Life in Space
【教材分析】
本课是北师大版《初中英语》九年级第四单元，话题是“太空”。本课是本单元的第一课，在承接Get Ready部分有关“space”话题的基础上，本课主要介绍太空中的生活。本篇文章共五段。第一段为引入段，第二、三、四、五段分别对宇航员的生活通过不同方面做介绍。学生通过skimming的阅读策略获取文章所涉及的领域，再通过阅读，逐步搜索细节信息。
【教学目标】
（一）知识目标
认读课文中出现与太空航天相关的单词，发现、归纳so…that…和so that的语意。
（二）能力目标
运用细读、推断等阅读策略，出宇航员在太空中是如何吃喝、睡觉、锻炼、放松相关细节信息并解释其原因。
（三）情感目标
了解航天员的生活与我们正常生活是不同的。
【教学重点】
认读以下单词：space shuttle, lift off, land, manned/ unmanned spacecraft, astronaut, planet, international space station, float away, gravity, tie。
【教学难点】
通过习题辨别so…that…和so that的语意功能。
【教学准备】
调试光盘与课件、给学生分组、为学生布置预习作业等；
学具：光盘、大卡片等。
【教学过程】
I．Warm-up
Ask students do free talks about the main theme-space.
Topic: How much do you know about space flight?
II．New words
Show the pictures and teach the new words below.
space shuttle, lift off, land, manned/unmanned spacecraft, astronaut, planet, international space station
III．Reading
1．Take a look at the pictures of Chinese astronauts and let students talk about them.
2．Skim the text and tick the areas mentioned in the Ex. 3. Students should find out the words which support the judgement.
3．Complete the table in the Ex. 4 with the information from the text.
4．Scan the passage and answer the questions in Ex. 5.
5．Read after the recording.
6．Let students discuss the difficulties of the life in space.
IV．Language points
1．think about 考虑…；捉摸…；对…有（某种观点）
Give me a few hours to think about it.
think of  考虑；想起；有…想法；对…有意见
think over 仔细考虑；重新考虑
2．on Earth 在地球上
in space 在太空里
3．float vt. & vi.（使）浮动；（使）漂浮
Empty things float.
float away  飘走
float around 飘落；广为流传
blank space下载4．tie  vt.（用线、绳等）系；（在线、绳上）打结；
n.关系；领带
He tied the ends of the plastic bag together
tie A to B 把A 系（捆）到B上
tie down 捆住
5．hang vi/vt 悬挂；（被）绞死
His breath was hanging in the air.
V．Grammar
1．Teach the meaning of “so that” and “so…that…” and their difference through examples.
2．Students choose the correct meaning of these two conjunctions in the sentences in Ex. 8.
3．Rewrite these sentences using so…that or so that.
4．Mark down the functions of these two conjunctions in all sentences.
5．Translate the Chinese sentence into English with the conjunctions.
VI．Speaking
Work in pairs. Imagine you are interviewing Dr Maria Sherman about life in space.
Example:
A: Dr Sherman, do astronauts eat different food in space?
B: Yes, they have special food so that…
A: Dr Sherman, how do you sleep?
A: I tie myself to the wall so that…
【作业布置】
1．完成书后练习。
2．写一篇有关于宇航员太空生活的短文。