Nature and the Environment

Stars and sky
What stars or galaxies can you name?

o=the Sun, the North Star, and Sirius The Milky Way and Andromeda (M31)Ursa Major Dwarf and Triangulum (M33) Galaxies Messier 81 and Sculptor Galaxy (NGC253)Alpha Centauri, which is really 3 stars

Can you think of any energy that is NOT solar energy? What?
Why does the sky look blue?
Do you ever sun bathe?
Have you ever seen the Northern Lights?

Q1 Do you ever watch the stars or the moon?

( +alpha= )Yes, whenever there is a full moon.

Have you ever seen a shooting star? a comet? a meteorite?
Is a shooting star really a star? a comet? a meteor?
How far is the Earth from the Sun? from the moon?

c=8.3 light minutes away150 billion meters 1.3 light seconds away384.3 million meters

How many planets are there in our solar system?
Where are the dwarf planets Ceres and Eris located?
Are there any planets outside of our solar system?
How far away is the nearest star?
How many light years away are the three stars of Alpha Centauri?
What is the name of our galaxy?
How far away is the closest galaxy outside our own?

How many months are there in a year? in a lunar year?
What are the four seasons? When are they?

Q2 What causes the four seasons?

s=The tilt of the Earth's axis.

Which season do you like the most? Why?
How many days are there in a year?
What is a leap year?

Snow, rain, and clouds
What are the sources of air pollution? water pollution?
What is the greenhouse effect? global warming?
What is ozone? Why is it important?
How high is the ozone layer?
What is the relationship between O2 and CO2?
Do you know of anyone who has had skin cancer?

Do you like the rainy season?
What is dioxin?
Do you like rain? wind? snow? typhoons?
What is the El Nino phenomena?

Rivers, lakes, seas, and oceans
What rivers or lakes can you name?

o=Shinano and Kiso RiversYodo and Nagara Rivers the Nile and the Mississippithe five Great Lakes in North America Lake Biwa and HamanakoLoch Ness in Scotland Lake Victoria in Africa

Have you ever stood under a water fall?
Have you ever been in a flood? seen a tidal wave?
Have you ever gone to an on-sen?
Are there any rivers in Japan? What rivers can you name?
What lakes can you name? How big are they?

Q3 Have you ever swum in a lake or river?

s=My friends and I v=used to go swimming ( +alpha= )in the Kiso River.

Do you prefer swimming in a pool or the ocean?
What are the sources of water pollution?
What is acid rain? What causes it? What does it do?

Mountains and Volcanoes
What mountains or volcanoes can you name?

o=Mount Everest and K2the Rocky Mountains and the Andies the Swiss AlpsMount Aso and SakurajimaDiamond Head and Mount Fuji Mount Ontake and Ibukiyama

What are the most famous mountains in the world? most famous volcanoes?
What causes mountains to form?
What comes out of volcanoes?
Have you ever climbed Mount Fuji?
Have you ever been to the top of a mountain? How did you get there?
What could you see below you?
Have you ever gone skiing? snowboarding? mudsliding?

Trees, Forests, Jungles, and Flowers
What kinds of flowers can you name? What kinds of trees?

What forests can you name?

o=Sherwood Forest in Englandthe Amazon jungle Aokigahara and Sengataki forests

How much wood does Japan use? Where does it come from? What is it used for?
How much wood does Japan have? produce?
Would you like to live in the woods?
What do you think of deforestation?
Have you ever played in rice paddies?
Have you ever planted a tree?
Do you know about Johnny Appleseed?
Do you watch cherry blossoms? autumn foliage? Where?
Have you ever eaten cactus?
Would you like to visit the Amazon?
Are there rice paddies near your house?
Do you have a garden? What do you grow?

Q4 What kinds of flowers do you like? Why?

s=I v=lovelike to make o=the smell of roses.plumeria leis.

Are there any forests in Japan? Where?
Did you climb trees when you were a kid? How about now?
Do you have any natural furniture in your house or apartment? What?
What pesticides do Japanese farmers use? What happens to those pesticides? Where do they go?

Deserts, Beaches, Sand, and Mud

What deserts can you name?

the Sahara in North Africathe Gobi Desert in China

Would you like to live by yourself on a deserted island?
What is desertification? What causes it?

What beaches or bays can you name?

o=Ise Bay and Mikawa BayIrago and Shonan Tokyo Bay and Botany BayUtsumi and Mihamashinmaiko and Wakasa Waikiki Beach in Hawaii

Q5 What do you do at the beach?

s=My friends and I v=go surfing.just lay in the sun.

Have you ever played in the mud? gone body boarding?

Activities
How much time do you spend outdoors? Doing what?
Do you like to go camping? hiking?
Have you ever gone bird watching?
Have you ever gone fishing? hunting?
Do you ski? snowboard? skate?
Do you surf? swim? sail?

Animals and insects
What is the food chain? What is your place in it?
Have people always been at the top of the food chain?

Q6 What kinds of animals have you seen in the wilds?

o=A snake ( +alpha= )one day when I was golfing.

Do you like insects? snakes? Do you like to touch them?
Have you ever seen a firefly?
Do you have any leather goods or fur products?

Fruit and Vegtables
What fruits can you name? What vegetables?
Do you eat natural foods? What?
Do you drink mineral water? water from the faucet?
What plants are in danger of extinction?
Does Nagoya's water taste good? What about other cities?

Natural Resources
What natural resources are there?
What countries have those natural resources?
Are they protecting those resources or simply exploiting them?
Are the resouces renewable?

Q7 What kinds of energy does your family use?

s=Our carOur lightsWe v=runsusehave o=a gas stove.electricity. ( +alpha= )on gasoline.

How much do you use a month? Where does it come from?

Conservation
Is it only the beauty of nature that is being destroyed and needs to be protected?
Do you do anything to protect nature?
Do you use freon gas? sprays?
Do you use recycled products? What?
Do you use disposable chopsticks? Do you use them more than once?
Do you recycle empty milk cartons? Where?
After you cook tenpura, what do you do with the old oil?
Do you use a dryer to dry your clothes? dry your hair?
Have you ever burned your garbage? built a bon fire?
Do you have your own shopping bag?
Do you use solar energy? for what?
Do you turn off the water when brushing your teeth?

Q8 What do you do to cut down on garbage?

s=My familyMy mother v=feedsputs o=left over food ( +alpha= )to our dog Kuro.in her compost heap.

When is garbage collected? cans and bottles? kitchen garbage? other garbage?
What's a litterbug? Have you ever littered? Where do you put your litter?
Do you ever pick up other people's litter? empty cans? cigarette butts?

Do you want to own and drive an electric cars?

What is Midori no Hane? Have you contributed or collected contributions?
What is "Green Peace"?
What is Echo Project?
Which countries are protecting nature? Which are destroying it?

Have you ever studied nature science?
Do you take good care of nature? How?
Is art-nature hair natural?
Have you ever seen any mysterious phenomenon? U.F.O.? ghosts?
Is there any nature in Nagoya? What?