The purpose of reading non-fiction is to learn facts about real things.whales and pollution i read whales because i wanted to how the body works,i read pollution because i was interested in how much pounds of pollution was littered into the water each day.
The purpose of reading nonfiction in an English class may be to keep students up-to-date with what's happening in the world. It informs them of things like what has happened, is happening, and might happen in the future. (Sorry, I cannot answer the other question(s))
Although you might not want to speak publicly about your project, if you do good enough you'll be rewarded! We aren't rewarded when actually speaking with people, but its good to know you did well because that'll make you more confident to talk to others just the same way.