Topic: Seasons in the forest

Target group

4th‑grade students of elementary school

Core curriculum

Grade IV
VI. The natural environment of the immediate area. Pupil:
8) gives the names of forest layers, compares the abiotic conditions prevailing in them; recognizes basic species of plants and animals living in the forest and assigns them to appropriate forest layers; lists the rules of proper behavior in the forest.

General aim of education

Students discuss the relationship between the succession of seasons and the conditions of life in the forest.

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• indicate the adaptation of evergreen plants to the survival of the winter period.

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;

• notebook and crayons/felt‑tip pens;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers;

• paint;

• colored paper;

• glue.

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

Realization

• Students read the fragment Fri „How does the forest change during the year?”..

• The lecturer displays an interactive illustration of „Four Seasons in the Forest”. The task of volunteers is to recognize the seasons presented in the photographs and to define the conditions prevailing in the forest during each of them. The teacher verifies students' statements by clicking on the numbers in the pictures.

• Students independently perform interactive exercise No. 2..

• The lecturer gives cards to the pupils and art materials. The name of one season is written on each sheet. Pupils describe the forest at this time of the year and perform any technique that corresponds to the description.

• Students prepare an exhibition of works, and then they choose together those that best represent the living conditions in the forest, prevailing during a specific season of the year.

Summary

• Students independently perform interactive exercise No. 1.

Homework

• 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

Seasons in the forest

In early spring, the leafless trees permit sunlight to fall unobstructed to the forest floor, and the first leaves and flowers appear instantly in the forest groundcover. This is the only period in the year when they not only have the right temperature, but also access to a large amount of light. Plants such as snowdrops, anemones and liverleafs, as well as many other plants, start to bloom then. They have to produce fruit quickly, before they are overshadowed by leaves of trees in 1‑2 months’ time. In spring, trees begin to sprout leaves, using nutrients accumulated in the tissues of the trunk and roots. They grow from buds produced in the previous year. The blossom of spring‑flowering trees develops from buds, too.

When summer comes and the sun is high in the sky, it becomes darker and cooler in the forest floor layer than in the crowns of trees. It is where the fruit of deciduous trees and cones of coniferous trees mature. Plants take advantage of high air temperature, rainfall and a long day to photosynthesize at a fast rate. The trunks of trees and bushes grow both in width and in height.

In autumn, the sun is lower over the horizon, the air temperature drops and the daytime becomes shorter and shorter. Plants disperse seeds, which survive the winter. Deciduous trees and bushes and most herbaceous plants shed their leaves to reduce the loss of water in winter. The water in leaves and branches could freeze, damaging the whole plant. It is the time of increased activity for organisms living in the forest floor and ground cover layer.

In winter, most plants cease to photosynthesize. Only coniferous trees and evergreen trees continue to photosynthesize to a limited extent. Herbaceous plants are hidden under a layer of snow, which isolates them from the cold air, enabling them to survive the winter.

• In deciduous forests, plants of the forest floor have the best living conditions in spring.

• Native coniferous trees and shrubs remain green throughout the year; the only exception is larch.