2. February:: Issue 1

8. Capable of being used more than once. Capable of being reconditioned and adapted to a new use or function. Capable of being decomposed by biological agents.

9. The controversial ban on plastic bags at supermarkets in São Paulo lasted less than 2 weeks. According to the new agreement, for the next 60 days, supermarkets will have to offer shoppers alternatives – which include cardboard boxes, free __________ bags or even the ‘old’ plastic bags – to carry their groceries home. They will also have to offer shoppers __________ bags for no more than R$ 0,59.

10. Is there a similar ban in your city? If so, describe it. If not, how controversial do you think it would be? Why? Do you use the free plastic bags provided by the market or your own reusable bags? Why? Do you know what ecological footprint means? Take this quiz to find out your ecological footprint. Was suspending the ban on plastic bags the right thing to do? Why (not)? Are you for or against the ban on plastic bags? Why?

11. The most famous painting of all time, the Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo da Vinci during the Renaissance in Florence. He began painting the Mona Lisa in 1503 or 1504 and finished it shortly before he died in 1519. The painting is named for Lisa del Giocondo, a member of a wealthy family of Florence. Today, the Mona Lisa hangs again in the Louvre in Paris where 6 million people see the painting each year. The Starry Night was painted by Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh. Starry Night is one of his most famous paintings and has become one of the most well known images in modern culture. The painting shows the village of Saint-Rémy under a swirling sky, in a view from the asylum towards north. The cypress tree to the left was added into the composition. Since 1941 it has been in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The Sistine Chapel ceiling, painted by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512, at the commission of Pope Julius II. Central to the ceiling decoration are nine scenes from the Book of Genesis. Among the last to be completed was the Creation of Adam in which God the Father breathes life into Adam, the first man. The Creation of Adam is one of the famous paintings of all time and has been the subject of countless of references and parodies. Guernica is one of Pablo Picasso most famous paintings, showing the tragedies of war and the suffering it inflicts upon individuals, particularly innocent civilians. Picasso’s purpose in painting it was to bring the world’s attention to the bombing of the Basque town of Guernica by German bombers, who were supporting the Nationalist forces of General Franco during the Spanish Civil War. The painting can be seen in the Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid. Water Lilies (or Nympheas) is a series of approximately 250 oil paintings by French Impressionist Claude Monet. The paintings depict Monet’s own flower garden at Giverny and were the main focus of his artistic production during the last thirty years of his life. The paintings are on display at museums all over the world. The one show above is displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

12. The Ecological Footprint has emerged as the world’s premier measure of humanity’s demand on nature. It measures how much land and water area a human population requires to produce the resource it consumes and to absorb its carbon dioxide emissions, using prevailing technology.

13. Credits Story 1: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertai nment-arts-16860961 Story 2: http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/merca do/1043725-supermercados-terao- de-dar-embalagem-gratuita-pelos- proximos-60-dias.shtml

14. Tips Slide 4 – Encourage sts to share with the class what they know about the paintings, such as: the names of the paintings/painters, what each painting depicts, etc. Click to check painting/painter names before moving to questions for conversation. Slide 10 – Elicit the meaning of ecological footprint. If no one knows, encourage sts to speculate as to what it could be before telling them. Click on the link for the quiz and do it as a class, choosing the answers by average.