Raising the awareness of protecting the natural environment when teaching English for high school students

1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Reasons for the study
	It can be seen that the natural environment is the place in which all organisms live, and the human race is only one small species. However, human beings have great influence on the rest of the world. They are changing the natural environment by many ways, such as building cities and villages where forests once stood, or cutting down trees in the forests, or adding pollutants to the air, etc. It can be said that humans are changing the environment in all aspects through their actions and by their habits. This has resulted in many serious consequences. Many kinds of animals and plants are killed, and even many of which are in danger of becoming extinct. The natural habitat is badly destroyed and seriously contaminated. Thus, it is vital to protect the Earth, the home of all organisms, from human beings’ harmful activities. It is time humans did something on the problem of environmental pollution, which will help maintain the ecosystem. 
	Despite the fact that humans get lots of benefits from the nature, they still devastate it day by day and step by step. They are throwing rubbish wherever they are. They are cutting down many kinds of trees for wood and timber. They are illegally hunting animals for fur, hide, meat and other products. Many factories are discharging toxic smoke and waste into the environment, etc. All these actions are seriously polluting the environment, including the air, water and soil. As a result, the problem of environmental pollution are getting worse and worse. However, there have still been many people, especilly the young, who are not aware of the importance of the natural environment to humans’ life and to other living things’ survival. They are also not aware of the situation of the environmental contamination, which is becoming an alarming problem all over the world. Moreover, they do not realise that it is time for humans to stop making the problem worse and worse so that they will have good natural conditions to live and to flourish.
	All reasons mentioned above led me to the following study “Raising the awareness of protecting the natural environment when teaching English for high school students”. I hope that my study will help make a change in students’ attitude, awreness and actions, which may make them become activists who voluntarily do many good things for the nature. 
1. 2. Purposes of the study
	As mentioned above, the Earth is the home of all organisms. Therefore, protecting the earth, protecting the nature mean protecting humans themselves and their “friendly neighbours”. It is obvious that humans cannot exist by themselves on earth. They need animals and plants for food, and other living things for their other purposes in their daily lives. Hence, it is essential for humans to stop polluting the nature and to make efforts to protect it. This will help human beings and other organisms co-exist happily on the green planet, the Earth.
	Doing this research, I would like to help my students realise that the nature play a vital role in humans’ life. However, humans have been polluting it and destroying it. Thus, the environmental pollution is becoming an international problem which reqiuires all countries to work together to find out possible solutions. I would also like to help my students see and understand the situation of the problem. They can see many types of pollution everywhere, at their home, in their school, on the ways and streets, in their neighbourhood, on the beach, on the farm, in the camping sites, in places of interests, etc. Thus, they have to do something to help clean up all of these places so that they will have somewhere clean, fresh, and safe to live. Being aware of the importance of protecting the environment will lead students to useful actions. Besides, I would really like to help them build good daily habits related to the environmental protection, such as cleaning up their house, classroom everyday, or putting rubbish into the dust bin, growing as many trees and flowers around their houses and in their neighbourhood as possible. Furthermore, some of my students may love the topic of the nature. They will try to become activists, or volunteers who voluntarily do very useful things for the nature, to protect it from the harmful activities of the humans and to make the nature environment a ideal place to live.
1. 3. The scope of the study
	In this study, only some aspects related to the main theme can be mentioned, such as the definition and types of natural environment, benefits from the nature, the definition of environmental pollution, causes and effects of pollution, and some solutions to the problem. Hoping that readers will have a general view on the problem mentioned, then get themselves involved in many useful to protect the nature.
1. 4. The methods of the study
	To fulfil this study, I apply many methods at the same time to make full use of each. First, I used 3 textbooks of English 10, 11, 12 as my first idea. I used some Units and some parts of one unit mentioning about the natural environment to plan for my study. For example, unit 10 (Conservation) in English 10; unit 10 (Nature in danger) in English 11 or unit 10 (Endangered species), in English 12. Second, I searched many information and images, pictures related to the scop of the study on the internet. After that, I had to read carefully then choose which was the best for my study. Third, I asked my colleages who teach English for some advices of good writing as well as those who teach geography and biology for some knowledge related. And last, I use my lesson of language as a lesson of protecting the environment to raise my students’ awareness of the problem.
2. MAIN CONTENT
2.1. THE FOUNDATION OF THE STUDY
a. What is the natural environment?
	According to some pretigous dictionaries, the natural environment is defined as below:
The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species. Climate, weather, and natural resources that affect human survival and economic activity. The concept of the natural environment can be distinguished by components:
Complete ecological units that function as natural systems without massive civilized human intervention, including all vegetation,microorganisms, soil, rocks, atmosphere, and natural phenomena that occur within their boundaries and their nature
Universal natural resources and physical phenomena that lack clear-cut boundaries, such as air, water, and climate, as well as energy, radiation, electric charge, and magnetism, not originating from civilized human activity
Natural environment means all living and non-living things that are natuarlly on Earth.
In a narrow sense, it is an environment that is not influenced by people. Natural environment is often used as a synonym for habitat. For instance, when we say that the natural environment of giraffes is the savanna.
	The environment is something you are very familiar with. It is everything that makes up our surroundings and affects our ability to live on the earth - the air we breathe, the water that covers most of the earth's surface, the plants and animals around us, and much more.
The sum total of all surroundings of a living organism, including natural forces and other living things, which provide conditions for development and growth as well as of danger and damage.
It is clearly that the natural environment is the place where all organisms should co-exist for their development and grow. 
b. Types of the environment
The five main types of environments, or biomes, in the world are the aquatic, forest, desert, grassland and tundra biomes. Each of these can be found in many areas around the world and contribute to the world's ecosystem. 
Aquatic environments are found all over the world. Roughly 75 percent of the Earth is covered by water, and all of this water is part of an aquatic environment. The aquatic biome is further divided into saltwater oceans and freshwater environments, such as rivers and lakes.
Forest biomes are characterized by large trees and vegetation. They can be found in cold and warm temperatures around the world. These environments are important to the Earth because they release oxygen into the atmosphere and capture excess carbon dioxide.
Deserts are any type of environment that receives less than 10 inches of precipitation each year. They can be very hot and sandy or very cold and icy.
Grasslands are large biomes characterized by huge open areas that receive between 10 and 30 inches of precipitation per year. These areas are covered mostly by grass and have few trees and other types of vegetation. They are home to a wide variety of animals that use the grass for food 
Tundra is the coldest biome of all of the different environments. Tundras have long, cold winters and very short summers.
2.2. The state of pollution 
a. The environmental pollution
Environmental pollution has existed for centuries but only started to be significant following the industrial revolution in the 19th century. Pollution occurs when the natural environment cannot destroy an element without creating harm or damage to itself. The elements involved are not produced by nature, and the destroying process can vary from a few days to thousands of years (that is, for instance, the case for radioactive pollutants). In other words, pollution takes place when nature does not know how to decompose an element that has been brought to it in an unnatural way.
Pollution must be taken seriously, as it has a negative effect on natural elements that are an absolute need for life to exist on earth, such as water and air. Indeed, without it, or if they were present on different quantities, animals – including humans – and plants could not survive. Environmental pollution is an incurable disease. It can only be prevented. 
Environmental pollution consists of five basic types of pollution, namely, air, water, soil, noise and light.
Air pollution is by far the most harmful form of pollution in our environment. Air pollution is caused by the injurious smoke emitted by cars, buses, trucks, trains, and factories, namely sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides. Even smoke from burning leaves and cigarettes are harmful to the environment causing a lot of damage to man and the atmosphere. Evidence of increasing air pollution is seen in lung cancer, asthma, allergies, and various breathing problems along with severe and irreparable damage to flora and fauna. Even the most natural phenomenon of migratory birds has been hampered, with severe air pollution preventing them from reaching their seasonal metropolitan destinations of centuries.
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC),  released from refrigerators, air-conditioners, deodorants and insect repellents cause severe damage to the Earth’s environment.  This gas has slowly damaged the atmosphere and depleted the ozone layer leading to global warming.
Water pollution caused industrial waste products released into lakes, rivers, and other water bodies, has made marine life no longer hospitable. Humans pollute water with large scale disposal of garbage, flowers, ashes and other household waste. In many rural areas one can still find people bathing and cooking in the same water, making it incredibly filthy. Acid rain further adds to water pollution in the water. In addition to these, thermal pollution and the depletion of dissolved oxygen aggravate the already worsened condition of the water bodies. Water pollution can also indirectly occur as an offshoot of soil pollution – through surface runoff and leaching to groundwater.
Noise pollution, soil pollution and light pollution too are the damaging the environment at an alarming rate. Noise pollution include aircraft noise, noise of cars, buses, and trucks, vehicle horns, loudspeakers, and industry noise, as well as high-intensity sonar effects which are extremely harmful for the environment.
Soil pollution, which can also be called soil contamination, is a result of acid rain, polluted water, fertilizers etc., which leads to bad crops. Soil contamination occurs when chemicals are released by spill or underground storage tank leakage which releases heavy contaminants into the soil. These may include hydrocarbons, heavy metals, MTBE, herbicides, pesticides and chlorinated hydrocarbons.
Light Pollution includes light trespass, over-illumination and astronomical interference.
b. Causes of environmental pollution and the effects
Let us first take a look at the causes of environmental pollution:
- Industries: Industries have been polluting our environment especially since the beginning of the industrial revolution, as mentioned above, notably due to the increasing use of fossil fuels. In the 19th century and for a significant part of the 20th century, coal has been used to make machines work faster, replacing human force. Though pollution by industries mainly causes air pollution, soil and water contamination can also occur. This is particularly the case for power-generating industries, such as plants producing electricity (May they be a dam, a nuclear reactor or some other type of plant).
Also, the transportation of this energy can be harmful to the environment. We can take an example of the transportation of petrol through pipelines; if there is a leak in the pipeline, soil will automatically be polluted. At the same time, if the tanker transporting the petrol from its production plant to the place where it will be consumed leaks or sinks, the water will get contaminated.
- Transportation: Ever since men abandoned animal power to travel, pollution of the environment has become worse and worse. Its levels have only been increasing until now. Similarly to industries, pollution caused by transport can mainly be attributed to fossil fuels. Indeed, humans went from horse carriages to cars, trains (which, before electricity, used to be propelled by coal), and airplanes. As the traffic is increasing every day, pollution follows that evolution.
- Agricultural Activities: Agriculture is mainly responsible for the contamination of water and soil. This is caused by the increase in the use of pesticides, as well as by the intensive character of its production. Almost all pesticides are made from chemical substances and are meant to keep diseases and threatening animals away from the crops. However, by keeping these forms of life away, harm is almost always made to the surrounding environment as well. Furthermore, as agriculture gets more and more intensive to feed the increasing world population, more environments and ecosystems are destroyed to make space for the crops. Some of them, like rapeseed –used to make oil – demand a lot of space for a relatively small output.
- Trading Activities: Trading activities including the production and exchange of goods and services. Concerning goods, pollution can be caused by packaging (which often involves the use of plastic, which is made from fossil fuels) or transport, mainly.
- Residences: Finally, residential areas provide their fair share of pollution as well. First, to be able to build homes, natural environment has to be destroyed in one way or another. Wildlife and plants are driven away and replaced by human constructions. As it requires the work of industries, construction itself is also a source of contamination of the environment. Then, when people settle in, they will produce waste every day, including a part that cannot be processed by the environment without harm yet.
	The state of being polluted will affect on the followings
- Effects on Humans: The effects of environmental pollution on humans are mainly physical, but can also turn into neuro-affections in the long term. The best-known troubles to us are respiratory, in the form of allergies, asthma, irritation of the eyes and nasal passages, or other forms of respiratory infections. Notably, these well spread affections can be observed when air pollution is high in cities, when the weather gets hot, for instance. On top of that, environmental pollution has been proven to be a major factor in the development of cancer. This can happen for example when we eat reminiscences of pollutants used in the production of processed foods, or pesticides from the crops. Other, rarer, diseases include hepatitis, typhoid affections, diarrhoea and hormonal disruptions.
- Effects on Animals: Environmental pollution mainly affects animals by causing harm to their living environment, making it toxic for them to live in. Acid rains can change the composition of rivers and seas, making them toxic for fishes, an important quantity of ozone in the lower parts of the atmosphere can cause lung problems to all animals. Nitrogen and phosphates in water will cause overgrowth of toxic algae, preventing other forms of life to follow their normal course. Eventually, soil pollution will cause harm and sometimes even the destruction of microorganisms, which can have the dramatic effect of killing the first layers of the primary food chain.
- Effects on Plants: As for animals, plants, and especially trees, can be destroyed by acid rains (and this will also have a negative effect on animals as well, as their natural environment will be modified), ozone in the lower atmosphere block the plant respiration, and harmful pollutants can be absorbed from the water or soil.
- Effects on the Ecosystem: In short, environmental pollution, almost exclusively created by human activities, has a negative effect on the ecosystem, destroying crucial layers of it and causing an even more negative effect on the upper layers.
c. Pollution in Vietnam
	As mentioned above, pollution is not the problem within the boundaries of a certain country. It is an international problem which requires all nations to join hands to solve. Many “symptoms” of the desease called “pollution” have seriously affected humans’ life, such as ice-melting, global warming, greenhouse effect, which result in many natural disasters like floods, drough, stunami, earthquakes, hurricane, etc,.
	There have been all types of pollution in Vietnam. The air is being destroyed by smokes emitted from factories, exshaust from vehicles like cars, trains, buses including the dust from the roads which are downgraded by many reasons. The water is polluted by industrial waste which can kill many kinds of aquatic animals. Take the incident of Formosa as an example. This company illegally poured their factories waste into the sea in Vung Ang Habour, in Ha Tinh province, which caused the death of million tons of sea animals along the 4 coastal provinces in the centre of Vietnam, namely Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien – Hue.
(A villager shows dead sea fish he collected on a beach in Phu Loc district, after the incident of Formosa)
Furthermore, many beaches in Vietnam have been full of plastic bags, tin, glasses, cigarette butts, etc,. which are left behind by the visitors. This makes an ugly image of the beach, one of the places of interest in Vietnam. Besides, farmers use a lot of pesticides, herbicides for their crops, which leads to the contamination of both soil and water.
(chemical fertilizer isues)
2.3. Raising the awareness of students on protecting the environment while teaching some lessons in the textbooks.
	It can be seen that the theme “nature” or “natural environment” is mentioned in 3 textbooks English 10, English 11 and English 12. Hence, it is essential to do something to raise my students’ awareness on protecting the environment through my lessons.
a. The awareness of protecting the seas and oecans.
The oceans, seas, gulfs and bays cover 75 percent of the earth’s surface, excluding the rivers and lakes. These environment supply a great source of sea animals which become hu