Is The Grid a better web designer than you?
Dec. 02, 2014
Reading time: 7 minutes
Unless you’ve developed the enviable skill of ignoring adverts on Twitter, you can’t have failed to notice
a new service promising “AI websites that design themselves.”
The Grid “is not another do-it-yourself website builder,” the difference according their site, is that The Grid boasts an advanced AI (artificial intelligence) that can build custom solutions for its clients in mere seconds.
I’ve often heard WYSIWYGs, and more recently website builders, likened to robots replacing human workers on fact I’ve yet to hear of a robot making it into the design department. Certainly, there is scope for automation in web design: When once you spent an hour setting up basic stylesheets, now yo when once you spent a day considering design options, now you cho when once you spent a week coding specific functionality, now you download a plugin.
We all want to think of our skills as essential, but are we essential to our skills? Are web designers surplus to requirements?
Can The Grid out-code you?
The key principle by which we measure WYSIWYGs and website builders is how clean the code they output is. To date, I’ve not seen a single one that produces acceptable production code. As The Grid isn’t yet accepting clients, the only site we can use to judge its code is its own
which was built with its software.
At the time of writing, The Grid’s output doesn’t pass W3C validation: the video element’s autoplay and loop attributes have
not an earth-shattering error, any self-respecting browser will render the page correctly in any case, but hardly a ringing endorsement of The Grid’s capabilities.
But the real issue is not whether The Grid can produce valid markup, the issue is whether The Grid can produce good markup, and good markup means semantic markup.
Semantic markup is valued because it ensures that data is structured in such a way as to reinforce its inherent meaning. Semantic markup creates a hierarchy, so that it is more than a jumble of facts. The Grid doesn’t produce semantic markup, because it’s an automated system that neither knows, nor cares for the meaning of your data.
Not an error a human being would be likely to make.
If you run thegrid.io’s styles through a CSS validator, things get decidedly worse — almost 90 errors are generated by just the CSS embedded in the head of the page. But then the style sheets used by The Grid don’t validate, because they’re not supposed to.
The Grid uses what one of its creators, Dan Tocchini, refers to as
(Grid Style Sheets). GSS uses a polyfill (yes, JavaScript for layout) to bridge the gap between what CSS can be relied upon to render consistently, and how the designer wants the page to render.
There has been a disappointing delay in browser manufacturers implementing the
and if you’re able to turn a blind eye to the dreadful inefficiencies of rendering a layout with JavaScript, GSS does seem to offer a reasonable approach. However there is a deep conceptual problem at the heart of this solution:
It’s difficult, if not impossible, to build a system with total malleability that also respects the integrity of its content. The only way that would be possible would be to develop a system that not only stored content, but understood it.
It’s difficult, if not impossible, to build a system with total malleability that also respects the integrity of its content.
argues that we are reaching the point at which most front-end code will soon be automated. The key, he argues, is not that website builders produce good code, but that they produce code that is good enough. It’s hard to argue that The Grid doesn’t produce code that is good enough, when all major players actively make allowances for poor coding practices — there is, for example, no evidence that code that validates outperforms code that does not, on Google — but the sacrifice made is the integrity of the content.
The Grid rejects web standards in order to achieve dynamically malleable designs, but in doing so it overrides the hierarchy implicit in the site’s content, and with it, potentially the content’s meaning.
Can The Grid out-design you?
In 1997, world champion Garry Kasparov was beaten at chess by the IBM designed computer Deep Blue. Coming just three short months before Skynet was due to become self-aware and wipe us all out, it seemed like a benchmark moment.
Except that Deep Blue didn’t beat K no computer has ever beaten a human at chess. To win a game, one has to compete, and to compete one has to strive for dominance. To my knowledge no computer has ever been programmed with an ego.
Kasparov did lose the match 2.5–3.5, not to a computer, but to a team of computer programmers who used a computer as a strategy aid.
A computer has no knowledge or understanding of communication, it’s simply a conduit.
How does The Grid judge the readability of a paragraph? Does it lean back in its chair? Squint its eyes? Perhaps carry itself over to the window to check the design under different lighting? A computer has no knowledge or understanding of communication, it’s simply a conduit. From typography to user experience, every single design choice made by The Grid has been dictated by human designers building a set of style rules that they hope will apply to any given data.
The Grid’s creative director is Leigh Taylor, who designed the blogging platform Medium. Hats off to him, Medium is a highly accomplished blog design. Of course Medium, with its numerous subjects, authors and commenters is a site that cannot know its own content. As witnessed by the myriad of Medium imitators out there, it’s not an approach that can be universally applied with the same success.
Take one of The Grid’s premium features: the ability to detect faces in photographs
any photographer will tell you that the cropping of an image is one of the key ways of investing emotion. Drama, optimism, strength, ambition, all of these things and more can be achieved with a well-cropped image. Centering on a face does little but fit the image into the available space.
Another core feature is the ability of The Grid to recolor images to unify hue and saturation. However, even in The Grid’s promotional video we see that images look dull, like Instagram filters set up for a vintage style. It works…sometimes.
The problem with The Grid’s design process is that it doesn’t have one. It mimics design, but actually applies style without any understanding of content. The Grid has no inherent cultural awareness, no subconscious, it doesn’t even have eyes. Design is about taking decisions, and The Grid’s AI has no understanding on which to base a value judgement.
The Grid does not design, it applies a pre-conceived set of rules. All truly great design knows when an computers never deviate from the pattern they’re fed.
Can The Grid out-strategize you?
For most web designers, the most urgent area to address when taking on a new client is strategy. You may not even realise you do it, but for a business that doesn’t understand branding, or blogging, or whether the colors their CEO’s daughter picked out really work, your advice is invaluable.
The infinite monkey theory states that given enough time, a monkey hitting random keys on a typewriter, will eventually produce the complete works of William Shakespeare. Using a similarly optimistic approach, The Grid uses A/B testing to optimize its choices, but design is not simply a mathematical process and there is no equation for creativity.
thegrid.io, built by The Grid, works as a site because it’s copywritten, art-directed, and strategized by web designers. Most companies will know instinctively the kind of site they want, they may have a strong idea of branding, their priorities
but very few companies are anything but hazy on the details.
What tone should they be setting? Is their imagery appropriate for their target demographic? Will their content help them climb the search engine rankings? Should they focus on blogging or social media? These are just some of the questions that The Grid cannot answer.
The Grid can’t carry out research, brand values mean nothing to it, it has no cultural sensitivity. This leaves the responsibility for critical decisions with the client. By handing complete freedom to the client, The Grid delivers none of the guidance that a good web designer provides. Instead of providing solutions, The Grid poses questions.
Is The Grid a better web designer than you?
There’s an elephant in the room: The question of whether or not The Grid is a better web designer than you is less about how well it does its job, and more about how well you do yours.
If you regurgitate ideas, decorate content instead of designing it, impose a style instead of reinforcing a message, or adhere rigidly to rules, then it may well be at least as good as you.
[it’s] less about how well [The Grid] does its job, and more about how well you do yours.
In terms of code, The Grid does not output what most professionals consider to be production-ready markup. And its reliance on JavaScript for layout is highly questionable. However we have to accept that, given the cost involved in doing the job properly, many clients may well decide to do the job adequately instead.
In terms of design, The Grid does not design. However well marketed — and it is very well marketed — The Grid has no understanding of the content that it is styling. All design decisions are made by a small number of designers, who have no knowledge of the content they’re designing, and whose approach is (like everyone else’s) biased by their own world view.
As an experiment, The Grid is fascinating. As an engine for art-directing a substantial site like
The Grid offers a technique by which content producers could rapidly art-direct time-sensitive data.
As a rival to web builders like
The Grid must be the cause of a lot of lost sleep. It’s certainly more advanced than its rivals, and will probably take a lot of business from companies who have already convinced their own customers that do-it-yourself is a risk worth taking.
However, if you’re doing the job of a web designer properly, The Grid has no way to compete. No artificial intelligence will ever replace a human designer, because design is largely about emotional intelligence.
Good design extends into every facet of a website, and it’s not about computers talking to each other, it’s about human beings communicating.
Featured image,
via Shutterstock.
By Ben Moss
Ben Moss is a designer based in Brighton, UK. He’s produced work for abbreviations including IBM, UBS, and the FBI. He runs marathons in his spare time. Say hi .
by Ben Moss
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Featured freebies高三英语《Unit 3　Life in the future》教案
编辑点评：
要提高课堂教学质量和学生的语言素质，必须创设和谐课堂环境，优化英语课堂教学。运用灵活多样的教学方法，营造良好的英语氛围，让学生进入学习英语的角色，让学生沉浸在英语学习的海洋之中。
Ⅰ. 单元教学目标
技能目标Skill Goals
▲Talk about things in the past, at present and in the future
▲Talk about changes at present
▲Predict good and bad changes in the future
Ⅱ. 目标语言
1．四会词汇
Expect, aspect, constant, constantly, remind, jet, previous, tablet, capsule, opening, surrounding, lack, ache, mask, bend, press, swift, swiftly, master, sight, flash, switch, optimistic, length, extraordinary, extraordinarily
2．认读词汇
jet lag, flashback, expertise, hover, pessimistic, enormous, imitate,
take up, remind ... of ..., lose sight of ..., catch sight of ..., sweep up, speed up, assist in
4．重点词汇
constant, remind, lack, sight, assist, require, settlement, previous, swift
The past participle as the attribute
&and following him to collect a hovering carriage driven by computer.
The past participle as the adverbial
Worried about the journey, I was unsettled for the first few days.
Hit by a lack of fresh air,my head ached.
Exhausted, I slid into bed and fell fast asleep.
1. This is similar to the &jet lag& you get when flying, but instead it means you keep getting flashbacks from your previous time period. P17
2. Well-known for their expertise, his parents& company named &Future Tours& transported me safely into the future in a time capsule. P18
3. He handed it to me and immediately hurried me through to a small room nearby for a rest. P18
4. He was swept up into the centre of them.
5. I found later that their leaves provided the house with much-needed oxygen. P18
8. Everyone will get twice as much personal space as in flats on land. P58
9. Only when the robot cleaner touches objects can they be moved. P59
&&&&&& 1.2 Pre-reading 部分让学生充分运用发散思维，先列举当今世界人类面临的一些突出问题，然后要求学生思考为什么会产生这些问题，这些问题中哪些在未来社会仍然可能存在，哪些将会被克服，哪些将会恶化。为下面的阅读做了铺垫。
&&&&&& 1.3 Reading 部分通过一封发自未来的电子邮件，讲述了作者Li Qiang怎样安全到达&未来世界&，他对&未来世界&的印象，以及&未来世界&的日常生活方式和交通工具情况。阅读时要把重点放在&未来世界&生活与当今生活的不同点上。
&&&&&& 1.4 Comprehending 部分设计了三个教学活动来加深学生对Reading部分的理解。第一个活动要求学生通过阅读找出&未来世界&在以下几个方面的变化：跨时空旅行，交通，住房，城镇环境和空气质量。接着让学生在此基础上得出自己的结论，哪些变化好，哪些变化不好，并说明理由。第二个活动要求学生通过阅读来判断Li Qiang对&未来世界&的态度是乐观的还是悲观的。学生要在文中找出支持自己观点的论据，尽可能说服别人。第三个活动让学生想象一下Li Qiang将会去参加哪些活动。这样既鼓励学生展开丰富的想象，又为Using Language部分的语篇学习做了铺垫。
&&&&&& 1.5 Learning about Language部分突出了本单元的一些重点词汇及语法。首先通过完成语篇来考查学生运用本单元词汇的能力，并且通过练习，让学生区分两种动词短语，一种是以动词为中心的词组，另一种是以介词为中心的词组。语法部分要求学生主动找出阅读语篇中的重点结构&&过去分词作定语和状语，然后加以应用。
&&&&&& 1.6 Using Language 部分涵盖了听，说，读，写四项语言基本技能。要求学生通过阅读I HAVE SEEN AMAZING THINGS 一文，对Li Qiang旅行的第三站有个总体的印象，并能找出部分细节知识。
&&&&&& 2. 教材重组
&&&&&& 2.1 可将Warming Up, Pre-reading, Reading 和Comprehending 整合在一起上一节精读课。
&&&&&& 2.2& Using Language 中的reading 和listening 是Li Qiang&s travel to the future的延续，可将这两部分及Workbook 中的LISTENING整合起来上一节听力课。
&&&&&& 2.3可将Learning about Language 和Workbook 中的USING WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS 及USING STRUCTURES整合起来上一节语法课。
&&&&&& 2.4& 将Workbook 中的READING TASK 和LISTENING TASK 结合起来上一节泛读课，进一步拓展学生的思维和想象力。
&&&&&& 2.5& 将Using Language中的speaking 和Workbook中的TALKING 整合在一起上一节口语课，鼓励学生对现在进行反思，对未来进行大胆猜测(make predictions)。
&&&&&&&&&&&&& 3. 课型设计与课时分配
&&&&&& && 1st Period&&&&& Reading
&&&&&& && 2nd Period&&& Listening
&&&&&& && 3rd Period&&&& Grammar
&&&&&& && 4th Period&&&& Extensive Reading
Ⅳ. 分课时教案
T: Now please open your books and turn to page 17. Let&s read the passage First Impressions. Read it quickly and then tell me what it is about.
Several minutes later.
T: Well, have you finished reading the passage?
T: OK. Who would like to tell me what the text is about?
S: It&s an e-mail written by a man who has taken up a trip to the future.
T: Good. Then look at the following sentences. They are in wrong order. Anyone can tell me the correct order of these sentences?
A. We were transported into the future by a comfortable time capsule.
B. I arrived at Wang Ping&s home and everything in his house made me surprised.
C. I won a travel to the year AD 3008.
D. I have my first try to master a hovering carriage.
S: C-A-D-B.
T: Very good! Let&s go through the first two paragraphs together and get the general idea of Li Qiang&s trip to the future. Then answer the questions on the screen.
Show these checking questions on the screen.
1. Why did I have the chance to travel to the year AD 3008?
2. What is a &time lag&?
3. How did I feel when I was in the capsule?
4. Who guides my trip?
5. Why did my guide give me some tablets?
6. Who transported us to the future?
A few minutes later, check the answers.
Sample answers:
1. He took up the prize he won the year before.
2. &Time lag& means a person gets flashbacks from his previous time period.
3. The seats in the capsule are very comfortable.
4. My friend Wang Ping is my guide to the future.
5. The tablets could help me feel less nervous and uncertain.
6. Wang Ping&s parents& company transported us to the future.
T: Wonderful. Do you want to know more about his trip? Now please go through the third paragraph to get some details on the environment in the future. When you finish, please answer the following questions.
Show these three questions on the screen.
1. How did I feel as soon as I was transported to the future?
2. How did Wang Ping solve this problem?
3. What do you think has caused this kind of problem?
Give the Ss 1 or 2 minutes to think and they can discuss with their partners. Then check the answers.
Sample answers:
1. After the writer was transported to the future, he was hit by the lack of fresh air.
2. Wang Ping gave a mask to the writer and hurried him through to a small room nearby to have a rest.
3. Now we are causing more and more pollution to the nature, this will cause serious problems to life in the future. This may be the cause of the lack of fresh air in the future.
T: What will transportation in the future be like? Are there any differences between transportation in the future and that at present? Now please read the fourth and fifth paragraphs and find out something about both transportation and daily life in the future.
After the Ss read the paragraphs, ask them the following questions.
1. What did Wang Ping&s house look like?
2. What was the green wall made of? What&s the purpose of building this kind of green wall?
3. How can you produce a TV set in Wang Ping&s house?
Sample answers:
1. His house is a large bright, clean room. It had a green wall, a brown floor and soft lighting.
2. The green wall was made of trees. The leaves of the trees will provide much-needed oxygen to the house.
3. You can just flash a switch on the computer screen and a TV set will rise from the floor.
T: So we can see life in the future is much more convenient and much easier than our present life.
Step Ⅳ Follow-up Activity
Get the Ss to compare life at present and in the future. Find out the changes on several items. Try to distinguish which changes are good and which are not good and give reasons.
T: Now let&s make a prediction about future and see what will be changed in the future. I will give you 3 minutes to discuss in pairs, and after your discussion please finish the following chart.
Sample answers:
Life at present
Life in the future
(Changes) good or bad? Reasons?
Environment
Air pollution resource shortage
The situation will get worse and worse
The development of our society will cause human being to develop mor and the development of industry will cause worse pollution to our environment
Airplane, car, train, boat and helicopter
Spacecraft, time travel, personal flying car or bike
More convenient
People receive education in school
People receive education on the I can choose the subjects and the teachers they like
Have more chances to receive different knowledge
Flats in with kitchens and bathrooms
Cozy, modern flats, furniture in walls and floor
Then let the Ss do Exx. 2 ＆3 on page 19. A few minutes later, check the answers.
Sample answer to Ex. 3:
&&&&&& I think the writer has an optimistic view of the future. He was very excited when he traveled to the year AD 3008 and couldn&t believe it was true. From this, we can see he is eager to go to the future. Though he was hit by the lack of fresh air, the problem was immediately solved by putting on a mask. And he tells us the transport in the future is convenient. When he arrived Wang Ping&s home, he found there were many trees after the wall moved, and these trees provided the house with much-needed oxygen. Finally he described the automatic equipment in Wang Ping&s house. All the above has shown his view of the future.
Step Ⅴ Homework
Review the key sentences in the text.
The Second Period Listening
Teaching goals 教学目标
1. Target language 目标语言
重点词汇和短语
extraordinarily, atmosphere, gravity, assist in
2. Ability goals 能力目标
Enable the Ss to tell the differences between two kinds of alien creatures.
Enable the Ss to understand the facilities in &Wonderworld&.
3. Learning ability goals 学能目标
Help the Ss learn how to promote a new invention by analyzing different situations.
Teaching important ＆difficult points 教学重难点
Listen to the material about the new invention and find out its special qualities.
Teaching methods 教学方法
D cooperative learning.
Teaching aids 教具准备
A computer, a projector and a recorder.
Teaching procedures ＆ways& 教学过程与方式
Step Ⅰ Lead-in
Let the Ss discuss the following two questions:
1. Do you think time travel is possible?
2. If you have the chance to have a time travel, which places would you like to visit? And why?
T: Glad to see you, everyone. Last time we learnt something about Li Qiang&s travel to the future. It&s fantastic, right? In our daily life, we also read lots of novels and watch many films about time travel. Can you name some great movies about time travel?
S: Matrix!
T: Yes. Good. Do you think time travel is possible?
S: I think it is possible. In the past, people cannot travel to the moon, but now they can. So with the development of science, maybe one day, we can travel to the past or to the future. This is quite possible!
T: If you have the chance to have a time travel, where would you like to visit? Why?
S: I want to visit the space station. In the future, maybe we will find out some other creatures living in other planets. I would like to communicate with them and know something about them.
Step Ⅱ& Listening
Task 1 Let the Ss listen to the material on page 23 twice. After listening for the first time, let them answer some simple questions to check their general understanding.
T: OK. We know that Li Qiang had a chance to travel to the future, today we are going to learn where he would visit. Don&t open your textbooks. Just listen. I will play the recording for you twice. For the first time, listen to the general idea
Listen again and check the answers.
1.&&&&& How can &Wonderworld& make sure there is enough oxygen?
2.&&&&& How can &Wonderworld& make sure there is enough water?
3.&&&&& What is the advantage of living in &Wonderworld&?
4.&&&&& Do you think people will be healthy living in &Wonderworld&? Why?
Task 3 Deal with the LISTENING on page 55.
T: There will be lots of new inventions in the future. Here we&ve got a new kind of quilt. Why is it special? Let&s listen to the tape and try to find it out. Meanwhile we should find out where these quilts are suitable to promote.
Play the tape for the Ss twice. Let them do Exx. 1－3 on page 55 and then check the answers.
Step Ⅲ Homework
After class, let the Ss listen to the three materials repeatedly.
The Third Period Grammar
Teaching goals 教学目标
1. Target language目标语言
重点词汇和短语
swiftly, unsettle, speed up
2. Ability goals 能力目标
Enable the Ss to use the past participle as the adverbial and the past participles as the attribute.
3. Learning ability goals 学能目标
Help the Ss learn how to use the past participle as the adverbial and the past participles the attribute.
Teaching important ＆difficult points 教学重难点
Distinguish the usage of the past participle as the adverbial and the past participle as the attribute.
Teaching methods 教学方法
Teaching aids 教具准备
A computer, a projector and a blackboard.
Teaching procedures ＆ways 教学过程与方式
Step I& Word Study
This part is a consolidation of the words learnt in this unit.
Ask the Ss to do the Exx. 1 ＆2 on pages 20 ＆21 and exercises in USING WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS in Workbook independently. Then check the answers.
Step II Grammar
The Ss will learn the usage of the past participle in different situations.
Task 1 Make clear to the Ss the usage of the past participle as the adverbial.
T: Now please look at the sentence:
Worried about the journey, I was unsettled for the first few days.
= As I was worried about the journey, I was unsettled for the first few days.
过去分词作状语：
用作状语的过去分词通常来自及物动词。过去分词用作状语时，修饰主句的谓语动词，意义上相当于状语从句，表示时间、条件、原因、伴随状况等。过去分词作状语，前边往往可以加when, while, as if, as though。一般说来，这种结构的逻辑主语必须与主句的主语一致。例如：
Whenever praised, she blushes.（作时间状语）
= Whenever she is praised, she blushes.
United, divided, we fall.（作条件状语）
= If we are united, if we are divided, we fall.
Written in great haste, this book is full of errors.（作原因状语）
= Because this book is written in great haste, it is full of errors.
Mary was reading a love story, completely lost to the romantic life.（作伴随状语）
= Mary was reading a love story, and she was completely lost to the romantic life.
Although born in Germany, John lives and works in U.S.A.（作让步状语）
= Although John was born in Germany, he lives and works in U.S.A.
Task 2 Make clear to the Ss the usage of the past participle as the attribute.
T: Now please look at these two sentences:
1. I followed him to collect a hovering carriage driven by computer.
= I followed him to collect a hovering carriage that / which was driven by computer.
2. Tomorrow you will be ready for some visits organized by the company.
= Tomorrow you will be ready for some visits that / which was organized by the company.
过去分词作定语：
a. 用作前置定语的过去分词通常来自及物动词，带有被动意义和完成意义。例如：
We like skating in the frozen lake in the winter.
= We like skating in the lake which has been frozen in the winter.
How many finished products have you got up to now?
= How many products that have been finished have you got up to now?
来自不及物动词的过去分词很少能单独用作前置定语，能作这样用的仅限以下几个词，这时仅表示完成意义，不表示被动意义：
a retired worker = a worker who has retired
an escaped prisoner = a prisoner who has escaped
a faded / withered flower = a flower that has faded / withered
fallen leaves = leaves that have fallen
the risen sun = the sun that has just risen
a returned student = a student who has returned
vanished treasure = treasure that has vanished
b. 用作后置定语的过去分词通常也来自及物动词，表示被动意义和完成意义。这明相当于一个定语从句。例如：
Things seen are better than things heard.
= Things that / which are seen are better than things that / which are heard.
The lobster broiled over charcoal was delicious.
= The lobster that / which was broiled over charcoal was delicious.
Then let the Ss do Exx. 1－4 on pages 20 ＆21 and exercises in USING STRUCTURES in Workbook to consolidate what they have learnt. And check the answers. If time permits, let the Ss learn the following usage of the past participle in the class.
过去分词作表语：
过去分词作表语表示主语所处的状态。用作表语的过去分词大多来自及物动词；不及物动词的过去分词能作表语的只限于少数表示位置转移的动词，如go, come, assemble等，它们用在联系动词之后，表示完成意义，无被动意义。例如：
The man looked quite disappointed.
He is greatly discouraged by her refusal.
His hair is nearly all gone.
已经形容化了的过去分词大多可作表语，常见的有:
accomplished, amazed, amused, astonished, broken, closed, completed, complicated, confused, crowded, devoted, disappointed, discouraged, drunk, excited, frightened, hurt, interested, lost, satisfied, surprised, worried等。
过去分词作宾语补足语：
a. see, hear, feel, find, think等表示感觉和心理状态的动词可以带过去分词作宾语补足语。例如：
Tom found himself involved in an awkward situation.
I saw Tom dressed like a beggar in the street.
Everybody thought the match lost until the last minute.
b. make, get, have, keep等表示&致使&意义的动词可以带过去分词作宾语补足语。例如：
I have my clothes washed everyday.
Don&t get y stay with us in the class.
He&s trying to make himself understood.
Please keep us informed of the latest price.
c. like, want, wish, order等表示希望、要求、命令等意义的动词可以带过去分词作宾语补足语。例如：We don&t like such topics (to be) discussed in class.
I wish this problem (to be) solved this week.
Step Ⅳ Homework
T: After class, please review what we&ve learnt this class and do more exercises. Then preview the READING TASK in Workbook.
The Fourth Period Extensive Reading
Teaching goals 教学目标
1. Target language目标语言
a. 重点词汇和短语
imitate, spin, shuttle-submarine, destination, sensor, be essential for, contact
b. 重点句式
The sea bottom is deep and this makes it difficult to.. P58
Only the robot cleaner will be able to move objects. P58
2. Ability goals能力目标
Enable the Ss to discuss the possibilities and the difficulties of living under the sea.
3. Learning ability goals 学能目标
Help the Ss learn how to talk about the possibilities and the difficulties of living under the sea.
Teaching important ＆difficult points 教学重难点
Talk about the possibilities of living under the sea.
Teaching methods 教学方法
Fast asking an discussion.
Teaching aids 教具准备
A computer and a projector.
Teaching procedures ＆ways 教学过程与方式
Step I Warming up
Lead in the topic by discussing the possibilities of living under the sea. Encourage the Ss to use their imaginations.
T: Have you ever watched the movie &The Little Mermaid&? Do you like the sea? I myself like the sea very much. I always think that how great it will be if I have the chance to live under the sea! Do you think living under the sea is possible? Why? Now please work in pairs to discuss the three questions on the screen.
Show the following questions on the screen and hold a discussion.
1. Do you think living under the sea is possible?
2. Where are you going to live under the sea?
3. In the undersea cities, what equipments do you think are necessary?
Ten minutes later, ask some Ss to answer the questions.
T: Have you finished? Who would like to tell us your opinion? Volunteer?
S: I think it&s possible. Maybe in the future scientists will invent some kind of equipment that makes it possible for human being to live under the sea.
T: If it is possible, where are you going to live under the sea? There is all water and fishes around you.
S: Maybe in a special equipment which will provide us much-needed oxygen and can float in the water. In that case we can travel in the sea to enjoy the wonderful view of the sea.
T: Good. If you are going to live under the sea, what kind of equipment do you think is necessary for your living?
S: Oxygen provision and cleaning machine may be necessary.
Step Ⅱ Reading
Deal with the passage on page 58.
T: OK. From what you said, I know all of you are looking forward to living under the sea. Now a company just provides the very service! Please turn to page 58 and read the passage RISING TO A CHALLENGE. Let&s see what the life will be like in this undersea city. When you finish reading, complete the sentences on the screen.
Give the Ss 3 minutes to go through the whole passage.
1. The undersea city is so comfortable that it is described as ___________ .
2. The undersea city has the following advantages:
a. _____________
b. _____________
c. _____________
d. _____________
T: Can you find out some suitable sentences or words to fill in the blanks? What&re the advantages of living under the sea?
S: The undersea city is so comfortable that it is described as &a silk adventure&.
S: The undersea city has the following advantages: a. easy contact w b. c. comple d. no housework worries.
T: That&s great. You all have got the general idea of the passage. Now let&s look into some detailed aspects of the undersea city. First let&s look at its contact with the land surface. Who would like to tell me at the very beginning, what kind of problem were they facing? And how was the problem solved?
S: The sea bottom is so deep that it&s hard to contact with the land surface. But later they invented the one-person or family shuttle-submarines which will always be ready to take people to the surface.
T: So in that case people who live under the sea can easily contact with the land surface. Then com-paring with living on land, what advantage do you think can attract people to live under the sea?
S: We can get twice as much personal space as in flats on land.
T: Good! Then what kind of special equipment will be provided so as to realize all the advantages? Please read the text again and finish the following chart. You can work with your partners.
Show the chart on the screen and give the Ss 3 minutes to go through the whole text again to scan for the answer. A few minutes later, check the answers.
Advantages
Special equipments
How does it become realized?
Easy contact with land
One person or family shuttle-submarines
Always ready to take people to the surface, a special small, computerized machine to monitor each person during the trip.
More personal space
Get twice as much personal space as in flats on land, your house can float in the water.
Complete personal security
Computer sensor
Can only when the robot cleaner touches objects can they be moved.
No house- work worries
Family used robots
Feed your details into the computer hard- answer your commands.
T: This undersea city is amazing. But I think designing such kind of undersea city is quite difficult! Do you want to meet its designer?& Now the designer of the city William Lee is being interview. Let&s listen to his interview and find out which two problems he came across and how he solved them. Then please finish the exercises on page 59.
Step Ⅲ Follow-up Activity
Set a scene for the Ss: The company is going to held a press conference and exhibition. Encourage the Ss to design a poster which will draw visitors& attention and provide some useful information.
T: We know that all new products have to be promoted so that it can be well-known among people. Now a press conference and exhibition is going to be held to make the undersea city known to people. If you work in the company, can you design a special poster to draw visitors& attention so that they will come to the press conference? Use your imagination and you can discuss with your group members.
A Sample poster:
Come to this meeting
See the value of OUR undersea houses.
SaturationCityhas:
● easy contact with the land surface
● more personal space
● complete personal security
● no housework worries
Cost: 20 dollars
Date: May 18th
Time: 8:00 am
Place: The Science Exhibition Building
Step Ⅳ Homework
T: After class, please listen to the tape repeatedly until you can retell it yourselves and pay attention to pronunciation.
The Fifth Period& Speaking
Teaching goals教学目标
1. Target language目标语言
Make predictions:
Suppose that ...
I wonder if ...
Is it likely / unlikely that ...?
Do you imagine that ...?
Is it possible that ...?
Do you suppose that ...?
2. Ability goals 能力目标
Enable the Ss to talk about things at present and predict things in the future.
Enable the Ss to describe some imaginary products.
3. Learning ability goals 学能目标
Help the Ss learn how to talk about things in the future and describe some imaginary products.
Teaching important ＆difficult points教学重难点
Teach the Ss to make predictions and express their ideas about future.
Help the Ss make up their personal future plans.
Teaching methods教学方法
Pair discussion and cooperation.
Teaching aids教具准备
A computer and a projector.
Teaching procedures ＆ways教学过程与方式
Step I& Talking
Set a scene for the Ss: A man who is living in AD 2046 comes to visit your city and wants to know something about jobs in your city. Ask the Ss to work in pairs to make out an introduction plan. Make a comparison between jobs at present and jobs in the future, and find out the changes and why these changes take place.
T: In the first period of our unit, we discussed the changes between life in the past and life at present, also we make a prediction about our future, right? Today let&s still talk about the future. Suppose a man of AD 2046 comes to our city, he wants to know something about jobs in our city. How will you introduce the following two kinds of jobs to him? Teachers and farmers.
Give the Ss 1-2 minutes to discuss and then ask some of them to represent their opinions.
T: OK. Who would like to talk about the job as a farmer?
S: Nowadays farmers are still working very hard. Few of them use hi-tech machines, especially in developing countries. They have to work most by hand everyday. Sometimes they will use some machines such as trucks, seeding-machines, etc. In developed countries, agriculture has been computerized. Farmers in those countries are much easier.
T: Good. What about teachers?
S: Nowadays lots of students stay in the classrooms to listen to their teachers. And the teachers have to use chalk, and sometimes they use computers.
Set another scene.
T: So it seems that both these two kinds of jobs are very challenging. Will they change in the future? Now the man invites you to his city in the year 2046, what changes will you expect to find on these two jobs?
S: I think 40 years later, working as a farmer will be much easier than now. Farmers won&t have to work by hand, they can set a program in the computer and then the computer will finish all the tasks. It&s fantastic! And the harvest will be much better because of the science.
S: I think in the future we don&t have to come to school to study. Teachers will work on the Internet. We will have classes through the Internet. And unlike today&s teacher, in the future, a teacher can teach many subjects. And we will have robots do teaching jobs.
T: So maybe I should be born 40 years later, in that case, the job for me will be much interesting.
Step II Follow-up Activity
Encourage the Ss to predict their future life and make a short-term plan. Let them talk about their dreams and then write passages introducing these dreams.
T: Everyone, have you ever dreamt of your own future? Have you asked yourself what you will be? Now let&s make a prediction, or we can say, let&s make a plan for ourselves: What will I be in the future? You can discuss with your partners to fill in the following chart and then write a passage introducing your dreams.
Show the Ss the chart on the screen.
What will you do?
Where will you be?
How will you
prepare for it?
1 year later
5 years from now
10 years from now
Give the Ss enough time to discuss. This will help them make clear of their own future. And then select some Ss to give a report to the whole class.
Step Ⅳ& Homework
T: Imagine you are at your age of 30. Write a passage to describe your daily life or your experience.
A sample version:
&&&&&& It is the year 2020 and I have just turned 30 years old. More than 10 years ago, I left high school and went to study at a good university. I was a history major and I also studied two foreign languages. After graduation, I was offered a job teaching history in a middle school. At first, I didn&t think I&d like to teach history. I thought the students would think history was too boring. My first year was very difficult. I didn&t know much about teaching and the students did not like my lessons. But I was lucky. One of the older teachers became my friend and taught me a lot.
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