Unit5 The power of plants - Understanding ideas (Reading - Within a plant)教学设计2026-2027学年外研版七年级英语上册

5.2 The power of plants - Understanding ideas (Reading - Within a plant)

【Teaching Objectives (aligned with core competencies)】

1. Language competence: Students can read the passage "Within a plant", understand how a plant makes sugar and oxygen, use words (root, stem, leaf, sunlight, carbon dioxide, sugar, oxygen), and recognise the simple future tense "be going to" and "will" in context.

2. Cultural awareness: Students understand that the writer plays with the word "plant" (a factory and a living plant), and they value the quiet, amazing work plants do every day.

3. Thinking quality: Students predict from the plant-factory picture, identify the pun in the title, follow the process of photosynthesis in simple terms, and choose the best title.

4. Learning capacity: Students practise fast reading for the main idea and careful reading for details, and learn to find answers from the passage.

【Key and Difficult Points】

Key Points:

① Understand the main idea of "Within a plant" and the process: water from the root rises through the stem to the leaf, where sunlight and CO2 make sugar and oxygen.

② Master the key words root, stem, leaf, sunlight, sugar, oxygen and carbon dioxide.

③ Notice the simple future tense in "He's going to start work" and "They will take a rest".

Difficult Points:

① Understanding the pun: "plant" means both a living plant and a factory, and why the workers are "in the Leaf".

② Following the science process (sunlight + water + CO2 -> sugar + oxygen) without confusing the products.

③ Retelling the process with correct prepositions and future-tense verbs.

Trial Lecture Verbatim Script：

Welcome Remarks

Hello, everyone! Welcome back to our English class. Last class we talked about how amazing plants are, and you shared so many lovely ideas for your posters. Today we will walk deep inside a plant and see the secret world hidden inside a tiny leaf. Look at this funny picture on the screen: it looks like a busy factory, but the workers are all tiny and green! We are going to read a passage called "Within a plant". It is full of surprises, science and even a little joke. Put on your reading caps, everyone, and let us dive in!

Ⅰ. Lead-in and prediction

Before we read, look at the picture carefully. It shows a plant drawn like a big round factory. There are little green workers, long pipes, and signs that say "Workshop 1001". On one side shines a big sun, and on the other side we can see the root and the stem under the brown soil. Now, let us be little scientists and predict. What do you think this "factory" is making inside the leaf? Talk it over with me. Who has a brave guess? Yes, the boy in the middle row, please!"

Students: "Maybe the factory makes food for the plant to grow, like a kitchen."

Teacher: "What a clever prediction! A kitchen inside a leaf — that is a beautiful idea. It makes food for the plant. You are already thinking like a real scientist! Let us

read and check your prediction. Remember, a good reader always predicts first, then reads to find out."

Students: "I think it makes oxygen for us to breathe, too!"

Teacher: "Oh, what a wonderful guess! We will see if you are right. Keep that question in your mind while you read."

Ⅱ. Pre-reading vocabulary

First, let us meet our new word friends before reading. Please look at the sticky notes on the screen: sunlight, water, sugar, leaf, carbon dioxide, oxygen. And down in the soil we see root and stem. Let us repeat after me, nice and clear: root, stem, leaf. Very good! Louder: root, stem, leaf! Perfect. Now, let us match them. Which part collects water from the soil? Yes, the root! Which part carries the water up to the top? The stem! Which part catches the sunlight in the air? The leaf! Excellent, you already know the whole system of a plant.

Now, one more little challenge about the title. The title is "Within a plant". Usually "a plant" is a green living thing like a tree or a flower. But in English, a "plant" can also mean a factory! This is a clever joke called a pun. Listen to the first sentence: "Here is Worker No. 55 in his green uniform. He is going to start work in the plant." In this story, the plant is both a living plant and a factory! Is not that a fun way to learn science?

Ⅲ. While-reading: fast reading

Now let us read quickly for the main idea. You have two minutes. Read fast, do not worry about every new word, and answer this question: what does the passage mainly talk about? Go! (The students read silently.) Time is up! Put your pencils down. What is the main idea? Yes, please, tell us!"

Students: "It talks about how a plant works like a factory, making sugar and oxygen for everyone."

Teacher: "That is exactly the main idea! Wow, you are such fast readers. Now, choose the best title for the passage: a How to make sugar, b How plants work, c Why plants are great. Which one is the best? Show me with your fingers! One, two, three... I see mostly b! Yes, How plants work. Perfect reading, everyone!"

Ⅳ. While-reading: careful reading

Now let us read again, carefully, paragraph by paragraph. Paragraph one: it is quarter past seven, and Worker No. 55 puts on his green uniform. He is going to start work in the plant. Paragraph two: he works in Workshop 1001 in the Leaf. There are twenty to one hundred workers in each workshop. They collect sunlight and CO2 during the day. Workers from the Root send up water. The water will rise up to the Leaf through the Stem. Then the workers in the Leaf will mix water, CO2 and sunlight.

Paragraph three: what are they going to produce? Most importantly, there will be sugar! Sugar is useful for the growth of the plant. Another product will be oxygen — the plant does not need much oxygen, but animals and humans need it to breathe! Paragraph four: the workers work hard, but soon it is going to get dark, so they will take a rest. Paragraph five: there are millions of plants on earth, and they give us more than food and oxygen.

Now my first detail question: what two things does the leaf produce? Yes, you, please!"

Students: "The leaf produces sugar and oxygen. Sugar helps the plant grow, and oxygen helps us breathe."