UnitUnit 15 Nature

A What do these sentences describe? Write P for plants, A for animals or B for both next to each sentence below.

Learning Link

In this unit you will learn• words and phrases to help you talk about the natural world.• to tell a story using pictures.• to write a letter about a day out in the countryside.• to use the Past Simple affirmative (regular and irregular verbs).

a They’ve got roots.

b They die.

c They’ve got teeth.

d They need water.

e They can move around.

f They grow.

g They’ve got legs.

h They’ve got leaves.

UNIT 15 Nature 99

The Venus flytrap today

Today, Venus flytraps are verywell-known. People often keep them in pots at home. You must look after them, though. They need sunlight, soil and lots of water. 4

Strange plants in fiction

5 For example, the writer John Wyndham wrote a story about strange plants in 1951. In his book, The Day of the Triffids, the triffids were plants with legs and they hunted and ate people! Luckily, these plants aren’t real!

B Read the fact sheet quickly. Who wrote The Day of the Triffids?

C Read the fact sheet again and decide which sentence, a or b, goes in each gap.

Reading Link

1 a Then Dobbs forgot about them.

b In the 1970s, scientists studied them.

2 a These aren’t good for the plant.

b These are the traps.

3 a Then the insect can fly away.

b Next, the plant slowly changes the insect into food.

4 a Their roots must always be wet.

b They grow well in dry places.

5 a The Venus flytrap is not a popular plant.

b There are lots of stories about plants like the Venus flytrap.

The Venus Flytrap

History

In the 1760s, a man called Arthur Dobbs found some strange plants in North Carolina, USA. They were strange because they caught insects. 1 They showed that these plants, Venus flytraps, ‘ate’ their food, just like animals.

How do they work?

Venus flytraps have got tiny hairs on their leaves. 2 They are usually open, and insects like their smell. They go near the leaves and touch the hairs. This makes the trap close. 3 After about ten days, the trap opens again, ready for another insect.

UNIT 15 Nature100

D Complete the words.

E Match the words in 1-5 with the words in a-e to make new words. Write the words on the lines.

F Circle the odd one out.

G Circle the correct words.

Vocabulary Link

1 animal forest field

2 fly grass butterfly

3 bull farm cow

4 rabbit duck hen

5 island river lake

6 pig sheep bird

p (para 1) i (para 1) l (para 2)

s (para 3) s (sentence 1b)

HINTS

Compound nouns are nouns made from two or more words. Some are only one word (eg housefly) and some have got two words (eg garden centre).

1 rain

2 sun

3 flower

4 wild

5 green

a light

b house

c water

d life

e pot

1 We must feed / forget our pet every day.

2 Do you sometimes look after / in your neighbour’s plants?

3 Lots of flowers water / grow in my garden.

4 This book is about round / strange animals.

5 Don’t leave / touch that dog! It bites!

6 There are two nests / eggs in the tree.

1 2 3

4 5

UNIT 15 Nature 101

Past Simple – affirmative (regular verbs)

Form Spelling rules

I watchedyou watchedhe/she/it watchedwe/you/they watched

I showed him the plant.He touched the cow.They climbed the tree.

move movedtravel travelledstop stoppedstudy studiedbutplay played

H Complete the sentences with the affirmative form of the Past Simple. Use the verbs in brackets.

1 The animals water. (need)

2 I across the field two hours ago. (walk)

3 Mum and Dad the Black Forest yesterday. (visit)

4 We a great TV programme about wildlife. (watch)

5 The boys to the island last week. (travel)

6 Dad strange plants at university. (study)

I Complete the sentences with the affirmative form of the Past Simple. Use these verbs.

Grammar Link

Study 15.1 of the Grammar Reference on page 154 before you do the tasks.

listen rescue stop touch want

Grammar Link

Past Simple – affirmative (irregular verbs)

Verb Past Simple

write wrote find found fly flew lose lost know knew

I found a strange plant yesterday.She wrote a story about the countryside.The birds flew across the field.

1 We for lunch near the lake.

2 They to the birds in the trees.

3 Polly a pet for her birthday.

4 I one of the strange insects. It felt horrible!

5 We a puppy from the river. It’s OK now.

HINTS

Look at the list of irregular verbs on page 158 before you do the tasks.

UNIT 15 Nature102

J Complete the sentences with the affirmative form of the Past Simple.Use the verbs in brackets.

1 What does the woman usually do on Sundays?

a She goes for a walk.

b She goes to the beach.

2 The weather in the countryside on Sunday was

a rainy.

b sunny.

3 The children

a read magazines.

b played football.

K Rewrite these sentences in the affirmative form of the Past Simple.

1 The dog bites people.

2 We feed the pigs.

3 The bird flies fast.

4 I grow flowers in my garden.

5 George writes about animals.

Listening Link

L Listen and tick (✓) a or b.

4 Daisy was scared of

a some insects.

b some cows.

5 The woman forgot her

a mobile phone.

b handbag.

1 We some great plants at thegarden centre! (see)

2 I a sandwich on the beach. (eat)

3 Mum for a walk in the forest. (go)

4 Jason and Mark photos of the flowers. (take)

5 Bobby home with a strange plant. (come)

Now look at 15.2 of the Grammar Reference on page 155 for more information.

UNIT 15 Nature 103

Letter Outline

Greeting Dear (Kate),Paragraph 1 Ask about your friend.

Paragraph 2 Say how you feel about the countryside. Say where you went for your day out and what you did in the morning.

Paragraph 3 Say what you did in the afternoon.Ending See you soon!Signing off Love (Sue)

N Read the question and put the parts of the letter below into the correct order (1-6).

You are staying in the countryside. Write a letter to a friend about a day out.

O Use the outline to write a letter about a day out in the countryside. (50-70 words)

Writing Link

M Look at the pictures and tell the story. The story starts like this:

Sam was in the countryside. He had some flowers for his Mum’s birthday. He was very hot.

Speaking Link

HINTS

When you write a letter to a friend, always ask howhe/she is and whathe/she is doing.

ASee you soon!

BAfter lunch, we went for a walk. We saw lots of cows in a field and then we sat near a river and we read our comics.

CLove, Sue

DIt’s great here in the countryside. On Wednesday morning, we went to Carsbrook Farm. We fed the pigs and then we had soup and fresh strawberries for lunch. It was delicious!

EDear Kate,F

How are you? Are you having a good holiday?

Look back at the Learning Link. What did you learn?

2 3 41

UNIT 15 Nature104