Topic: Rivers of the world

Author: Magdalena Jankun

Target group

Seventh‑grade students of elementary school

IX.10. Student:

Describes the natural values of the Vistula and Odra rivers, characterizes river systems of both rivers and compares them with selected river systems in Europe.

The general aim of education

Students will learn the basic terms related to the river network and you will point the largest rivers of Poland and the world on the map.

Criteria of success

• You will point the main Polish rivers on the physical map of Poland: Vistula and Oder, you will show their sources , estuaries and tributaries;

• explain the terms: main river, tributary, basin, catchment area, estuary, watershed;

• describe how rivers are supplied;

• explain what role rivers play in human life and economy;

• you will locate the largest rivers in the world.

Key competences

• communication in the mother tongue;

• communication in a foreign language;

• learning to learn;

• digital competence.

Methods / forms of work

• brainstorming;

• using ICT tools;

• using the Google Earth programme;

• activity with educational material and multimedia on the epodreczniki.pl platform;

• individual activity, activity in pairs, activity in groups, and collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook for teaching geography;

• interactive whiteboard;

• multimedia projector;

• tablets/computers;

• physical map of world;

• physical map of Poland;

• geographical atlases.

Lesson plan overview

Before classes

1. The teacher gives lesson goals.

2. Using Google Earth, the teacher searches for the Vistula River and shows it on the multimedia projector, starting from the upper section - the source, then slowly presenting the entire river up to its mouth. This part of the lesson should take about 2‑3 minutes - just as an introduction to the topic. A complementation of this information will be an analysis of interactive graphics showing the course of the river in the abstract.

3. Work in pairs: the students' task is to search for the Vistula River and the Oder River on the physical map of Poland, and explain why they are called main rivers. Discussion in pairs. Then, several couples present their conclusions.

Realization

1. The teacher refers the students to source materials, such as a geography textbook, e‑textbook, and the Internet to clarify the terms: main river, tributary, source, estuary, catchment area, watershed. Examples are shown on the wall map of Poland.

2. Interactive exercise: signing illustrations. On the hydrological map of Poland, mark the estuary of the Vistula River, the estuary of the Oder River, any tributary of the Oder River, any tributary of the Vistula River, the source of the Vistula River, the watershed.

3. A task for the students - look for the estuary of the Vistula River and the estuary of the Oder River in the Google Earth programme on the interactive whiteboard. Compare both estuaries. The delta is clearly visible. Emphasize why these rivers have this type of estuary.

4. Individual work with an atlas. analyse the river basins of the Vistula River and the Oder River.

5. The teacher asks the selected students to indicate the tributaries of the Vistula River and the Oder River on the interactive whiteboard or on the wall map.

6. The teacher moves to the next lesson stage. The teacher asks the students about the importance of rivers. Brainstorming. The students should provide arguments that refer to economy, transport, and tourism, among others.

7. The teacher refers the students to geographical atlases: searching for the largest rivers in Europe and the world, and identifying the largest river systems. Eager students show them on the wall map of world and Europe.

8. Presentation of the photo gallery in the abstract: selected rivers of the world. Reading the information contained under the photos.

9. Doing interactive exercises in the e‑textbook that refer to river systems in the world.

Summary

1. At the end of the class, doing exercises on the wall map Poland, Europe and the world.

• Show Polish rivers: Raba, Pilica, Wieprz, Warta, Barycz, Narew, Nysa Kłodzka, Bóbr, Bzura, San, Wda, Drwęca, Dunajec.

• Show European rivers: Vistula, Volga, Kama, Danube, Loara, Thames, Vltava, Ural, Tag, Seine, Rhone, Rhine, Pad, Dniester, Dnieper.

• Show world rivers: Yangtze, Amazon, Hudson, Nile, Mississippi‑Missouri, Congo, Lena, Yenisey, Zambezi, Orinoco, Ganges, Rio Grande, Huang He.

2. The teacher gives homework (content below).

3. The teacher assesses the students' activity during the lesson, appreciating their engagement and commitment.

Homework

Characterize the natural values of the Vistula River and the Oder River. In your work, use Google Earth and other sources. Present the results of your work in the form of a multimedia presentation.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Earth’s rivers

The water flowing on the surface of the land, driven by the force of gravity, can be called a stream, a brook, a river or generally a watercourse. It is difficult to precisely and explicitly determine the differences between them. Basically, it is considered that larger objects where a significant amount of water flows deserve to be called rivers. In Poland, it was conventionally assumed that rivers are supplied with water from an area called a river basin. The river basin is an area of at least 100 kmIndeks górny 2², from which surface waters fall into the river and its tributaries up to a place where this river falls into another river, sea or inland area.

A river that flows into the sea or an inland lake is a main river. Every smaller river or a stream supplying the selected river is its tributary. The conventional line that encloses the basin is called watershed. The area from which all main rivers along with tributaries fall into one sea (ocean, inland lake), is a catchment area. The place where a river flows into a larger river, a lake, the sea or the ocean, is called a river mouth.

Rivers are mainly supplied with groundwater, rainwater, melting glacial water and melting snow. In the moderate climate zone, rivers are usually supplied from two or even three sources.
From the human point of view, rivers are of great importance. They are sources of drinking water, fish and water necessary for various areas of the economy. They provide transport routes. After banking up, river water drives turbines in hydropower plants generating electricity. Formerly, rivers were also defensive lines in military sense. At present, they still often designate state, administrative or geographical borders.