Week 4&5 - UFOs

Week 4 & 5 - UFOs

Week 4 & 5

The UFO                                                                                                                        MAVO/HAVO/VWO

Our society is very organized. You know exactly what you can and can't do and we have made up rules to keep everything in order. However, there's always discussion about whether or not there is life outside of our little planet. Would they have different societies? How would things work on Mars? And would they come over in UFO's to see what we're doing?

During this class, you are going to learn a bit more about UFOs. Perhaps, you don’t know that much about them yet, so you’re going to read a text about UFOs, watch a video about life on different planets and read a newspaper article about a strange object flying close to Earth.

Part A – The History of UFOs                                                                         MAVO/HAVO/VWO

 

The History of UFOs

Unidentified Flying Object (or “UFO”) is a term often used to describe lights or shapes in the sky. It was first used by the United States Air Force in 1952 to describe sightings of mysterious objects in the sky that could not be explained even after careful investigation. Nowadays, UFOs are spotted frequently, and feature in numerous movies and TV shows. Another popular name for such an object is, “Flying Saucer,” which refers to the round shape of many UFOs.

The first widely publicized UFO sighting was in 1947, by a pilot called Kenneth Arnold. After this event, there were more sightings of UFOs. Movies and TV shows began showing visitors from outer space, arriving on Earth in flying saucers. With the popularity of these images, many people claimed to have seen lights in the sky. Some experts believe that people simply think they see UFOs because of the influence of TV and movies.

However, experts guess that as little as 5% of these sightings could be called “unidentified.” Usually, these lights are made by aircraft, satellites, or weather balloons. Top secret air force activities during the Cold War may have been responsible for many of the UFO sightings in America and Europe. Although not actually aliens, the secretive nature of these flying objects is definitely unidentified.

Another popular idea on UFOs concerns the role of world governments. Specifically, people believe that the US government has discovered alien life and operates a “cover-up” to hide the truth from the public. The most widely believed cover-up is that of the Roswell Incident. In July, 1947, a UFO supposedly landed in Roswell, New Mexico, and was examined and hidden by government agents. There have been many investigations into the Roswell Incident, however, these reports always claim that no such event occurred.

 

 

Translate these words from the text:

English

Dutch

Describe

 

Sightings

 

Frequently

 

Feature

 

Claimed to have seen

 

Influence

 

However

 

Secretive

 

Cover-up

 

Examined

 

 

Answer these questions on ‘The History of UFOs’

1. What does the abbreviation UFO stand for?
2. The term UFO was first used in 1925. True/False
3. What is a Flying Saucer?
4. UFOs and Aliens were used on television before 1947. True/False
5. What do UFOs normally turn out to be instead of a UFO?
6. The Roswell Incident happened in the UK. True/False

 

 

Part B – Do Aliens Exist?                                                                                MAVO/HAVO/VWO

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpWP7GGjJ6k

Watch the video and answer these questions:

  1. Waarom is het goed mogelijk dat er buitenaards leven bestaat?
  2. Wat is er zo bijzonder aan Kepler-452B? Leg je antwoord uit en geef voorbeelden.
  3. Wat heeft leven nodig om op een planeet te ontstaan?
  4. Wat staat er zoal op de gouden plaat die aanwezig is op de Voyager 1? Geef voorbeelden.

Part C – Newspaper Article                                                                            MAVO/HAVO/VWO

Read the newspaper article below and finish the exercises.

 

Mysterious space object could be monitoring us  
16th December, 2017

 

Astronomers think that aliens could be listening to us on Earth. The astronomers look for signs of alien life beyond Earth. They are excited about a giant space object that just passed Earth. It is 800 meters long and 80 meters wide. The rock has many straight lines so it might not have come from nature. It could have been made by alien life. The scientists called the rock Oumuamua. This means 'messenger' in Hawaiian.

 

The astronomers first spotted Oumuamua travelling at great speed past Earth. It was about 85 times the distance to the Moon, which is very near if you think about the size of the universe. Oumuamua is the first object in our solar system that appears to come from another galaxy. Its high speed suggests it is outside the pull of the Sun. It is unlikely that Oumuamua proves that aliens exist. The rock is a unique event that could offer new secrets.

 

I – Difficult words

Schrijf minstens 5 moeilijke woorden op uit de tekst en zoek de vertaling.

English

Dutch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

II – Mix and match

Combineer onderstaande zinsdelen uit de tekst.

  1. aliens could be listening to
  2. look for signs of alien life
  3. a giant space object that just
  4. The rock has many
  5. it might not have come
  6. It could have been made
  7. The scientists called the
  8. This means 'messenger'
  • rock Oumuamua
  • us on Earth
  • from nature
  • in Hawaiian
  • passed Earth
  • beyond Earth
  • by alien life
  • straight lines

 

III – Answer these questions

  1. What do astronomers do?
  2. What have the astronomers from the article found?
  3. Why do they think the object isn’t natural?
  4. Where does the object come from?
  5. Is this object proof for the existence of aliens?

Part D – Find other sources

Now that you have read a text about the history of UFOs, watched a video about whether aliens exist or not, and have read an article about an alien object close to Earth, it’s time for you to look for more information about aliens.

Go online and find other videos, articles and texts about aliens. Copy and paste the links to your sources here and briefly summarise what the article, video or text is about.

Make sure you make an effort to find good material, because you will need this information for your Masterpiece.

MAVO

  1. Vind minstens één video over aliens. Plak de link hier:
  2. Beschrijf kort waar de video over gaat, doe dit in het Nederlands.
  3. Vind minstens één Engels artikel over aliens. Plak de link hier:
  4. Beschrijf kort waar het artikel over gaat, doe dit in het Nederlands.

HAVO

  1. Find at least one video about aliens. Copy and paste the link here:
  2. Briefly summarise what the video is about, in English.
  3. Find at least one article about aliens. Copy and paste the link here:
  4. Briefly summarise what the article is about, in English.

VWO

  1. Find at least one video about aliens. Copy and paste the link here:
  2. Briefly summarise what the video is about, in English.
  3. Find at least two different articles about aliens. The articles have to come from different websites and have to be about different occurrences.
  4. For every article, briefly summarise what it is about.