Introduction. Voir aussi sur ce thème la revue Textes et Documents pour la Classe n 1006 «Univers : la question des origines».

Transcription

1 Anglais Introduction 1 Des décennies après la découverte du rayonnement fossile, la théorie du Big Bang repose toujours sur trois grands piliers : le fond diffus, l abondance des éléments et l expansion de l Univers. L horloge cosmique a donc frappé son premier coup à seconde : c est le «mur de Planck». Mais qu y avait-il avant? Et y a-t-il eu un «avant» Big Bang? Pour répondre à ces interrogations, la relativité générale, qui décrit l espace-temps sous l effet de la gravité, et la mécanique quantique, qui décrit le monde à l échelle microscopique, devront travailler ensemble à une nouvelle vision de l Univers. Voir aussi sur ce thème la revue Textes et Documents pour la Classe n 1006 «Univers : la question des origines». Dans ce dossier pédagogique, on pose la question des origines de l univers. On découvre la théorie du Big Bang, les autres théories scientifiques ou non, qui sont venues ou viennent la contredire. SOMMAIRE Objectifs Supports... 2 Scénario pédagogique... 3 Fiche Élève Fiche Corrigé Fiche Élève Fiche Corrigé Fiche Élève Fiche Élève Fiche Corrigé À propos... 20

2 Anglais 2 Objectifs Supports Objectifs Culturels Découvrir la théorie du Big Bang. Connaître les autres explications proposées dans les années 1950, 1960 et Communicatifs Interaction orale : débattre. Expression orale : présenter des informations collectées sous forme synthétique. Compréhension orale : comprendre un document vidéo. Expression écrite : rédiger un article. Compréhension écrite : collecter des informations. Langagiers Lexique : l univers, la taille, la musique, les verbes d opinion. Grammaire : le prétérit. Phonologie : la marque ED des verbes au prétérit, le suffixe fort ION. Transversaux SVT Documents supports Document 1 : document vidéo de National Geographic Channel, Before Time and Space sur le site YouTube : Taper «Before Time and Space» dans le moteur de recherche. Document 2 : article extrait du site de la BBC (rubrique science) sur le site Bitesize, Taper «the origins of the universe» dans le moteur de recherche. Document 3 : article extrait de BBC News, Taper «big bang astronomer dies» dans le moteur de recherche. Document 4 : un dessin humoristique de John Trever, publié en 2008 dans The Albuquerque Journal. Cliquer sur le lien direct : Document 5 : site Internet pour présenter les productions écrites des élèves,

3 Anglais 3 Scénario pédagogique Les Objectifs énoncés sont ancrés sur les recommandations du Cadre européen commun de référence pour les langues (CECRL, Conseil de l Europe, 2001) : Culturels/Interculturels : savoir, aptitudes et savoir-faire, savoir être et savoir apprendre (cf. chapitre 5, 1. Compétences générales). Communicatifs : activités de communication langagière et stratégies, capacités traitées (cf. chapitre 4). Langagiers : compétences linguistiques, sociolinguistiques et pragmatiques (cf. chapitre 5, 2. Compétences spécifiques). Les Documents supports constituent autant de types de «textes» authentiques permettant de travailler les objectifs (cf. chapitre 4). La séquence pédagogique comprend 3 étapes pouvant correspondre à 3 séances de cours. Étape 1 Objectif et dispositif préconisé Le but de cette étape est de faire découvrir aux élèves la théorie scientifique du Big Bang à travers une vidéo du National Geographic. Une salle multimédia est nécessaire. Activité 1 : travail sur la vidéo Document 1 : document vidéo de National Geographic Channel : Before Time and Space sur le site YouTube : Taper «Before Time and Space» dans le moteur de recherche. Seuls, les élèves travaillent à l aide de la Fiche Élève 1. Ils regardent déjà le document sans la bande-son, puis avec, et répondent à des questions. Ils peuvent repasser certains passages autant de fois qu ils le souhaitent. Activité 2 : mise en commun Après correction des questions, une mise en commun s effectue pour répondre à la question : «What is the Big Bang?» (Quand s est-il produit? Dans quelles conditions? Etc.). Lors de la collection, à l aide de la Fiche Corrigé 1 un travail de réflexion sur l utilisation du prétérit peut être proposé. Étape 2 Objectif et dispositif préconisé Le but de cette étape est de montrer aux élèves que la question des origines de la Terre a fait débat et que d autres théories contredisant celle du Big Bang ont été avancées dans les années 1950, 1960 et même Une connexion Internet est nécessaire.

4 4 Activité 3 : travaux de groupes Document 2 : article extrait du site de la BBC (rubrique science) sur le site Bitesize, Taper «the origins of the universe» dans le moteur de recherche. Document 3 : article extrait de BBC News, Taper «big bang astronomer dies» dans le moteur de recherche. Document 4 : un dessin humoristique de John Trever, publié en 2008 dans The Albuquerque Journal. Cliquer sur le lien direct : La classe est divisée en trois groupes. Chaque groupe travaille sur un document à l aide de la Fiche Élève 2 et propose une restitution orale de ses recherches au reste de la classe. Le premier groupe travaille sur un article scientifique sur le Big Bang qui présente rapidement deux théories scientifiques «anti-big Bang». Le deuxième groupe travaille sur un article annonçant la mort de l un des scientifiques ayant défendu l une de ces deux théories. Le troisième groupe travaille sur un dessin humoristique abordant la question du créationnisme. Pour visualiser le dessin humoristique, une connexion Internet est nécessaire. À l issue des recherches, chaque groupe présente oralement son travail. Une mise en commun permet de mettre en avant que différentes théories scientifiques ont essayé de contredire la théorie du Big Bang, qui reste cependant la seule reconnue par la communauté scientifique à ce jour. La question religieuse est également rapidement abordée. Pour prolonger la réflexion grammaticale sur le prétérit par une réflexion phonologique, le professeur fait compléter aux élèves un tableau sur la prononciation «ED» des verbes au prétérit, en leur faisant chercher et classer les verbes des trois documents étudiés selon leur prononciation. Ils doivent ensuite en tirer une règle dans Fiche Corrigé 2, distribuée par l enseignant. Étape 3 Objectif Le but de cette étape est d organiser un débat au cours duquel les élèves vont pouvoir réutiliser tout ce qui a été vu lors de la séquence. Les rôles sont imposés. Activité 4 Un seul débat ou plusieurs mini-débats sont organisés suivant le nombre d élèves dans la classe à l aide de la Fiche Élève 3. Tous les élèves ayant le même rôle préparent leurs arguments ensemble (environ 15 minutes) avant de rejoindre leurs groupes respectifs pour débattre (10 minutes). Activité 5 En devoir à la maison, les élèves doivent écrire un article pour un journal d astronomie destiné à un jeune public dont le titre sera «The Big Bang». Le travail devra être présenté à partir d un site Internet dans la Fiche Élève 4.

5 NOM PRÉNOM CLASSE DATE Anglais Fiche Élève 1 5 Document 1 : document vidéo de National Geographic Channel : Before Time and Space sur le site YouTube : Taper «Before Time and Space» dans le moteur de recherche. STEP 1 Watch the video without the soundtrack and describe what you can see: What do you think the video deals with? STEP 2 Now, watch the video with the soundtrack and answer the following questions: 1. Complete the commentator s words: «There are forces at work in the universe, from man-made to Mother Nature s devastating destruction, to epic of unbelievable power. All of them reveal a universe of lurking like exploding, apocalyptic impacts and invisible jets of streaming across the universe. The is a place of ever present. But what s amazing is that in the entire universe, nothing is more powerful than the explosion that created it all: the.» 2. Carefully listen to Robert Hurt: What is Robert Hurt s job? According to him, why is the Big Bang so difficult to explain? What comparison does he use? 3. True or False? Justify with key words: At the very beginning, the universe was quite big : True False 4. Find information on the Big Bang: When did it happen? The commentator describes it as the most in. How long did it last? Describe what exactly happened : It was : noisy silent. Justify by quoting David J. Helfhand.

6 5. True or False. Justify The Big Bang was more than an explosion of material: True False 6 According to David J. Helfhand, asking what was before the Big Bang is senseless/meaningless: True False 6. Focus on the music and complete the chart: from 0.00 to 0.45 from 0.46 to 1.06 from 1.07 to 1.52 from 1.53 to 2.18 from 2.19 to 2.32 from 2.33 to 3.29 Adjectives to qualify the music Reasons for the musical choice NOW, SPEAK! Now, prepare a one-minute story of the Big Bang: write notes, not sentences. Then, write it (about 60 words)

7 7 Anglais Fiche Corrigé 1 STEP 1 Watch the video without the soundtrack and describe what you can see: the universe, the cosmos, clouds, explosions = blasts, a space shuttle taking off, stars, storms, destroyed things, the Earth, meteorites, the Moon, vivid colours, two American astronomers, a pin, a finger, atoms, asteroids. Remarque : il est impératif que soit introduit «blast» qui apparaît dans la vidéo. Un élève proposera forcément «explosion» (en profiter pour donner le synonyme «blast»). Il faut également donner la phonétique de mots comme «asteroid» ou «atoms» qui seront ensuite utilisés dans le document et que les élèves pourront ainsi reconnaître. On peut enfin revoir la règle de lion avec des mots comme «creation» ou «explosion». What do you think the video deals with? Astronomy, space, science fiction STEP 2 Now, watch the video with the soundtrack and answer the following questions: 1. Complete the commentator s words: There are powerful forces at work in the universe, from man-made explosions to Mother Nature s devastating destruction, to epic blasts of unbelievable cosmic power. All of them reveal a universe of lurking powers like exploding stars apocalyptic asteroid impacts and the invisible jets of radiation streaming across the universe. The cosmos is a place of ever present danger. But what s amazing is that in the entire universe, nothing is more powerful than the colossal explosion that created it all: the Big Bang. 2. Carefully listen to Robert Hurt: What is Robert Hurt s job? He is an astronomer. According to him, why is the Big Bang so difficult to explain? It is an amazingly difficult thing to wrap your brain around because at the very beginning, the universe was very small/tiny. What comparison does he use? He said the universe was smaller than the head of a pin. 3. True or False? Justify with key words: At the very beginning, the universe was quite big: FALSE: it was actually about as small as the proton at the center of an atom, tiny, and an infinitesimal nugget of space. 4. Find information on the Big Bang: When did it happen? It happened 13.7 billion years ago. The commentator describes it as the most colossal explosion in history. How long did it last? It lasted the billionth of a billionth of a billionth of a second. It was extremely short. The universe grew from the size of that tiny point to something billions of miles across.

8 8 Describe what exactly happened: a colossal blast created the universe and all the matter we can see today. It was: noisy. Justify by quoting David J. Helfhand : When one sees the Big Bang portrayed in a film, it is always a big bang, a noise. Of course, that s silly because sound doesn t propagate in space. 5. True or False. Justify The Big Bang was more than an explosion of material: TRUE: It wasn t just an explosion of material to an empty universe that was sitting there waiting to be filled. It was the explosion of space and time into existence. According to David J. Helfhand, asking what was before the Big Bang is senseless/meaningless: TRUE: It is a meaningless question because before the Big Bang, there was nothing, literally nothing and the black void of space is something, there was no space. 6. Focus on the music and complete the chart: Adjectives to qualify the music Reasons for the musical choice from 0.00 to 0.45 loud, jerky, quick explosions, blasts, danger from 0.46 to 1.06 softer, an explosion at the end to create suspense from 1.07 to 1.52 soft, slow, then louder and louder explanations, then the Big Bang from 1.53 to 2.18 from 2.19 to 2.32 from 2.32 to 3.29 soft again silence very soft, mysterious explanations the Big Bang was silent suspense, mystery NOW, SPEAK! Faire en sorte que les élèves respectent bien le temps imparti et donnent les informations essentielles. Trace écrite après la mise en commun : The Big Bang was the most colossal explosion in history. It happened some 13.7 billion years ago. In an infinitesimal moment, the universe was created without making a noise because sound does not propagate in space. But it was not a simple explosion of material but the explosion of time and space because before the Big Bang, there was nothing. Grammaire : le prétérit (événement passé, daté, terminé, coupé du présent) ; un rappel sur «ago» paraît ici pertinent. Phonologie : prononciation de «was» ; la prononciation de la marque ED des verbes au prétérit se fera lors de la séance 2. les élèves relèveront les verbes au prétérit dans les textes avant de les classer ; on rajoutera alors «happened» de la trace écrite et «created», utilisé dans la vidéo.

9 NOM PRÉNOM CLASSE DATE Anglais Fiche Élève 2 9 GROUP 1 Document 2 : article extrait du site de la BBC (rubrique science) sur le site Bitesize, Taper «the origins of the universe» dans le moteur de recherche. GET READY. Vocabulary: match the words and their definitions and translate the words into French. Use a dictionary if need be: a hole something that occupies space and can be perceived by one or more senses; a physical body, a physical substance, or the universe as a whole. matter a thing or things helpful in forming a conclusion or a judgement. evidence a cavity, a place where there is nothing. Now, read the text from the BBC website (science page) and answer the questions: The origins of the universe Scientists believe that the universe began in a hot big bang about million years ago. The universe continues to expand. Stars do not remain the same but change as they age. The evidence for the Big Bang Theory includes the existence of a microwave background radiation, and red-shift. The universe contains extremely dense objects, called black holes, and may consist mostly of dark matter that cannot be seen The Big Bang Scientists have gathered a lot of evidence and information about the universe. They have used their observations to develop a theory called the Big Bang. The theory states that about million years ago all the matter in the universe was concentrated into a single incredibly tiny point. This began to enlarge rapidly in a hot explosion, and it is still expanding today. Gravity is slowing down the rate of expansion. It is possible that the universe may expand for ever, or it may stop expanding. It may even contract and become very small again the Big Crunch. There are other scientific theories for the origin of the universe. For example, the Oscillating Theory suggests that this universe is one of many some that have existed in the past, and others that will exist in the future. When the universe contracts in a Big Crunch, a new universe is created in a new Big Bang. The Steady State Theory suggests that as the universe expands new matter is created, so that the overall appearance of the universe never changes. NB: sometimes the age of the universe is given as 13.6 billion years. This is because in

10 scientific terms 1 billion is defined as a 1,000 million. 10 [The Steady State Theory and Oscillating Theory were popular in the 1960 s and 1970 s but fell out of favour after observations in the 1960 s and no astronomers currently believe one or the other is correct.] Question 1: compare the video you watched and the text. Common points: Differences: Question 2: what new elements concerning the universe do you learn? Question 3: focus on the two scientific theories in contradiction with the Big Bang Theory and complete the following chart. NAME of the THEORY ARGUMENTS NOW, prepare an oral summary for the class. You will have to deal with two points: the new things you have learnt concerning the Big Bang Theory; the two scientific theories which challenged it a few decades ago.

11 GROUP 2 Document 3 : article extrait de BBC News, Taper «big bang astronomer dies» dans le moteur de recherche. GET READY. Vocabulary: read the following text from the BBC News website and find the synonyms of: big: to contest: to invent: to support/approve of: regular/constant: related to the university: Wednesday, 22 August, 2001, 07:43 GMT 08:43 UK Big bang astronomer dies The English astronomer who coined the term Big Bang to describe an academic theory on the creation of the cosmos, has died at the age of 86. Despite popularising the theory by giving it a name, Professor Sir Fred Hoyle challenged the belief that the cosmos was caused by a huge explosion 12,000 million years ago. He advocated the steady state theory that the cosmos had no beginning but new galaxies were formed as others moved apart. Sir Fred also rejected Darwin s theory of evolution, putting forward the so-called Panspermia Theory, which suggests that life, or the building blocks of life, could be carried to planets by comets or drifting interstellar dust particles. He believed it had all been arranged by a super-intelligent civilisation who wished to seed our planet. Sir Fred used this theory as the inspiration for one of his many science-fiction novels, The Black Cloud. Published in 1957, it described an intelligent cloud of cosmic dust sapping the Sun of solar energy to create a second Ice Age on Earth [ ] [The Steady State Theory was popular in the 1950 s and 1960 s but observations in the 1960 s led astronomers to think that it was not correct.] 11 Question 1: collect information to quickly present Sir Fred Hoyle: Question 2: focus on his scientific theory of the origins of the universe: What did he call the «Big Bang»? the explosion that created the universe his own theory the usual scientific theory which explains the creation of the cosmos (according to which the universe was created from a big explosion) What scientific theory did he support? Complete the following passage on his scientific ideas: Sir Fred Hoyle didn t believe that the cosmos was created by a big and criticized the Theory. On the contrary, he claimed that the cosmos had no but that new galaxies were formed as the universe expanded so that the universe was. Moreover, he rejected s theory of and defended the theory, which is the hypothesis that life exists throughout the universe and is distributed by meteorites, asteroids and planetoids.

12 Question 3: in the text, find the sentence meaning that Sir Fred Hoyle thought that the Big Bang Theory had been created by clever human beings who absolutely wanted to explain the origins of the universe: 12 NOW, prepare an oral summary for the class to tell your friends who Sir Fred Hoyle was, what he criticized and what scientific theory he defended. GROUP 3 Document 4 : un dessin humoristique de John Trever, publié en 2008 dans The Albuquerque Journal. Cliquer sur le lien direct : Help: Creationism is the religious belief that humanity, life, the Earth, and the universe were created in their original form by God (from the BBC website). Question 1: what is the nature of the document? Question 2: describe it: Question 3: what visions of the origins of the universe does the cartoonist oppose? NOW, prepare an oral summary for the class briefly explaining what creationism is and how some people try to explain the origins of the universe.

13 13 Anglais Fiche Corrigé 2 GROUP 1 GET READY: vocabulary: match the words and their definitions and translate the words into French. Use a dictionary if need be: a hole = a cavity, a place where there is nothing matter = something that occupies space and can be perceived by one or more senses ; a physical body, a physical substance or the universe as a whole. evidence = a thing or things helpful in forming a conclusion or a judgement Question 1: compare the video you watched and the text: Common points: the universe was a tiny point at the beginning; a big explosion created the universe. Differences: the date: 13.6 billion years in the text and 13.7 billion years in the video. Question 2: what new elements concerning the universe do you learn? the explosion was hot; the universe is constantly expanding. Question 3: focus on the two scientific theories in contradiction with the Big Bang Theory and complete the following chart: NAME of the THEORY ARGUMENTS The Oscillating Theory The Steady State Theory The universe is one of many. As the universe expands, new matter is created: the overall appearance of the universe never changes. GROUP 2 GET READY: vocabulary: read the following text from the BBC News website and find the synonyms of: big : huge (line 4) to contest : to challenge (line 3) to invent : to coin (line 1) to support/approve of : to advocate (line 5) regular/constant : steady (line 5) related to the university : academic (line 1) Question 1: collect information to quickly present Sir Fred Hoyle: He was born in 1915 and died in He was en English astronomer and writer. Question 2: focus on his scientific theory of the origins of the universe: What did he call the «Big Bang»? The explosion that created the universe.

14 14 His own theory. The usual scientific theory which explains the creation of the cosmos (according to which the universe was created from a big explosion). What scientific theory did he support? He supported the Steady State Theory. Complete the following passage on his scientific ideas: Sir Fred Hoyle didn t believe that the cosmos was created by a big explosion and criticized the Big Bang Theory. On the contrary, he claimed that the cosmos had no beginning but that new galaxies were constantly formed as the universe expanded so that the universe was steady. Moreover, he rejected Darwin s theory of evolution and defended the Panspermia theory, which is the hypothesis that life exists throughout the universe and is distributed by meteorites, asteroids and planetoids. Question 3: in the text, find the sentence meaning that Sir Fred Hoyle thought that the Big Bang Theory had been created by clever human beings who absolutely wanted to explain the origins of the universe: He believed it had all been arranged by a super - intelligent civilisation who wished to seed our planet.

15 GROUP 3 Question 1: what is the nature of the document? It is a cartoon. Question 2: describe it: It is composed of two frames. On the left, scientists are working. The scene must take place in a laboratory. We can see a skeleton, a microscope, a skull, a bone, a magnifying glass, a bottle and umpteen other things. They must be carrying out scientific tests. On the right, we can see two creationists. The one on the left is holding the part of the Bible explaining the origins of the universe, created by God. Question 3: what visions of the origins of the universe does the cartoonist oppose? The cartoonists opposes two visions of the origins of the universe: a scientific one: you draw conclusions from facts (observations, evidence ); a religious one: you find justifications to convince people on something which has no scientific evidence. The conclusion is not the same: for scientists, the conclusion is that the world was created by the Big Bang whereas for Creationists, God created the universe. Remarques : À l issue des trois présentations, une mise en commun s effectue. On rappelle que dans les années 1950, 1960 et dans une moindre mesure 1970, des théories scientifiques sont venues contredire celle du Big Bang. On aborde également rapidement la question de la religion. On insiste sur le fait que ces théories scientifiques n ont plus cours aujourd hui. En effet, la théorie de Hoyle est devenue incorrecte dans les années 1960, quand de nouvelles observations scientifiques ont été faites. Quand à la «théorie de la lumière fatiguée» (oscillating theory) défendue par Richard Tolman, elle fut abandonnée dans les années Toute la communauté scientifique reconnaît aujourd hui la théorie du Big Bang comme la seule valable. Le but est d illustrer la notion de conflit mais également le fait que les idées évoluent et qu à une théorie valable pendant un temps en succède une autre, etc. Qui sait si une autre théorie ne viendra pas un jour expliquer l origine de l univers? Grammaire : On rappellera aux élèves que l on utilise le prétérit dans une biographie. 15 Phonologie : On demandera aux élèves de rechercher tous les verbes réguliers au prétérit dans le deuxième document : expanded, defended, coined, challenged, advocated, rejected, believed, wished, described, opened ; on rajoutera à cette liste les deux verbes rencontrés lors du travail sur la vidéo : happened et created. On leur demandera de compléter cette règle : Comment prononcer la marque ED finale du prétérit? La prononciation change en fonction du son final du radical du verbe. Exemple : «play» se termine par le son ei, «start» se termine par le son t. Il s agit du son final et non de la dernière lettre. Exemple : le verbe «fix» se termine par le son s, car, phonétiquement, il s écrit et se prononce fiks Une fois qu on a identifié ce son final, il est très facile de savoir comment le prononcer : > en règle générale, c est-à-dire qu on le prononce comme s il y avait un «d» à la fin. C est le cas pour : > après certains sons : si le verbe se termine par le son p, k, f, s, ʃ. Exemples :

16 > après les sons d et t. Exemples : Corrigé : > d en règle générale, c est-à-dire qu on le prononce comme s il y avait un «d» à la fin. C est le cas pour : coined, challenged, believed, described, opened, happened. > t après certains sons : si le verbe se termine par le son p, k, f, s, ʃ. Exemples : wished. > id après les sons d et t. Exemples : expanded, defended, advocated, rejected, created. Lexique : On peut aussi refaire le point sur les verbes d opinion : believe, reject, support, approve/disapprove of, defend, think, etc. 16

17 NOM PRÉNOM CLASSE DATE Anglais 17 Participate to a debate Fiche Élève 3 The situation The scene takes place in the 1960 s in the USA where a huge conference on the origins of the universe gathers many scientists. A debate is organized. The characters Two scientists defending the Big Bang Theory Sir Fred Hoyle and another scientist defending the Steady State Theory Two Creationists The procedure Each student chooses a role. All the students with the same role work together and prepare their arguments (you have 15 minutes). Make different groups of six (all the characters must be represented) and debate the issue for ten minutes.

18 NOM PRÉNOM CLASSE DATE Anglais 18 Fiche Élève 4 NOW, WRITE! You are a journalist and must write an article for a newspaper for children between 8 and 12. You article will be published in the scientific column. The title of your article will be The Big Bang. Only focus on this theory and not on the other ones which challenged it in the past. You are asked to write about 100 words. To present your work, use the following website: You will have to invent a title for the newspaper, as well as a date. Help: don t forget that you write for children so your explanations must be clear.

19 Anglais 19 Fiche Corrigé 4 Article créé à partir du site

20 20 Anglais À propos Conception : Marie-Line Périllat-Mercerot et Claude Renucci (CNDP) Réalisation : Pôle Langues étrangères FLES, direction de l Édition Intégration technique : François Thibaud Intégration éditoriale : Fanny Dieumegard Auteure : Florence Palardelle, professeure d anglais, académie de Reims