The Physical Environment
Senior 1 · English
The Physical Environment
Lesson 4 of 5
25 min
Let's begin
After a heavy storm, the Nyabarongo turns the colour of milky tea. That brown colour is not dirt from nowhere: it is the soil of Rwanda's hills, washed off farms and carried away towards the Nile. A farmer who loses the top layer of soil loses the richest part of the field. Ganza, an S1 student in Gakenke, decided to write about it for his school's Environment Week magazine. His article is persuasive: it wants readers to act.
Before you read: Have you seen a river or a road turn brown after rain? Where did the brown colour come from?
KEEP OUR HILLS ON OUR HILLS
by Ganza Hirwa, S1 CHave you ever watched a storm from a hilltop in Gakenke? First the sky goes dark, then the rain falls so hard that it bounces. Within minutes, every path becomes a brown stream. Where is all that brown water going? It is taking our soil away, and our future with it.
Rwanda is a country of steep hills and heavy rain, and that is a dangerous mixture. When rain hits bare soil on a slope, it runs downhill fast and carries the top layer of earth with it. That top layer is the most fertile part of a field. If a farmer loses it, her beans and maize will grow weaker every year. The soil ends up in our rivers, and a river full of mud floods more easily, blocks dams and kills fish.
The good news is that we know how to stop it. Farmers who dig terraces, flat steps cut across the hillside, keep their soil at home: if the rain stops on each step, it will soak into the ground instead of racing to the valley. Trees and grass help too. If we plant trees along the edges of our fields, their roots will hold the soil together. If we leave strips of grass across a slope, they will slow the water down. Look at any hillside that has terraces and trees: after a storm, the fields are still green, and the soil is still there.
Some people say that terraces take too long to dig and that a family cannot do it alone. They are right. But that is exactly why we have Umuganda. If every village terraces one hillside a year, the whole district will be protected in a few years.
So here is my challenge to every student in this school. At home, ask your family to plant one tree at the edge of your field this rainy season. At school, join the Environment Club, which will dig new terraces at the school farm on the last Saturday of the month. If we act now, our children will farm these hills. If we don't, they will only read about them.
| Technique | What it does | Example from the article |
|---|---|---|
| A strong headline | catches attention and states the message | Keep our hills on our hills |
| A hook | pulls the reader in with a picture or a question | Have you ever watched a storm from a hilltop in Gakenke? |
| Facts and explanations | show the problem is real | That top layer is the most fertile part of a field. |
| Solutions with reasons | show the reader that action works | If we plant trees…, their roots will hold the soil together. |
| Answering the other side | makes the writer sound fair | Some people say… They are right. But… |
| We and our | makes the reader part of the team | our soil, our future, if we act now |
| A call to action | tells the reader exactly what to do | Ask your family to plant one tree… |
| Word or phrase | Meaning | Example sentence |
|---|---|---|
| soil erosion | the washing or blowing away of the top layer of soil | Soil erosion is worst on bare, steep slopes. |
| terrace | a flat step cut into a hillside for farming | The village dug terraces during Umuganda. |
| slope | ground that goes up or down | Water runs fast down a steep slope. |
| bare | not covered by plants | Bare soil washes away easily. |
| roots | the parts of a plant that grow under the ground | Tree roots hold the soil together. |
| soak into | go slowly into something, like water into a cloth | Rain soaks into the flat terraces. |
| deforestation | cutting down forests without replanting them | Deforestation leaves hills bare. |
| conserve | protect something so that it is not wasted or destroyed | Terraces conserve soil and water. |
| persuade | make someone agree to do or believe something | Ganza wants to persuade his readers. |
| call to action | words that tell the reader what to do next | His article ends with a call to action. |
Definition
First conditional: a sentence that describes a real, possible situation in the future and its likely result.
Form: If + present simple, will + base verb. If we plant trees, their roots will hold the soil.
The if-clause gives the condition; the main clause gives the result.
| If-clause (condition) | Main clause (result) |
|---|---|
| If + present simple | will + base verb (or won't, may, might, can) |
| If we act now, | our children will farm these hills. |
| If a farmer loses the top soil, | her crops will grow weaker. |
| If we don't protect the wetlands, | floods may become worse. |
| when (Unit 4) | if | |
|---|---|---|
| How sure? | sure it will happen | it may or may not happen |
| Example | When the rainy season starts, we will plant beans. | If the rain comes early, we will plant beans in August. |
| Tense after the linking word | present simple | present simple |
Unless means "if … not": Unless we act now, the soil will disappear. = If we don't act now, the soil will disappear.
Worked example
Analyse the sentence: If every village terraces one hillside a year, the whole district will be protected in a few years.
Warning
No will in the if-clause. Wrong: If it will rain tomorrow, we will stay inside. Right: If it rains tomorrow, we will stay inside. The same rule works for when, unless, before, after and as soon as.
Tip
One will per sentence. In a first conditional, will lives only in the result half. If you have written will twice, cross out the one after if.
The first conditional, from BBC Learning English's Conditionals with Georgie (3 minutes). Listen for the tense after if, and write down one example sentence Georgie gives.
World Environment Day is on 5 June. Prepare a one-minute speech for your school assembly about one environmental problem at your school (litter, wasted water, cutting trees, burning rubbish). Use at least four first conditional sentences and end with a call to action.
Good morning, everyone. Look around our compound after lunch: plastic bottles under the trees, paper on the path. If we throw rubbish on the ground, the rain will wash it into the valley. If it blocks the drains, the classrooms may flood. But if every class empties its bin into the big one, our school will be clean in one week. So today I have one request: carry your bottle to the bin. If you do that, you will make our school proud. Thank you.
Write a persuasive article of 150 to 180 words for your school magazine with the title Protecting the Environment Starts Here. Follow Ganza's plan: a headline and a hook, the problem with a reason, two solutions with first conditional sentences, one answer to the other side, and a call to action.
PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT STARTS HERE
How many taps are dripping in our school right now? Walk past the dormitory showers and you will find at least one. Every drop is water that someone pumped, carried and paid for.
Water is precious, even in a country with two rainy seasons. In the long dry season, from June to August, the school tank often runs low, and we queue for water.
We can change this. If each dormitory prefect checks the taps every evening, we will stop the drips. If we collect rainwater from the roofs of the classrooms, we will have enough water for the school garden all year.
Some students say that a few drops don't matter. But a tap that drips once a second can waste thousands of litres in a year. That water could keep our school garden green.
So, starting today, turn off every tap you pass. If we all do that, our school will never run dry.
Practice
Sources and credits
