Topic: North and South America – landscape, climate and waters

Target group

8th‑grade students of elementary school

Core curriculum

XVI. Selected problems and geographic regions of North and South America: meridional extent and surface shape.

1. Determines the regularity of the North and South America surface based on thematic maps;

2. Shows the relationship between surface formation, air circulation, distance from the sea, sea currents and the course of the crop and forest border in Canada.

General aim of education

The student will discuss the shape of America's surface, climate and waters.

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• you will discuss the shape of North and South America;

• you will discuss the features of the natural environment and their impact on the climate of America;

• you will point to mountain barriers and sea currents that have an impact on the climate;

• you will show the largest rivers and lakes of North and South America;

• you'll find on the map types of climates in North and South America.

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;

• Physical map of North and South America;

• geographical atlases.

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 gives the topic, the goals of the lesson in a language understandable for the student, and the criteria of success.

• The teacher asks students to analyze the hypsometric map of North and South America and to indicate the differences and similarities in the shape of their surface.

Realization

• Work in pairs. Students, using atlases, search for geographical objects that make up the vertical shape of the Americas. Alternately they check their knowledge of the Americas map..

• Work of the whole class team. The teacher displays the interactive Task 1. Students divide the vertical shape of the Americas and write examples of the largest forms: mountains, uplands, lowlands, depressions.

• Eager students point to examples of these forms on the wall map of North America and South America.

• Students brainstorm the geographical factors that affect the climate of the Americas. After the creative phase, the ideas are verified and the discussion is discussed.

• Students point to mountain barriers and sea currents on the map that affect the climate. Discussion of the whole class team.

• Continuing work with the map, students point to the largest lakes and rivers of the Americas.

• Using the map of the American Climate Types displayed on the interactive board and other sources (internet, geography and textbook manual), the whole class team reads types of climates, and based on climatic data gives the characteristics of each type of climate.

Summary

• Students do interactive exercises on the interactive board.

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

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

North and South America – landscape, climate and waters

The principle climate factors forming types of climate in America are a result of:

• geographical location;

• great meridional extent;

• meridional arrangement of the orographic barrier of the North America Cordillera and the Andes along west coast;

• influence of both oceans, including ocean currents along coasts.

In North America climate is influenced by an extremely well‑developed coastline with two big bays – Hudson Bay filled with cold water in the north, and the Gulf of Mexico with warm water in the south.

In South America climate is strongly influenced by the situation of the major part of the land in the tropics and huge Amazon Basin covered with tropical rainforest.

The shape and climate have a significant impact on the water network  of America. The Atlantic Ocean has the largest basin, because the main water section runs along the ridges of the North America Cordillera and the Andes. On both continents, the river network is distinguished by long rivers and a large surface of the river basins. In addition, in North America there are numerous lakes that were formed after the last glaciation (just as in Europe). The largest river system in North America consists of  Mississippi and Missouri. Mississippi is 3658 km long, and together with Missouriit counts 5969 km. In the central eastern part of the continent there is a group of five Great Lakes  which form the largest freshwater reservoir on Earth with an area of 250 thousand km Indeks górny 2² . The largest is Lake Superior with an area of 82.1 thousand km Indeks górny 2². The big rivers in South America are: the Amazon, the Paraná River and the Orinoco River. The Amazon River basin is located in the equatorial humid climate zone. The powerful tributaries on the left and right form the largest basin in the world with an area of 7 million km Indeks górny 2² . The Amazon is the river with the largest water resources on Earth – the average annual flow at the estuary is 175 thousand m Indeks górny 3³ / s, which is about 160 times greater than the flow of the Vistula. For years, there have been disputes as to which of the two, the Nile or the Amazon, is the longest river in the world. The most recent measurements indicate that it is the Amazon River, as its length is 6,992 km (the Nile is 6,853 km).