Climate change- past,
present, future

Unidad de Apoyo para el Aprendizaje

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Presentation / Objective


In this topic you will identify and use different forms of present, past and future to describe current environmental problems such as global warming.

You will practice reading and listening comprehension, as well as writing and speaking, so that you can effectively communicate in the English language.

This topic is important because it will help you use clearly present, past and future tenses.


Global warming

Nature-Pix. 2018. Ice. Photography. Taken from: https://pixabay.com/images/id-3582999/

Pollution

S.A. 2020. Pollution. Photography. Taken from: https://pixabay.com/images/id-4796858/




By the end of this topic, you will:
dentify and use different forms of present, past, and future to describe urgent events in the world such as climate change. You will find activities to extent your practice through reading, listening, writing, and speaking will help you understand and use enough grammar and vocabulary to achieve the goal.

Present, Past, & Future

The correct use of grammar tenses is one of the most important parts of communication in any language, English in our case. If you wish to write a correct sentence or wish to say anything to anyone, you need to express the idea in the right form in the correct tense. English language has three main time divisions- Past, Present and Future.

Knowing the different tenses in the English language will make it easier for you to understand, learn, and speak it properly. You have probably used present, past, and future separately. However, in this unit you will practice with the three tenses at the same time.

Before starting with the exercises, let’s give an overview to the three tenses. Click on the tabs to check the grammar explanation of each tense as well as its use.



Verb To Be Other verbs
Affirmative I am 16 years old. I, we, you, they, do the bed every day.
He, she, it is He, she, it does
We, you, they are
Negative I am not 16 years old. I, we, you, they, don´t 3
(aux)		 do
(verb)		 the bed every day.
He, she, it is not1 He, she, it doesn’t4
(aux)		 do
(verb)
We, you, they are not2
Questions Am I 16 years old? Do
(aux)		 I, we, you, they, do
(verb)		 the bed every day?
Is He, she, it Does
(aux)		 He, she, it do
(verb)
Are We, you, they

1 is not = isn’t

2 are not = aren’t

3 do not = don’t

4 does not = doesn’t

Verb To Be Other verbs
Affirmative I was 16 years old. I, we, you, they, did the bed every day.
He, she, it was He, she, it
We, you, they were
Negative I was not 1 16 years old. I, we, you, they, didn´t 3
(aux)		 do
(verb)		 the bed every day.
He, she, it was not He, she, it do
(verb)
We, you, they ware not 2
Questions Was I 16 years old? Did
(aux)		 I, we, you, they, do
(verb)		 the bed every day?
Was He, she, it He, she, it do
(verb)
Ware We, you, they

1 was not = wasn’t

2 were not = weren’t

3 did not = didn’t

Will Be going to
Affirmative I, you, he, she, it, we, they, will help with that. I am going to graduate soon.
you, we, they are
he, she, it is
Negative I, you, he, she, it, we, they, won't help with that. I am not going to graduate soon.
you, we, they are
he, she, it is
Questions Will I, you, he, she, it, we, they, help with that. Am I going to graduate soon?
Are you, we, they
Is he, she, it
Uses
Rapid decision I’m thirsty. I think I will buy a drink. Prior plan I am going to drive to the beach tonight with my friends.
Predictions WITHOUT evidence I think it will rain tomorrow. Predictions WITH evidence The weather forecast says it is going to rain tomorrow.
Offers, promises That looks heavy. I will help you with it.
Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.




Now that you have checked and studied the grammar, you can now read how this is used in context. Present, Past, and Future are used at the same time in many types of texts, for example, in articles.

In the following set of activities, you will be asked to DRAG the verb to the correct place. Then listen and check your answers.

Reading
Activity 1

Environmental problems

You are going to read an article about some common environmental problems. The article is written using different tenses. Read the text and do the exercise.


Listening
Activity 2

Earth’s Climate: Past, Present, and Future

You will hear a recording from a blog which specializes in environmental problems.


Listening
Activity 3

Climate change: why does 1.5 °C matter?

Go to the following link and watch the video carefully about climate change, then solve the following activity

Climate Change: Why does 1.5°C matter? - BBC What's New. Disponible en: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rFmYRXWVio


Writing
Activity 4

An article

There is a contest at UNAM to give an award to the best article on climate change. You want to participate so you make short research, and you write a 130-160 text describing the future predictions of climate change for your country, give special attention to what happens now and what will happen in the future.

You can use the following questions as a guide:

What laws were approved in the past to protect the environment?

What are the most urgent problems to attend now?

What are your ideas for the future concerning Mexico? Will anything change?

What is the government going to change in the future?

You can do it on a computer or on a piece of paper. Check the rubric to assess your work.


Speaking
Activity 5

Me and the environment

So far you have checked examples and done activities that reflect the uses of past, present, and future. Now is your turn to make and oral production.

Think about and then record yourself talking about the things that you do, did, and will do to protect the environment. You can use the following questions as a guide.

What did you do last year to protect the environment?

What do you do now to protect the environment?

What will you change in your habits to protect the environment?

If you don’t have many ideas, you can comment the things that you don’t do to pollute.

You can do it on a computer or on the cellphone. Check the rubric to assess your work. The recording should last between 80 and 120 seconds.


Self-assessment

It’s time to show what you have learned about present, past, and future. This topic is very important because you will use it in everyday life.

References

Main

Fruen, G. (2018). Personal Best A2. México: Richmond.

Latham-Koening, C., & Oxenden, C. (2013). American English File 2 Student Book. Oxford: OUP.

Saslow, J. and Ascher, A. (2015). Top Notch Fundamentals. Student’s Book. Third edition. NY: Pearson.

Swan, M., & Walter, C. (2011) Oxford English Grammar Course Basic. Oxford: OUP.

Additional references


Learn English Teens (2021) Retrieved September 14, 2021 from:

https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/grammar/beginner-grammar/be-present-past

https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/grammar/beginner-grammar/present-simple

https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/grammar/beginner-grammar/past-simple-regular-verbs

https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/grammar/beginner-grammar/past-simple-irregular-verbs

https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/grammar/intermediate-grammar/future-forms

You can check articles on climate change, here

6 Ways the Climate Changed Over the Past Decade | World Resources Institute (wri.org)https://climate.nasa.gov/

The economist. The past, present and future of climate change. https://www.economist.com/briefing/2019/09/21/the-past-present-and-future-of-climate-change


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