Meet Great Britain. The Geographical Position of the Country

Form 8

Meet Great Britain. The Geographical Position of the Country

Aims:

-       to give students basic information about the subject they are going to learn about;

-       to inform students about the geographical position of the UK;

-       to enrich the outlook;

-       to develop skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing;

-       to teach students to listen carefully, to summarize, to work in groups and individually.

Equipment: the maps of the UK, the texts, cards.

The procedure:

Warming-up.

Each student gets the card with the riddle and the number (1-12). Their task is to guess the word and to write the first letter of it on the blackboard in the square marked by the number the student has in his/her card.

G1

R2

E3

A4

T5

B6

R7

I8

T9

A10

I11

N12

(Students guess the riddles, go to the blackboard and write the letters as far as they know the answer. If there are difficulties, the class helps. 4 min)

The riddles

1. It is green and everywhere on the ground seen. (Grass)
2. It is a very beautiful sweet smelling flower, a flower of love, but with thorns. (Rose)
3. This is the biggest animal in the world that doesn’t live in water. (Elephant)
4. This fruit grows on an apple-tree. (Apple)
5. A hot drink that is made of leaves and is very popular with British and all over the world. (Tea)
6. The animals that can fly. (Birds)
7. In Ukraine it’s the Dnipro, in Britain it’s the Thames. What’s this? (River)
8. It is cold and very tasty. It can be vanilla, chocolate and with jam. (Ice cream)
9. A person who teaches you at school. (Teacher)
10. They also live on the earth but they are not people. (Animals)
11. The international computer net. (Internet)
12. 1,2,3,4,5… They are … (Numbers)

Now you know the topic we are going to speak about. It is Great Britain.

I really have much to tell you and there will be a series of lessons dedicated to Britain. Today we shall learn basic facts about this country and especially about its geography. And at the end of the lesson there will be a short test in order to check your work. OK! Let’s go ahead!

First look at the sentence.

 "Great Britain" has several different names, some people say "Britain", or "the United Kingdom", or just "the UK".

How many names of the country are mentioned?

What do you think is the official name of the state?

What is the abbreviation?

Remember to use the article where necessary. If the name of the state consists of several words, it is used with the article “the”: The United Kingdom.  Great Britain is the name of an island, that’s why it is used without an article. (2 min)

Now when you know the name of the state, look at the map of it. Listen to a summary and then be ready to correct the mistakes in the sentences. (4 min)

There are four different countries in the United Kingdom: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Altogether more than 56 million people live in Britain, many of them in big industrial cities like London, Liverpool and Manchester. Northern Ireland is situated in the northern part of Ireland. The territory of the United Kingdom is about 244 square kilometers and it takes the 75th place among other countries in the world. The capital of the country is London.

Now look at the sentences and correct them if necessary.

1. There are five different countries in the United Kingdom.
2. Altogether more than 56 million people live in Britain.
3. Northern Ireland is situated in the northern part of Britain.
4. The territory of the United Kingdom is about 422 square kilometers.
5. The capital of the country is London.

OK. Let’s move on and add some facts about the geographical position of the state. Now, can I ask you to make three groups?  Each group gets:

-       the geographical map of the UK;

-       short information about mountains, rivers or waters that wash Great Britain;

-       new words with the transcription to help you to read new geographical names.

Please read the texts and get ready to tell the class what you have learned. Remember that everybody has to tell us at least one sentence. While you work I come and help with the pronunciation of the new words. So, begin, you have some minutes. (5 min)

The task for group 1:

Great Britain is separated from the continent by the English Channel, the narrower part of which is called the Strait of Dover. The British Isles are surrounded by the shallow waters of the Irish Sea and the North Sea, the North Channel and the Atlantic Ocean. Britain is comparatively small, but there is hardly a country, in the world where such a variety of scenery can be found.

The English Channel -                               пролив Ла-Манш

The Strait of Dover-                                  пролив Па-де-Кале

British Isles-                                              Британські острови

The Irish Sea-                                            Ірландське море

The North Sea-                                          Північне море

The North Channel-                                  Північний пролив

The Atlantic Ocean-                                  Атлантичний океан

The task for group 2:

Great Britain can be divided into two parts: Lowland Britain in the south and east, and Highland Britain in the North and West. The most important mountain territories are those located in the north of Scotland. Geologically these North West Mountains and the Grampians are among the oldest in the world. The highest peak is Ben Nevis (1343 m.). In the centre of England is a range of mountains called the Pennines. The Cambrian Mountains occupy nearly the whole of Wales. The highest peak there is Snowdon (1085 m.).

Lowland Britain-                                                  Низинна Британія

Highland Britain-                                                Гірська Британія

The North West Mountains-                                Північно-західні гори

The Grampians-                                                  Грампіанські гори

Ben Nevis-                                                           Гора Бен Невіс

The Pennines-                                                     Пенінські гори

The Cambrian Mountains-                                  Кембрійські гори

Snowdon-                                                             Гора Сноудон

The task for group 3:

The rivers of the region are short and of no great importance as waterways. The longest of them are the Severn (354 km) and the Thames, which is 346 kilometers long. Other comparatively long rivers are: the Trent, the Tweed, and the Wye. Lakes are found in the Lake District in England and in the highlands of Scotland. One of the best known lakes is Loch Ness in Scotland, famous for its ‘Loch Ness Monster’.

The Severn-                                                          річка Северн

The Thames-                                                         річка Темза

The Trent-                                                             річка Трент

The Tweed-                                                           річка Туїд

The Wye-                                                              річка Уай

The Lake District-                                               Озерний Край

Loch Ness-                                                          озеро Лох Несс

All right, it’s time to share information. Please, all members of the group 1 come to the blackboard and one by one tell us what you have learnt and show everything on the map. Then go group 2 and 3. (6 min)

(Students speak and listen to each other in order to get first outlook)

Now please, change the cards. Group 1 gets the task of group 3, group 2 of group 1, and group 3 of group 2. You had the opportunity to hear everything that is in the card, and now you will also read. And the task is to make up questions on the subject. When the group asks the other two groups answer. Don’t forget to use the maps. Let’s take turns. Group one is the first to ask. (5 min)

Good job! And now after intensive work I am sure you need some rest. Let’s play “Bingo!”.  All the new geographical names are written on the blackboard. Draw a model for the game. As you remember it is a table of nine cells. Then put down some nine names in them. (5 min)

Example:

the Wye	Ben Nevis	Wales
the Atlantic Ocean	Britain	the English Channel
Loch Ness	the Pennines	the Irish Sea

Now I read you the names and if you hear one from your table, cross it. If you have horizontal, diagonal, or vertical crossings, rise your hand and say “Bingo!”. The first is the gold winner and the second and the third are silver and bronze winners. (1 min)

The English Channel, the Lake District, the North West Mountains, the Atlantic Ocean, the Irish Sea, the Thames, Loch Ness, the Strait of Dover, Snowdon, British Isles…

Now tell me, what geographical names are the most difficult for you to read and remember? Let’s all together pronounce them again. (1 min)

(This activity helps the teacher to find out difficulties and help)

Good. And now I have a question. Why do we use some names with the article and the others without it? You do already know some of the rules. It will be great to remember them and to add some new ones. (2 min)

So, we use the article ‘the’ with:

-       the chains of mountains;

-       the channels, rivers, seas, oceans;

We do not use the article with:

-       the names of the mountains;

-       the names of the lakes;

-       the names of the islands.

Now I propose to play the game. I pronounce geographical names without the article, and you repeat all together either with it or without. (2 min)

English Channel, Lake District, North West Mountains, Atlantic Ocean, Irish Sea, Thames, Loch Ness, Strait of Dover, Snowdon, British Isles, Great Britain, United Kingdom, Wye, English Channel…

Well, I think that you were really working hard at the lesson. We have learned many facts about this country. And if you were attentive, it would be easy for you to pass the test. Open your exercise-books and write down the word ‘Test’. It will be a multiple choice test. Choose ‘a’, ‘b’, or ‘c’. (5 min)

1. The United Kingdom consists of four different countries ….                  

a)     England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

b)     England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

c)     Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

2. Great Britain is separated from the continent by…                               

a)     the English Channel.

b)     the North Channel.

c)     the Irish Sea.                                                                                        The model of the map

3. The highest peak in Great Britain is …

a)     Ben Nevis.

b)     Snowdon.

c)     Loch Ness.

4. The longest rivers in the UK are …

a)     the Trent and the Tweed.

b)     the Wye and the Strait of Dover.

c)     the Severn and the Thames.

5. The British Isles are surrounded by the shallow waters of …

a)     the Irish Sea and the North Sea, the North Channel and the Indian Ocean.

b)     the Irish Sea and the Black Sea, the North Channel and the Atlantic Ocean.

c)     the Irish Sea and the North Sea, the North Channel and the Atlantic Ocean.

6. The population of the United Kingdom is …

a)     48 mln people.

b)     56 mln people.

c)     244 mln people.

The final part

Home assignment. 

Well, that’s it for the first lesson. As a home assignment for the next lesson I give you the models of the maps where you can see only the shape of the country. Your task is to colour them, write all the geographical names there and speak about the geography of the UK using your own maps.

The teacher analyzes the lesson and student’s work, gives marks. (3 min).