Topic: Southern Europe - Mediterranean culture, tourism

Target group

VIth grade of primary school

Core curriculum

VII. Geography of Europe: the location and boundaries of the continent, the main features of the natural environment in Europe. Agriculture, industry and services in selected European countries.

13. Shows the relationship between the development of tourism in Southern Europe and natural conditions and the heritage of Mediterranean culture.

General aim of education

The student learns the relationship between the development of tourism in Southern Europe and the natural conditions as well as the legacy of Mediterranean culture

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• indicate on the thematic map the most outstanding natural and cultural values of Southern Europe;

• demonstrate the role and importance of tourism;

• use information sources to describe selected tourist assets in Southern Europe.

Methods/techniques

• expository

  • talk.

• activating

  • discussion.

• exposing

  • exposition.

• 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;

• physical map of Europe;

• geographical atlases;

• projector.

Lesson plan overview

Before classes

• Students get acquainted with the content of the abstract. They prepare to work on the lesson in such a way to be able to summarize the material read in their own words and solve the tasks themselves.

Introduction

• The teacher informs students about the goals of the lesson.

• Begins classes using the LearningApps program - „Hangman” application, password to guess PARTENON.

• Introductory talk.

Realization

• The teacher runs short films on, for example, Greece or Italy, showing the most beautiful places on the multimedia board.

• The teacher asks a question to the students in reference to the history of human history. What is the name of the oldest culture found in the Mediterranean. Students search for information in source materials.

• He asks students to provide some information about ancient Greece and ancient Rome.

• He asks the question: what determines the tourist attractiveness of southern Europe?.

• Students use the mental map to record the tourist attractions, each of them is supported by a comment from the students and the teacher.

• On the multimedia board, the teacher displays a map from the e‑textbook. Southern Europe. Landscape map. Students approach the board and using the included interactive magnifying glass analyze the most valuable natural, cultural and places from the seven wonders of the ancient world: Ephesus, Temple of Artemis, Halikarnas Mausoleum, Rhodes. They use Internet resources to provide interesting content related to these places.

• Students are divided into 5 groups. Each group prepares information on the attractions of two randomly drawn states: for example: 1st group - Greece, Slovenia, 2nd group - Italy, Albania, 3rd group - Spain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, IV- Portugal, Bulgaria, 5th group - Croatia, Malta. Each group has 10 minutes to develop a poster. Then each group presents information on the class forum.

Summary

• At the summary of the lesson, students perform interactive exercises on the interactive whiteboard.

• The teacher assesses the students, taking into account the contribution and their possibilities.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Southern Europe - Mediterranean culture, tourism

The origins of European civilization are considered to have come from the succesful movement of the older Asian civilisation to younger colonies situated in the islands of the eastern Mediterranean. Around 6000 BC settlers from Asia Minor began to enter eastern areas of Southern Europe. The Asia Minor Peninsula is separated from Europe by the Bosphorus and Dardanelles, which at their narrowest point are around 1km wide. It is likely the incomers included shepherds and farmers from the Fertile Crescent, that is, a place where many plants and animals had been previously cultivated.

The following infographic gives information on the development of agriculture in Southern Europe.

The oldest culture of the Mediterranean is considered to be the Minoan culture from Crete. Preserved documents show that in the seventeenth century BC the inhabitants of Crete ruled over this entire known marine area. The history of Ancient Greece covers a period of more than a thousand years. The Golden Age of Greek city states lasted from VIII to the IV centuries BC. The beginning of the era is marked by the first Olympic Games, which occurred in 776 BC. At that time, the Greek city states were colonising many famous places such as: Naxos, Messina and Syracuse in Sicily, Massilia (now Marsailles), Napolis (Naples). The expansion of Ancient Rome began from the third century BC into areas occupied by the Greeks and their city states. The final phase is considered to be the capture of Syracuse, which was defended, amongst others, by Archimedes in 212 BC. In the following centuries there came the phenomenon of interpenetration of Greek and Roman culture.

The following factors are used to define a tourist attraction in Southern Europe:

• warm Meditteranean climate which encourages relaxing by the water;

• a concentration of unusual cultural values that are connected to the history of our continent;

• diverse terrain and interesting vegetation.

The map shows cities, centres, monuments and other objects that have been selected and added to the UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage List. The map does not show the full cultural richness of Southern Europe. Many smaller items are not included, such as: the Isle of Capri, karst regions of the Balkan Peninsula, the Rock of Gibraltar – the Columns of Hercules. Each location marked on the map above has a long and rich history. Today, a number of cities in this area are known as the great centres of European culture because of their importance to tourism. These are: Athens, Rome, Florence, Venice, Madrid, Barcelona, Istanbul. Southern Europe is one of the most visited regions in the world by tourists. It yields around 20% of global income from tourism.