10th grade Advanced. Unit 6. Lesson 5. Physics rules!

👉Communicative area: talking about famous physicists, reading about a famous scientist from Belarus, writing an article

👉Active vocabulary: fellow (countryman), to be an inspiration; word formation (prefixes semi-, homo-; hetero-)

👉Revision grammar: Conditional 0

1. What science does the sentence illustrate? 

If you heat ice, it melts.

2. Complete the following statements based on the laws and rules of physics.

If you freeze water, it turns into ...

If you heat water to 100℃, it ...

If you drop ...

Look through the list of famous physicists. Can you add more names to the list? Where do you think the physicists were born? What were they famous for? What countries did they work in? Did they receive the Nobel Prize?

Albert Einstein, Marie Curie, Enrico Fermi, Ernest Rutherford

Listen to the facts about the physicists. Complete the points with the information you will hear.

Name of the physicist

Country of birth

Country of work

Field of physics

Nobel Prize

Read the task and the article a student wrote for the school website about a famous physicist and Nobel Laureate born in Belarus.

A Russian Nobel Prize winner from Belarus 

with a French name

1. Who is the Belarusian scientist mentioned as a Nobel Prize winner?

2. Where was Zhores Alferov born?

3. What were the professions of Zhores Alferov’s parents?

4. Who was Zhores Alferov’s brother named after?

5. In which year did Zhores Alferov receive the Nobel Prize?

6. For what contributions did Zhores Alferov receive the Nobel Prize?

7. What technological advancements are based on Zhores Alferov’s discoveries?

8. What is a heterostructure semiconductor?

9. What effect did Alferov’s presentation have on his colleagues in Saint Petersburg?

10. How did Zhores Alferov describe the impact of physics on humanity in the 20th century?

10th grade Advanced. Unit 6. Lesson 12. Progress check

👉Communicative area: testing your reading,  listening and speaking skills

Read the article and say in 2-3 sentences what it is about

 He’s head and shoulders above the rest 

Yes, Edward Witten is tall – head and shoulders above many. However, his name is known to every physicist in the world because he is ‘smarter than anyone else’, as his colleagues say. 

 At the age of 9 or 10, Edward Witten dreamed of growing to become an astronomer. After his parents had given him a telescope, he was able to see the rings of Saturn. 

 At the age of 11, his father, a theoretical physicist specialising in gravitation and general relativity, introduced him to calculus. For a while, mathematics became his passion. 

 Eventually, at the age of 21 he had to choose between mathematics and theoretical physics after having tried history and economics. As a result, in 1976 he received a Ph.D. in physics at Princeton. Surprisingly, in 1990, Witten was awarded the Fields Medal – an equivalent of the Nobel Prize in mathematics. To understand this, one should imagine a famous professional basketball player receiving the highest football award. Witten was the first physicist to receive this prize, which means he has a talent of expressing physical ideas in mathematical form. Mathematics has always been an important tool in physics. Witten is showing how physics can help understand mathematics better. 

 He created M-theory – a combination of 5 superstring theories and 11-D supergravity. He thinks that there exist not 4 (length, width, height and time) dimensions, but 11. His theory could connect quantum mechanics and general relativity, and it could take us closer to the truth about nature. Edward Witten has made physics a source of inspiration once again! 

As Witten had made important contributions to both physics and mathematics, in 2004 he appeared in the list of TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people. 

 His fellow physicists consider him Albert Einstein’s successor and even the greatest physicist of all time, a person who comes along once in a century. They claim he has brought light where there was darkness. Albert Einstein did not manage to create a theory that would unite relativity and quantum physics into one mathematical package. Thanks to Edward Witten, physicists might be close to success. 

 Witten thinks that physics has many mathematical secrets, and physicists will continue surprising the mathematical world with interesting insights. He says humbly, “I have been lucky to be at the right place at the right time to contribute to part of this”.

1. Why is Edward Witten well-known among physicists worldwide?

2. What did Edward Witten dream of becoming at the age of 9 or 10?

3. How did Witten’s interest in mathematics begin?

4. At what age did Witten choose between mathematics and physics, and which did he choose?

5. What prestigious award did Witten receive in 1990, and how is it compared to the Nobel Prize?

6. Why is Witten’s receipt of the Fields Medal considered surprising?

7. What is M-theory, and what does it combine?

8. How many dimensions exist according to his theory ?

9. What two major fields does Witten’s work aim to connect?

10. In which year was Witten listed among TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people?

11. Why do Witten’s colleagues compare him to Albert Einstein?

12. What was Einstein unable to do that Witten's work might help achieve?

13. How does Witten view the relationship between physics and mathematics?

14. What humble statement does Witten make about his contributions to science?

1. How is the 2021 Google Code Jam winner connected with Belarus?

2. How is the Google Code Jam competition organised?

3. What are the achievements of Gennadi Korotkevich and Belarus in the field of programming?

10th grade Advanced. Unit 7. Lesson 3. To be or not to be like Leonardo?

👉Communicative area:  discussing the merits and demerits of a genius, listening and reading for gist and detail 

👉Active vocabulary: quest, to question, fad, polymath, to procrastinate

👉Grammar revision: Conditional II

1. Does the title of the lesson imply that Leonardo had only positive qualities or both positive and negative qualities?

2. Leonardo da Vinci was an ultimate Renaissance man. Was he a) a scientist, b) a mathematician, c) an engineer, d) an inventor, e) an anatomist, f) a painter, g) a sculptor, h) an architect, i) a botanist, j) a musician, k) a writer? 

3. Who is a polymath?

Da Vinci decoded

Want “to break the Da Vinci Code”? Take the following steps to become a polymath.
Developing your curiosity. Great minds have one characteristic in common: they always ask questions. Leonardo’s quest for truth and beauty clearly demonstrates this.

• Keep a journal. Write your ideas and thoughts there.
• Choose a theme and observe things according to it. For example, for the entire day, observe every type and instance of communication you come across.
• Practise freewriting. Write your thoughts and associations without editing them.

Finding proof. Wisdom comes from experience. Do the following:

• Check your beliefs. Review them and verify them through experience. Find friends who can give you different perspectives.
• Look at the advertisements in your favourite magazine and analyse the strategy and tactics they use. Choose those that affect you most and find out why.
• Find “anti-role models” to learn from. Whose mistakes would you like to avoid?

Using your senses. According to da Vinci, we can best find proof of our ideas through our senses, particularly sight.

• Write a detailed description of an experience, e.g. sunrise, in your journal.
• Learn how to describe a smell. Learn to draw.
• Listen to different sounds around you. Learn to listen to different intensity of sounds, from the softest (e.g. your breathing) to the loudest (e.g. traffic).
• Live in the moment. Practice mindfulness. Carpe diem! (from Latin – catch the day).

Studying the mysterious. An essential characteristic of da Vinci's genius is his ability to handle a sense of mystery.

• Relate two opposites. For example, think about your happiest and saddest moments.
•  Practise the Socratic method by asking questions, not giving answers. Don’t assume that you or anyone knows anything for sure. Question every idea or theory.

Relating Art and Science. It is about “the development of the balance between science and art, logic and imagination”. This is thinking with the “whole brain”. Mind mapping is a powerful method that can help you combine logic and imagination in your work and life. The end result of mapping should be a web-like structure of words and ideas that are somehow related in the writer’s mind.

Knowing your body and keeping fit. Leonardo had amazing physical ability that complemented his genius in science and arts. Here is how you could keep fit:

• Develop your physical fitness: do flexibility, strength and aerobic exercises.
• Develop body awareness. Study anatomy. Try yoga. Dance. Do some contact juggling. Strengthen the connection between body and mind. 
• Leonardo could work with both his right and left hand and regularly switched between them. Cultivate ambidexterity by using your non-dominant hand for relatively simple tasks first, like brushing your teeth or eating your breakfast and later for writing.

Making connections. One main source of Leonardo’s creativity is his ability to … 

• link things that seem unrelated, e.g. geology and the Mona Lisa;
• think about how things originate. Take an object and think about what elements are involved in its creation and how.

Some other characteristics of Leonardo da Vinci that might be worth your attention are: charisma, generosity, love of nature, love of animals and the curiosity of a child.

Developing Your Curiosity

1. Why do great minds always ask questions, according to the text?

2. What is the purpose of keeping a journal in the quest to become a polymath?

3. How can choosing a theme for observation improve your curiosity?

4. What is freewriting, and why is it recommended?

Finding Proof

1. How can reviewing your beliefs help you gain wisdom?

2. Why does the text suggest analyzing advertisements in your favorite magazine?

3. What are "anti-role models," and how can they be useful?

Using Your Senses

1. According to da Vinci, why are our senses important for finding proof?

2. What exercises are suggested to improve your ability to describe sensory experiences?

3. How can practicing mindfulness help you live in the moment?

Studying the Mysterious

1. What role does handling a sense of mystery have in da Vinci’s genius?

2. How can relating two opposite experiences help your thinking?

3. What does practicing the Socratic method involve?

Relating Art and Science

1. What does “thinking with the whole brain” mean in this context?

2. How can mind mapping help combine logic and imagination?

Knowing Your Body and Keeping Fit

1. Why is physical fitness important for a polymath like Leonardo da Vinci?

2. What activities can help develop body awareness?

3. How can cultivating ambidexterity benefit your brain and body connection?

Making Connections

1. How did Leonardo’s ability to link unrelated things contribute to his creativity?

2. What does the text suggest about thinking on how things originate?

Other Characteristics of Leonardo da Vinci

1. Besides intellect, what personal traits of Leonardo da Vinci does the text highlight?

2. How could love of nature and animals influence creativity?

10th grade Advanced. Unit 7. Lesson 1. Great minds think alike

👉Communicative area: talking about great people and geniuses of today; fine-tuning the definitions of the words “great” and “genius”

👉Active vocabulary:  genius

👉Vocabulary revision: great, brilliant, brainy, bright, gifted, smart, clever, intelligent

👉Grammar revision: Conditional 0

  

10th grade Advanced. Unit 6. Lesson 4. Science in Belarus: yesterday, today, tomorrow

👉Communicative area: reading, listening and speaking about science in Belarus

👉Active vocabulary: to think outside the box, scientific paper, prospect, perspective, to make a contribution

Play "Snowball" with the names of different sciences (S1 names a science, S2 repeats the words and adds a new one, S3 repeats their words and adds one more, etc.)

What is your attitude to school science subjects? Are they important?

Read about the future of science and technology in Belarus. 

1. What spheres of Belarusian science are likely to progress in the future?
2. What science careers will be in demand?
3. What are the prospects of scientific development in Belarus?
4. From an international perspective, can Belarusian science make an important contribution to the progress of the humanity?

R&D in RB

What do you think this article is about? You shouldn’t confuse the abbreviation in the title with a music style. It has nothing to do with R&B – rhythm and blues, which is popular African-American music. It is research and development or RTD – research and technological development: future-oriented, long-term activities in science and technology which are an important factor in the survival of a country’s economy.

What do scientists all over the world are focusing on now? How are they investing in the future? The spheres of their attention are:

• the artificial growing of human organs;
• artificial cells with a special collection of genes;
• the creation of nanomedications with programmed qualities;
• the creation of microrobots able to carry out manipulations in human organs;
• the creation of an artificial intelligence that can surpass the human brain;
• the creation of thought-controlled or sensor-controlled electronic machines;
• the development of smart city technologies, etc.

The head of the National Academy of Sciences thinks that Belarusian science is up-to-date with the modern trends. Belarusian biologists and doctors are actively working with the DNA and have already learnt how to edit the human genome. Some time ago, the National Centre for genome biotechnologies started working in the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. Physicists and information science specialists are working to develop the AI. They have already trained machines how to talk, read, communicate, and fulfil commands.

Work is continuing in the space industry as well. Belarus is working on the creation of a new satellite for the remote sensing of the Earth with a very high resolution – 0.35 metres. It is the world’s best achievement today.

Every year hundreds of patents are registered. Belarusian science and technology are becoming very competitive in the world market. Plasma and laser technologies, biotechnologies and information processes, chemical synthesis of substances are the areas with a high scientific and technological potential. The achievements of scientific schools that are known worldwide and have been recognised internationally lie mainly in the sphere of mathematics, theoretical physics, spectroscopy and luminescence, electronics, automation, thermophysics, machine building, geology, bioorganic chemistry, physiology, genetics, selection, soil science, cardiology, surgery, linguistics and other sciences. The results of some researchers have become scientific discoveries.

1. What does the abbreviation "RTD" stand for, and what does it involve?

2. Why should the abbreviation in the title not be confused with R&B music?

3. Name at least three fields of research and development mentioned in the text.

4. How are Belarusian scientists working with DNA and the human genome?

5. What is Belarus's achievement in space technology?

6. What scientific areas is Belarus actively developing with high potential?

7. Which scientific fields are noted as having well-known international achievements?

8. What is the significance of the high-resolution satellite mentioned in the text?

9. How do Belarusian scientists contribute to the world market of science and technology?

10. Can you name three scientific disciplines where Belarusian researchers have made important discoveries?

10th grade. Unit 6. Lesson 1. Sci Tech

👉Communicative area: discussing advantages and disadvantages of the scientific progress, writing an opinion paragraph

👉Active vocabulary: app, data, digital, genius, technology, vehicle, web

What do you think when you hear science and technology?

Listen to some questions about science and technology and think of your answers. 

Listen to the answers. Do you agree with the answers?

Read the article below. What is its main idea?

Moving with the Gear Train of Modern Science

By Ajeet Khurana

Fire was the first discovery and wheel was the first invention. Since that time, we have travelled far. Science has taken us to territories we could not have imagined some centuries ago. The 20th century was when science really came into its own. Half of our present day inventions were unthinkable a century ago.

Science has brought great changes in every field but the one place where it has really shone is technology. Today, we have access to some of the most advanced technical inventions. A few centuries ago, a genius called Leonardo da Vinci made the first blue-print for an aeroplane. Today, even the economy class, domestic flights have become passe. It is time for the new inventions.

Some time ago, NASA launched a Space Shuttle called Discovery. Imagine, a metallic object run on hydrogen fuel, in space, thousand miles away, bringing us news, data and newer means of improvement.

It’s not only about the air.

Vehicleswhich run on land are packed with newer inventions of the day. All modern cars have technology written all over them. These are the mechanical devices which have made us a Nano-race.

We have come into a digital age. Computers have given way to laptops and then to notebooks and palmtops. LCDs and Plasmas have replaced picture-tube televisions.    

The mobiles have turned into a complete island of entertainment and communication.

Internet has brought the impossible within means. Web has made online education possible. A teacher in Spain can teach a student in Nigeria with the help of computer apps and Voice 

Chat modules.

Science has really beautified life. Today, you can visit your distant relative on the other side of the globe within a day. You can look at an award ceremony held in London, sitting in a shelter in Algeria. You can put thousands and thousands pages of text into a pin size chip and still have plenty of space left.

You cannot come back from the dead but that’s probably the only thing you cannot do. The borders of time and space are certainly shrinking.

1. What were the first discovery and the first invention according to the text?

2. How does the author describe the progress of science from earlier times to the 20th century?

3. Who was Leonardo da Vinci, and what was his contribution related to aviation?

4. What recent space mission is mentioned, and what is its significance?

5. How have vehicles changed with technological advancements, according to the text?

6. What does the text say about the evolution of computers and televisions?

7. How has the internet transformed communication and education?

8. What examples are given to show how science has beautified life?

9. According to the author, what is the only thing science cannot do?

10. What does the phrase "the borders of time and space are certainly shrinking" mean in the context of the passage?

10th grade Advanced. Unit 6. Lesson 2. Scientists are only human

👉Communicative area: talking about science and scientists; inferring meaning from context; retelling

👉Active vocabulary: deadline, curiosity, plagiarism, colleague

👉Revision grammar: Past tenses

 

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10th grade Advanced. Unit 6. Lesson 1. A career in a science?

👉Communicative area: discussing scientific careers

👉Active vocabulary: matter, to apply, variety, discipline, field, branch, object, level, research, related

👉Active grammar: word formation (suffixes -ist, -(ic)al)

10th grade. Unit 5. Project: Decoding a Photo

👉Communicative area: decoding aphoto and speaking about it

👉 Challenge: make a presentation decoding a photo, listen to your classmates and give feedback.

Click here to edit your project 10B

10th grade Advanced. Unit 5. Project: The Role of Art in your Life

👉Communicative area: speaking about the role of art in your life

👉 Challenge: make a presentation about the role of art in your life, listen to your classmates and give feedback.

Click to edit your project 10A

Click to edit your project 10C

10th grade Advanced. Unit 5. Lesson 4. In all its glory

👉Communicative area: asking and answering questions about architectual monuments in Britain

👉Active vocabulary: glory, a dome, a tomb, a listed building, to dominate, majestic

Explore more at Wayground.

10th grade Advanced. Unit 5. Lesson 2. Stories behind works of art

👉Communicative area: listening about interesting facts about works of art

👉Active vocabulary: commission, iconic, recognisable, canvas, background

👉Receptive grammar: Past Perfect Continuous

Дизайн, автор: Veranika Bebekh 

10th grade Advanced. Unit 5. Lesson 1. What do you know about arts?

👉Communicative area: exploring the notion of art and its classification, naming different types of art and giving opinion about them

👉Active vocabulary: breathtaking, contemporary, decorative, stained glass, a still life, an artwork, compound nouns and adjectives

1. How was the word “art” commonly used before the 1700s?

2. What are some examples of activities that were considered art in the past?

3. How do we typically define art in contemporary society?

4. What are some responses people might have to a work of art?

5. How are individual arts usually grouped into categories?

6. Can you name the three categories of performing arts mentioned in the text?

7. What types of works are considered literary arts?

8. Which art forms are classified as visual arts?

9. How is the term “visual arts” used today?

10. In the European academic tradition, what is the main purpose of fine arts?

11. How do decorative arts differ from fine arts, and what do they have in common?

12. Can you list examples of applied arts mentioned in the text?

13. What are some examples of decorative arts provided in the text?

14. Why might it be easy to confuse decorative and applied arts?

15. How do functional arts serve a practical purpose alongside being attractive?

10th grade. Unit 3. Articles in Set Expressions (Part 3)

 

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10th grade. Unit 3. Articles in Set Expressions (Part 2)

 

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10th grade. Unit 3. Articles in Set Expressions (Part 1)

 

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