READING
READING PASSAGE 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-14 米小米which are bad on Reading Passage 1 below.
Adults and children are frequently confronted with statements about the alarming rat of loss of tropical rainforests. For example; one graphic illustration to which children might readily relate is the estimate that rainforests are being destroyed at a rate equivalent to one thousand football fields every forty minutes – about the duration of a normal classroom period. In the face of the frequent and often vivid media coverage; it is likely that children will have formed ideas about rainforests – what and where they are; why they are important; what endangers them – independent of any formal tuition. It is also possible that some of the ideas will be mistaken.
Many studies have shown that children harbor misconceptions about ‘pure’; curriculum scie
平均偏差公式nce. The misconceptions do not remain isolated but become incorporated into a multifaceted; but organized; conceptual framework; making it and the component ideas; some of which are erroneous; more robust but also accessible to modification. The ideas may be developed by children absorbing ideas through the popular media. Sometimes this information may be erroneous. It ems schools may not be providing an opportunity for children to re-express their ideas and so have them tested and refined by teachers and their peers.
智能开关怎么安装Despite the extensive coverage in the popular media of the destruction of rainforests; little formal information is available about children’s ideas in this area; the aim of the prent study is to start to provide such information; to help teachers design their educational strategies to build upon correct ideas and to displace misconceptions and to plan programs in environmental studies in their schools.
国家生源地贷款The study surveys children’s scientific knowledge and attitudes to rainforests.
Secondary school children were asked to complete a questionnaire containing five open-f
orm questions. The most frequent respons to the first question were descriptions which are lf-evident from the term ‘rainforest’. Some children described them as damp; wet or hot. The cond question concerned the geographical location of rainforests. The commonest respons were continents or countries: Africa given by 43% of children; South America 30%; Brazil 25%. Some children also gave more general locations; such as being near the Equator.
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Respons to question three concerned the importance of rainforests. The dominant idea; raid by 64% of the pupils; was that rainforests provide animals with habitats. Fewer students responded that rainforests provide plant habitats; and even fewer 60% raid the idea of rainforest as animal habitats.
Similarly; but at a lower level; more girls 13% than boys 5% said that rainforests provided human habitats. The obrvations are generally consistent with our previous studied of pupils’ views about the u and conrvation of rainforests; in which girls were shown to be more sympathetic to animals and expresd views which em to place an intrinsic value on non-human animal life.
The fourth question concerned the caus of the destruction of rainforests. Perhaps encouragingly; more than half of the pupil 59% identified that it is human activities which are destroying rainforests; some personalizing the responsibility by the u of terms such as ‘we are’. About 18% of the pupils referred specifically to logging activity.
One misconception; expresd by some 1 % of the pupils; was that acid rain is responsible for rainforest destruction; a similar proportion said that pollution is destroying rainforests. Here; children are confusing rainforest destruction with damage to the forests of Western Europe by the factors. While two fifths of the students provided the information that the rainforests provide oxygen; in some cas this respon also embraced the misconception that rainforest destruction would reduce atmospheric oxygen; making the atmosphere incompatible with human life on Earth.
In answer to the final question about the importance of rainforest conrvation; the majority of children simply said that we need rainforests to survive. Only a few of the pupils 6% mentioned that rainforest destruction may contribute to global warming. This is
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surprising considering the high level of media coverage on this issue. Some children expresd the idea that the conrvation of rainforests is not important.
The results of this study suggest that certain ideas predominate in the thinking of children about rainforests. Pupils’ respons indicate some misconceptions in basic scientific knowledge of rainforests’ ecosystems such as their ideas about rainforests as habitats for animals; plants and humans and the relationship between climatic change and destruction of rainforests. 商店设计
Pupils did not volunteer ideas that suggested that they appreciated the complexity of caus of rainforest destruction. In other words; they gave no indication of an appreciation of either the rage of ways in which rainforests are important or the complex social; economic and political factors which drive the activities which are destroying the rainforests. One encouragement is that the results of similar studies about other environmental issues suggest that older children em to acquire the ability to appreciate value and evaluate conflicting views. Environmental education offers an arena in which th
e sills can be developed; which is esntial fore the children as future decision –makers. 行的英语
