Learn English

Transcript

Learn English

Patrizia Amerio, Marilina Lonigro
Le@rning English
E-Book di Inglese
per la scuola secondaria di primo grado
Volume 1
COPIA SAGGIO
Campione gratuito fuori commercio
ad uso esclusivo del docente
© Garamond 2009
Tutti i diritti riservati
Via Tevere, 21 Roma
Prima edizione
Volume 1
Cod. ISBN 978-88-86180-48-1
Le@rning English
Indice
INDICE GENERALE
Section1. Learn English through Geography ............................................ 7
Unit 1. The Globe ....................................................................................... 8
Topic 1. Size and shape of the Earth. ........................................................ 8
The representation of the Earth ............................................................... 8
Land forms and Oceans .......................................................................... 9
Check your knowledge .......................................................................... 10
Language task: What is it like? (Describing size and shape) .................... 11
Communication: How to ask and talk about size and shape. ................. 11
Vocabulary: SHAPES .............................................................................. 11
Grammar: the verb TO BE ..................................................................... 12
Activities ............................................................................................... 13
Topic 2. Local vs. global systems ............................................................ 14
The geographic grid .............................................................................. 14
The lines of longitude ............................................................................ 14
The lines of latitude ............................................................................... 16
Apply your knowledge........................................................................... 18
Language task: Where are you from? (Locating people and objects) ...... 20
Communication: Where are you from? .................................................. 20
Activities ............................................................................................... 20
Vocabulary : Countries and nationalities ............................................... 21
Grammar : Personal pronouns .............................................................. 21
Grammar : Plural of nouns.................................................................... 22
Unit 2. Finding the direction .................................................................... 24
Topic 1. What is a map? ......................................................................... 24
Flattening the globe .............................................................................. 24
How to read a map............................................................................... 27
The Title ................................................................................................ 27
The compass rose .................................................................................. 28
The legend ............................................................................................ 28
The scale ............................................................................................... 28
Language task: Where are you? (Locating objects) ................................. 31
Communication: Location of places....................................................... 31
Vocabulary: Places in town ................................................................... 31
Grammar: Prepositions of place ............................................................ 32
Grammar: There is/ there are ................................................................ 33
Activities ............................................................................................... 33
Topic 2. Geographers and Maps ............................................................ 34
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Indice
Many different maps ............................................................................ 34
Isolines ................................................................................................. 34
Topographic maps ................................................................................ 35
Who draws maps? ................................................................................ 35
Aerial surveys ........................................................................................ 36
Satellite imagery ................................................................................... 36
Language task: What is it for? (Talking about function) .......................... 40
Communication: What is it for? ............................................................. 40
Vocabulary: Giving directions ................................................................ 40
Grammar : To have (possesso) .............................................................. 41
Forma interrogativa e negativa ............................................................. 41
Unit 3. What’s the weather like?............................................................... 43
Topic 1. Weather or climate? .................................................................. 43
Weather................................................................................................ 43
Climate ................................................................................................. 43
Factors affecting climate ....................................................................... 44
Latitude ................................................................................................ 44
Distribution of water and land .............................................................. 44
Circulation of water and air .................................................................. 44
Language task: What is the weather like? (Describing weather).............. 48
Communication: What is the weather like? ............................................ 48
Vocabulary: Describing weather ............................................................ 48
Grammar: Simple present ..................................................................... 48
Activities ............................................................................................... 50
Topic 2. Metereology ............................................................................. 51
What causes weather conditions ........................................................... 51
Precipitation ......................................................................................... 51
Pressure ................................................................................................ 53
How is the weather forecast?................................................................. 53
Language task: Expressing ability .......................................................... 56
Communication: What can you do? ...................................................... 56
Vocabulary: Jobs and leisure time ......................................................... 57
Grammar: Modal CAN .......................................................................... 59
Unit 4. What time is it? ............................................................................. 61
Topic 1. Earth moves! ............................................................................. 61
Earth’s rotation..................................................................................... 61
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Indice
Day & Night ......................................................................................... 62
Earth’s revolution ................................................................................. 62
The seasons .......................................................................................... 63
Solstices ................................................................................................ 64
Language task: How often do you do it? (Talking about frequency) ... 66
Communication: My busy day! ............................................................. 66
Vocabulary: Days of the week and months ............................................ 66
Grammar: Prepositions of time .............................................................. 67
Grammar: How often? .......................................................................... 68
Topic 2. Understanding time .................................................................. 69
How we measure time .......................................................................... 69
Time zones ............................................................................................ 70
The International Dateline .................................................................... 71
Summer saving time ............................................................................. 71
Language task: What time is it? (Talking about time) ............................. 74
Communication: What time is it? .......................................................... 74
Vocabulary: The clock ........................................................................... 74
Grammar : Present continuous .............................................................. 75
Forma negativa .................................................................................... 76
Forma interrogativa .............................................................................. 76
Section 2. Learn English through Technology ........................................ 78
Unit 1. Exploring the magic world of the computer ................................. 79
Topic 1. Funny things to do with computer ........................................... 79
The technical vocabulary (in the computer room).................................. 80
Let’s know the pc .................................................................................. 80
Topic 2. The parts the computer input and output ................................ 84
Unit 2. Reading and writing ..................................................................... 90
Topic 1. Do you know how to use a word processing program? ........... 90
Step by step .......................................................................................... 90
Let’s start with a new project! ............................................................... 92
Are you a superhero? ............................................................................ 94
Do you know quite a lot about computer? ............................................. 94
Topic 2. Typing characters ..................................................................... 97
New jobs .............................................................................................. 98
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Indice
Unit 3. The intangible realm of the Cyberspace ..................................... 100
Topic 1. Diving into the world of the Internet ...................................... 100
Getting started! ...................................................................................102
Topic 2. Let’s start our exploration! ...................................................... 105
Copy and paste an image from Internet ...............................................114
Now, you have to create a flowchart! ..................................................115
Check your knowledge! ........................................................................117
Grammar: modal CAN .........................................................................120
Unit 4. Finding the direction .................................................................. 123
Topic 1. What e-mail is ......................................................................... 123
Snail-mail and E-mail...........................................................................123
The First Modern Postage Stamp - Penny Black .....................................124
A “cool invention”: the Adhesive Postage Stamps .................................124
Sending a snail-mail (without the computer) .......................................124
Sending an e-mail (with the computer) ................................................125
Topic 2. Web e-mail account ................................................................ 126
And what is there in an e-mail account? ...............................................126
What’s a nickname? ............................................................................126
Sending and receiving e-mail ...............................................................128
You got mail! .......................................................................................128
Reply to a message ..............................................................................129
E-mail forwarding: let’s go forward ......................................................129
Adding an attachment .........................................................................130
How do you do, in practice? .................................................................131
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Section1. Learn English
through Geography
In questa sezione, l’approccio alla lingua inglese è di tipo
task-oriented, cioè pratico e reale, in grado di portare gli
studenti a parlare di un argomento, che è oggetto del loro
studio: la geografia. Disciplina che ben si presta a
presentare le funzioni e le strutture di base della lingua.
 Unit 1 – The Globe
 Unit 2 – Finding the Direction
 Unit 3 – What’s the weather like?
 Unit 4 – What time is it?
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Unit 1. The Globe
YOU KNOW
YOU WILL LEARN
 How to say your name
and age
 About the globe
 How to locate places on
the geographic grid
 The affermative of the
verb TO BE
 How to express size and
shape and ask about it
 What geography is
 How to talk about where
you are from
 Some names of countries
and nationalities
Topic 1. Size and shape of the Earth.
The representation of the Earth
Photographs taken from Space show us
that the Earth is round.
This is the Earth from outer space.
It is round. It is a circle.
Over 2000 years ago using mathematics
and astronomy ancient Greek geographers were able to calculate the shape
and size of the Earth.
The Earth is 40,000 Km in diameter! A person
walking 24 hours a day would take 9 months to
complete it!
The Greek made the first globe to show what the
Earth is like.
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Land forms and Oceans
A Globe is a sphere-shaped representation of the Earth.
Globes show the water and land formations on the Earth.
The water is the Oceans
and the land formations
are the Continents.
The Oceans are
Pacific
Ocean,
Atlantic
Ocean,
Indian Ocean.
the
the
the
The continents are Asia,
Africa, Europe, America,
Oceania.
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Check your knowledge
EXERCISE 1: Say if the following statements are TRUE or FALSE.
1. The Earth is ball-shaped.
2.
3.
4.
5.
 True
 False

The Romans represented the Earth with globes.
 True
 False

The blue on the globe is the water.
 True
 False

The land formations on the globe are the continents.
 True
 False

There are five continents.
 True
 False
EXERCISE 2: Complete the following sentences.
A. The Earth is……..
B.
Greek ……………….. calculated the ……………. and size of the
Earth.
C. The …………….. shows what the Earth is like.
D. Oceans are the ……………… on the Globe.
E. The names of the oceans are ……………………………, ………………….,
……………………………..
F. The five continents are ………………………….., ………………………..,
…………………………….., …………………………., …………………………….
G. Our continent is ……………………………..
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Language task: What is it like? (Describing size
and shape)
Communication: How to ask and talk about size and shape.
Per parlare di un oggetto bisogna descrivere le sue dimensioni, in inglese
size.
What is the length? It is 5 cm long.
What is the height? It is 2 cm high.
What is the width? It is 2 cm wide.
Se si tratta di un cerchio parleremo di diametro.
What is the diameter of this circle?
It is 2 cm in diameter.
Vocabulary: SHAPES
The Earth is round. It is a circle. It is sphere-shaped.
Africa is triangular. It is a triangle.
Italy is boot-shaped. The shape of Italy is a boot.
Per esprimere la forma in inglese possiamo usare gli aggettivi associati alle varie
forme principali.
Se però la forma è irregolare, oppure se vogliamo associare la forma ad un
oggetto conosciuto, faremo seguire il nome dell'oggetto dal trattino e
shaped.
Di seguito sono riportati alcuni esempi di forme e del loro aggettivo.
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Grammar: the verb TO BE
TO BE in inglese significa “essere”. Ha tre forme, una per io (I am), una per il
singolare (is) ed una per il plurale (are). Eccole associate ai pronomi:
Affirmative
Negative
Interrogative
I am / I’m
I am not
---
He/she/it is
He/she/it is not
Is he/she/it?
We/you/they are
We/you/they are not
Are we/you/they?
La forma negative si fa aggiungendo NOT dopo AM, IS o ARE.
La forma interrogativa si fa mettendo al primo posto della frase il verbo IS
o ARE e poi il soggetto.
WATCH OUT
In inglese si esprime sempre il soggetto.
È molto semplice in inglese capire qual è il soggetto di una frase: è sempre il
nome, la cosa o il pronome che si trova al primo posto della frase, subito
seguito dal verbo.
La forma interrogativa si riconosce in inglese perché il verbo si trova sempre
al primo posto nella frase: IS/ARE + SOGG.
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Activities
ACTIVITY 1: Draw an object in the space below.
Now describe it to your friend:
What is the shape?
What is the length?
What is the height?
What is the width?
What is the diameter?
ACTIVITY 2: Write a paragraph describing one of the following
objects. If you like you can also add the color of the object.
•
•
•
•
desk
pencil
book
a pin with a strange form.
ACTIVITY 3: Playtime!!
In group decide and describe an object to another group and ask
them to guess what it is.
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Topic 2. Local vs. global systems
The geographic grid
Your home or school have a street address. Perhaps it is Via Rossi, 999. These
numbers tell the postman where to deliver your mail, and visitors how to
find you.
A physical address is based on local system,
understood and accepted only by a small
community.
How can you tell a distant pen friend exactly where
you are in a concise and accurate way?
You need to use a global system, understood and accepted worldwide by
the entire humanity.
To find a place on the globe, the Greeks used a grid, the
geographic grid.
This grid makes it possible to identify points on the
Earth and record their exact locations.
The Greeks divided the globe into 360 parts, or segments, called degrees.
One degree covers about 111 kilometres.
The lines of longitude
 WATCH OUT
The vertical lines of the geographic
grid are the lines of longitude or
MERIDIANS.
They run from North to South.
These lines measure how far East or
West an object is.
PRIME significa PRIMO in italiano,
esattamente come FIRST, ma
comprende il significato di 'più
importante'.
Si parla di Prime Meridian (Primo
meridiano) o di Prime Minister
(Primo ministro).
Longitude is measured in degrees
east or west of the prime
meridian.
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The PRIME MERIDIAN is also called
the Greenwich Meridian because it
passes through the site of the Royal
Naval Observatory in Greenwich,
London.
If an individual is in the Eastern Hemisphere, their longitude is measured
in degrees East.
If they are in the Western Hemisphere their longitude is measured in
degrees West.
Greenwich Meridian
This means one half of the world is measured in degrees of east longitude
up to 180°, and the other half in degrees of west longitude up to 180°.
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The lines of latitude
The horizontal lines on the geographic
grid are the lines of latitude or
PARALLELS. They run from East to
West.
Lines of LATITUDE are also called
PARALLELS and run
east to west
parallel to the Equator (degree 0°
latitude).
Latitude is the angular distance of any object from the equator measured
in degrees.
The Equator is an imaginary circle around the Earth halfway between the
North Pole and the South Pole.
The Equator is the line of 0° latitude, the starting point for measuring
latitude.
The latitude of the North Pole is 90° N, and that of the South Pole is 90° S.
The latitude of every point in between is some degree north or south, from 0°
to 90°.
Watch this presentation for more information.
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EXERCISE 1:Label the different parts of the globe, use the words in the
box
Lines of longitude, lines of latitude, Equator, Northern Hemisphere,
South Pole, North Pole, Prime Meridian.
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Apply your knowledge
ACTIVITY 1: Use Google Earth or your Atlas to find in which countries
the following latitudes and longitudes are.
Latitude and Longitude
Nationality
Country
45° North 0° East
40° North 5° West
25° North 30°East
30° South 25° East
0° North 60° West
40° North 80° West
36° North 140° East
10° North 78° East
25° North 100° West
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ACTIVITY 2: Song
Can you complete this song with the correct words? Listen carefully!
H.
I.
J.
K.
L.
M.
N.
O.
P.
Q.
R.
S.
Do you know what longitude latitude longitude
Do you know what longitude latitude mean
longitude latitude longitude latitude
Yes, I know what longitude latitude mean
____________is the angular distance
measured in degrees.
It tells how far from the Equator any place happens to be
North or south from the ____________wherever a place may be
latitude gives the angular distance scientifically.
Do you know what longitude latitude longitude... Do you know what
longitude latitude mean
T. longitude latitude longitude latitude
U. Yes, I know what longitude latitude mean
V.
W. ____________ is the angular distance measured in degrees
X. it tells how far from Greenwich England any place happens to be
Y. East or west from _________ _________ wherever a place may be
Z. Longitude gives the angular distance scientifically
AA.
BB. Do you know what longitude latitude longitude... Do you know what
longitude latitude mean
CC.
longitude latitude longitude latitude
DD.
Yes we know what longitude latitude mean
EE.
FF. What's the longitude and latitude of may town?
GG.
Oh, why don't you look up on a map?
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Language task: Where are you from? (Locating
people and objects)
Communication: Where are you from?
Read the following dialogue:
Maria:
Hi, I’m Maria. What is your name?
Juan:
My name is Juan. Where are you from?
Maria:
I’m from Italy, and you?
Juan: I’m from Spain. Spain is 45°N 10°W. What are the latitude and
longitude of Italy?
Maria:
Italy is 40°N 5°E. What is your nationality?
Juan:
I’m Spanish. What is your address in Italy?
Maria:
Via Rossi 11. And yours?
Juan:
It is Via Bianchi 15.
Maria:
Let’s meet again!
Activities
ACTIVITY 1: Scrivi un dialogo simile fra te ed uno o più dei seguenti
bambini i cui nomi ti possono suggerire la provenienza: Pedro, Jasmin,
Andrew, Françoise, Mohammed, Kahlil, Mukutu, Serjei, Xiao Yan, Masao.
Se hai difficoltà puoi confrontarti con un compagno.
ACTIVITY 2: Drammatizza ora il dialogo che hai scritto con uno o più
dei tuoi compagni.
ACTIVITY 3: NOW LET’S TALK ABOUT YOU: Answer the following
questions.
• Where are you from?
• What is your nationality?
• What is the latitude and longitude of your country?
• What is the exact latitude and longitude of your town?
ACTIVITY 4: Now write a letter to a possible pen-friend about
yourself. Use the phrases and words you have learnt.
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Vocabulary : Countries and nationalities
Sei stato in grado di trovare gli aggettivi di nazionalità per completare la
tabella? Bene, avrai notato che quasi tutti gli aggettivi aggiungono i suffissi SH oppure –IAN al nome della nazione:
England  English
Spain  Spanish
Poland  Polish
India  Indian
Italy  Italian
Belgium  Belgian
Tranne che per seguenti:
France  French
Holland  Dutch
Switzerland  Swiss
 WATCH OUT
In inglese gli aggettivi di nazionalità vogliono la lettera maiuscola.
In inglese gli aggettivi precedono sempre il nome. Esempi:
an Italian boy
a Scottish town
the Spanish corrida.
Grammar : Personal pronouns
Forse conosci già i pronomi personali in inglese... prova a completare questa
tabella con il corrispondente italiano:
Personal pronouns
Personal pronouns
English
English
Italian
I
t
You
We
He
You
She
They
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WATCH OUT:
In inglese si esprime sempre il soggetto della frase, anche se è un pronome.
I (io) si scrive sempre con la lettera maiuscola…… ciascuno è troppo importante per
sé stesso.
In inglese YOU traduce i pronomi tu, voi e Lei (non vi è una forma di cortesia) ed è
sempre plurale
“You are” = Tu sei = Voi siete = Lei è
Grammar : Plural of nouns
Il plurale in inglese si forma aggiungendo una S al nome, rispettando le
seguenti regole ortografiche:
Singular nouns ending
Plural form
–fe
Becomes -ves
(knife, wife, leaf, …)
(knives, wives, leaves, …)
-ss, -ch, -sh, -o, -x
Add -es / -ses
(box, bus, watch,…)
(boxes, buses, watches, …)
Consonant + y
Becomes -ies
(family, party,…)
(families, parties …)
Vowel + y
Add –s
(toy, boy, …)
(toys, boys, …)
 WATCH OUT:
I seguenti plurali sono irregolari:
child  children
man  men
woman  women
tooth  teeth
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NOW YOU HAVE LEARNT
 What a globe represents
 The shape and size of the Earth
 How to find places on the geographic grid
 How to describe the shape and size of objects
 How to talk about nationality
 How to form plurals
NOTES
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Unit 2. Finding the direction
YOU WILL LEARN
YOU KNOW
 How a map is created
 About the geographic
grid
 How to read maps
 How technology has
improved maps
 How to describe the
location of places
 How to describe the
function of objects
Topic 1. What is a map?
The Earth is round shaped and globes are the best way to represent it. But
globes are bulky; a piece of paper is much more convenient to carry on a
field trip or on a boat for navigation.
So maps are a representation of the round Earth on flat paper.
Maps help us locate places, measure distances and find where we are on the
Earth.
Flattening the globe
Over the centuries, cartographers - people who draw maps: mapmakers –
have developed many different ways to represent
the round Earth on flat paper.
These methods are map projections.
Imagine you place a projector inside a globe to
project the land formations on a flat screen. This is a
map projection.
Cartographers use the geographical grid based on
the lines of latitude and longitude to make the
projection more accurate. However, projections
distort distance, direction, size or shape according to
where the flat surface is placed.
You can have cylindrical projection maps when you place the screen
around the globe in a cylinder shape. These maps are accurate in the
Equator area, but are distorted as you move to the poles.
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A conic projection map is created by
placing a cone-shaped screen on a
globe. The resulting projection is more
accurate
than
the
cylindrical
projection map. However, the further
we travel south the map, the more
distorted, and less accurate the map
becomes.
When drawing maps cartographers
have
to
chose
between
conformality or equivalency.
A conformal map represents shape accurately; however, size is not always
true to reality particularly close to the Poles.
An equivalent map shows accurately the size of the objects on the map, but
the shapes are sometimes distorted.
By putting together conformal and equivalent maps we can create a map
that balances the distortion of size and shape: this is a hybrid map. Some of
the commonly used projection maps are the following:
The most famous cylindrical
projection map is Mercator’s
map. On this map the
parallels and meridians appear
as straight lines. This method
proved to be accurate for
showing direction.
Mercator’s map is called after
Gerardus Mercator, a Dutch
geographer and cartographer. He
introduced his projection map in
1500s. His map was long used in
marine navigation because direction
and distances are very accurate.
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But the areas near the North and south Poles look much larger than they
really are.
So, for example, Greenland is much bigger than South America, but in
reality it is only the size of Mexico.
Robinson projection map reports the exact shape and size of the
continents, but the water areas are expanded to fill the extra space. The
Robinson projection map is an oval-shaped projection. The shape of
continents are shown accurately, but the water areas are expanded to fill the
extra space. This projection was created by the American cartographer
Arthur Robinson.
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Peters projection map reports size and distance of oceans and
continents accurately, however shape is distorted as we approach the
Equator. This projection was created by the historian and geographer Arno
Peters in 1973. This projection is accepted by many humanitarian
associations such as the UNO, Unicef and Charitas worldwide.
A third kind of projection is called an equidistant
projection. This projection shows land and water
in relation to a central point. Any point on the Earth
can be chosen as the center. Equidistant projections
show distance and direction accurately. The shape
and size,
however,
become
distorted as you move from the
center. Equidistant maps on
which a pole is the central point
are called polar projections. The
North Pole or south Pole is at the
center of these kinds of maps.
The lines of latitude appear as
circles and are all labeled “N”
because they appear north of the
Equator.
How to read a map
It is not difficult to read a map.
On all maps you have
a title,
a compass rose
a key or legend and
a scale bar or ratio.
Let us see these elements in detail.
The Title
The title tells you the theme of the map and the landform it represents.
You can have a political map of Italy, that shows the regions in Italy, or a
physical map of Italy that represents the mountains, lakes and rivers in
Italy.
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The compass rose
The compass rose tells the direction and helps you
locate places on the map.
The four main cardinal directions are North (N),
South (S), East (E), and West (W). On a map, North is at
the top, South at the bottom, West to the left, and East to
the right.
The direction halfway between
North and East is an intercardinal
point and is called NorthEast. The
other three intercardinal points are
SouthEast,
SouthWest,
and
NorthWest. With these directions,
you can give someone a fairly good
idea of what direction they need to
go.
Quando si parla di punti cardinali in
inglese si utilizzano le seguenti
espressioni:
in the North/South --> a nord/sud
North/South/East/West of  a
nord, sud, est, ovest di….
The legend
The objects on a map are represented
using symbols. A symbol is a picture
on the map that represents something
in the real world. Sometimes also
colours are used to show more
information. Blue often means water,
green means forest, and white means
bare land.
Understanding these symbols requires
the use of a key. A key, or legend, explains the meaning of each of the
symbols used in the map. These keys usually show a small picture of the
symbols used on the map, with a written
description of the meaning of each of these
symbols.
The scale
The scale helps measure distances on the map. It
relates distance on the map to the world real size.
Using the scale of a map, you can tell the actual
distance between two points for real.
A Graphic Scale or scale bar is similar to a ruler. One
side of the scale represents the distance on the map, while the other side
represents the true distances of objects in real life. By measuring the
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distance between two objects on a map, and then referring to the graphic
scale, it is easy to calculate the actual distance between those same items.
A map which depicts a small territory is referred to as a large scale map.
This is because the area of land being represented by the map has been
scaled down less, or in other words, the scale is larger. A large scale map only
shows a small area, but it shows it in great detail.
A map depicting a large area, such as an entire country is considered a
small scale map. In order to show the entire country the map must be
scaled down until it is much smaller. A small scale map shows more
territory, but it is less detailed.
EXERCISE 1: Say if the following statements are TRUE or FALSE.
A map shows distance and helps find places on the Earth.
 True
 False

A projection is a flat representation of the globe.
 True
 False

There is only one type of projection.
 True
 False
Projection maps show accurately the shape and size of land
formations.
 True
 False
Mercator created his map in 1500s.
 True
 False
Robinson’s map is not good for marine navigation.
 True
 False
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A conformal map shows size accurately.
 True
 False
On equivalent maps shapes are distorted.
 True
 False

EXERCISE 2: Complete the following sentences with the right words.
 A polar projection is called an ……………………projection. These
projections show land and water in relation to a …………… point.
Size and shape become increasingly ……………….. as you move
away from the center.
 The four cardinal ……………….. are North (N), South (S), East (E), and
West (W). On a map, ……………….. is at the top, ……………….. at the
bottom, ……………….. to the left, and ……………….. to the right.
 The direction halfway between North and East is an ………………..
point and is called ……………….. .
 The ……………….. ……………….. shows the cardinal directions on the
map.
 The ……………….. relates distances on the map to real distances, it is
like a ruler.
 A ……………….. explains the symbols used on the map.
EXERCISE 3: Label the compass rose.
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Language task: Where are you? (Locating
objects)
Communication: Location of places
Hello, I’m Andrew. I am English. My town is Blandford. It
is a small town in Dorset. Dorset is a county in the
south-west of England. East of Blandford is Salisbury a
large town with a beautiful cathedral. South of Blandford,
near the sea, there is Bournemouth.
In my town there are not many shops. Bournemouth is a
large town and there are a lot of shops. Near the seafront
there is a large park and a theatre. In Bournemouth there
are a lot of bookshops, department stores and stationery
stores. I go there also for entertainment. There is a pier and
an aquarium with many fish.
I like my town and I also like to take a trip to
Vocabulary: Places in town
Ecco i nomi in inglese di alcuni luoghi che trovi nelle città.
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Grammar: Prepositions of place
Le preposizioni si stato in luogo (prepositions of place) in inglese sono :
Preposizione
Traduzione in
italiano
USO
IN
In / a
Luoghi chiusi o circoscritti (letto, scatola, ecc.),
Strade o piazze senza numero civico,
Città, nazioni, continenti.
AT
a/presso
Luoghi che sono punti precisi nello spazio
Indirizzi con numero civico
Luoghi con funzione specifica (casa, scuola, ecc.)
ON
Su/sopra
Indica contatto in genere
Si usa spesso per i mezzi di trasporto
Ecco alcuni esempi:
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Grammar: There is/ there are
In inglese per tradurre le
espressioni italiane “c’è”, “ci
sono” si usa THERE IS per il
singolare e THERE ARE per
il plurale.
La forma negativa è uguale a
quella del verbo essere: there
isn't / there aren't.
Nella forma interrogativa il
verbo essere si trova al primo
posto nella frase: is there/
are there?
WATCH OUT
Nella forma interrogativa there diventa il
soggetto della frase, quindi nella risposta
sarà ripetuto come soggetto.
Esempio: Is there a theatre in
Bournemouth?
Yes, there is.
Are there many shops in Blandford?
No, there aren’t.
Activities
ACTIVITY 1: Draw a legend of symbols for the places in town. Then
draw a map of your area starting from the school with the symbols
you created. Add the title and the compass rose to your map.
7.
8.
9.
10.
ACTIVITY 2: Now describe the map using the cardinal directions and
the prepositions of place.
Ex. East of the school there is the library………….
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Topic 2. Geographers and Maps
Many different maps
Maps can represent a variety of information. This
information includes things such as roads, tourist
attractions, and campgrounds, or the latest weather
patterns.
There are physical maps,
political
maps,
topographic
maps,
demographic
maps,
weather maps, language group
maps, migration maps, etc.
You can draw on a map any information of interest
related to a continent, a country, a region or a town.
Land formations, environment, population, economy
and ecology of a place can be drawn thanks to the use
of isolines
Isolines
Isolines are lines connecting points of equal value on a map. The prefix
"iso" means "equal". They show distribution on the map.
For drawing isolines there are some rules to follow:
1. Isolines connect points of equal value.
2. Isolines have no sharp corners.
3. Isolines are always closed curves even
though the map might only show part of
it.
4. Isolines NEVER cross- this would mean
that one point has two different values.
Ex: one spot has two temperatures?
5. Isolines are usually parallel.
Isolines are often associated to different colours. Meteorologists use isolines
to quickly show temperature differences on a map. The hottest areas are
often coloured red, the warm areas yellow, and the cold areas blue.
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In addition to weather, isolines can also be used to
describe other type of data. For example, this
population map uses isolines to represent the
distribution of human beings around the Earth.
Another common use of isolines is to show areas
that are of the same elevation. An isoline
representing temperature is referred to as an
isotherm. A contour line is an isoline that portrays elevation. Isolines that
depict rainfall are called isohyets. Some
isolines have specific names. Isolines of equal
altitude are contour line, isolines of
temperature are named isotherms, isolines
of barometric pressure are isobars, etc.
Perhaps the most common isoline map is one
which shows lines indicating equal elevation,
a topographic map.
Topographic maps
Topographic maps show the shape of the
Earth's surface with contour lines.
Contours are imaginary lines that join points
of equal elevation or height on the surface of
the land above or below sea level.
Contours make it possible to measure the
height of mountains, depths of the ocean
bottom, and steepness of slopes.
WATCH OUT
Gradient Gradient shows how
quickly the value changes from one
point to another. A steep (high)
gradient changes quickly and the
isolines are close together. A gentle
(low) gradient changes slowly and
the lines are far apart.
Remember! Close contour
lines mean STEEP terrain and
open contour lines mean FLAT
terrain.
Close = steep
Open = flat
Who draws maps?
Ancient maps were usually drawn by explorers.
They walked around the different land formations,
and then traced on paper what they thought the
land probably looked like.
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A common way of calculating distances between two
points far away was triangulation. Using an instrument
called theodolite, map makers could determine the
baseline and the angle between two points and calculate
distance based on these two data.
As technology has improved, so have the quality and
accuracy of maps.
Aerial surveys
From the 1930s maps were made using aerial surveys,
that is photographs taken from aircrafts. The aircraft
flies over an area and takes overlapping pairs of
pictures. Each picture gives a slightly different view
of the ground. When they are viewed through a
stereoscope, they give a 3-D image which enables
cartographers to draw land height.
Satellite imagery
In the last 30 years our view of the world has been
revolutionized by satellites in space.
Spacecrafts gave us the first evidence that the
Earth is a globe. Some satellites simply take
photographs; others respond to particular
wavebands of radiation, such as infrared or single
colours, to show different features of the earth
surface, for instance vegetation, ocean currents,
clouds, temperatures and much more.
Satellites have also improved the accuracy of
measurements between points on the ground.
So today we can have very accurate satellite maps.
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EXERCISE 1: QUIZ TIME: What is the Italian for these words?
Countour line = ....................................................................................
Isohyet = ..............................................................................................
Isobar = ……………………………………………………………………………………..
Gradient = ………………………………………………………………………………….
Theodolite = ………………………………………………………………………………
Aerial survey = ……………………………………………………………………………
Satellite imagery = ………………………………………………………………………
EXERCISE 2: Complete these sentences:
HH.
In ancient time maps were drawn by
…………………………………………
II. Today maps are drawn using .………………………………………………….
JJ. Isolines are …….……………………………………………………………………...
KK.A topographic map shows ……………………………………………………….
LL. There are different types of ……………………………………………………….
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ACTIVITY1: Draw a map of your area starting from the school . Then
draw a legend of symbols for the places around you. Mark them on the
map. Add the title and the compass rose. YOUR MAP IS READY, NOW!
11.
12.
13.
14.
ACTIVITY 2: Now describe the map using the cardinal directions, there
is/are and the prepositions of place.
Ex. East of the school there is the library…………………………
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Watch and listen to the Rockbots in “How to read a map”
Listen carefully!
MM.
I'm on the wrong track! Where are we?
NN.
I think I'm in the wrong turn! I'M LOST
OO.
Where should I go? I need a clue!
PP. YOU NEED A MAP
QQ.
You know how to read a map?
RR. Flower-shaped, easy to see
SS. E-S- W- N! Why does it help and now what does it mean?
TT. IT'S A COMPASS ROSE
UU.
A compass rose shows north, south east and west.
VV. North and south, well now I know! East and West, which way they go
WW.
What do you call these four main directions.
XX.
IT'S THE CARDINAL DIRECTIONS
YY. intermediate directions are the north-east, south-east and so on
ZZ. How far is it from here to there check distances to anywhere
AAA.
The map size is smaller than the real world
BBB.
LOOK AT THE SCALE
CCC.
The scale is like a little ruler that helps you measure distances
between places
DDD.
A little lost
EEE.
I'm getting clues! He's getting clues...... FROM A MAP!
FFF.
That I got from you!
GGG.
Dots, stars and those colour and anything like what are these
things that I see a sign of a plane and what is the star?
HHH.
THESE ARE SYMBOLS.
III. An airplane shows an airport, a start is a capital city.
JJJ. How do you know what the symbols are when you're driving around
like in a car
KKK.
Can you find it on the map and where will it be?
LLL.
IT'S THE MAP KEY.
MMM. The map key shows what the symbols mean
NNN.
Why does it show me the entire place. How I know what it is the
bigger thing! Is it from England, Iraq or Mexico?
OOO.
That is an inset.
PPP.
An inset is a smaller more detailed view of the main map
QQQ.
I was lost! But I learnt something new! You learnt something
new!
RRR.
I know how to read a map!
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Language task: What is it for? (Talking about
function)
Communication: What is it for?
“The compass rose is for finding the direction”.
“The theodofile is for measuring distance between two points”.
 WATCH OUT:
Indicare la funzione di un oggetto in inglese è
molto semplice, basta usare
Soggetto +am/is/are for +
(verbo con terminazione –ing)
Vocabulary: Giving directions
Come si fa a indicare una strada in inglese nel linguaggio comune?
Leggi il dialogo e sottolinea le espressioni che indicano la direzione.
Mary:
Excuse me, can you tell me the way to school. This is my first
day here.
Woman: Go straight and take the first turn right. At the traffic light, then,
turn left. The school is on your right.
Ora prova a disegnare il percorso di Mary sul quaderno.
 WATCH OUT:
LEFT significa SINISTRA
RIGHT significa DESTRA
on the right/left = “A destra/sinistra”
turn right/left = “Gira a destra/sinistra”
(senza preposizioni)
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Grammar : To have (possesso)
Avere in inglese si dice to have. Anche per questo verbo la coniugazione è
molto semplice al presente; infatti ha solo due forme:
I/you/we/you/they
He/she/it
HAVE
HAS
Esempio: I have a dog and my mother has a cat.
WATCH OUT:
Fai attenzione alle frasi in cui non trovi i pronomi personali!
Anche quando il soggetto è un nome comune o proprio di persona
singolare si deve usare la forma has!
He has two brothers.
Mark has on sister.
Forma interrogativa e negativa
La forma negativa del verbo avere si fa aggiungendo NOT come per il verbo
to be.
Esempio:
I have not a cat. =
I haven't got a cat
She has not a dog =
She hasn’t got a dog.
Nella forma interrogativa il verbo
precede sempre il soggetto:
Esempio:
Have you got a cat?
Has he got a sister?
WATCH OUT:
Spesso il verbo to have è seguito da
GOT.
GOT non ha un vero e proprio
significato, rafforza soltanto l’idea di
possesso. Si usa soprattutto nelle
interrogative e nella forma contratta
negativa.
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NOW, YOU HAVE LEARNT
 How to draw a map
 The elements of a map
 The meaning of some

 How describe the location of a place
 How to talk about function of objects
 How to give directions
NOTES
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Unit 3. What’s the weather like?
YOU KNOW
YOU WILL LEARN
 What the latitude is
 The difference between
weather and climate
 The simple present of 'to
be'
 How questions are
formed in English.
 How to talk about weather
 The factors affecting
weather and climate
 How to talk about ability
 Human life (jobs and
leisure) related to weather
Topic 1. Weather or climate?
Most people think weather is the same
as climate. But weather and climate are
different.
Weather
Weather is the atmospheric conditions
in a particular place at a particular
time. It is the daily changes in the
temperature,
precipitation,
wind
speed, etc from day to day. Weather
implies a short time period. For
example, the weather on a certain day
may be windy and cool.
Weather patterns, are unpredictable and very difficult to forecast. Weather
is a every changing short-term, localized phenomena.
However, there are many jobs that are affected by weather.
Climate
Climate is the average weather conditions recorded over a long period.
For example, tropical countries have hot climates and the South pole has a
cold climate.
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The climate of an area is determined by the average weather patterns taken
over a long period of time. It includes the extreme highs and lows, and the
common weather of an area day after day. Understanding the climate of an
area helps us know what type of weather we can expect. If we live in a rain
forest, it is likely that it will rain in the following days. If we live in a desert,
there is a high probability that it will be hot and sunny in the near future.
Factors affecting climate
There are many factors which influence climate. The most important factors
are:
• Latitude
• Distribution of water and land
• Circulation of water and air
Latitude
Latitude is the angular distance
measured in degrees of any location
on the Earth from the equator. The
latitude of a location determines the
amount of sunlight that a location
receives. The higher the latitude the
less sunlight you will receive in the
year, and the cooler will be the
climate. Locations near the equator
receive vast amounts of sunlight,
and they are warm during all the
year. Locations near the poles get
very little sunlight and are very cold
all the year.
Distribution of water and land
Water responds to temperature change much more slowly than does land. It
takes longer to heat water, and longer for it to cool down. As a result,
locations near the oceans experience milder changes in climate.
Circulation of water and air
Both the atmosphere, as well as the
oceans are in constant motion.
These motions carry heat around
the world in regular patterns. Warm
air and water are transported up,
while cool air and water are
transported down.
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Mountains can often act as barriers, diverting wind and moisture, effecting
the climate in the areas around it. The side of a mountain facing the wind
will have a climate very different from that of the other side of the
mountain. Often mountains create a vast shadow, where rain can seldom
fall. With rainfall being blocked by vast mountain ranges, these areas
become deserts.
The World Map of Köppen-Geiger Climate Classification shows the
different types of climate you will find across the globe. The classification is
based upon Main Climate, Precipitation and Temperature.
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EXERCISE 1: Say if the following statements are related to WEATHER
(W) or CLIMATE (C).
December is wet and cold.
 Weather
 Climate

Bananas grow in Jamaica because it is hot.
 Weather
 Climate

Take the umbrella with you today!
 Weather
 Climate

Summers are very dry in southern Italy.
 Weather
 Climate

The football match is not taking place today because it rains.
 Weather
 Climate

We can go to the seaside today, it’s sunny.
 Weather
 Climate
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EXERCISE 2: Complete the following sentences with the right
words.
 Climate refers to .................... atmospheric conditions.
 Weather .................... from day to day and from one place to
another.
 Climate is influences by three main factors: ....................,
...................., .................... .
 Higher latitudes are ...................., than places close to the
......................
 Places near the water have .................... climate.
 Mountains .................... wind and ...................., so places on the
opposite side can become desert.
EXERCISE 3: Find in the climate classification map above, the climate,
precipitation and temperature for the places in the table.
Location
Climate key
Main climate
Precipitation
Anchorage,
Alaska (USA)
Cairo, Egypt
Rome, Italy
Belém, Brazil
Nairobi, Kenya
Krakow, Poland
Alta, Norway
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Language task: What is the weather like?
(Describing weather)
Communication: What is the weather like?
Weather forecast UK
Today Spells of locally heavy snow across the Midlands, South Wales and
north eastern England. Patchy rain and sleet in southern England.
Becoming brighter in Scotland with snow showers mainly in the south .
Wintry showers in Northern Ireland. Tonight Rain, sleet and snow
overnight across England with the possibility of further local snow
accumulations in the south, the far north will be dry. Winter showers
elsewhere in the UK.
Vocabulary: Describing weather
Nel testo sono presenti alcuni aggettivi e
nomi
che
descrivono
il
tempo
atmosferico, sei in grado di trovarli?
Scrivili
ora
corrispondente:
vicino
all'immagine
 WATCH OUT:
Fa caldo, freddo ecc, in inglese
si dice
it is hot/ cold
Grammar: Simple present
Il presente dei verbi in inglese si forma semplicemente con la forma base del
verbo (infinito senza to).
L’unica coniugazione si ha per la 3° persona singolare, alla quale si aggiunge
una –s, secondo le seguenti regole ortografiche (simili a quelle per il plurale
dei nomi).
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Verbo
Finale
USO
Wash, search ecc.
-o, -ss, -sh, -ch, x
Si aggiunge –es alla terza persona singolare
Study,
-y preceduta da
consonante
La y diventa i e poi si aggiunge –es
Play,
-y preceduta da
vocale
Si aggiunge soltanto la -s
Forma negativa
La forma negativa ha la seguente costruzione:
Soggetto + ausiliare do + particella negativa NOT + forma base del verbo
Esempi:
I do NOT work I don’t work. (forma abbreviata)
Mary does NOT play tennisMary doesn’t play tennis. (abbreviata)
Forma interrogativa
La forma interrogativa ha la seguente costruzione:
ausiliare do + soggetto + forma base del verbo
Esempio: Do you work.  I don’t work. (forma abbreviata)
 WATCH OUT:
In ogni caso nella forma interrogativa il verbo è al primo
posto nella frase.
Per il verbo essere sarà is /are;
per il presente del verbo sarà do/does.
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Activities
ACTIVITY 1: Use the weather symbols above and draw them on the ma
to make a weather map.
Write a description of today’s weather as shown on the map. The weather
forecast above can help you!
ACTIVITY 2: Now write in your copybook what you do when it is sunny,
rainy, windy, snowy.
Use the simple present and the subject "YOU" (= SI impersonale).
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Topic 2. Metereology
What causes weather conditions
Weather conditions are caused by the sun's energy. The sun heats up some
parts of Earth more than others. Land heats up faster than water, setting up
temperature differences between oceans and continents. This unequal
heating creates variations in temperature and air pressure, winds, and ocean
currents.
Meteorology is the study of the changes in temperature, air pressure,
humidity, and wind.
Precipitation
Precipitation is any form of water that falls to the
Earth’s surface. Earth is a unique planet where all
three forms of water (liquid, solid and gas) exist
naturally.
Heating from the sun helps water evaporate from
the oceans, condensate in clouds and precipitate
in the form of dew, rain, snow, sleet, hail or frost.
Precipitation does not fall in the same amounts
throughout the world, in a country, or even in a
city. The world record for the most rain in a year
was recorded at Cherrapunji, India, where it
rained 2,300 cm in 1861.
What happens to the precipitation when it
reaches the Earth’s surface?
It can remain on the surface in the form of rivers
or lakes.
It can infiltrate in the soil.
It can be taken up by the roots of trees.
It can evaporate again.
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The water cycle
The water cycle describes the existence and movement of water on, in, and
above the Earth. Earth's water is always in movement and is always
changing states, from liquid to vapor to ice and back again. The water cycle
has been working for billions of years and all life on Earth depends on it.
The water cycle has no starting point. The sun heats water in the oceans.
Some of it evaporates as vapor into the air. Rising air currents take the vapor
up into the atmosphere.
The vapor rises into the air where lower temperatures cause it to condense
into clouds. Air currents move clouds around the globe, clouds collide,
grow, and fall as precipitation. Some precipitation falls as snow and can
accumulate as ice caps and glaciers, which can store frozen water for
thousands of years.
Most precipitation falls back into the oceans or onto land, where, due to
gravity, the precipitation flows over the ground. A portion of surface water
enters rivers that flow and move water to the oceans.
Not all surface water (runoff) flows into rivers. Much of it infiltrate into the
ground and fills aquifers.
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Pressure
The wind blows because air has weight. Cold air weighs more than warm
air, so the pressure of cold air is greater. When the sun warms the air, the air
expands, gets lighter, and rises. Cooler, heavier air blows to where the
warmer and lighter air was, or in other words, wind usually blows from areas
of high air pressure to areas of low pressure. If the high pressure area is very
close to the low pressure area, or if the pressure difference (or temperature
difference) is very great, the wind can blow very fast.
Although wind blows from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure, it
doesn't blow in a straight line. That's because the earth is rotating. In the
northern hemisphere, the rotation of the earth causes winds to blow to the
right; in the southern hemisphere winds blow to the left. This is called the
coriolis force. So in the northern hemisphere, winds blow clockwise
around an area of high pressure and counter-clockwise around low pressure.
How is the weather forecast?
A daily weather forecast
involves the work of
thousands of observers
and meteorologists all
over the world, and the
work of thousands of
machines.
Modern computers make
forecasts very accurate
and weather satellites take
photographs of clouds
from space.
Meteorologists use the
observations from ground and space together with formulas and rules based
on past experience.
Some of the tools used by meteorologists are:
A thermometer to measure temperature.
A barometer to measure air pressure.
A rain gauge to measure precipitation.
An anemometer to measure wind speed.
A weather balloon measures weather high in the atmosphere.
A satellite orbiting Earth takes pictures of clouds from space to help us see
where and how fast clouds are moving.
A radar shoots a radio signal into a cloud to shows where precipitation is
falling and how much. It can also spot severe storms and how fast they are
moving.
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Eyes and ears are probably the most accurate tools. Meteorologists all over
the world observe clouds and precipitation, and relay that information and
their measurements to other meteorologists throughout the world so we
can know how the weather is changing from place to place.
EXERCISE 1: QUIZ TIME: What is the Italian for these words?
Hail = ......................................................................................
Dew = .....................................................................................
Sleet = …………………………………………………………………………..
Frost = ……………………………………………………………………………
Snow = ……………………………………………………………………………
Rain = ……………………………………………………………………………..
EXERCISE 2: Match the number on the picture with the right
description of the process of
precipitation:
•
Clouds collide and
precipitation falls.
•
Water remains on the
surface to form rivers
or lakes.
•
Water infiltrates in the
soil.
•
Air currents move
clouds around the
Earth.
•
Water evaporates again.
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ACTIVITY 1: Britain’s climate
Britain is generally
described as having a cold
and wet climate. Although
this may be true for some
places, this is not always
the case. It is the inflow of
air or wind, which affects
our climate the most. Air
from the oceans (maritime
air) usually contains
moisture, while air from
other landmasses
(continental air) is usually
drier. At the same time, air
from the cold polar regions
in the north brings cold weather, while air from the tropical regions in
the south brings warm weather. Cities often experience more rainfall
than the countryside. This is because the warmer air leads to rising,
cooling, condensation and cloud formation.
ACTIVITY 2: Can you describe the climate of Italy?
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Language task: Expressing ability
Communication: What can you do?
This is the postcard Brian to his parents from the summer camp. There are a
lot of activities at summer camps !
Dear Mum and Dad,
This is our camp. Isn’t it great!
The weather is very good here. We are out
all day and we do a lot of activities. There
are many things I can do now. I can row a
canoe, I can swim. Dennis at camp can
also go rafting and is our teacher. We go
rafting tomorrow.
I can’t wash my clothes and do the bed,
however. Luckly, my supervisor helps me
every morning.
Camp is great fun !
Love
Brian
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Vocabulary: Jobs and leisure time
Molti lavori e attività ricreative sono influenzati dal tempo. Ecco un elenco
di lavori (jobs), e delle attività ricreative più comuni. Classifica queste
attività in base al tempo atmosferico!
JOBS
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LEISURE
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Grammar: Modal CAN
CAN è un verbo ‘modale’ inglese; in italiano si usa più spesso il termine
‘servile’; ossia modifica, aggiunge qualcosa al verbo.
In particolare, CAN ha il significato di POTERE, SAPERE, ossia esprime
ability.
Esempio:
I can swim.
I can play tennis.
 WATCH OUT:
I verbi modali seguono queste regole:
Non prendono la –s alla 3° persona singolare.
Sono seguiti dal verbo senza il to dell’infinito (forma base)
Nelle frasi interrogative e negative si comportano come il verbo TO BE, ossia non
vogliono DO, DON’T.
Non hanno tutti i tempi
La forma negativa di CAN è cannot oppure can’t.
Nella forma interrogativa CAN precede il soggetto.
Esempio: Can you speak English? No, I cannot.
WATCH OUT:
Nelle domande, CAN viene utilizzato col significato di ‘potere’ per
chiedere qualcosa.
Esempio:
Can I open the window?
Can I go out?
Can I sit down?
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 The difference between climate and weather
 The elements affecting weather and climate
 How weather is forecast

 How to talk about weather
 How to talk about daily routines
 How to express ability.
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Unit 4. What time is it?
YOU KNOW
YOU WILL LEARN
 How to find locations on
the globe
 About the movements of
the Earth
 How weather and
climate changes
according to the latitude
 How we measure time
 The simple present of
verbs
 To say the time in English
 To talk about temporary
actions
 The use of CAN.
Topic 1. Earth moves!
The Earth is not still, it moves and
this allows all of its parts to
receive the energy of the Sun.
There
are
two
important
movements accomplished by the
Earth. These two movements
create variations in temperature,
weather and in the seasons. The
first is its rotation around and
invisible
axis.
The
second
movement is its revolution
around the Sun.
Earth’s rotation
The Earth spins around its axis
(an imaginary rod that goes from
the North to the South poles).
This
movement
is
called
rotation. The Earth rotates to
the East, that is anticlockwise.
This movement causes the Sun,
Moon and stars to rise in the East
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and set in the west each day.
Day & Night
The part of the globe that faces the Sun
has light and it’s daytime. Then it
spins and moves aways from the Sun
and it’s night.
At the Equator, the Earth’s surface
moves 40,000 kilometres in 24 hours,
that is at a speed of 0.5 km/second. As
you move toward the poles, this speed
decreases to almost zero. It takes the
Earth about 24 hours to finish one
complete rotation.
Earth’s revolution
Earth moves on its orbit around the Sun. This movement is called
revolution. The Earth takes 365 ¼ days to move around the Sun.
This is the basis of our calendar year. We divide the year into months and
seasons.
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The seasons
The Earth’s axis is tilted, so it
What would it happen if the angle of
has an inclination of 23.5
the Earth's axis changed?
degrees. As we move around
the Sun during the year, the
Seasons would be very extreme like on
amount of light that each area
some other planet (Uranus) where
receives varies in length.
winter lasts 42 years in total darkness!
The further north or south you
live in the world, the more
pronounced the seasons are. For example, at the north pole, Scandinavia
has sunshine 24 hours a day during summertime. If you live near the
Equator, instead, the length of the day does not vary very much, so
countries near the Equator only have two seasons: wet and dry.
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Solstices
On solstices the rays of the Sun shine directly on one of the two tropics.
During the June solstice, the Sun reaches its highest point in the sky, so it
takes longer to cross the sky in the northern hemisphere (Tropic of Cancer).
This is the longest day of the year, after this date days start getting shorter.
This happens on 21st June and marks the beginning of the summer.
The day when the north pole is farthest from the sun is called the ‘winter
solstice. The Sun crosses the sky very quickly, so this is the shortest day of
the year. Winter solstice happens on 22nd December and marks the start of
the winter. After this date, the days become longer.
Equinoxes
During its movement around the Sun, the Earth reaches two points when it
is straight relative to the Sun, or at zenith in the sky. These points are called
Equinoxes. At Equinoxes day and night are both 12 hours long.
The ‘Autumn equinox’ happens on 22nd September and marks the
beginning of Autumn.
The ‘Vernal equinox’ , or ‘spring equinox’ occurs on 21st March and marks
the beginning of Spring.
EXERCISE 1: Say if the following statements are TRUE or FALSE and
correct false sentences.
The Earth accomplishes 3 movements.
 True
 False

The rotation of the Earth around the axis is called revolution.
 True
 False

There are two solstices and two equinoxes.
 True
 False
At equinoxes day and nights do not have the same length.
 True
 False
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On 22nd December winter starts and it is the longest day of the year.
 True
 False
Countries around the Equator only have two seasons.
 True
 False
EXERCISE 2: Can you find the answers to these questions in the text?.
 How long does the Earth take to rotate around the Sun?
 Why does the sun rise in the east?
 In Scandinavia and the North Pole how many day hours are there in
summertime?
 When does Summer begin?
 When is the longest day in the year?
 When is the shortest day in the year?
 When are day and night both 12 hours long?
EXERCISE 3: Label the seasons.
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Language task: How often do you do it?
(Talking about frequency)
Communication: My busy day!
Hi,
I write to you after a long time. I'm back to school and I am very, very busy!
In the morning, I go to school at 8 o'clock every day except Sundays.
In the afternoon I have a lot of things to do. Twice a week I have basketball
training with my team from 3 o’clock to 4 o’clock. You know, I am the captain!
You know about my interest for chess. I often play chess from 6 o'clock to 8
o'clock. My master says I am quite good.
On Wednesdays and Fridays I also go to judo lessons after 7 o’clock. Judo is
important for equilibrium. During the week I never go home before 8 o’clock.
On Sundays I always go to church and then we usually have dinner at grammas’.
She is a very good cook!
In the evening I sometimes write emails to friends. Quite often, I am very tired and
want to go to bed early. This is why I do not have much time to write to you
What are your days like?
Write me soon!
Brian
Vocabulary: Days of the week and months
Riscrivi sul quaderno nel giusto ordine i giorni della settimana che trovi
nella seguente immagine:
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Ora trova e scrivi i mesi dell’anno:
Grammar: Prepositions of time
Le preposizioni di tempo (prepositions of time) in inglese sono :
Preposizione
USO
IN
Seasons (ex.: in Spring, in Winter, in Summer, in Autumn)
th
Years and centuries (ex.: in 1996, in the 20 century)
Months (ex.: in June)
Parts of the day (ex.: in the morning, in the afternoon, in
the evening)
AT
Hours (ex.: at 8 o’clock)
Periodi festivi (ex.: at Christmas, at Easter, at the weekend)
Le espressioni con ‘time’ (ex.: at dinner time)
ON
Days of t he week (ex.: on Sunday)
st
Dates (ex.: on 21 March)
Espressioni con ‘day’ (ex.: on Christmas Day
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WATCH OUT
Fanno eccezione le seguenti espressioni:
At night  la sera, di sera, di notte
Es. I never go out at night
Le parti del giorno precedute dal giorno della settimana
Es. See you on Sunday morning.
Adverbs of frequency
sometimes
never
often
always
usually
Grammar: How often?
Guarda la lettera che ha scritto Brian, le parole in grassetto esprimono la
frequenza con cui svolge le azioni, ecco un grafico per ricordarle:
WATCH OUT
Gli avverbi di frequenza si trovano quasi sempre prima del verbo
Esempio: I often play chess.
Con il verbo be questi avverbi possono anche trovarsi dopo il verbo.
Esempio: I am always very tired in the evening.
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Topic 2. Understanding time
How do you know when it is time for school? There are 3 basic methods to
measure time.
You can measure time looking at the alternating day and night. This is
caused by the rotation of the Earth, which takes 24 hours. This gives the
days.
The second natural method is by watching the phases of the Moon. The
Moon moves through a 28 day cycle. Each time a cycle is completed there is
a New Moon and a new lunar month starts. This gives the months.
A third method is the time needed for the Earth to complete its
orbit. As we said this is a 365 day cycle and is connected to seasons. This
gives the years.
How we measure time
Man developed a method to divide the hours into minutes and seconds.
There are 24 hours in a day.
There are 60 minutes in an hour and 60 seconds in a minute. So today
people can be more accurate when giving an appointment.
In ancient times, sundials were used to
help the people know what time it was.
When the Sun was directly overhead
and the shadows of people and objects
were at their shortest, it was said to be
noon.
Many towns and cities had a clock
tower. This clock tower was the official
time keeper for that city or town.
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As technology advanced, clocks
and watches took the place of
sundials.
Time zones
With the invention of fast means of transport, the need for standardizing
the time became apparent.
The Earth was divided into 24 separate time zones. Each time zone is either
one hour ahead (+), or one hour behind (-) the time zone in front and
behind it. Over Each time zone is exactly 15 degrees of longitude, sometimes
they follow political and social borders. Most countries are small enough
that the entire country easily fits within one time zone. This is the case of
Italy. But other countries are very large, like Russia, Australia, Canada,
Brazil, and the US and have multiple time zones.
Time zones are counted starting from the Prime Meridian. This is called
GMT time, that Greenwich Meridian Time.
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The International Dateline
At 180 ° longitude there is an imaginary line called the International
Dateline.
Without the International Date Line travelers going westward would
discover that when they returned home, one day more than they thought
had passed. This first happened to Magellan's crew after the first
circumnavigation of the globe.
Likewise, a person traveling eastward would find that one fewer days had
elapsed than he had recorded, as happened to Phileas Fogg in "Around the
World in Eighty Days" by Jules Verne.
If you stay in one place, a day lasts 24 hours. However, if you travel the
opposite direction of the rotation of the Earth, your day will be slightly
longer than 24 hours, because you are traveling ahead of the setting sun. If
you travel with the rotation of the Earth, your day will be slightly shorter
than 24 hours, because you are traveling into the sunset.
This line actually lies in the middle of a time zone. This means that the hour
on the clock would not change, as you crossed over, just the date.
Summer saving time
During the First World War, Germany instituted a daylight savings program
to save power energy. They ordered everyone to set their clocks one hour
ahead of standard Sun time. Doing this made it so that it was light, longer
into the evening, saving their countries energy in the form of electricity.
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Today most counties around the world observe Daylight Savings Time.
Daylight Savings Time usually begins in April, and ends in October in the
Northern Hemisphere. After which, clocks are set back to standard Sun
time.
EXERCISE 1: Say if these sentences are TRUE or FALSE and correct false
sentences.
Time is only measured looking at the rotation of the Earth.
 True
 False
The phases of the Moon measure the years.
 True
 False
The date is the same all over the globe.
 True
 False
GMT means Greenwich mean time.
 True
 False
Time zones are all exactly 15 degrees longitude.
 True
 False
The countries in the time zone where the International Dateline falls
have the same hour but a different date.
 True
 False
A country can have more than one time zone.
 True
 False
EXERCISE 2: Complete these sentences:
• There are ______ hours in a day.
• There are ______ seconds in a minute.
• There are ______ days in a month.
• There are ______ days in a week.
• There are ______ months in a year.
• There are ______ days in a year.
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ACTIVITY 1: Look at the clocks. Can you say what children living in these
places do at this time?
Olga lives in Moscow. She finishes lunch at 10 past one.
Spencer lives in New York _________________________________.
Zoe ______________________________________________________.
Gunther _________________________________________________.
Raja _____________________________________________________.
Masao ___________________________________________________.
ACTIVITY 2: Now imagine it is seven o’clock in Italy and you are
preparing to go to school. What are the other children around the
world doing? Write a short paragraph.
Look at the time zone map to check how many hours they are behind or
ahead!!
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Language task: What time is it? (Talking about
time)
Communication: What time is it?
Vocabulary: The clock
Per dire l’ora si usano i numeri cardinali da 1 a 12.
Per l’ora intera questi sono seguiti da o’clock.
Se le ore sono di mattina si aggiunge, nella lingua scritta, am (ante
meridiem= before midday), mentre per le ore pomeridiane si aggiunge pm
(post meridiem = after midday).
Per la mezz'ora si usa half.
Per il quarto d’ora si usa quarter.
Normalmente si leggono prima i minuti e dopo l’ora.
Esempio: It’s quarter past one!
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WATCH OUT:
I minuti che mancano all’ora: + TO + ora successiva
I minuti dopo l’ora: + PAST + ora
It is ten TO one
=> 12:50
It is ten PAST one
=> 13:10
Per gli orari ufficiali è anche possibile leggere prima le ore e poi i minuti.
Esempio:
14:55  fourteen fifty-five oppure two fifty-five pm
07:45  seven fourty-five oppure seven fourty-five am
Grammar : Present continuous
In inglese esiste anche un altro presente, oltre a quello semplice, per
esprimere:
Azioni in corso (I am listening to the radio, now)
Situazioni temporanee (My father is teaching chess to me)
Questo presente si chiama PRESENT CONTINUOUS.
Il present continuous si forma come segue:
soggetto + am/is/are + forma base+ING
Esempio: I am writing
WATCH OUT:
Non sempre in italiano è chiaro quando usare il “present continuous”. Viene
tradotto con:
il presente indicativo
con il verbo “stare”+ gerundio.
Esempio: “Sto facendo i compiti” = “I am doing my homework”
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Per l’aggiunta di ING alla forma base del verbo valgono le seguenti regole
ortografiche.
Verbo
Regola
Esempio
Termina con la –e
Si elimina la –e e si
aggiunge –ing
Have  having
Si raddoppia la
consonante finale
Cut  cutting
Termina con una
consonante preceduta
da vocale
Take  taking
Stop  stopping
Begin  beginning
Prefer  preferring
Termina con la -l
Raddoppia la -l
Travel  travelling
Termina con –y
Resta invariato
Study  studying
Play  playing
Forma negativa
La forma negativa è molto semplice, basta mettere NOT dopo il verbo be:
Soggetto + am/is/are + NOT + forma base+ING
Esempio: You are NOT writing.
Forma interrogativa
La forma interrogativa è molto semplice, basta mettere il verbo be al primo
posto secondo lo schema già visto:
am/is/are + soggetto + forma base+ING?
Esempio: Are you writing?
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 How to draw a map
 The elements of a map
 The meaning of some

 How describe the location of a place
 How to talk about function of objects
 How to give directions
NOTES
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Section 2. Learn English
through Technology
Nell’era del computer e del Web, degli sms, dei megabyte,
degli spyware, dei nickname e delle mail,
può essere “easy and funny”, facile e divertente, imparare
l’inglese in un ambiente d’apprendimento un po’ diverso dal
solito, dove, la lingua inglese è un “Must”!….
E allora: “Come on! Let’s sit in front of your PC and start
surfing!”
 Unit 1. Exploring the magic world of the
computer
 Unit 2. Reading and writing
 Unit 3. Surfing the Internet
 Unit 4. Your mail takes flight!
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Unit 1. Exploring the magic world of
the computer
YOU KNOW
YOU WILL LEARN
 The funny and countless
things you can do on a
computer
 The Technical
vocabulary: what is it
for?
 The parts of the computer
in Italian
 What is it? What are they?
 The parts of the
computer - INput and
OUTput
 The daily use of the
computer
 The mouse: a cute
workmate
Topic 1. Funny things to do with computer
There are a lot of fun things that you can do with your computer.
You can
• write a text or make calculations
• make a project
• draw and paint a nice picture
• create your visiting cards or your CD covers
• listen to music and watch a video
• download your photos
• make a poster
• print your works
• surf Internet
• send an E-mail
• if you have “spirit of adventure”, you can create your blog, make a
weather chart, explore space in a word,
You can do almost everything with your computer!
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VOCABULARY BOX
Special words and expressions:
Words and expressions in Inglese
Traduzione in Italiano
To write a text
Scrivere un testo
To make calculations
Eseguire calcoli
To make a project
Fare una ricerca
To draw
Disegnare
To paint
Colorare, dipingere
To make a chart
Fare una tabella
To create visiting cards
Creare biglietti da visita
To listen to music
Ascoltare musica
To watch a video
Guardare un video
To download photos
Scaricare una foto
To make a poster
Creare un poster
To print
Stampare
To play
Giocare
To surf Internet
Navigare in Internet
To send an E-mail
Inviare una mail
To create a blog
Creare un Blog
The technical vocabulary (in the computer room)
Let’s know the pc
Computers are made of many electronic parts. Look at the pictures and
label the Computer Parts. Take a look at the computer and look at all of the
parts: do you know their names? And do you know what they do and what
you use them for?
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TOWER CASE
SPEAKER
SCREEN
MONITOR
MOUSE
PRINTER
MODEM
KEYBOARD
MOUSE PAD
A PERSONAL COMPUTER is used by a person at a time.
This is the MONITOR with the SCREEN .
You use the monitor to see what you are doing on the
computer. It looks like a TV and the smallest one is a 15inch monitor.
Colors monitor can display anywhere from 16 to over 1
million different colors.
WATCH OUT!
1 inch: (in)"pollice", equivale a
2,54 cm.
1 foot : (ft) "piede", equivale a
circa 30 cm
1 yard: (yd.)"iarda", equivale a
m.0,91 (91 cm per 1,09.
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This is a NOTEBOOK or a LAPTOP: it is a
handportable computer
WATCH OUT!
Don’ t make confusion with NOTEBOOK
inteso come quaderno, taccuino, block
notes!
This is the KEYBOARD. You use the keyboard, to TYPE
in words or and numbers on the computer.
A standard keyboard has got 107 KEYS, (or BUTTONS),
for characters (letters, numbers and punctuation marks)
and special commands.
Pressing the keys tells the computer what to write.
VOCABULARY BOX
Special words and expressions:
To type
Scrivere al computer, battere a macchina
1
Can you type ?
Sai scrivere a macchina?
Typing error
Errore di battitura
Keys
Tasti
Character
2
Carattere di scrittura
Letters
Lettere
Numbers
Numero
Puntuaction marks
Segni di punteggiatura
To write
Scrivere
To tell
Dire
1
Type significa anche “tipo, genere”. Es:“What type of computer have you got?”
“Character” significa anche “Individuo, persona”.Es:“Your brother is an original
character”
2
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This is the MOUSE.
You use the mouse to POINT to ICONS on the computer
SCREEN.
In a notebook, there is the TOUCHPAD: you just move your finger
across sensitive “pad” and press to click.
A mouse generally needs a small (squared) MOUSE PAD
These are SPEAKERS. Remember! Any sound that the
computer makes, comes out of the speakers.
This is the MODEM. You use a modem if you
SURF the WEB. Maybe you can’t see it, because
latest models of computer, have the MODEM
inside.
want to
the
on
the
This is the PRINTER, that takes what you see on the
computer screen and prints it on paper.
But, the most important part of a computer is the TOWER
CASE. Here, you can find the CPU or Central Processing Unit,
the brain of the computer: it controls everything and tells other
parts what to do.
If the case stands up tall, it is called tower case.
If it sits flat, it is a desktop case and in this case you find all of the
important computer components
In a computer, there is a “secret place”, where you can STORE your work.
This “secret place” is called HARD DRIVE or HARD DISK or FIXED
And we can not forget:
the MOTHER CARD: it gets its name because it is the largest circuit board
and has many smaller boards plugged into it. You can find it in the desktop
case and it holds all of the most important parts of the computer.
the MEMORY CARD
the VIDEO CARD, sends any picture to the computer screen
the SOUND CARD: contains special circuits for sending sounds to the
computer speakers
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Topic 2. The parts the computer input and
output
Do you know the difference between an OUTPUT an INPUT?
As you know, we use different computer devices everyday.
Some devices are used to input information, while others are used to
output information from our computers. Let’s look at some devices that
we may have used before, and learn whether they are input or output
devices.
For example the TV is mostly an output machine.
What does it mean?
This means that the information comes out from the
TV to you. Of course, the TV also has some input
controls so that, you can give it some input and tell it
what to do. For example, the volume control, the
on/off switch and the channel changer are input controls.
Similarly, the computer has got:
parts to receive INPUT
parts to give OUTPUT
parts to do work
parts to remember things while the power is on
(SHORT TERM MEMORY)
parts to remember things when the power is off
(LONG TERM MEMORY)
RAM stands for Random Access Memory (SHORT TERM MEMORY).
When you turn the computer off, RAM forgets everything you made!
This is the reason why it is very important to SAVE your work on a
computer, otherwise when the computer gets turned off, RAM WILL LOSE
ALL OF YOUR WORK!
If you watch the computer case, you can see a CD-DRIVE, a place where
you can insert a CD-ROM.
CD-ROM stands for Compact Disk – Read Only Memory; a CD is a circular
disk, where you can STORE a lot of things, but it can only READ
information.
There are two kinds of CD:
CD-R (R stands for recordable€)
CD-RW (RW stands for rewritable).
And then, there is an other type of disk: the DVD (Digital Video Disk).
A DVD looks like a CD, but it can hold a great deal of information; from a
DVD you can watch a film, listen to music, but don’t forget that you can
play any CD in a DVD player, but you cannot play a DVD in a CD player.
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This is a computer mouse
A MOUSE has got the name of an animal but, as you can see, it
isn’t an animal!
It is a computer input device and it has usually got
two buttons: a left button and a right button.
The LEFT button is the most important; infact, if you CLICK or DOUBLE
CLICK on an ICON, the computer performs the operation assigned to that
icon.
You use the RIGHT button to open a special MENU or a list of something
that you can do at that moment.
Now, answer the follow questions:
What happens when you double click on an icon with the right button?
a) You connect to Internet
b) You open a special menu about something that you can do at that
moment
c) You change the screensaver.
What happens when you double click on an icon with the left button?
a) Nothing
b) The screen changes wallpaper
c) The computer performs the operation assigned to that icon.
WATCH OUT!
Remember:
one mouse ;
two mouses
two mice
one mouse;
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EXERCISE 1: Let’s see what you have learnt. Use the word bank at the
bottom of the page and complete the sentences:
A ………………………… is a round circle that holds information for or from
your computer
A ………………………… is a tool that is used for typing like an old typewriter.
A ………………………… is the “box” with the SCREEN on your computer, that
you look at, when you are working.
A ………………………… is a small device, made of plastic, that has a ball on the
bottom and two buttons on the top.
When you click on the mouse, you usually click on the left button. It allows
you to click on and choose the things that you see on your screen.
A ………………………… is a machine that puts things out of the computer,
onto paper.
A ………………………… is a piece of equipment that copies pictures, so that you
can use it in your computer projects and works.
The ………………………… are the part of the computer that lets you hear the
sounds.
A ………………………… is a the part of the computer, that connects to the
phone lines, so that you can surf (or SAIL) the Internet.
………………………… (Central Processing Unit) is the "brains" of your
computer that processes the information.
CPU
PRINTER
SPEAKERS
SCANNER
KEYBOARD
MOUSE
CD
MODEM
MONITOR
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EXERCISE 2: Look at the picture and choose the correct answer
.
OUTPUT
A MONITOR
Or
is
INPUT?
OUTPUT
OUTPUT
A......................
Or
INPUT?
OUTPUT
Or
A......................
INPUT?
OUTPUT
Or
.
A......................
INPUT?
OUTPUT
Or
A......................
INPUT?
......................
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And now, do you know what is the primary job of a computer?
To run programs, of course. PROGRAMS are instructions in a language that
computers and programmers can understand.
A PROGRAMMER, or a team of programmers writes a program and saves it
on a LONG TERM STORAGE device like a FLOPPY DISK, a HARD DISK ,A
CD-ROM or a DVD ,or on a PEN DRIVE USB.
WATCH OUT!
Remember: COMPUTER STORAGE can be classified in:
- LONG TERM STORAGE (Permanent):information can be stored for years(CD,
DVD, usb pen...);
- SHORT TERM STORAGE (Volatile): RAM Random Access Memory. Is the main
Memory.
BE CAREFUL: when you switch the pc off, it loses contents.
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EXERCISE 1: Risolvi il rebus, utilizzando la word bank ; alcuni
vocaboli possono essere utilizzati più volte.
WORD BANK
KEYBORD
FINGER
MOUSE
HAND
MOUSE PAD
SCREEN
MONITOR
TOWER CASE
BUTTON
ARROW
SPEAKERS
COMPUTER
Hello! Do you know the parts of the PC?
It is made of a …………………………, a …………………………, a
…………………………
a couple of a …………………………
The mouse is usually on the ………………………….
Your right ………………………… is on the…………………………and your
index …………………………is on the left…………………………
When you move it, a white ………………………… appears on
the…………………………and when you press the left …………………………
on the ………………………… you are doing a click.
Clicking is used when you want to tell the ………………………… to do
something.
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Unit 2. Reading and writing
YOU KNOW
YOU WILL LEARN
 STARTING UP and SHUTTING
DOWN a pc , in the right way
 MINIMISING and MAXIMISING a
computer SCREEN
 OPENING and CLOSING a
computer program
 Using a word processing
program
 Discovering your abilities and
everything you can do on the
PC
 Formatting a text, using the
Toolbars
 Enjoying myself with the
Symbol Box
 Discovering new jobs
Topic 1. Do you know how to use a word
processing program?
Step by step
As you know, if you use a Word Processing Program, you can realize a lot of
fantastic things; for example you can:
write a letter or an essay;
create a poster, an advert or a sign, a nice Birthday card or a Greetings card ,
an alphabetical phone list;
cute visiting cards, labels, tags, folded papers and invitation cards for your
parties, bookmarks, coupons and astonishing stationery and scrapbooks for
your photos and happy memories.
Besides, you can surprise your friends with an amazing headed writing paper,
and you can have a great time printing a newspaper, writing a funny joke
book, arranging an interactive story or inventing coded secret messages and
crossword puzzles
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VOCABULARY BOX
Special words and expressions
Letter
Lettera
Letter
Lettera
Essay
Tema
Poster
Poster, manifesto
Advert
Avviso
Sign
Insegna
Birthday card
Biglietto di compleanno
Greetings card
Biglietto di auguri
Visiting card
Rubrica telefonica
Label
Biglietto da visita
Tag
Etichetta
Folded paper
Cartellino,
Invitation card
Biglietto d’invito
Bookmark
Segnalibro
Coupons
Tagliando, buono
Stationery
Cancelleria
Scrapbook
Album di ritagli
Headed writing paper
Carta da lettere intestata
Newspaper
Giornale
Joke book
Libro di barzellette
Interactive story
Storia interattiva
Secret message
Messaggio segreto
Crossword
Cruciverba
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Let’s start with a new project!
IT ISN’T A HARD TASK! Let’s start with a new project!
You can start writing just one or two sentences, in your own words, about
something you like, for example, about your favourite sport!
OPEN Microsoft Word.
TYPE the sentences on the KEYBOARD.
Do you remember what it is going to happen if you press a key?
The SPACE BAR
the BACK KEY
the ENTER KEY / RETURN
the SHIFT KEYS
this is an ARROW
The UP ARROW
the RIGHT ARROW
the DOWN ARROW
the LEFT ARROW
OK! Now it’s time to format your text and to make it better.
First of all, you can change all the words to a different FONT:
Arial;
Times New Roman;
Century Gothic.
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Did you choose an another font? Ok, now you have to change all the words
to a different SIZE.
Perfect! It’s time to SAVE your precious
work!
Give your work a NAME and Click on
SAVE.
CLOSE Microsoft Word.
I CAN:
•
•
•
choose the correct ICON on the
double click, to get on to the PC;
write my name on the pc
use the SPACE BAR to make spaces
among letters and numbers or,
anyway, I use it to leave one space
between two words.
WATCH OUT!
Among: tra, fra, in mezzo a.
In mezzo a più persone o cose.
Esempio: “Can you see the house
among the trees?”
Idiomatic expression: “to get in
someone’s hair” = “stare tra i
piedi a qualcuno”.
Between: tra, fra, in mezzo a....
Nello spazio compreso tra due
elementi.
Esempio: “The pen is between the
sharpener and the ruler”.
Can you use a mobile phone?
What is your
phone
number?
My phone number is
326 1240856
three-two-six-one-twofour-ou-eight-five-six
WATCH OUT!
Remember!
 Nei numeri di telefono, lo ZERO, si
dice O ou.
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Are you a superhero?
Can you drive a spaceship?
Can you see through a wall?
Can you tell someone’s fortune?
Can you fly around the world?
Can you process data as rapidly as a PC can does?
Can you use a magic wand?
Can you run as fast as a cheetah?
Can you jump over a bridge?
TO FORMAT è un verbo tipico del “COMPUTER WORLD” e significa
formattare, abbellire un testo.
Do you know quite a lot about computer?
Put a tick in the right column
ABILITIES
YES
SO-SO
NO



Can you describe a computer?
Can you use a video processing program?
Can you format a file?
Can you save a file?
Can you print a file?
Can you ride a bike?
Can you draw a cartoon character?
Can you play with a video game?
I can use the SHIFT KEY to make capital letters.
I can choose if is better to use the SHIFT KEY or the CAPS
LOCK KEY to produce capital letters.
I can use ENTER KEY to start a new line
I can make my letters bigger and smaller
I can change the colour of the text on my writing
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I can change the colour of the paper.
I can HIGHLIGHT my writing, using the mouse
I can put a PICTURE on my page
I can write a sentence using a word bank
I can format (I can make changes to my writing to make
it better).
I can change FONT SIZE.
I can change EFFECTS (I can put a text in bold, underline,
Italic).
I can DELETE and REPLACE text (insert and overtype).
I can SELECT
I can CUT and PASTE text
I can insert CLIPART
I can use appropriate PUNCTUATION, using the
KEYBOARD, COPY and RESIZE a word
I can use when is better to use the BACKSPACE KEY or
DELETE KEY.
I can SAVE and PRINT my work
I can find and open my saved work
I can open Microsoft Word
I can change the FONTS and the FONTS SIZE
I can make a BULLET LIST
If you put 25 .......you are very good at computer!
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CAN significa essere capace, saper fare.
WATCH OUT!
Affirmative form (forma affermativa)
Soggetto + CAN + forma base del verbo (senza TO)
Example: “She CAN arrange a list in alphabetical order”
Negative form (forma negativa)
Soggetto + CAN’T + forma base del verbo (senza TO)
Example: “He CAN’T change effects”
Interrogative form (forma interrogativa)
CAN +soggetto + forma base del verbo (senza TO)
Example: CAN you type your name, fast?
EXERCISE 1: Complete the table:
Affirmative form:
He...................open a word processing program
Negative form:
He...................open a word processing program
Interrogative form
................. he open a word processing program?
EXERCISE 2. Rearrange the following sentences:
Can / a/ you/ CD / print / cover?
…….....................................................
Change / I / screensaver / can
……......................................................
the / can’t / change / desktop / He
…….....................................................
she / can / toolbar / the / use
…….....................................................
they / describe / computer / the / can’t /of / a/ parts
…….....................................................
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WATCH OUT!
Capital letters: lettere maiuscole
Lower case letters: lettere minuscole
Consonants: consonanti
Vowels: vocali
In the English alphabet, there are 26 letters: 21 consonants and 5 vowels.
Topic 2. Typing characters
1.These sentences are in BOLD:
1.This is my computer
2.My name is Geoge
3.The pen is red
4.The weather is fine
5.What time is it
6.The car is old
7.I am Italian
8. I like music
WATCH OUT!
Bold significa grassetto, neretto, ma nel caso di persone, significa anche coraggioso,
deciso, ardito.
- A bold colour è un colore vivace.
- A bold outline è un contorno marcato.
- A bold behaviour è un comportamento sfrontato.
Idiomatic expression: “To paint with bold strokes of the brush” = dipingere con
decisi colpi di pennello.
“To be as BOLD as brass”: Avere la faccia di bronzo
2.These sentences are underlined.
UNDERLINING significa sottolineatura.
What a nice girl!
Tomorrow is Thursday
Ted is my brother
I live in Italy
Pedro is from Spain
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Open the door!
3.These sentences are in Italics
1.I go to school
This is my car
3.Joanna is my sister
4.He is a French boy
My mother is a teacher
6.Today is sunny
And now, let’s practise.
ACTIVITY 1: Take a paper and do the following exercises: then sit in
front of the pc and do the same exercises:
•
Type your name using capital letters
•
Now, type your name, using LOWER CASE letters
•
Write the alphabet using lower case letters
•
Write the numbers 0 to 20
•
Put a FULL STOP in this box
•
Put a COMMA in this box
•
Put an EXCLAMATION MARK in this box
New jobs
With the coming of a new age , where computer science plays a preminent
role, new jobs have come in the limelight: the COMPUTER PROGRAMMER,
the web designer, the computer expert.
But also:
•
a MUSICIAN uses the computer to write and mix
music, sounds and verses
•
SECRETARY: someone in a office who works for
someone else For example, a secretary can help a manager with paper
work and does jobs such as arranging meetings, making and
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•
•
•
•
•
•
•
answering phone calls , preparing letters, in a word, she (or he)
generally, organizes the manager’s schedule
ENGINEER: First of all, someone who uses creativity and scientifical
knowledge to solve practical problems. An engineer designs things
such as roads, railways or machines, but also someone who can repair
machines or electrical equipment.
MECHANIC: Someone whose job consists in repairs vehicles,
machines and damaged things.
DENTIST: takes care of people's teeth. A dentist can cure toothache
and cavities.
COMPUTER PROGRAMMER: a person who designs and writes and
tests computer programs A programmer is someone who writes
computer software. The term “computer programmer” can refer to a
specialist in one area of computer programming or someone who
writes code for many kinds of software. In a word, a computer
programmer supplies the computer with all the programmes it
needs, to work properly.
OFFICE WORKER: helps in managing an office and makes sure that it
works well and in the best way. An office
worker is also called “White collar worker”
• WEBSITE DESIGNER: can project,
create and restyle modern, dynamic and
winning websites
• INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY
CONSULTANT: An IT consultant works in
cooperation with clients, advising them
how to use information technology in order
to meet their business objectives.
VIRTUAL COMMUNITY MANAGER:
plans
and coordinates
activities and rules of a web community . He is a “wizard”
of the PC and he knows everything about new and
advanced
technologies,
system
of
network
communications.
COMPUTER ARTISTS as PHOTOGRAPHERS and COMIC
STRIP ARTIST . These are artists that write and draw web
comic strips.
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Unit 3. The intangible realm of the
Cyberspace
YOU KNOW
YOU WILL LEARN
 WHAT the latitude is
 Diving into the world of
the Internet
 The simple present of
'to be'
 Step-by-step instructions
 Surfing the Net
 How questions are
formed in English.
 The wonders of the Web
 Wizard tips and tricks
 Human life (jobs and
leisure) related to the
Computer
Topic 1. Diving into the world of the Internet
What is the Internet? One thing is
certain for sure, not just a lot of
Web pages. It’s much more than
that, it’s a NETWORK: that means
thousands of computers all
connected together across the
world, from a so that, they can
transmit and share information.
The INTERNET is like a huge,
immense “library”, where you can
find almost every-thing.
A library is composed by books and
also on the Internet, you find a lot
of pages to read, but the WEB PAGES are not made of paper as the pages in
a newspaper or in a book: seated on your comfy armchair, in front of your
computer, you read the web pages on your computer screen, and in this
way, you can explore the World Wide Web.
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And you can find a whole bunch of things and information for school
projects or homework.
You can visit the British Museum in London, or the Louvre in Paris, or the
Moma in the Big Apple and the most famous Art collections in the world.
Or, if you prefer, you can enter the White House or the Quirinale.
And when you like to have fun, you can see music videos, learn about your
favourite subject, read jokes, send e-cards and e-mail play games, get
homework help, ask questions and information, explore an encyclopedia,
listen to music, download software and programs, book a flight, or a seat for
a movie, do shopping. and the list goes on, endlessly!
The INTERNET is also called World Wide Web, because, like a giant
spider’s web, it connects computers from all over the world. In short, it is
a huge collection of pages of information on computers linked together,
all over the world.
Together, HYPERLINK and WEB PAGE, make a WEB SITE.
World Wide Web
Means:
•
•
•
•
Internet chat
File transfer
Newsgroup
Electronic mail
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What’s the best way to read the web pages? Just one way exists: a WEB
BROWSER:
-
Internet Explorer
Mozilla Firefox
Netscape navigator
Getting started!
Are you ready to start?
Fasten your safe belt because you are going to..........
What does this mean?
You are going to surf the immense Internet ocean....
First of all, you have to find the Internet ICON: for example, INTERNET
EXPLORER or MOZILLA FIREFOX. You remember?
These are called BROWSERS: you have to double-click on the icon with the
mouse and - as if by magic- now you are in the intangible realm of the
Cyberspace!!!
And you are a real cybernaut!
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When you connect the Internet, the first web page that you see, is called
HOMEPAGE.
On the top of the HOMEPAGE, you can see the TOOLBAR
On the TOOLBAR, there are
many special BUTTONS.
It’s important that you know
them very well, because they
can help you in your web
exploration.
If you take a look at a web
page, on the right side of the
screen, you can see a bar: it is
the SCROLL BAR.
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At the TOP and the BOTTOM of the scroll bar, there are two small ARROWS.
Using these arrows, you can move UP and DOWN the page: if you click on
the DOWN ARROW, you move down the page and if you click on the UP
ARROW, you move up the page.
Ok! Don’t you think that it is time to use your magic magnifying glass
and start your exciting web exploration?
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Topic 2. Let’s start our exploration!
First of all, point your cursor at the web page and move it around: when
you see the arrow turning in a small hand..... wow.... You have found a
LINK!!!
A LINK is a HOT POINT.
If you click on a LINK,
immediately
you
jump
straight to another web page.
Anything can be a link: a
word, a picture, a button.
Now, it’s your go!
Click on one of the links you
have found, to jump to
another web page.
Back and forward
When you want TO GO BACK to the page where you were before, click on
the BACK BUTTON.
Instead, if you want to GO FORWARD, you have to click on the
FORWARD BUTTON.
And remember! If you get lost in the immense sea of the Internet, don’t
worry!
And don’t loose your bearings...because you can get back to your
homepage.
Home sweet home!
What does it mean?
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WATCH OUT!
Idiomatic Expression: “Don’t worry!” = non preoccuparti!
To take one’s bearings: orientarsi
To loose one’s bearings: perdere l’orientamento
And DON’T MAKE CONFUSION:
Compass: bussola
Compasses: compasso
Do you know what is a WALLPAPER? And a SCREENSAVER?
With them, you can decorate your computer.
Look at the screen: can you see the background graphic? Well, it is called
Wallpaper.
It is essentially a backdrop for the desktop, your work area.
A WALLPAPER is used for adding a picture or a design to the DESKTOP,
the area of the monitor where all the icons are.
If you want, you can change it, choosing a different pattern or even a photo
or picture, just by accessing “DISPLAY” in the CONTROL PANEL.
This is a WALLPAPER.
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Does your computer have any wallpaper?
Can you draw your ideal model for a WALLPAPER?
A SCREEN SAVER is a picture that completely cover the screen and has
some movements: it pops up automatically when no one is working on the
computer
If you want, you can change it, as for the wallpaper, just by accessing
"DISPLAY" in the CONTROL PANEL.
The Control Panel is a collection of all the most important options you
need, when you want to change settings on your desktop (not only....). To
access the Control panel, you have to click the START MENU and then,
click CONTROL PANEL.
This is a SCREENSAVER
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And, surfing the net, you will find fun screen savers, with animations,
characters that dance and bounce around the screen.
And don’t forget that a screensaver or a wallpaper can be digital photos,
pictures created by you in the Paint program or other drawing programs, a
Power Point presentation you saved as a graphic file, or any other method
you have to create picture files.
Now, you are the designer! Draw your ideal screen-saver.
Looking for Find and Save a picture
As you know, jumping from a site to another one, you can find a lot of
fantastic pictures and photos. It could be that you find one especially great!
And you could SAVE it for your homework or for a school project.
Let’s see how to save it:
First of all, when you find the picture, you have to right-click on it ( I mean,
click the right mouse button, once).At this point, here pops up a new list:
FIND A PICTURE
SAVE A PICTURE AS
CLICK
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Move your cursor on “SAVE PICTURE AS” and click the left mouse
button.
Now, you can choose if PRINTING or SAVING your picture. Of course,
because, if you like, you can PRINT pictures and photos from the Internet.
Can you see “PRINT PICTURES” on the pop-up list?
You just have to click on PRINT PICTURE
PAY ATTENTION! YOU COULD....!
Save Picture As...

E- mail Picture...
Print Picture...
Go to “My Pictures”
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But, if you prefer, you can save and store your great picture in your
“PICTURES FOLDER”. But don’t forget to name your picture!
And then, finish off, by clicking on the SAVE button.
Well now, you know WHERE to save the picture on your computer, WHAT
name to call it, but one thing, a very important thing, is missing.....
What FILETYPE are you going to choose?
I mean, you could save your picture such as:
BMP or .JPEG or .GIF
WATCH OUT!
Bitmap (.BMP) is the standard image file type, but it could be very “large”.
Jpeg and .Gif are “compressed” versions and take up less disk space, but the
quality of the picture is just a bit reduced.
Anyway, most people prefer to use the Jpeg format, because it is a satisfying
balance between quality and file“weight”.
When you want to send a picture or a photo attached to an e-mail, is
better if you send them “compressed”, as they are smaller and “lighter”,
reduce the time, that it take to SEND and to RECEIVE them!
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This is an ENGINE
WATCH OUT!
Engine: motore
Steam engine: motore a
vapore
Jet engine: motore a getto, a
reazione
But, when you surf the Internet, you don’t use racing car, lorry ,
motorbike or aeroplane, neither double decker bus, nor space
ship, even if you travel at a speed of light!
LORRY
RACING CAR
MOTORCYCLE
DOUBLE DECKER BUS
AEROPLANE
SPACE SHIP
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WATCH OUT!
But, in short. what is a SEARCH
ENGINE?
Engine: motore
Steam engine: motore a
vapore
Jet engine: motore a getto, a
reazione
Well, you can imagine it like a huge,
immense collection of WEBSITES. But
the question is:
Why are you going to use this huge
collection?
Because, as often happens, when you are surfing the net,
you could get lost in the immensity of the web!
And, just to not loose your bearings, you could need a
COMPASS
And, in this case, the best type of compass, a RESEARCH
ENGINE is that just you need!
WATCH OUT!
Racing car: automobile da corsa
Lorry: camion
Motorbike/motorcycle: moto
Double decker bus: autobus a due piani
Aeroplane: aeroplano
Space ship: astronave
Indiomatic expression: “To travel at a speed of light” =
“Viaggiare alla velocità della luce”.
You can imagine a RESEARCH ENGINE like a catalogue: you type some
words about a topic and the ENGINE starts working for you; in fact, after a
short research, it presents you a long list of web sites relating to your
questions and needs.
There are many different search engines available and
it is possible to choose among:
GOOGLE - ALTAVISTA - YAHOO - YAHOOLIGANS
just to mention some of them.
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When you don’t know or don’t remember the exact address of a website or
you are looking for information about a topic, but don’t know where
finding them, you have to use an engine search.
For example, let’s use the Internet, to find information for a school project
about Science.
Can you see the SEARCH BOX? Well, it is a white box, where you have to
type what you are looking for: our Solar System.
SEARCH BOX
Let’s press “solar system” and the “Enter” key (or “Go” button) on the
keyboard, to start our research.
Google Search will look for all the web sites about the Solar System, then...
like magic, a lot of LINKS to web pages appear on your screen!
- The Nine Planets Solar System Tour*****
[ Traduci questa pagina ] 1 Feb 2009 ... Information about each planet
and moon in our solar system with many pictures, discussion of the
history of its discovery, exploration, ...
www.nineplanets.org/ - 19k - Copia cache - Pagine simili
- Solar System - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[ Traduci questa pagina ] The Solar System [a] consists of the Sun and
those celestial objects bound to it by gravity. These objects are the eight
planets, their 166 known moons, ...
-
Solar System S.p.A. - P.IVA 01829150307 - Privacy - Contatto ·
Approfondimenti sui pannelli solari.
www.supersolar.it/ - 5k - Copia cache - Pagine simili
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- www.SolarSystem.it - Home
Collettori Solari, Pannelli Solari Termici, Risparmio Energetico., Offerta
Promozionale di Pannello Solare SolarSystem.
www.solarsystem.it/ - 13k - Copia cache - ***da una pagina web
And, if you click on IMAGES
A lot of pictures and photos will appear on your screen!
Now, click on one of the links and...wait!
Copy and paste an image from Internet
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Just to summarize:
1. Open your Word document
2. Minimize it
Double – click on the Internet browser icon (Explorer, or Mozilla, or
other)
Type www.google.com in the browser ADDRESS BAR
Click IMAGES
Type the name of your search in the SEARCH BOX. Example: Sphinx.
View the pictures and choose one
Click just once (right button click) on your favourite picture, or on
the picture you would like to copy and paste on to your Word
document.
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9. Click COPY (left click) on the pop up list
10. Maximize your Word document
11. Right – click anywhere on your screen
12. And, finally, click PASTE (left click)
Now, you have to create a flowchart!
According to WIKIPEDIA, the free encyclopedia, a FLOWCHART is a
common type of chart, that represents an algorithm and shows you the
steps, as boxes of various kinds, and their order by connecting these with
arrows.
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Put in order the following sentences and create the FLOWCHART
1. Clicca una volta (tasto destro del mouse) sulle immagini
che desideri copiare ed incollare sul tuo documento Word.
2. Apri il tuo documento Word.
3. Click destro in un punto qualsiasi dello schermo.
4. Click sinistro su COPIA nella lista pop up (a comparsa)
5. Click sinistro su IMMAGINI
6. Click sinistro sull’icona del browser (Explorer, Mozilla, o altro)
7. Riduci il tuo documento Word
8. Scrivi il nome dell’oggetto della tua ricerca
9. Click sinistro su INCOLLA
10. Guarda le immagini e scegline una
11. Ingrandisci il tuo documento Word
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Check your knowledge!
EXERCISE 1: And now, let’s see what you know about the Internet.
Make a circle around the right answer.
-
The internet is also called the WEB .
YES
NO
-
We SURF on the web.
YES
NO
-
The index page of a website is called BACKPAGE
YES
NO
-
Google is an example of a SEARCH ENGINE
YES
NO
-
A BLOG is like a journal or an online diary
YES
NO
-
The opposite of download is UPLOAD
YES
NO
-
People, usually, download music in MP3 format.
YES
NO
-
To select an Internet link, you JUMP
YES
NO
-
If something is on the Internet, it is OFF
YES
NO
-
A fast Internet connection is called a ABOARD connection.
YES
NO
-
a FLOWCHART is a kind of browser.
YES
NO
-
The internet is also called the WEB .
YES
NO.
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Result
MATCH THE QUESTIONS WITH THE CORRECT ANSWERS.
The first page that you see when you watch
a web site
LINK
To copy a program from the Internet onto a WEB PAGE
computer
A part of a web site that you can read when
you look at the computer screen
CLICK
You click this word when you’re looking for
a picture
HOMEPAGE
www stands for...
MODEM
A connection between different documents
on the web
DOWNLOAD
To press the button on a computer mouse
SOFTWARE
The box where you write something to find
with a search engine
WORLD WIDE WEB
A piece of device used to send information
from a computer through a telephone
system
IMAGES
The programs that run on the computer
BROWSER
The address of a web site
SEARCH BOX
A program that allows you to connect the
Internet
URL
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EXERCISE 2: Answer the following questions.
1. On this device, you can see everything that the computer shows.
..............................................................................................................
2. A portable computer that can be carried around.
..............................................................................................................
3. You use them, to listen to music.
..............................................................................................................
4. A computer monitor or a mobile phone display, where it is possible
interact with the system, just touching it.
..............................................................................................................
5. You use it, to type words, numbers and messages
..............................................................................................................
6. We have to use it , to get a document from a computer on to paper.
..............................................................................................................
7. A kind of program that can cause desease.
..............................................................................................................
8. A sport you do on a board in the sea of Internet
..............................................................................................................
9. The most common operating system, developed by Microsoft
..............................................................................................................
10. When you want to tranfer data from a place to another in a
document, you have to copy and
..............................................................................................................
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Grammar: modal CAN
CAN è un verbo ‘modale’ inglese, in italiano si usa più spesso il termine
‘servile’; ossia modifica, aggiunge qualcosa al verbo.
In particolare, CAN ha il significato di POTERE, SAPERE, ossia esprime
ability.
Esempi:
- “I can swim”
- “I can play tennis”.
WATCH OUT!
I verbi modali seguono queste regole:
1. Non prendono la –s alla 3° persona singolare.
2. Sono seguiti dal verbo senza il “to” dell’infinito (forma base)
3. Nelle frasi interrogative e negative si comportano come il verbo TO BE, ossia
non vogliono DO, DON’T.
4. Non hanno tutti i tempi.
La forma negativa di CAN è cannot oppure can’t.
Nella forma interrogativa CAN precede il soggetto.
Esempio: “Can you speak English? No, I cannot.”
WATCH OUT!
Nelle domande, CAN viene utilizzato col significato di ‘potere’ per chiedere
qualcosa.
Esempi:
- Can I open the window?
- Can I go out?
- Can I sit down?
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For each of the following exercises, you will be given a TEST YOR
KNOWLEDGE
EXERCISE 1: Read carefully the following sentences. Every sentence
contains gaps. Inderneath the sentences, you can see a “word bank”:
choose the correct word from the “Word bank” and complete the
sentences.
-
The……………….. is a world wide network of computers.
WWW, INTERNET, NETWORK
-
……………….. is a fast way of……………….. with people all over the
world.
PROGRAM, COMPUTER, EMAIL, SAVING, COMMUNICATING
-
A……………….. and ……………….. are examples of input devices. A
……………….. and ……………….. are both output devices.
COMPUTER, MOUSE, CABLE, MONITOR, KEYBOARD, SPEAKER
-
In order to……………….. your work carefully, you must make sure
that you give it a good……………….. and put it in the correct
………………...
DOCUMENT, OPEN, SAVE, FILE, FOLDER, ADDRESS, NAME
-
A ……………….. is a small program which ……………….. easily and
can harm……………….. on your computer.
EMAIL, DAMAGE, VIRUS, DELETES, SPREADS, INFORMATION, DATA
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WHAT CAN YOU DO?
 Saving a document in ‘Microsoft Word’
 Opening the Internet and going to the BBC website
 Highlighting a sentence and turning it bold
 Using ‘Google’ to search for skateboarding sites
 Making a copy of a file
 Renaming a file or folder
 Minimizing a window, and then restoring it to full
screen
 Inserting a picture into a document

 Highlighting a whole document and fully justifying it
 Printing a document three times
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Unit 4. Finding the direction
YOU KNOW
YOU WILL LEARN
 Surfing the Internet
 What e-mail is
 Snail mail and e-mail
 The e-mail account
 Sending and receiving mail
 Adding an attachment
 Toolbar-WordArt-Flowchart
 Golden rules to take care of your PC
Topic 1. What e-mail is
First of all, let’s see what e–mail is: E-mail means “ELECTRONIC MAIL”.
It started in 1960s people had the idea of joining many computers together,
in order to send messages and information among them. But, actually, it
was a primitive way of communication and was used just by computer
experts and scientists, and not by “common mortals”
Electronic mail is a natural use of networked communication technology
that developed along with the evolution of the Internet.
And, still better since 1990s, when Internet “took flight” and E-MAIL has
become the most popular way of keeping in touch, for everyone in the
world!
Snail-mail and E-mail
Before the use of adhesive paper stamps, letters were hand stamped or
postmarked with ink. Postmarks were invented by Henry Bishop and were
called 'Bishop mark'. Bishop marks were first used in 1661 at the London
General Post Office; they marked the day and month the letter was mailed.
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The First Modern Postage Stamp - Penny Black
The first issued postage stamp was the Great Britain's Penny
Post (1840) The Penny Black was engraved the profile of Queen
Victoria's head, who remained on all British stamps for the next
sixty years.
A “cool invention”: the Adhesive Postage Stamps
The adhesive Postage Stamp was created in 1837 by Rowland Hill, an English
schoolmaster. Do you know....for this invention, he was knighted.
Sending a snail-mail (without the computer)
Put in order the necessary operations to send a letter (snail-mail) from Italy
to a friend living in USA:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Take writing paper and envelope
Buy the stamp and stick down it on the envelope
Write the letter
The postman picks up your letter from the sorting office, put it in his
sack or box and delivers it to your friend
5. Write your friend’s address on the envelope
6. Post the letter in the letter box
7. The Postal service flies your letter from your town, in Italy to USA, to
the local sorting office
In your opinion, how long does it take?
Expenditure of time for the delivery three or more days “in a split second”.
Costs: few cents
About €one Euro (€1.00€€) for writing paper, envelope and stamp no money
with an element of risk: if undelivered, please return to sender
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Sending an e-mail (with the computer)
Now, put in order the necessary operations to send an e-mail from Italy to
the same friend living in USA.
1. Click and open your e-mail program (Hotmail, Eudora, Outlook
Express, Gmail, Yahoo.....)
2. Log on to the computer network
3. Click on “NEW MESSAGE” icon
4. Write the message
5. Click on “SEND”
6. Switch on your computer
7. Write your friend’s e-mail address
In your opinion, how long does it take for an e-mail?
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Topic 2. Web e-mail account
First of all, you need a web e-mail ACCOUNT. In this way, you have the
choice to pick up, read and send your e-mail from anywhere that you can
get to a computer, on Internet.....in a library, at school, at your friend’s
house, in a Internet Café....everywhere, indeed!
And what is there in an e-mail account?
Well, when you SET UP an e-mail account, you have to choose a
NICKNAME and a PASSWORD.
Because an e-mail address consists of:
NICKNAME
@ “at” symbol
name of the E-MAIL PROVIDER
...are you catching my meaning?
Ok..let’s go on...

What’s a nickname?
Well... a nickname is like a ”false name”, consisting in your name with a
number , for example chris12 or your name with another one, as chrisbob, or your name with DOTS, for example:”chris.bob”or,
if you like, you could use a DASH ( - ),
or UNDERSCORE ( _ ) for example:
chris12-bob
chris_bob
Chris-bob12.
Next to the nickname there is a strange, cute symbol: @
It is called “AT”
It is a typographic character, also called commercial at and is very old.
In Italy is called “chiocciola” o “chiocciolina”.
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It dates back to Ancient Rome, and was used to do the bookkeeping, in the
account operations. In the 16th century it was used by Italian merchants,
above all, by Venetian merchants.
It was called “AMPHORA” and was used to indicate unit of weight and
measure of capacity
CURIOSITY CORNER
In the French language, the
character “at” is called
ARABESQUE, but also “PETIT
ESCARGOT”.
In Greece, people call it “Papaki”,
small duck.
In Russian the pronun-ciation is
“Sobaka” and means “dog”.
In the e-mail address, after the symbol
provider, for example:
-
@
there is the name of the e-mail
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
Now, you have to choose a PASSWORD.
A password is a secret word: it must be easy for you, but very
difficult for other people to guess. So, maybe is better if you don’t
use your date of birth or your favourite actor’s name.
It would be better if you chose a password, at least six characters
long, and with both letters and numbers.
VERY IMPORTANT: When you register for a new e-mail address, you
must give your personal details, as name, surname and so on, but, pay
attention:
DO NOT GIVE YOUR ADDRESS! NEVER EVER!!!
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Sending and receiving e-mail
When you want to write an e-email, the first thing to do is to click on a
“New message” button.
1. In the first space (where you see TO:
) you type the e-email
address of the RECEIVER, the person you are sending the message
to. If you need to send the same message to two or more people, you
can write all the e-email addresses here, putting semicolon (;) among
them:
To: [email protected]; [email protected]
2. In the box SUBJECT you can tell
what the message is about
CURIOSITY
Cc and Bcc
3. The Cc and the Bcc boxes are
used just in case you want to send
a message to more than one
person; otherwise, you can leave
these spaces blank.
The two letters “Cc:” mean “Copy
to”: if you want to let another
person knows what you have
written in the in this space, you
can write here the e-mail address.
4. When you have written
everything, you can SEND your
message, clicking on the box
SEND,and in “a split second”,
your mail reach its destination!
“Bcc:” means BLIND COPY. You
need this option if you want to
write someone a secret message.
In fact, in this way, you can send
a message to the person (in Bcc)
without the person in the “To”
space knows something about it.
You got mail!
When you want to check your messages, you have to click on the mail table
on the menu near the top of the page. This menu shows you different
FOLDERS and one of them is called INBOX.
Here, you can check if there is a message for you.

To read your message , you can click on “VIEW” or on “READ” or on the
name of the SENDER or on the “SUBJECT”.
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Reply to a message
If you want to reply to an e-mail, you have to click REPLY on the menu.
The “TO:” box is already filled out and in the “Subject” box there is the title
of the message and the two letters RE: this means REPLY MESSAGE.
When we talked about snail-mail, we realized the fact that if the postman
doesn’t find the receiver’s address “please return to sender”.
When you send an e-mail and, for example, you make a mistake in the email address, your message doesn’t arrive.
And, if the message doesn’t reach its destination,
it is BOUNCED, that is SENT BACK to you: in
the “SUBJECT” line, you read “DELIVERY
FAILURE” and in the “FROM” line, you can read
MAILER DAEMON
E-mail forwarding: let’s go forward
It can happen quite a lot that you get a message and you wish to share it
with some friends.
What must you do? You don’t need to type it all, again: you just have to
remove all of the other email addresses and all not interesting content.
Then you have to put the e-mail address of the person you like to send it.
When you have finished, click “SEND” and …off it goes!
FW is the short for FORWARD: inoltrare
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REMEMEBER
When you type a message on an e-mail, you can use the same KEYBOARD
SHORTCUTS, that you use in a Word document!
In this way, will be able to RUB OUT, COPY and PASTE (or STICK) letters, words or
whole sentences in your messages.
Therefore, on the keyboard:
- Ctrl X to delete what you have selected;
- Ctrl C to copy what you have selected, into the computer’s memory, ready
to put in another place;
- Ctrl V to paste what you have deleted or copied.
mail!
This process is very useful, above all, when
you wish to copy and paste a part of
something, you have written with a word
processor.
Besides, don’t forget: you can PRINT your e-
Adding an attachment
When you write a snail-mail to
someone, in the envelope, you can
put many nice things, as drawings,
photos, stories
When you send an e-mail to
someone, you can do the same!!!!!
You can send other files along with it such as documents and images. You
can ATTACH stories written by you, drawings, pictures, your holidays
photos, a spreadsheet, a Birthday card, the road map to get a place and,
even, videos and musical files.
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The PAPER CLIP is the symbol
of an ATTACHMENT
Well, when you send an e-email, you can add an
ATTACHMENT to it, that will “travel” with it.
In practice, you ATTACH the file, by SELECTING the file on
your computer, and then, you UPLOAD the file into your e-mail account
and, in this way, it can be sent along with the message.
How do you do, in practice?
First of all, you have to log in to your e-mail account; then, click on NEW
MESSAGE and write your message.
Fill in the To: (with the receiver’s e-mail address)and SUBJECT boxes.
At this point, Click on ATTACH and select FILE. Now, you must tell the
computer where to find the file you want to attach. It could be stored in
“My Documents” folder, or on the Desktop, or on a Floppy disk, or on a CD
or, maybe, in your brand new USB Flash Pen (drive pen). Or, why not? on
your Mp3 player....
Maybe you would like to attach the latest hit of your favourite rock star! 
So, you might need to move through the folders, to find the file, anyway,
when you find it, select it and click OPEN.
Then, click OK to confirm or click OK and attach another if you want to
add more than one file.
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Do you remember how to make a flowchart to represent an algorithm?
OVAL
for BEGINNING / END
PARALLELOGRAM
for INPUT and OUTPUT DATA
RECTANGLE
for showing the operations
sequence
RHOMB
for making choises among different
options
the flow-chart.
The ARROWS show the links among the actions in
To make a FLOWCHART, by the
WORD processing, you need the
DRAWING BAR.
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NOW IT’S YOUR TURN
RECORDER THE ALGORITHM ( the sequence)
On your exercise book, make a FLOW CHART, explaining how you send an
attachment!
WATCH OUT!
On the Drawing bar, click on SHAPES, on AUTO SHAPES and, finally, on
FLOWCHART.
To write on the inside, right-click on the shape, and click on ADD TEXT.
Click on NEW MESSAGE
Tell the computer where is the file you want to attach.
Log in to your e-mail account
Select the FILE you wish to send along with the message
Click on ATTACH and select FILE
Write your message
Put in the “To:” space the e-mail address of the message’s receiver
Fill in the “SUBJECT” space
When you find the file , select it and click OPEN
Click OK to confirm.
Do you Know WordArt Gallery?
With this text-styling feature, you can realize fantastic SIGNS and create
stylized text with many "special effects", such as textures, outlines,
shadows, a cool 3D style for your works!
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Aren’t they nice?
They are the SMILEYS, the happy faces
commonly represented as a yellow circle
with two dots for the eyes and a half circle
for the mouth.
VOCABULARY
Smile: sorriso
Smileys & emoticons: faccine
And now, let’s go and find out their meaning, so, when you
send an e-mail, you can show your mood.
By the way.....
I’m in a blue mood”!
Find out what’s the
Italian for....
“I feel blue!
“I have the blues!”
: -)
Happy
:-/
indecisive
I-)
asleep
: -)) Overjoyed
%-) Confused
I –O asleep and
:)
short smile
:-@
screaming
: -(
Sad
;-)
winking
:-e
: -(( Very sad
:,-(
crying
(: + ( scared
:-C
terribly sorry
:-|| angry
:-|
uninterested
:-& sticking tongue out
yawning
[:-)
disappointed
listening to the
walkman
: - D laughing
: - X Kissing
8-)
with glasses
:->
=:-) Sticky-up hair
:-=)
face with
sarcastic smile
>;-) diabolic smile
<:-) silly question
O:-) angelic smile
:^)
small lie
moustache
(:-) Hairless, bald
:---) big lie
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NOW IT IS YOUR TURN
Reproduce the smileys in the space below and find out the “MOOD”.
Photocopy this sheet of paper with the “GOLDER RULE” and stick it on
your desk, next to your computer.
Like any other piece of electronic equipment, also the computer requires
special care and attention in order to perform properly and safely, therefore:
Keep always your work area clean.
Computers need special cleaning even on the outside, but NEVER try to
remove the cover on your computer, to clean inside. Instead, contact an
authorized technician service for cleaning and technical support.
Dust your computer and shake dirt out of the keyboard. You could provide a
small computer-specific vacuum cleaner.
Never clean your monitor screen (or any other computer component) with
glass cleaner spray .Better a soft cloth, lightly soaked in glass cleaner
Wash your hands before using the computer to avoid sticky and dirty keys.
Keep all liquids and food items away from your computer. Don't bring food
or drinks or any liquid near your computer. Liquids and food crumbs can
damage delicate electronic circuits and, above all, can be DANGEROUS,
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because mixing liquids and electronic components can cause serious
electrical shock! Electricity and liquids are not good together, therefore,
keep water and any liquid away from the computer system. This includes
any drinks (hot or cold), fish bowls and water toys.
PAY ATTENTION!
It is important to remember that your computer is connected to electricity.
If you have an Internet connection, that also means that your computer is
connected to a telephone line, too. It means that lightning could be
conducted to your computer through any of these connections.
For your safety, you should never use the computer during a storm.
Back up always your files and save your work often, to a CD, a floppy disk an
USB Flash drive, an outer Hard Disk (HDD).
Close properly all programs before you shut down your computer.
THE TRICKS OF THE TRADE
Here is an example of how to shut down your computer:
Save any work by holding down the ‘Alt’ button on your keyboard and
pressing the letter ‘S’.
Close any open documents or programs by clicking the button with the ‘X’
in it at the top-right corner of each window using your mouse.
Using your mouse, click on the ‘Start’ button at the bottom-right corner of
your screen.
Click on the option which says ‘Shutdown’
A small box should appear asking you if you are sure. Click on the button
which says ‘Ok’.
Your computer will now shutdown and switch off.
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Viruses and worms are names for computer-unfriendly programs
that you could ca accidentally download into your computer
system.
Some of them are just a nuisance, but others can crash your
system and cause irreparable damages.
To avoid these “very bad” programs, you have to follow these safety rules:
- First of all, install, use and regularly update an excellent virus
software
- Never open an e-mail attachment, unless you know the person who
sent it
- Do not accept downloads from Internet sites that you don't know.
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SITOGRAFIA
Unit 1
Geographic Grid (Flash presentation) http://olc.spsd.sk.ca/DE/k9mod/Mapskill/mod3fl5.swf
Latitude and longitude song – http://www.acme.com/jef/singing_science/
Google Earth – earth.google.com
Unit 2
Flattening the globe http://www.oxfam.org.uk/education/resources/mapping_our_world/map
ping_our_world/
Information on maps http://www.kidsgeo.com/geography-for-kids/0025-usefullness-ofmaps.php
Rockbots video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QlJn_iMeAg
A problem solving online game using a compass http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/everest/earth/images/getlost.dcr
An interactive 3D topographic map simulation http://www.forgefx.com/casestudies/prenticehall/ph/topo/topo.htm
Unit 3
Video to learn how to talk about weather http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PScGbLBOvKo
Understanding weather - this is a BBC site about
weatherhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features/understanding
A site about how weather forecasts are created http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/bbcweather/
A video explaining wind formation http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=66084523bf65b7e
1a245
Climate change http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/climateexperiment/
Unit 4
138
© Garamond 2009
trough Technology
Le@rning English
Day and night world map http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/sunearth.html
An interactive map with locations and time zones, showing also day and
night – http://www.worldtimezone.com/datetime.html
An animation of Earth revolution around the sun –
http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/visualization
s/es0408/es0408page01.cfm?chapter_no=04
A movie on the movements of the Earth http://sealevel.jpl.nasa.gov/overview/climate-spherical.html
139
© Garamond 2009

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