Portfolio

1. Escola Secundária João da Silva Correia
My
English
Portfolio
Helder Ricardo Tavares da Silva
Nr. 8 11ºE
11/03/1992


Teacher Clara Reis

2. Consequences of Global Warming (Oral Test)

The consequences of global warming are felt everywhere, and I managed to choose
some and talk a bit about each one.
Heat Waves : Recently, the average temperature on Earth has been increasing due to
the global warming, and that’s being felt on the entire surface. For example, in the
year 2003, near 40,000 people died because of the constant rise of the temperature,
only in Europe. In the last 1000 years, the temperature change increased up to .8 ºF,
causing the massive melting of the ice caps, one of the main reasons to the rise of the
sea level. Also, because of that, many animal species lose their habitat and eventually
drown to dead.
Natural Catastrophes : Natural catastrophes like cyclones, typhoons and hurricanes are
rising in frequency due also to global warming, because the increase of temperature
causes more evaporation of the water in the ocean’s, increasing the possibility of this
kind of events to happen.
Desert Areas : The number of deserts increasing and appearing is also rising, because
many species like animals and plants dye due to the increasing temperature, causing
unbalances in the ecosystems. Also, desert areas appear because the amount of trees
being cut is rising, and without trees the vegetation disappears, causing deserts.
(Helder)

Causes of Global Warming

o The air pollution that change the air composition;
o Emission of Greenhouse gases as carbon dioxide;
o Causes of the Greenhouse effect;
o Deforestation that inhibits the decreasing of CO2 levels;
o Destruction of the ozone layer that could absorb some radiation and
temperature, but now it’s unable to do that.

(Paulo)

3. Measures to Reduce Global Warming

My colleagues have just talked about global warming, one of the worst environmental
problems. Now that you know what global warming is and which are its causes and
effects it’s time for me to present solutions and they must be of three kinds:
On a global level the first thing to do is to ratify the Kyoto protocol. Unfortunately one
of the countries which is one of the most polluting countries - the USA – didn’t ratify it.
On a national level the government should take measures to benefit companies which
promote eco-production such as use filters to reduce the levels of pollution. On the
other hand it should impose severe measures to those who produce high emissions of
carbon dioxide.
However there are many other things that we can all, individually, do to prevent global
warming.
First and most important of all is to follow the policy of three R’s:
o Reduce
o Reuse
o Recycle

Because cars are the one of the major sources of pollution, one of the best measures
would be walking, riding a bike and preferring public transports. Last week General
Motors presented two models of hybrid cars. Hybrid cars are cars that don’t need
fossil fuels to move. This is a very important solution against global warming.
Among hundreds of solutions that I could speak of, I can´t forget mentioning the
problem of water as it is a real problem. Global warming leads to water shortage and
without water we can’t survive. We must...

o Turn off taps while brushing our teeth;
o Never wash cars at home;
o Only use machines when they are full;
o Put a bottle with sand inside the toilet flush to reduce the use of water
each time you flush the water.

We shouldn’t buy products with CFC's because these are gases that promote the
greenhouse effect once its action entraps carbon dioxide. Thus, its residence in the
atmosphere causes global warming.

4. We should use renewable energies because renewable energies can help the world to
meet its energy needs and help reduce the emission of greenhouse effect and acid
gases produced during the burning of fossil fuels.

The most used renewable energy are:
o Solar power - is the technology of obtaining usable energy from the
light of the sun.
o Wind power - is the conversion of wind energy into more useful forms,
usually, electricity using wind turbines;
o Hydropower - is the capture of the energy of moving water for some
useful purpose.
o Biomass - Energy produced from the organic substance (plants, wastes
of animals and so on.)
o Geothermal power - is the use of geothermal heat to generate
electricity.

To save energy and reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide we also should:

o Use compact fluorescent light bulbs to save money and energy and to
reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide;
o Use cold water instead of warm or hot water when possible;
o Turn off lights, computers and the other appliances when not in use;
o Only use electric appliances when you need them;

Well, there are many more things we can do to save the world from global warming.
However, if we all do a bit, it will certainly help.
(Joana Ribeiro)

5. Give humanity a chance. Give the Earth a_______________.
Green Cross International (GCI) was formally launched in Kyoto, on the 18th April 1993.
Green Cross National Organizations are established today in 31______________.
Green Cross International has been granted consultative status with the Economic and Social
Council of the United Nations and with ________________ . It also cooperates directly with the
UNEP/OCHA Environmental Emergencies Section, UN-HABITAT and other international
_____________.
In 2006, Green Cross International's global work on water wonMikhail Gorbachev the
_____________ UNEP"Champion of the Earth" award.
The mission of Green Cross International is to help garanty a ____________ and secure future for
all and to cultivate a new sense of responsibility in humanity's relationship with _____________.
Green Cross International is specialized on:
 _____________legal, ethical and behavioral norms necessary to build a sustainable global
community.
 _____________ and resolving conflicts arising from environmental degradation.
 _____________ assistance to people affected by the environmental consequences of wars
and conflicts

preventing UNESCO prestigious providing Future
nature organizations countries promoting
sustainable

6. "Give humanity a chance. Give the Earth a future.
Green Cross International (GCI) was formally launched in Kyoto, on the 18th April
1993. Green Cross National Organizations are established today in 31 countries.
Green Cross International has been granted consultative status with the Economic and
Social Council of the United Nations and with UNESCO. It also cooperates directly with
the UNEP/OCHA Environmental Emergencies Section, UN-HABITAT and other
international organizations.
In 2006, Green Cross International's global work on water wonMikhail Gorbachev the
prestigious UNEP"Champion of the Earth" award.
The mission of Green Cross International is to help garanty a sustainable and secure
future for all and to cultivate a new sense of responsibility in humanity's relationship
with nature.
Green Cross International is specialized on:
 Promoting legal, ethical and behavioral norms necessary to build a sustainable
global community.
 Preventing and resolving conflicts arising from environmental degradation
 Providing assistance to people affected by the environmental consequences of
wars and conflicts

7. Field Trip Report

Last 4, 5 and 6th of March our class went on a field trip in the areas of
Lisbon/Alentejo, where numerous places where visited, including: The IGC (
Gulbenkian Institute of Science ), Sintra (in the Percurso Queirosiano), the Theatre of
Trindade (where we watched “Os Maias no Trindade”), the factory of Amoniaco de
Portugal (where we learn about the synthesis of ammonium), the Caloust Gulbenkian
Foundation (where we visited the Darwin exhibition), the photovoltaic central (where
we learned about photovoltaic panels) and the Barragem of Alqueva.
Day 1
We left our school at about 6 a.m. and we travelled directly to Oeiras, in order to
visit the IGC, the place where we talked only English and where we were supposed to
ask some questions about being a scientist. We asked them about several issues, and
we got to some conclusions, including the fact that scientist in there have formation in
different areas, since each one has his/her function, working as a group, as a team.
Some wanted to be a scientist since they were a child, however another said that some
event in their life caused the change on their future. They are all very handy people,
that move very carefully in the lab, according to some rules, to maintain a secure
environment.
After leaving IGC, we lunched at Oeiras Park and we went to Sintra, where we made
the Percurso Queirosiano, a sightseeing tour that talks about the 8th chapter in “Os
Maias”. At about 5 p.m. we travelled back to the center of Lisbon, left our bags in an
Youth Inn and journeyed to the Theatre of Trindade where we watch the play “Os
Maias da Trindade”, definitely one of the highlights of the trip. Then, we came back to
Lisbon and slept.
Day 2
After pack everything, we were ready, at 9.30h, to move to another place. In there,
the group was divided in 2, one visited the Darwin exhibition in the morning and the
other in the afternoon, I stayed with the group who visited de ammonium factory in
the morning. In there, we first talked about the actual production of the ammonium,
all the ingredients and all the conditions in which it is made, the costs and the main
advantages and disadvantages in the usage of ammonium. After a small briefing, we
went outside the see the machinery, the materials and all the pipes that are very
important in the synthesis of ammonium.
Afterwards, we had lunch and went to see the Darwin exhibition, that was created
in order to remember the 200
th
anniversary of Darwin and the 150
th
anniversary of his

8. theory on the evolution of species. Many rooms, with photos, objects, videos, images,
animals… brought to life the Caloust Gulbenkian Foundation, where all that was talked
about, was Darwin.
After seeing the exhibit and get together with the rest of the group, we went to
Serpa, in Alentejo, where we spent the night.

Day 3
We got up, at the same time as the day before, and we journeyed to the
photovoltaic power plant, in Serpa, where we saw how it works, what they need to
work, pros and against of using the energy of the sun and the appearance and
composition of a solar panel, since we could be next to many. Then, we had lunch in a
small village nearby and in the after we went to Barreiro, to see the Barragem of
Alqueva.
Barragem of Alqueva it’s basically a big dam, that has massive doors from where the
water flows from top to bottom. Building a dam it’s dangerous every time, specially to
the environment and to the creatures living there, building a huge dam is even more
dangerous and it’s astonished the impact that dam does to the environment since,
around that, everything is green, except for that.
I think that this field trip was very educative and I believe that, by seeing all what
we see, we managed to respect and to admire more and more about our country and
all the beauty’s in it. My favorite part of the visit was probably in Sintra, where
sightseeing all of those monuments brought me memories of the book itself and of the
peace that used to be in such places, and only thinking about that made me better
with myself.