BOOKS TO HOLLYWOOD

INDEPENDENT WORK

I. Think about 5 achievements/accomplishments of humanity. Don't consider inventions, just achievements. Achievement: something that has been accomplished, especially by hard work, ability, or heroism Accomplishment: something done admirably or creditably. Ex: The construction of the pyramids in Egypt.

II. Share your list with 2 partners and select the 5 most important ones, in your opinions.

ACHIEVEMENTS

III. Class discussion: What is the most important achievement accomplished by humanity? Justify your answer.

ACHIEVEMENTS

IV. Popular Science considers the first man on the moon the greatest achievement of all. Do you agree with them?

ACHIEVEMENTS

V. Read the five human achievements that could top walking on the moon. Rank them in order of importance (1 - most important). Be ready to justify your choices. Can you think of another achievement that would top walking on the moon?

ACHIEVEMENT 1

The Discovery of Alien Life

Chances It Will Occur Within A Decade: Hard to say. The current thinking is that the best place to look for extraterrestrial life is on Jupiter’s moon Europa. Europa has a vast ocean, as well as a good deal of oxygen in its atmosphere. The combination of water, oxygen, and energy from the gravitational pull of Jupiter have led some scientists to theorize that organic molecules might form life at the bottom of Europa’s oceans, similar to the life that formed on undersea volcanic vents on Earth. There are no missions planned to explore Europa.

ACHIEVEMENT 2

A Manned Mission to Mars

Chances It Will Occur Within A Decade: Nil. The technology could certainly be developed, but right now, the political will (yet alone the financial support) just isn’t there.

ACHIEVEMENT 3

Full Nuclear Disarmament

Chances It Will Occur Within A Decade: Not great. Promising, though, is that last 10 years saw the number of nuclear weapons cut in half, with even further reductions on the way. While a world with zero nuclear weapons may still be far off, it’s not unrealistic to imagine a 2020 with significantly reduced stockpiles.

ACHIEVEMENT 4

Free Energy

Chances It Will Occur Within A Decade: The cars will be different, and the light bulbs will be more efficient, but 10 years from now, we’re still going to have to pay an electric bill.

ACHIEVEMENT 5

Cure For HIV/AIDS

Chances It Will Occur Within A Decade: Moderate. For decades, people have predicted an HIV vaccine right around the corner, and the virus has made fools of them all. However, advances in genetics and computer modeling have greatly enhanced the development of drugs in general, so a vaccine may be closer than ever before.

ACHIEVEMENTS

V. Now than you have read the five human achievements that could top walking on the moon, rank them in order of importance (1 - most important). Be ready to justify your choices. Can you think of another achievement that would top walking on the moon? Cloning an extinct animal, perhaps?

ACHIEVEMENTS

Watch the segment from the movie Transformers 3 and discuss the questions.

ACHIEVEMENTS

ACHIEVEMENTS1. What is the achievement shown in the segment?2. Describe what happened in the scene.3. How accurate is the story, according to what we know from our history books?4. Why is walking on the moon so fascinating to most people?5. Could have that actually happened? Why (not)?6. What if this footage were not fake? How different

would walking on the moon be seen nowadays?7. Should NASA hide this sort of information, if it is true?

Why (not)? 8. Should NASA go on spending billions of dollars to

explore the universe? Justify it.

ACHIEVEMENTSWhat if the achievement was bringing dinosaurs back to life?What if the government hid this achievement from us?How would this impact us?