Topic: Biosphere

Addressee

First class of high school and technical high school student, basic range

Program basis

General requirements:

III. Shaping attitudes.

1. Developing geographical interests, awakening the curiosity of the world.

VI. Pedosphere and biosphere: soil‑forming processes, soil types, zonation and soil and vegetation stacking.

Student:

3. identifies factors affecting the three‑dimensional diversity of vegetation on Earth;

4. explains the relationship between climate, the occurrence of soil types and plant formations in the zone system.

General aim of education

The student will learn what the biosphere is and what its relation to the other spheres of the Earth is.

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• explain what the biosphere is;

• explain the concepts: plant zones, plant formations and plant floors;

• provide examples of life in extremely unfavorable conditions..

Methods/techniques

• expository

  • talk.

• activating

  • discussion.

• programmed

  • with computer;

  • with e‑textbook.

• practical

  • exercices concerned.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in pairs;

• activity in groups;

• collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers.

Lesson plan

Introduction

• Before classes, the teacher instructs the students to read at home with all the material from the Biosphere lesson in the textbook.

• In class, the teacher determines the purpose of the lesson, informing students about its planned course.

Realization

• The first stage of the lesson is working in groups (expert tables method). The teacher divides the students into three‑person groups. Each person in the group is tasked with developing one of the following topics:
  • biosphere and its characteristics;
  • plant zones, plant formations and plant floors;
  • possibility of living in extremely unfavorable conditions (ocean floor, mountain peaks, outer space)
  Students from each group responsible for the preparation of a given issue sit together, analyzing the messages contained in the lesson and discussing them. After finishing work, each of them returns to their own group and shares knowledge with its other members.
  After the time set by the teacher has elapsed, the selected / willing students present particular issues, and the other students together with the teacher complete them

• The teacher then asks the students to familiarize themselves with the interactive diagram showing the elements of the biosphere. Together, they discuss the scheme and the teacher explains the student's doubts.

• The next stage is individual work. Students perform interactive exercise 1 to systematize and consolidate knowledge about the biosphere and its relationship with other spheres of the Earth. The teacher explains the students' doubts if necessary.

Summary

• The last step is to summarize the lesson, during which students ask the teacher to explain and complete the notes.

Homework

• Listen to the abstract recording at home. Pay attention to pronunciation, accent and intonation. Learn to pronounce the words learned during the lesson.

• Make at home a note from the lesson using the sketchnoting method.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Biosphere

The biosphere is a sphere of the Earth in which organisms live and develop. The biosphere is not an independent sphere – it is separated from other spheres (including the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere and pedosphere) by the scope in which it provides appropriate conditions for live organisms to live and grow. It encompasses the lower part of the atmosphere (up to altitudes of 10 km), the entire hydrosphere and pedosphere, and the outer part of the lithosphere to the depth that constitutes the thermal barrier for the growth of microorganisms. The majority of organisms live on land, in water up to the depth of a few hundred metres, in the lithosphere up to the depth of tens of centimetres, and up to the height of a few kilometres in the atmosphere. The biodiversity and size of the population of live organisms is the greatest in the equatorial zone, and it diminishes the closer we get to the poles. Low biodiversity is also characteristic of the upper parts of mountains, upper parts of the atmosphere, and the ocean depths.

The biosphere also includes the parabiosphere – a sphere in which only dormant life forms can exist, including bacterial and fungal spores. The parabiosphere encompasses locations with extremely adverse conditions for living organisms, such as high mountains, polar deserts and the upper parts of the atmosphere.

The conditions required for plants to live and grow largely depend on the climate. A vast majority of plants can grow in temperatures above 0°C. In temperate climates, it is assumed that this threshold is an average diurnal temperature of above +5°C. The part of the year when conditions are conducive to the vegetation growth is called the growing season. Due to varied climate conditions and variable access to water, the vegetation zones that have formed on the surface of the earth approximately correspond to the layout of the climate zones. In particular vegetation zones there are characteristic plant formations, that is, types of plants that have similar climate, water, relief and soil requirements. In the mountains, as the altitude increases climate conditions change, and so the vegetation changes as well. Plant communities whose species composition depends on the distribution of vertical climatic zones are referred to as vegetation belts.