

Group4: some information about snakes

Is it a discovery or an invention?

presentations

• Group1

• Group2

• Do you think it’s easy to invent something?

• Do you know how the electric lamp were invented?

• Group3

Applying for a patent

Finding a problem

Doing research

Testing the solution

Thinking of a creative solution

Deciding on the invention

If some snakes in your yard…

Pre-reading• Group4: some information about snakes

The purpose in writing this text isA. to show us how to trap the snakes but not to kill themB. to tell people how to apply for a patent of the writer's new ideaC. to introduce the writer's new idea of trapping the snakes and her application for a patentD. to tell the readers how to get a new idea and make it a patent

Reading: listen and find out the purpose and the main idea of the text.

The text narrates the p______ of the snakes and

presents the p_________ of catching them

and applying for a p______.

roblem

rocedures

atent

What’s the main idea of the text?

Reading for the details

• read the text by yourself in two minutes

• True or false?

• 1. I felt proud because I could help my parents kill the snakes in our yard.

• 2. I get down to searching the habits of snakes so I could trap them in the easiest way.

for me to distinguish myself by inventing something that would catch snakes but not harm them.

here was a chance

• 3. I decide to attract the snakes into a trap using male or female perfume or food to catch them.

• 4. For the first attempt I placed the frozen bowl over the snakes’ habitat in the evening.

• 5. As soon as I catch the snakes without harming them, I am truly an inventor.

become sleepy and could be easily caught.

cool the snakes so that they would

in the morning

After you have had the recognition of the

patent office

Multiple choices1.The biggest advantage of the writer's new idea is that:A. it makes the snakes move slowly

B. it makes the snakes hardly bite us

C. it is easier for us to kill the snakes without hurting ourselves

D. it is easier for us to catch the snakes without killing them

2. What instruments were used for catching the snakes?

A. a bowl, ice-cubes, male perfume

B. a bowl, a bucket, female perfume

C. a small net, ice-cubes, a bucket

D. a small net, a bucket, powders

3. Which statement is true according to the text?

A. The snakes were so sleepy in the second attempt that they couldn't bite the writer at all.

B. Your product must be different from everybody else's if you want to receive a patent.

C. The writer decided to send her invention to the patent office the moment she succeeded in catching the snakes.

D. If an application for your product proves to be valid, you can get a patent immediately.

4. According to the text, which subject do you think can be given a patent?

A. A new star discovered by a scientist.

B. A new novel written by Huo Da.

C. A new way to make dirty water clean.

D. A new kind of grass found in a mountain which can be used as a medicine.

ParaStages in the inventing process

Example in this story

1

2

Find a problem The snakes must be removed but not harmed

Do research Look for methods of removal; the habits of snakes

the stages in making an invention (have a discussion in pairs)

3

4,5,6

7

Test the solution sev

eral times

Try three times to

make it work

efficiently

Apply for a patent This means the

solution is

recognized

Think of a

creative solution

Identify three

possible

approaches: choose

one

post-reading (discussion in groups)• What are the requirements of the

character of an inventor? Can you give some details in the text to support your idea?

• For example:

• patient & persistent

• The author tried three times and finally he succeeded.

• hardworking, creative, careful, curious

sum -up

• 1. the difference between discovery and invention

• 2. modern inventions• 3. stages in the inventing process• 4. some information about snakes• 5. reading skills: predication, skim, scan,

sum up.• 6. oral practice: based on the topic of

inventions

assignment

• 1. read the text thoroughly and finish the comprehending exercises.

• 2. preview the words and expressions in the reading passage.