Reading-based writing practice series – Keynote 2B

Nature
I. The miracle of pollen
a. Discussion: Name some pollinators you know.
b. Reading passage
It happens countless times a day. A flower's bright petals and the smell of sweet
nectar attract a bee. The bee stops by for a quick taste, and small grains of pollen stick
to its body. The bee then travels to another flower of the same type and deposits the
pollen as it has another meal. This is an example of animal pollination—a process vital to
plant reproduction.
It's not only plants that depend on animal pollination—humans do, too.
Worldwide, approximately a thousand plants that we grow for food, spices, clothing
fibers, and medicine depend on it. If pollination suddenly stopped, we would have no
apples, tomatoes, coffee, and many other goods.
This vital process is carried out by more than 200,000 different animal species
known as pollinators. Flies and beetles—the original pollinators—date back 130 million
years to the first flowering plants. Birds, butterflies, and ants also do their part. Even
nonflying mammals help out: monkeys tear open flowers with their hands, accidentally
spreading pollen into the air and onto their fur.
Pollinators are therefore vital, but they are also at risk. Climate change, habitat
loss, and invasive predators all threaten them. The United States, for example, has lost
over 50 percent of its honeybees over the past ten years. A serious threat facing bees is
colony collapse disorder (CCD), when worker bees mysteriously disappear from their
colony. Scientists are still trying to identify its cause.
There is a quote attributed to Einstein that if bees ever disappeared, man would
only have four years left to live. Whether that's true or not does not really matter, says
wildlife photographer Louie Schwartzberg: The key point is that there is a real danger.
"The healthiest food we need to eat," he says, "would disappear without pollinating
plants. It's pretty serious."
c. Match the words/phrases with their definitions

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Reading-based writing practice series – Keynote 2B

Words/Phrases Definitions & Examples

1. deposit (v) a. the process of having babies,
The cuckoo deposits her eggs in producing young, or producing
other birds' nests. new plants
2. reproduction (n) b. by chance or by mistake
We are researching reproduction in elephants
3. spice (n) c. (of plants or animals) brought
Cinnamon, ginger, and cloves are all spices. into an environment where they
are not naturally found, and
causing harm to that environment
or other living things in it
3. accidentally (adv) d. to leave something somewhere
I accidentally deleted the photo.
4. invasive (adj) e. a group of plants or animals
This toad is an invasive species that has now that live together or grow in the
become widespread. same place

5. predator (n) f. a substance made from a plant,

Some animals have no natural predators. used to give
a special flavour to food
6. colony (n) g. an animal that kills and eats
Many behavioural patterns have other animals
been identified in the chimp colony.
d. Discussion questions: What are some possible causes of CCD?
e. Develop the answers to the question into a paragraph
II. Love for nature
a. Discussion: Do you often observe natural species (flowers, plants, birds)?
b. Reading passage
You can’t tell the story about pollinators – bees, bats, hummingbirds, butterflies –
without telling the story about the invention of flowers and how they co-evolved over
50 million years.

I’ve been filming time-lapse flowers 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for over
35 years. To watch them move is a dance I’m never going to get tired of. It fills me with
wonder, and it opens my heart. Beauty and seduction, I believe, is nature’s tool for

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survival, because we will protect what we fall in love with. Their relationship is a love
story that feeds the Earth. It reminds us that we are a part of nature, and we’re not
separate from it.

When I heard about the vanishing bees, Colony Collapse Disorder, it motivated
me to take action. We depend on pollinators for over a third of the fruits and vegetables
we eat. And many scientists believe it’s the most serious issue facing mankind. It’s like
the canary in the coalmine. If they disappear, so do we. It reminds us that we are a part
of nature and we need to take care of it.

Grammar notes:

c. Match the words/phrases with their definitions

Words/Phrases Definitions
1. seduction (n) a. to disappear suddenly and/or in a way that
Who could resist the seductions of you cannot explain
the tropical island?
2. vanish (v) b. something that gives you an early warning of
He vanished without trace. danger
3. the canary in the coalmine c. the qualities or features of something that
(idiom) make it seem attractive
Among the species at risk is the
silvery minnow, the river's
equivalent of a canary in a coal
mine.
d. Discussion questions

1. What can you learn from observing nature?

2. What are the benefits of immersing yourself in nature?

e. Develop the answers to the questions into paragraphs

III. Plans for saving bees

a. Discussion: How can bees saved from the negative impacts of the environment?

b. Reading passage

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Reading-based writing practice series – Keynote 2B

We know how important pollinators are for producing many of the foods we eat.
We also know that their populations are declining. So what are we doing about it?

In 2015, the U.S. government launched a three-part plan to help save honeybees
and other pollinators. Since loss of habitat is one of the pollinators' main problems, the
government is now preserving millions of hectares of land. The second part of the plan
is to increase monarch butterfly numbers. These amazing butterflies pollinate many of
the wildflowers that attract honeybees and that other pollinators also depend on. But
perhaps the most ambitious goal is to reduce the number of honeybee losses in the
winter and fight colony collapse disorder.

Most experts have welcomed the plan, but it's still too soon to say whether it's
effective. The greatest challenge is saving honeybees. Not only are their losses already
great, but no one actually understand what causes colony collapse disorder.

Based on a number of studies, it appears that certain pesticides or chemicals

used in agriculture may be to blame. In fact, the European Union introduced a ban on
their use in 2013. In the United States, however, they are still legal, mainly because
they're more effective than other products and save farmers millions of dollars in crop
losses. Some scientists feel that banning these pesticides should be part of the new U.S.
plan.

Either way, the new plan seems to be a positive step. Only time will tell if it's
enough to make a difference.

c. Match the words/phrases with their definitions

Words/Phrases Definitions & Examples
1. launch (v) a. needing a lot of effort, money or time
The government recently launched to succeed
a national road safety campaign.

2. ambitious (adj) b. to start an activity, especially an

Jogging every morning? That’s very organized one
ambitious, isn’t it?
3. legal (adj) c. allowed or required by law
The driver was more than three times
over the legal limit.
d. Discussion question: What are some possible solutions for CCD?
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e. Develop the answers to the question above into a paragraph