Unit 5 Into the Unknown-Developing ideas 教案-2025-2026学年高中英语外研版选择性必修第四册

Unit 5 Into the Unknown-Developing ideas 教学目标和重难点 1. 教学目标 Language Ability: Students can master key words and phrases related to exploration, understand complex sentences in the text, and express their views on exploration in English. Cultural Awareness: They can understand the diversity of global exploration cultures, respect the achievements of different civilizations in exploration, and establish a global perspective. Thinking Quality: They can analyze the logic of the text, think critically about exploration phenomena, and develop creative thinking about unknown fields. Learning Strategies: They can use reading strategies such as skimming and scanning to obtain information, and cooperate with peers to complete learning tasks and improve autonomous learning ability. 2. 教学重难点 Key Points: Mastering key vocabulary (e.g., civilisation, abandon, correspond, dismiss) and phrases related to exploration; understanding the main idea and logical structure of the text; being able to express personal views on exploration and unknown mysteries in simple English. Difficult Points: Understanding complex sentences in the text (e.g., attributive clauses, adverbial clauses) and grasping their logical relationships; using the learned vocabulary and sentence patterns to describe exploration experiences or express views on mysterious phenomena accurately and fluently; cultivating critical thinking about scientific exploration. 教学过程 Step 1: Lead-in (Lead-in Activity) Activity 1: Visual Aids and Question Guide. Show students pictures and short video clips about Maya civilization (such as step pyramids, Maya star charts, and undeciphered characters) and deep-sea exploration (such as the Mariana Trench, the Jiaolong submersible, and the wreck of the Esmeralda). Then ask the following questions in English: “Have you ever heard of Maya civilization? What do you know about it? Do you think there are still unknown mysteries in the world? What areas do you want to explore most?” Invite 3-4 students to share their answers, and give positive comments and guidance, such as “Your idea is very interesting. It shows your curiosity about the unknown.” Design Intention: The visual aids (pictures and videos) can quickly attract students’ attention, arouse their interest in the topic of “exploring the unknown”, and activate their existing background knowledge. The guiding questions can guide students to think actively, lay a foundation for the subsequent text learning, and also help teachers understand students’ prior knowledge level, so as to adjust the teaching progress and content appropriately. At the same time, the oral expression in this link can exercise students’ ability to use simple English to express their views, laying a foundation for the subsequent oral practice. Activity 2: Vocabulary Preview. Present the key vocabulary of this section (civilisation, abandon, correspond, dismiss, ruin, apply, decline, bury) on the blackboard or courseware, with simple English definitions and example sentences related to the text. For example, “civilisation: a complex society with its own culture, government, and way of life; e.g., Maya civilisation is one of the most mysterious ancient civilisations in the world.” Ask students to read the words and example sentences aloud, and then ask them to guess the Chinese meanings of the words according to the context of the example sentences. After that, check the students’ mastery of the words by means of “word matching” (matching words with their definitions) to ensure that students have a preliminary understanding of the key vocabulary, so as to avoid obstacles in text reading. Design Intention: Previewing key vocabulary before reading can help students reduce the difficulty of text reading, improve reading efficiency, and lay a solid foundation for understanding the text. Using English definitions and example sentences related to the text can help students understand the meaning and usage of words in the context of the unit topic, avoid mechanical memorization, and improve the ability of vocabulary application. The “word matching” activity can quickly check students’ mastery of vocabulary and timely make up for the deficiencies of students who have not mastered the words. Step 2: Text Reading (Reading Comprehension) Sub-step 2.1: Skimming (Fast Reading) Ask students to read the text quickly (skimming) and complete two tasks: 1. Find out the main topic of the text; 2. Divide the text into several parts and summarize the main idea of each part. After students finish reading, invite them to share their answers. The teacher summarizes and corrects: The main topic of the text is human’s exploration of unknown fields, focusing on the mysteries of Maya civilization and the achievements of deep-sea exploration. The text can be divided into three parts: Part 1 (Paragraph 1-2): Introduce the discovery of Maya cities by a Canadian teenager and the mysteries of Maya civilization; Part 2 (Paragraph 3-4): Introduce the achievements of Maya civilization and the mystery of its decline; Part 3 (Paragraph 5-6): Extend to deep-sea exploration, introducing the discovery of shipwrecks and the role of deep-sea submersibles. Design Intention: Skimming is an important reading strategy. Through this activity, students can quickly grasp the main idea of the text and the overall structure, cultivate their ability to extract key information quickly, and lay a foundation for intensive reading. Dividing the text into parts and summarizing the main idea of each part can help students understand the logical structure of the text, improve their ability of text analysis and induction, and also help them better grasp the connection between each part of the text. Sub-step 2.2: Scanning (Targeted Reading) Ask students to read the text again carefully (scanning) and complete the following detailed tasks: 1. Answer the questions about Maya civilization: (1) What discovery did William Gadoury make? (2) What are the remarkable achievements of Maya civilization? (3) What is the greatest mystery of Maya civilization? 2. Answer the questions about deep-sea exploration: (1) What was discovered off the coast of Oman? (2) What are the functions of the Jiaolong and Shenhai Yongshi submersibles? 3. Underline the complex sentences in the text and try to analyze their structures. After students finish the tasks, organize group discussions. Each group selects a representative to share the group’s answers. The teacher comments and corrects the answers, focusing on the key points and difficult points. For example, when answering the question about William Gadoury’s discovery, guide students to find the key sentence “Through comparison, he found that the locations of the 117 known Maya cities correspond to the positions of the stars.”; when analyzing complex sentences, take the sentence “The fact that Maya society was technologically primitive makes its achievements all the more incredible and mysterious.” as an example, analyze the attributive clause “that Maya society was technologically primitive” modifying “the fact”, and explain the structure and meaning of the sentence to help students understand. Design Intention: Scanning can help students find specific information in the text accurately and improve their ability of targeted reading. The detailed questions can guide students to pay attention to the key content of the text, deepen their understanding of the text. Group discussion can stimulate students’ learning enthusiasm, let students learn from each other, and improve their ability of cooperation and communication. Analyzing complex sentences can help students break through the difficult point of understanding complex sentence structures, improve their ability of sentence analysis, and lay a foundation for the subsequent language application. Sub-step 2.3: Intensive Reading (In-depth Understanding) Lead students to read the text paragraph by paragraph, focus on the key sentences and difficult points of each paragraph, and guide students to in-depth understand the connotation of the text. For Paragraph 1, focus on the sentence “Although his theory has been dismissed by scholars, it shows how powerful the secrets of Ancient Maya civilisation are among people.” Guide students to think: “Why was William Gadoury’s theory dismissed by scholars? What does this sentence tell us?” Let students understand that scientific exploration is not always smooth, and there may be doubts and denials, but it can still arouse people’s interest in exploring the unknown. For Paragraph 3, focus on the introduction of Maya civilization’s achievements. Guide students to list the achievements (impressive palaces and temples, accurate Maya calendar, unique writing system) and think: “Why are these achievements more incredible and mysterious?”, let students understand that Maya society was technologically primitive, which makes their achievements more amazing. For Paragraph 5-6, focus on the introduction of deep-sea exploration. Guide students to think: “What is the significance of deep-sea exploration? What can we learn from the achievements of deep-sea exploration?” Let students realize that human beings are constantly exploring the unknown, and each exploration can bring new discoveries and progress, which is of great significance to the development of human society. In the process of intensive reading, guide students to pay attention to the use of key vocabulary and sentence patterns, such as “correspond to”, “apply...to...”, “abandon”, “dismiss”, and ask students to make sentences with these words and phrases to deepen their understanding and mastery of vocabulary and sentence patterns. Design Intention: Intensive reading can help students deeply understand the connotation of the text, grasp the author’s emotional attitude and the theme of the text. Guiding students to think and discuss can cultivate their critical thinking ability and in-depth thinking ability. Letting students make sentences with key vocabulary and sentence patterns can help them master the usage of vocabulary and sentence patterns, and lay a foundation for the subsequent language output. Step 3: Language Focus (Language Learning) Sub-step 3.1: Key Vocabulary and Phrases Focus on explaining the key vocabulary and phrases in the text, including their meanings, usages, collocations and example sentences, combined with the context of the text. 1. civilisation (n.): Explain its meaning (a complex society with its own culture, government, and way of life), collocations (ancient civilisation, Maya civilisation, modern civilisation), and example sentences (Maya civilisation has been surrounded by mystery since its rediscovery in the 19th century.). 2. abandon (v.): Explain its meaning (to leave a place, thing, or person forever, especially because it is impossible to continue looking after it), collocations (abandon a city, abandon a plan, abandon oneself to...), and example sentences (The Maya abandoned most of their great cities for unknown reasons.). 3. correspond (v.): Explain its meaning (to be similar or match something), collocations (correspond to/with...), and example sentences (The locations of the Maya cities correspond to the positions of the stars.). 4. dismiss (v.): Explain its meaning (to refuse to consider something as true or important), collocations (dismiss a theory, dismiss an idea), and example sentences (Scholars dismissed William Gadoury’s theory because there was not enough evidence.). 5. apply (v.): Explain its meaning (to use something in a particular situation), collocations (apply...to...), and example sentences (The Maya applied their understanding of mathematics and astronomy to the Maya calendar.). After explaining, organize students to do vocabulary exercises: 1. Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the key words; 2. Translate the sentences into English using the key words and phrases. For example, fill in the blanks: “The ancient city was ______ (abandon) by its residents hundreds of years ago.”; Translate: “他的行为与他的言论不一致。” (His actions do not correspond to his words.). Check the students’ answers, and explain the common mistakes in detail to help students master the usage of vocabulary and phrases. Design Intention: Focusing on the explanation of key vocabulary and phrases can help students master the core language knowledge of this section, improve their vocabulary accumulation and language application ability. Combining the context of the text to explain vocabulary can help students understand the meaning and usage of words in a specific context, avoid mechanical memorization. Vocabulary exercises can consolidate students’ mastery of vocabulary and phrases, and find out their deficiencies in time, so as to make targeted guidance. Sub-step 3.2: Difficult Sentence Analysis Select several typical complex sentences in the text for in-depth analysis, focusing on their structure and meaning, to help students break through the difficult point of understanding complex sentences. 1. “Intrigued by Maya civilisation from a very young age, 15-year-old Canadian William Gadoury thought he had made an incredible discovery from his study of ancient star charts.” Analysis: This sentence is a complex sentence with a participle phrase as an adverbial. “Intrigued by Maya civilisation from a very young age” is a past participle phrase, which modifies the subject “William Gadoury”, indicating the reason; the main clause is “15-year-old Canadian William Gadoury thought...”, and the object clause “he had made an incredible discovery from his study of ancient star charts” is after the verb “thought”. 2. “The fact that Maya society was technologically primitive makes its achievements all the more incredible and mysterious.” Analysis: This sentence is a complex sentence with an attributive clause. “that Maya society was technologically primitive” is an attributive clause, which modifies the subject “the fact”; the predicate is “makes”, the object is “its achievements”, and the complement is “all the more incredible and mysterious”. 3. “What is most extraordinary about these complex structures is how they were built without the use of wheels, metal tools or even animal power.” Analysis: This sentence is a complex sentence with subject clause and predicative clause. “What is most extraordinary about these complex structures” is the subject clause; “how they were built without the use of wheels, metal tools or even animal power” is the predicative clause. After analyzing each sentence, ask students to read the sentences aloud, and then let them try to analyze other complex sentences underlined in the scanning link. Invite students to share their analysis results, and the teacher comments and corrects them to help students master the method of analyzing complex sentences. Design Intention: Analyzing difficult sentences can help students break through the difficult point of understanding complex sentence structures, improve their ability of sentence analysis and comprehension. Letting students try to analyze sentences independently can cultivate their independent thinking ability and problem-solving ability. Reading sentences aloud can help students feel the rhythm and structure of English sentences, improve their sense of language. Sub-step 3.3: Text Structure and Logical Analysis Lead students to review the structure of the text again, and analyze the logical relationship between each part. The text starts with the discovery of Maya cities by a teenager, which attracts readers’ attention and leads to the topic of Maya civilization’s mysteries; then introduces the achievements of Maya civilization and the mystery of its decline, which deepens the discussion of the topic; finally, extends to deep-sea exploration, expanding the scope of the topic and highlighting the theme of “exploring the unknown”. Guide students to find the transition words and sentences in the text, such as “It isn’t difficult to see why.”, “But the greatest mystery of all is...”, “In addition to...”, which help to connect the context and ensure the fluency and logicality of the text. Ask students to discuss in groups: “What is the logical sequence of the text? How does the author connect each part of the text?” After the discussion, invite each group to share their views, and the teacher summarizes and supplements, helping students understand the logical structure of the text and the author’s writing ideas. Design Intention: Analyzing the text structure and logical relationship can help students improve their ability of text analysis and induction, understand the author’s writing ideas, and lay a foundation for the subsequent writing and retelling. Finding transition words and sentences can help students master the method of connecting context in English writing, improve the fluency and logicality of their own writing. Step 4: Language Application (Comprehensive Practice) Sub-step 4.1: Oral Practice (Group Discussion and Presentation) Divide students into groups of 4-5, and give them the discussion topic: “If you could explore an unknown area, where would you go? What do you think you would discover? What difficulties might you encounter? How would you solve them?” Ask students to discuss the topic in English, using the key vocabulary and sentence patterns learned in this section. Each group is required to select a recorder to record the key points of the discussion, and a presenter to present the group’s views to the whole class. The presentation time of each group is 3-5 minutes. During the group discussion, the teacher walks around the classroom, observes the students’ discussion situation, and gives timely guidance and help to students who have difficulties in expression. After the presentation, the teacher comments on each group’s performance, focusing on the accuracy of vocabulary and sentence patterns, the fluency of expression, and the rationality of views, and gives positive encouragement and suggestions for improvement, such as “Your presentation is very wonderful. You used many key words we learned today, but you can pay more attention to the fluency of sentences.” Design Intention: Oral practice can help students apply the learned vocabulary and sentence patterns to real communication, improve their oral expression ability and fluency. Group discussion can cultivate students’ cooperation and communication ability, let students learn from each other, and improve their ability of language application. The presentation activity can enhance students’ confidence in speaking English, and the teacher’s comments can help students find their own deficiencies and improve their oral expression ability. Sub-step 4.2: Writing Practice (Short Essay Writing) Ask students to write a short essay with the title “My Dream of Exploring the Unknown”, with a length of 120-150 words. Require students to use the key vocabulary and sentence patterns learned in this section, and clarify their dream exploration area, possible discoveries, difficulties and solutions. Before writing, the teacher gives a writing outline: 1. Introduction: What is your dream exploration area? 2. Body: What do you think you would discover? What difficulties might you encounter? How would you solve them? 3. Conclusion: What is the significance of your exploration? During the writing process, the teacher walks around the classroom, provides guidance to students who have difficulties in writing, such as how to use vocabulary and sentence patterns, how to organize the structure of the essay. After students finish writing, collect some students’ works, read them aloud in class, and comment on them, focusing on the content, structure, vocabulary and sentence patterns, and give suggestions for improvement. Then ask students to revise their own works according to the teacher’s comments and the works of excellent students. Design Intention: Writing practice can help students consolidate the learned vocabulary and sentence patterns, improve their writing ability and ability of text organization. The writing outline can guide students to organize their ideas, avoid the confusion of writing content. The teacher’s guidance and comments can help students find their own deficiencies in writing, improve their writing level. Revising the works can help students deepen their understanding of the writing requirements and improve their writing ability. Sub-step 4.3: Comprehensive Application (Role-play) Organize students to carry out role-play activities. Assign roles to each group: Explorer, Reporter, Scholar, and Ordinary Person. The scenario is: A group of explorers have just returned from exploring an unknown area (such as a mysterious ancient city or a deep-sea area), and a reporter interviews them. The scholar comments on their exploration achievements, and the ordinary person asks questions about the exploration. Require students to use the key vocabulary and sentence patterns learned in this section to complete the role-play, and pay attention to the communication between roles. Each group prepares for 5 minutes, then performs the role-play in front of the whole class. After the performance, the teacher comments on each group’s performance, focusing on the accuracy and fluency of language, the rationality of the scenario, and the cooperation between roles, and gives positive encouragement and suggestions for improvement. For example, “Your role-play is very vivid. The dialogue between roles is natural and fluent, but you can use more complex sentence patterns to enrich the content.” Design Intention: Role-play is a vivid and interesting language application activity, which can stimulate students’ learning enthusiasm, let students apply the learned language knowledge to real communication scenarios, and improve their comprehensive language application ability. The cooperation between roles can cultivate students’ team spirit and communication ability, and also help students better understand the theme of “exploring the unknown”. Step 5: Summary and Extension (Summary and Extension) Sub-step 5.1: Text Summary Invite students to summarize the main content of this section, including the main idea of the text, key vocabulary and phrases, difficult sentences, and the theme of the text. The teacher supplements and summarizes, helping students sort out the knowledge system of this section, and emphasizing the key points and difficult points. For example, “In this section, we learned about the mysteries of Maya civilization and the achievements of deep-sea exploration, mastered key vocabulary such as civilisation, abandon, correspond, and understood the theme that human beings are constantly exploring the unknown. We also practiced oral expression and writing, improving our language application ability.” Design Intention: Summarizing the text can help students sort out the knowledge they have learned, form a complete knowledge system, and deepen their understanding and memory of the knowledge. Inviting students to summarize independently can cultivate their ability of induction and summary, and improve their autonomous learning ability. Sub-step 5.2: Theme Extension Introduce other cases of human exploration of the unknown to students, such as the exploration of outer space, the exploration of ancient civilizations in other regions, and the exploration of new species. Ask students to think: “What is the significance of human exploration of the unknown? What qualities do explorers need to have?” Invite students to share their views, and the teacher summarizes: The exploration of the unknown can promote the progress of human society, expand human’s vision, and help human beings better understand the world. Explorers need to have qualities such as curiosity, courage, perseverance, and scientific spirit. Then assign after-class tasks: 1. Read more English articles about exploration and collect key vocabulary and sentences; 2. Interview your classmates about their dreams of exploring the unknown, and write a short interview report; 3. Watch an English documentary about exploration and write a viewing note. Design Intention: Theme extension can expand students’ vision, deepen their understanding of the theme of “exploring the unknown”, and cultivate their correct values and outlook on life. Assigning after-class tasks can consolidate the knowledge learned in class, expand students’ learning channels, and improve their autonomous learning ability and comprehensive language application ability. 1 / 1 学科网（北京）股份有限公司 学科网（北京）股份有限公司 学科网（北京）股份有限公司 $