Farming and gardening

A scientist of physics Elbert Einstein A theory of relativity Pre-reading

A scientist of biology Charles Darwin discovered evolution--- ancestors of humans were monkeys

A scientist of physics Madame Curie (discovered the element radium and radioactivity)

A scientist of agriculture Father of hybrid rice Yuan Longping

Jia Sixie Jia Sixie was a great agricultural scientist of ancient China, living in Northern Wei Dynasty.

Qimin Yaoshu During the third and fourth decades of the sixth century, Jia Sixie wrote a book called Qimin Yaoshu, in English translated as The Manual of Important Arts for the People. The book has chapters on wine-making, recipes for cooking and instructions on farming and gardening. For many centuries it was considered an important summary of the knowledge about agriculture.

Fast reading 1.Why do we consider Jia Sixie as an agriculture scientist? Because he spent his time on research into agriculture & wrote a book called Qimin Yaoshu, which is about both farming & gardening.

1)China was one of the first countries in the world to study the science of farming. 2)China was the earliest research center for industry. 3) One of the pioneers of farming was Li Siguang. 4) He lived in Northern Wei Dynasty. 5) He spent his time on research into agriculture. 6) Jia Sixie collected information, studied it, did experiments and learnt from the experiences of workers. 7) He studied ways of keeping seeds, how to choose seeds, and how to improve soil conditions. 8) He wrote a book called “Ben Cao Gang Mu”. 2.True or false: agriculture Jia Sixie farmers Qimin Yaoshu

Read the passage carefully. Try to find out the main idea of each paragraph. Para 1.. Para 2.. Para 3. _. About Jia Sixie About Qimin Yaoshu About Jia Sixie`s advice Careful reading

About Jia Sixie When Where Why lived in the sixth century was born in Yidu ( 益都 ), Shangdong Province spent his time on research into agriculture collected information studied it did experiments learnt from the experiences of farmers

About Qimin Yaoshu (about farming and gardening) include Growing green vegetables and fruit trees Keeping cows, sheep and fish Making wine

About Jia Sixie`s advice (6)time of farming (1)soil (4)ploughing (2)changing crops (3)plants in the same field (5)how to water Choose the advice that has been mentioned: (7)fertilising

1. What should you do first as a farmer ? Questions: Firstly as a farmer,you should remember to do things at the right time of the year. If so, your work will be less and the result will be better.

3.What must be done before sowing or planting crops? 4.Why did Jia Sixie let sheep or cows walk on the land? Before you sow or plant crops, you must clean rough ground and remove weeds. Because he wanted the animals to destroy the weeds or eat them.

5.Is it good for the farmers to grow the same crop year after year? Why? 6. Should wheat be planted close together or with space ? Wheat should be planted close together instead of with space. Because Jia Sixie did experiments and showed that.

Fill in the blanks. Agriculture has a___________in china. Much of the_______discovered by early Chinese is still__________farmers. Jia Sixie, an early agricultural scientist, spent hisTime doing research_____agriculture. The book Qimin Yaoshu is a __________guide to farming. It includes advice____ the following subjects: ________ green vegetables and fruit trees, ________cows,sheep,etc. there are also instructions for_________wine. His book was studied by Chinese farmers and students. long history wisdom useful for into practical on growing keeping making

A Jia Sixie B farmer Work in groups of two and make a dialogue on how to reach a good harvest. Post-reading

Farmers’ proverbs & sayings The wisdom of farmers about the weather & farming is collected in many popular proverbs & passed on from generation to generation. The following proverbs tell you sth. About the weather in England. Are they true for China? 1 No weather is ill, if the wind be still. 2 Yellow sky at sunset, wind in the morrow. 3 Rain before seven, clear by eleven. 4 April showers bring May flowers. 5 Deeds are fruits, words are but leaves. 6 The best ground bears weeds as well as flowers. 7 Never cackle unless you lay.

Homework: Imagine you have a vegetable garden & you want to grow beans, cabbages, onions, tomatoes & sunflowers. What will you do in each month of the year? Write a plan for your vegetable garden.

袁隆平被誉为中国的 “ 杂交水稻之父 ”. 中国农民说， 吃饭靠 “ 两平 ” ，一靠邓小平 ---- 制定了生产承包责任制 的政策，二靠袁隆平 ---- 发明了杂交水稻。 袁隆平，男，１９３０年９月出生于北京，１９ ５３年毕业于西南农学院农学系。毕业后，一直从事 农业教育及杂交水稻研究。 在中国人民正闹饥荒的 20 世纪 60 年代，袁隆平提 出了杂交水稻的概念，这种新型水稻具有高产量的特 点。 10 年后，他研制成功了一种产量比一般水稻高出 20% 的新型水稻。 袁隆平一生献身于农业研究，先后受到联合国教 科文组织、粮农组织的称誉。袁隆平虽已年届７０岁， 仍然一如既往地从事农业研究。 袁隆平人物简历 writing hybrid rice; System of Production Responsibility; institute; suffer the famine; yield; UNESCO, FAO.

Possible version: Yuan Longping is known as China ’ s “ father of hybrid rice ”. It ’ s said that in China, we eat depending on “ Two Ping ” ---- Deng Xiaoping, who made the policy of System of Production Responsibility, & Yuan Longping, who invented hybrid rice. Yuan Longping, who was born in September, 1930, graduated from Agriculture Department in Southwest Agricultural Institute. He has been working on agriculture education & the research into hybrid rice since he left the institute. In the 1960s, when China was suffering serious famine, he came up with the idea of hybrid rice, which has a high yield. Ten years later, he succeeded in inventing a new species that produced a 20 percent higher yield than common types of rice. Yuan devoted himself to the research into agriculture, & was honored by UNESCO & FAO. Although he is 70 years old, he is still working on the research into agriculture.