Topic: Savannas

Supplementary material for use in lessons in the group of natural sciences (nature, biology, chemistry, geography, physics), additional classes, science clubs. It can serve as a resource for expanding knowledge, preparing students for science competitions.

Target group

5th‑grade students of elementary school (Geography).

Core curriculum

Grade V Geography

IV. Landscapes of the world: humid equatorial forest and temperate forest, savannah and steppe, hot and ice desert, taiga and tundra, Mediterranean, high altitude Himalayas; zonation and climatological vegetation in the world. Pupil:

3) presents the main features and compares the known landscapes of the world and recognizes them in descriptions, films and illustrations;

General aim of education

Students characterize the conditions prevailing on the steppe

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• describe the climatic conditions of the savannah;

• characterize the seasons of the savannah.

Methods/techniques

• activating

  • discussion.

• expository

  • talk.

• 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;

• notebook and crayons/felt‑tip pens;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers;

• large sheets of paper with a continental outline, glue, scissors, crayons.

Lesson plan overview

Before classes

• The teacher asks students to look for small pictures of landscapes characteristic of the steppe in colorful magazines and online..

Introduction

• The students, selected by the teacher, refer the lesson they read at home before the classes.

• The teacher explains the aim of the lesson and together with students determines the success criteria to be achieved.

Realization

• The teacher asks students to read the abstract themselvest, paying particular attention to information about the desert landscape..

• Students are selected into groups. Each team on sheets of paper with a continental outline marks the areas of the savannah and makes a collage of photos showing the landscape of the steppe.

• Participants familiarize themselves with the content presented in the interactive illustration. Then the teacher discusses the issues with the students.

• The students consolidate the acquired information, discussing it with their nearest neighbors („tell your neighbor” method).

• The teacher writes on the board and explains five or more new English words related to the subject of the lesson. Then the teacher plays the audio recording of the abstract, asking the students to raise their hands when they hear one of the written on the board words. Lesson participants can also note how many times they have captured a given word.

Summary

• The teacher asks students to carry out the recommended interactive exercise themselves.

• The teacher asks a willing student to summarize the lesson from his point of view. He asks other students if they would like to add anything to their colleague's statements.

Homework

• Develop a lap book containing issues learned during the lesson and bring your work to the next class.

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

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Savannas

Savannas can be found in the tropical zone. Every day, the sun rises very high there. As a result, it is very hot there all year round. The rains fall for several months, in the period when the Sun reaches its highest point at noon. This period is called the rainy season. Having a plentiful supply of water, plants flourish, bloom and produce fruit then. The second season is the dry season. It is still hot, but there is no water, so the growth of some vegetation is halted until the next rainy season. The amount of water in deep layers of the soil and in rocks underneath is sufficient for very few trees and shrubs. Most of them shed leaves in the dry season, so as not to lose water through evaporation, while herbaceous plants dry out. Only in river valleys, there are narrow strips of evergreen trees, called gallery forests.

In Africa, savannas can be found to the north and south of the equatorial forests. Grassy areas occupy similar locations in South America, too - to the north and south of the Amazon rainforest – in the Brazilian Highlands, the Gran Chaco lowland and the Orinoko Lowland. Similar vegetation can also be encountered in North America in the border area between Mexico and the southernmost parts of the USA, in central India, in eastern parts of Madagascar and in north‑eastern Australia.

Today, savannas are inhabited, but economic activity is limited to animal husbandry and farming. Tourism is becoming increasingly significant for the economy there. In the past, hunting trips to Africa were organized too – safari. Rich people hunted wild animals so that they could bring home trophies to boast with. Palaces were adorned with specially preserved heads of animals and antlers. Ivory was used to produce ornaments and medicines. As a result, the number of wild animals has decreased dramatically. Fortunately, this decline has been stopped in recent years. Nowadays, “bloodless hunting expeditions” are organized for tourists – safaris during which animals can be observed and photographed in their natural environment in parks and nature reserves. The jobs of guards and tourist guides in a national park constitute a significant source of income for local communities.

• Changes in the height of the Sun’s path through the sky during the year have an effect on the amount of rainfall in savannas.

• There are two hot seasons in savannas: the dry season and the rainy season.

• Not many trees grow in savannas because of insufficient water resources.