Topic: The Tatra Mountains – the landscape of high mountains

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)
II. Landscapes of Poland: alpine (Tatra Mountains), uplands (Kraków‑Częstochowa Upland), lowlands (Masovian Lowland), lake (Masurian Lake District), seaside (Slovincian Coast), metropolitan (Warsaw), urban‑industrial (Silesian Upland), agricultural (Lublin Upland). Pupil:

1) indicates the geographical location of Poland on the map;
2) presents the main features of Polish landscapes and shows their diversity;
3) recognizes Polish landscapes in descriptions as well as films and illustrations;

General aim of education

Students characterize the landscape of high mountains.

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• indicate on the map the Tatra Mountains and their highest peaks;

• describe the main features of the high mountains landscape;

• discuss the climatic phenomena found in the high mountains.

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;

• notebook and crayons/felt‑tip pens;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers;

• outline of the map of Poland from the previous lesson, markers, glue, tape, scissors, cards.

Lesson plan overview

Before classes

• Before the lesson, the teacher asks students to look in colorful magazines, the Internet and their own collections of pictures about high mountains. One of them must concern a city lying at the foot of high mountains..

Introduction

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

Realization

• The teacher displays the students' ranking of the players (group and teacher symbols) after subsequent competitions concerning the geographical areas.

• Each group receives the work of other teams from the previous lesson. The groups recognize and record what the pictures / illustrations of the indicated geographical region show. The card marked with the symbol selected earlier is given to the teacher who will compare it with the authors' answers.

• Students describe the location of the Tatra Mountains.

• The teacher asks students to read the abstract themselves, paying particular attention to the illustrations.

• Teams receive their projects. Students mark the areas of high mountains and make a collage of photos.

• The teacher presents and discusses the interactive illustration. He then divides the students into groups and recommends that each of them carry out an in‑depth analysis of one of the points presented in the diagram, based on available sources of information (e.g. internet, atlas or encyclopedia). Students present the results of work in groups. Each team ends their presentation with the wording of the conclusions.

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

Summary

• 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.

• The teacher assesses the activity and involvement of students.

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

The Tatra Mountains – the landscape of high mountains

In southern Poland, there is the only fragment of high mountains in our territory – the Tatra Mountains. They are the highest mountain range in the Carpathian Mountains. A larger part of these mountains with the highest peak (Gerlach, 2655 metres above mean sea level) is situated in the neighbouring Slovakia. One of the summits of the Rysy mountain is the highest point in Poland with an altitude of 2499 metres above mean sea level.

The landscape of the Tatras differs from the landscape of medium‑height mountains that we are already familiar with. In high mountains, there are deep valleys, some of them have a characteristic U‑shape. The Tatra slopes are steep. In the lower part, they are often covered by broken rock fragments which in these mountains are called scree. Scree consists of rock fragments which ascend downwards in couloirs - steep gullies in the mountainside. Between some peaks, there are rocky ridges called arêtes. Similar forms can be encountered in the Alps, and this is why both the Tatras and other high mountains with similar terrain characteristics are called alpine mountains.

The highest parts of the Tatra Mountains, called the High Tatras are mainly made of granite‑like rocks. The lower parts are dominated by metamorphic and sedimentary rocks. In the Western Tatras, where limestones and dolomites occur, various karstic phenomena are clearly visible, including the largest caves in Poland.

The Tatra Mountains have the lowest mean annual air temperature in Poland, the highest rainfall and strong winds. A special type of wind is halny - foehn wind. Due to the phenomena that take place in these masses of air, when it snows or rains on the Slovakian side of the Tatras, a turbulent, warm and dry wind blows on the Polish side.

In the Tatra Mountains, there are many plants and animals that are not found anywhere else in Poland. In order to limit human activity and its impact on nature, the whole area of the Tatras is protected as the Tatra National Park.
Today, human activity in the Tatras takes into account environmental protection and tourism related objectives. There are no industrial plants here, tree felling was stopped and former logging sites have been reforested as much as possible. The number of sheep grazing in the valleys and in the mountain pastures is limited. Mountain animals are protected. Cable cars, ski‑lifts, ski slopes and ski jumping hills have been left in their original locations and have not been expanded to new areas.

• The Tatras are the only high mountains in Poland; their larger part is located in Slovakia.

• In the Tatras, you can see typical forms of a high‑mountain landscape, such as scree, gullies and arêtes.

• The Tatra National Park has been established to ensure protection for nature that can be found nowhere else.