Unit 3 Exploring the Unknown-Reading B-Critical Thinking 教案-2025-2026学年高中英语沪外版选择性必修第三册

Unit 3 Exploring the Unknown-Reading B-Critical Thinking 教学目标和重难点 教学目标 It focuses on language competence by improving students’ ability to analyze and comment on exploration-themed texts in English. It cultivates thinking quality through critical discussion on unknown exploration. It strengthens cultural awareness by understanding global exploration spirits and develops learning ability via independent and cooperative inquiry. 教学重难点 Key points: Master core vocabulary and sentence patterns related to exploration; learn to put forward critical opinions on exploration events. Difficult points: Conduct in-depth logical analysis of exploration texts and express critical views in fluent English with reasonable evidence. 教学过程 Lead-in: Spark Interest and Lay a Foundation The teacher starts the class by showing a short video clip about mysterious unknown areas on Earth, such as the Mariana Trench, the Amazon rainforest and the Antarctic ice sheet. The video is about 3 minutes long, showing the magnificent scenery of these areas and raising questions like “What secrets are hidden in these unknown places?” “Why do humans keep exploring the unknown despite risks?” After playing the video, the teacher asks students to have a free discussion in pairs for a while, and then invites 2-3 groups to share their views. During the sharing, the teacher guides students to use simple English to express their curiosity about the unknown and their understanding of exploration. At the same time, the teacher writes down key words mentioned by students on the blackboard, such as “exploration”, “mystery”, “risk”, “courage”, “curiosity” and so on. Design Intention: The video clip is intuitive and vivid, which can quickly attract students’ attention and arouse their interest in the theme of “exploring the unknown”. The free discussion in pairs provides students with an opportunity to express themselves in English, reducing their anxiety in speaking English and laying a foundation for the subsequent critical thinking activities. Writing down key words helps students sort out their ideas and accumulate vocabulary related to the theme, which paves the way for understanding the reading text. Pre-reading: Preview and Remove Obstacles First, the teacher introduces the background of Reading B briefly. The text mainly introduces several famous unknown exploration events in human history, analyzes the motivations and risks of exploration, and puts forward different views on whether some exploration activities are worthwhile. Then, the teacher presents the new words and phrases in the text, such as “mysterious”, “venture”, “undertake”, “potential”, “controversial”, “justify”, “at the cost of” and so on. For each new word and phrase, the teacher explains its meaning in simple English, combines it with the context of the text to give example sentences, and guides students to read it aloud to master its pronunciation and usage. For example, when explaining “controversial”, the teacher says, “Something controversial causes a lot of discussion and disagreement. For example, some exploration activities are controversial because they may damage the environment.” Next, the teacher asks students to predict the main content of the text according to the title and the new words they have just learned. The teacher can give some guiding questions, such as “What exploration events may be mentioned in the text?” “What are the different views on these exploration events?” Students can discuss in groups of 4, and then share their predictions. The teacher comments on students’ predictions, affirms the reasonable parts, and guides students to form a preliminary understanding of the text structure. Design Intention: Brief background introduction helps students understand the context of the text and establish a connection between the text and real life. The explanation of new words and phrases helps students remove language obstacles in reading, ensuring that they can understand the text smoothly. Predicting the main content of the text can stimulate students’ reading motivation, cultivate their ability to infer information based on existing clues, and lay a foundation for in-depth reading and critical thinking. While-reading: In-depth Analysis and Cultivate Critical Awareness This link is divided into two parts: intensive reading and careful analysis, aiming to help students understand the text in detail and initially form critical thinking about the content of the text. First Intensive Reading: Grasp the Main Idea and Structure The teacher asks students to read the text quickly and answer the following questions: What is the main topic of the text? How many exploration events are mentioned in the text? What are they? What are the two different views on exploration activities mentioned in the text? After students finish reading, the teacher organizes the whole class to check the answers. For question , the teacher guides students to find the key sentences in the text, such as “Some people believe that exploration is a precious human spirit that drives us to discover new knowledge and expand our horizons.” and “Others argue that some exploration activities are unnecessary and even harmful, as they may bring risks to humans and the environment.” Then, the teacher helps students sort out the text structure. The text is divided into three parts: the first part (Paragraph 1) introduces the significance of exploring the unknown and puts forward the controversial topic of exploration; the second part (Paragraphs 2-4) introduces specific exploration events and their characteristics; the third part (Paragraph 5) summarizes the two different views on exploration and puts forward a question for students to think about. Design Intention: Fast reading helps students grasp the main idea and structure of the text quickly, forming an overall understanding of the text. Answering guiding questions can guide students to focus on the key content of the text and improve their reading efficiency. Sorting out the text structure helps students understand the logical relationship between paragraphs, laying a foundation for in-depth analysis of the text content. Second Intensive Reading: Analyze Details and Explore Deep Meanings The teacher asks students to read the text carefully again, and assigns different tasks to different groups according to the text content, so as to carry out cooperative inquiry: Group 1: Analyze the first exploration event mentioned in the text (e.g., the exploration of the Mariana Trench). What are the motivations of this exploration? What risks did it face? What achievements did it make? Group 2: Analyze the second exploration event mentioned in the text (e.g., the exploration of the Antarctic). What are the controversial points of this exploration? What are the reasons for the controversy? Group 3: Find out the supporting details of the two different views on exploration in the text, and sort them out in the form of a list. After students finish the group discussion, each group sends a representative to report their results. The teacher comments on each group’s report, supplements and improves the content, and guides students to think deeply. For example, when Group 2 reports the controversial points of Antarctic exploration, the teacher asks, “Do you think the benefits of Antarctic exploration outweigh the risks? Why?” This question guides students to start thinking critically. In the process of analyzing the text, the teacher also guides students to pay attention to the author’s writing skills, such as the use of examples, contrast and question-raising, and asks students to think about the role of these writing skills in expressing the theme. For example, the teacher asks, “Why does the author list specific exploration events? What effect does it have on the expression of the theme?” Design Intention: Cooperative inquiry in groups can stimulate students’ learning enthusiasm, cultivate their cooperative learning ability and communication ability. Assigning different tasks to different groups can make the analysis of the text more detailed and comprehensive. By asking in-depth questions, the teacher guides students to go beyond the surface meaning of the text, explore the deep meaning of the text, and initially cultivate their critical thinking ability. Paying attention to the author’s writing skills helps students improve their language appreciation ability and writing level. Post-reading: Critical Discussion and Consolidation and Application This link is the key part of cultivating students’ critical thinking, which is divided into critical discussion, language consolidation and extended application. Critical Discussion: Express Views and Debate The teacher puts forward the core discussion question: “Is all exploration of the unknown worthwhile? Why or why not?” Before the discussion, the teacher guides students to sort out their own views and find supporting evidence. The teacher can give some guiding directions: Consider the benefits of exploration (e.g., acquiring new knowledge, promoting scientific and technological progress, expanding human horizons); Consider the risks and costs of exploration (e.g., endangering human life, damaging the environment, consuming a lot of resources); Combine specific exploration events mentioned in the text or real-life examples to support their own views. Then, students are divided into two groups: the affirmative group (holding that all exploration is worthwhile) and the negative group (holding that not all exploration is worthwhile). Each group discusses in detail, sorts out their own arguments and evidence, and then carries out a debate. During the debate, the teacher guides students to express their views in fluent English, pay attention to the logic of the argument, and respect the views of others. For example, if a student from the negative group says, “Some exploration activities are not worthwhile because they consume a lot of resources and do not bring practical benefits”, the teacher can ask the affirmative group to refute and guide them to put forward counter-evidence, such as “Although some exploration activities consume resources, they may bring unexpected scientific discoveries that are beneficial to human beings in the long run.” After the debate, the teacher makes a summary, affirms the positive performance of both groups, points out the advantages and disadvantages of their arguments, and guides students to form a comprehensive and objective view: exploration of the unknown is a precious human spirit, which has promoted the progress of human society, but we should also consider the risks and costs of exploration, and carry out exploration activities in a scientific and rational way. Design Intention: The debate activity can fully stimulate students’ critical thinking ability, cultivate their ability to put forward arguments, organize evidence and refute others’ views. Guiding students to form a comprehensive and objective view helps them establish a correct outlook on exploration and develop a rational thinking mode. At the same time, the debate also provides students with a platform to practice oral English, improving their oral expression ability. Language Consolidation: Master and Apply Key Language Points First, the teacher reviews the key words, phrases and sentence patterns in the text, and arranges some consolidation exercises. For example, fill in the blanks with the correct form of the given words: The exploration of the unknown is a great venture (venture). We should undertake (undertake) the responsibility of protecting the environment while exploring. This decision is controversial (controversial) because it has both advantages and disadvantages. Then, the teacher guides students to use the key sentence patterns to express their views on exploration. For example, the teacher gives the sentence pattern: “I think exploration is worthwhile because..., but we should also pay attention to...”. Students are asked to complete the sentence according to their own views and share it with their deskmates. The teacher randomly invites several students to share their sentences and comments on them, correcting grammatical errors and improving the expression. Design Intention: Consolidation exercises help students master the key language points in the text and improve their ability to use language flexibly. Using key sentence patterns to express views can combine language learning with critical thinking, making language learning more practical and targeted. Extended Application: Expand Vision and Practice Critical Thinking The teacher introduces some recent exploration events in the world, such as the exploration of Mars by China’s Tianwen-1 probe, the deep-sea exploration of the Jiaolong submersible, etc. Then, the teacher asks students to choose one of these events, conduct independent inquiry, and write a short passage (about 100 words) to express their views on this exploration event, including its benefits, risks and whether it is worthwhile. Students need to use the knowledge and language points learned in this class to ensure that the views are clear and the logic is smooth. After students finish writing, the teacher collects some students’ works, reads them aloud in class, and guides other students to comment on them, focusing on whether the views are clear, whether the evidence is sufficient, and whether the language is accurate and fluent. The teacher also gives positive comments and suggestions for improvement. Design Intention: Introducing recent exploration events helps students connect the text with real life, expand their vision and enhance their sense of social responsibility. Writing a short passage allows students to practice their writing ability and further consolidate their critical thinking ability. Commenting on students’ works can help students learn from each other and improve their ability to evaluate and appreciate works. Summary and Reflection: Sort Out and Improve First, the teacher leads students to summarize the content of this class: we learned the exploration-themed text, mastered the key language points related to exploration, discussed the value of exploring the unknown through critical thinking activities, and expressed our own views on exploration. Then, the teacher asks students to reflect on their own performance in this class: What did I learn in this class? What difficulties did I encounter in the process of reading and discussion? How can I improve my critical thinking ability and English expression ability in the future? Students can think independently for a while, and then share their reflections with the class. The teacher listens carefully to students’ reflections, gives positive guidance and encouragement, and puts forward specific suggestions for improvement. For example, for students who have difficulty in expressing their views in English, the teacher suggests that they accumulate more vocabulary and sentence patterns related to the theme and practice oral expression more in daily life. Finally, the teacher assigns homework: Review the key words, phrases and sentence patterns in the text, and recite the key sentences. Complete the extended application short passage and revise it according to the comments in class. Collect one more exploration event and write a short comment (about 50 words) on it, focusing on critical thinking. Design Intention: Summarizing the class content helps students sort out the knowledge they have learned and form a systematic knowledge structure. Reflecting on their own performance helps students realize their advantages and disadvantages, and clarify the direction of improvement. Assigning targeted homework can consolidate the knowledge and skills learned in class, and further cultivate students’ critical thinking ability and independent learning 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 $