Topic: The natural environment and economy of Russia

Target group

6th‑grade students of elementary school

Core curriculum

VIII. Neighbors of Poland: changes in industry in Germany; the cultural heritage of Lithuania and Belarus; natural environment and tourist attractions of the Czech Republic and Slovakia; political, social and economic problems of Ukraine; natural and socio‑economic diversity of Ukraine; natural and socio‑economic diversity of Russia; relations between Poland and neighbors.

Student:

5) shows the diversity of the natural environment and characterizes the economy of Russia

7) understands the need to shape good relations between Poland and its neighbors.

General aim of education

The student will discuss the natural environment and the economy of Russia

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• discuss the location of Russia on the map of Europe;

• characterize the natural environment of Russia;

• tell the main branches of the Russian economy.

Methods/techniques

• activating

  • discussion.

• expository

  • talk.

• exposing

  • film.

• 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;

• educational film;

• projector;

• physical map of Europe;

• physical map of Asia;

• statistical yearbooks;

• 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 students the topic and goals of the lesson.

• The teacher launches an interactive board on an interactive whiteboard and asks students to write down associations related to Russia. Then he initiates a discussion on this topic.

Realization

• Work of the whole class team. Students determine the geographical location of Russia. They indicate the neighboring countries.

• Work in pairs. Characteristics of Russia's natural conditions: vertical shape, river network, plant zones and climate. Students use geographical atlases and a handbook for teaching geography and a textbook.

• The indicated persons discuss the developed issue. They use the map of the manual displayed on the Russian interactive whiteboard - a hypsometric map.

• The teacher displays on the interactive whiteboard a map of the textbook The distribution of the population of Russia. He asks students to read cities with the largest population. Then he asks for information on the population in Russia on the internet. Drawing conclusions.

• Work in pairs. Economy of Russia: agriculture (soils and crops), industry (mineral resources and industries). Students use geographical atlases, a handbook for teaching geography and internet resources.

• Work in groups. The teacher divides the class into 4 teams. Each group develops a different thematic scope. Group I. Agriculture: soils and crops.
  Group II. Animal breeding.
  Group III. Mineral raw materials.
  Group IV Industry.
  Each group receives a sheet of A1 paper, markers. Students use source materials (geography teaching handbook, internet resources, e‑textbook). Students present their suggestions using a talking wall. They use the maps in the manual displayed on the multimedia screen.

• The teacher asks you to search for information about the Kaliningrad region. During the talk, the messages are saved on the board in the form of a mental map. Students on the wall map indicate the location of the Kaliningrad District.

Summary

• The teacher asks pupils for self‑assessment about team cooperation and the task performed. Evaluates the work of selected students.

• At the end of the class, the teacher displays on the interactive whiteboard exercises that are performed by the whole class team.

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

The natural environment and economy of Russia

The Russian Federation lies on two continents – in Europe and Asia. The country covers an area of more than 17 million kmIndeks górny 2², or more than the entire Europe (10.5 million kmIndeks górny 2²). Our continent accounts for „merely” 4.3 million kmIndeks górny 2² of Russia’s territory, which covers nearly the entire Eastern Europe.
Russia borders with thirteen countries, most of which are in Europe. In Asia, Russia has land borders only with five countries – China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Georgia, and Azerbaijan.

The vast area of Russia is divided into several dozen administrative units – republics, territories, and districts. Many of them have the word „autonomous” in their names, which suggests that a given unit should have some level of independence and autonomy. In practice, however, all the republics, territories and districts are heavily dependent on the central government in the country’s capital – Moscow.

Russia’s coastline is more than 37,000 km, almost that of the equator. It is very diverse, in particular on the Arctic Ocean and Pacific Ocean. Russia includes numerous islands and archipelagos, e.g. Novaya Zemlya (New Land), Severnaya Zemlya (Northern Land), Francis Joseph’s Land, New Siberian Islands on the Arctic Ocean, or Sakhalin and Kuril Islands on the Pacific Ocean. There are also many large peninsulas, e.g. Kamchatka, Taymyr, Yamal, Gydan, Kola, and Chukchi. The archipelagos, islands and peninsulas mark smaller water areas on the oceans – seas, gulfs and straits.

The vertical landform of Russia is considerably diversified. Great plains dominate the European part and western Asia – East European Plain and West Siberian Plain. By the Caspian Sea there is the Caspian Depression, which is the world’s biggest depression area. One third of the plain belongs to Russia and the rest to Kazakhstan. In the north of Asia, by the Arctic Ocean, there are smaller lowlands – North Siberian, Yakutsk‑Indigirka, and Kolyma.

Great and wide rivers flow through the lowlands and highlands of Russia. The continent’s longest river, the Volga (3690 km), flows through the European part.

There are also great lakes in Russia, with one in particular – Baikal. It is the seventh largest and the deepest lake in the world.

Russia has more than 140 million people, of which 100 million live in the European part. Russia is the most populous country on our continent – the next one is Germany with only slightly more than 80 million people.
The fact that more Russians live in the European part of the country results from better natural, social and economic conditions there. In Eastern Europe there is a slightly milder climate with more oceanic influences than in Siberia. In addition, forest and marshy areas, which hinder settlement, are smaller. The vicinity of southern and western European civilisations is also of importance. Despite that, the average population density for the European part of Russia is very low and amounts to 28 persons per 1 kmIndeks górny 2² – it is almost three times lower than, for example, in the neighbouring Ukraine. In the Asian part, the figure drops to 2 persons per 1 kmIndeks górny 2², but in practice the vast areas of Siberian taiga remain completely unpopulated, with people concentrated in cities and villages sometimes scattered even several hundred kilometres from one another. The average population density for the entire Russia is merely 8 persons per 1 kmIndeks górny 2². In general, the population has settled in the southern stretch of the country, due to a milder climate.

Nearly three‑fourths of the population live in cities, of which two are most important:

• Moscow – the current capital and one of the world’s largest agglomerations with more than 10 million inhabitants;

• Saint Petersburg (formerly Leningrad, Petrograd) – the former capital of Tsar Russia and today an agglomeration of 5 million people.

Moreover, Russia has more than a dozen cities of around 1 million inhabitants. Interestingly, as many as 5 of them – Novosibirsk, Omsk, Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk and Krasnoyarsk – developed in the poorly populated Asian part.

In terms of demographics, Russians are similar to the peoples of other countries of Eastern Europe – Belarus, Ukraine, or even Lithuania. For years Russia has had negative population growth caused by a low birth rate (due to difficult economic conditions) and high mortality (due to an unhealthy lifestyle, especially among men). Therefore Russia’s population is constantly decreasing, although, for example, the net migration rate remains positive. Many immigrants continue to flow into Russia from the former Soviet republics, especially Asian ones – Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, and Azerbaijan.

Russians account for around 80% of the Russian population. The remaining 20% is a real cultural mix of different nations and ethnic groups. These include persons from the former Soviet Union republics and also Tatars, Bashkirs, Chechens, Chuvash, Chukchi, Ingush, Yakuts, Mongols, Udmurt, Jews, and many more. There is also a group of 75,000 Poles, who live mainly in the European part. In Siberia, you can still meet the descendants of Poles who were sent there during the Russian partition of Poland as well as few of the remaining exiles from the communist times in Poland.

The foundation of Russian economy is mining and export of natural resources. Within its vast territory, Russia has deposits of virtually all the major natural resources. Energy resources (oil, natural gas, coal, uranium) and metal ores (among others, iron, copper, nickel, chromium) are of greatest importance to the economy. Also important are precious metals and stones (gold, silver, platinum, diamonds) and chemical resources (phosphorites, sylvinite, baryte). These resources are scattered across the country, with the following key mining areas:

• Kola Peninsula – metal ores and phosphorites;

• Moscow Coal Basin – lignite;

• Kursk region – iron ores;

• Ciscaucasia – oil and natural gas;

• Ural Mountains – metal ores, coal, oil, gas;

• West Siberian Plain – oil and gas;

• Novosibirsk region and Kuznetsk Basin – coal and metal ores;

• Siberian taiga – precious metals and stones, coal.

Apart from mineral resources, other natural resources are exploited in Russia. These include forests, which cover nearly a half of the country’s surface and are almost an infinite source of wood.
Also big rivers (Volga, Irtysh, Yenisei, Angara) are used for economic purposes, with numerous hydroelectric power plants built on them (among others, in Bratsk, Krasnoyarsk, Volgograd).
The processing industry of the Russian Federation is not very modern. During the Soviet times, due to the abundance of natural resources, mostly heavy industries developed – metallurgy, thermal power engineering, mechanical and electrical engineering, and chemical industry. Currently the most robust industry is the arms industry, the products of which are one of Russia’s key export products.

The food industry has also developed on a large scale, mainly due to the need to feed the millions of people. However, the growth has been insufficient and Russia now has to import large quantities of processed food, e.g. meat. On the other hand, non‑processed food, such as crops, is often exported.
Russian agriculture is not modern, either. In order to obtain high yield, vast arable land is used. The yield per 1 ha is much lower than, for example, in Poland or Belarus. In Russia, there are still large farms called kolkhozes or sovkhozes, in which work organisation as well as agricultural techniques and culture are rather poor.

As regards services, the key ones for the Russian economy include transport. The rise of transport was necessitated by the vast area of the country and the resulting long distances between cities. Today air and rail transport is relatively well developed. Long‑distance connections between the east and the west of the country have been established, including two train connections – Baikal‑Amur Mainline (BAM) and Trans‑Siberian Railway. The plane is a much faster means of transport, but more expensive. Train travel is cheaper, but it takes a lot more time. For example, the journey from Moscow to Vladivostok takes more than 6 days, whereas the flight is a matter of around 8 hours.
Water transport in Russia is also relatively well developed, both sea and inland. Access to three oceans is used, among others, by large ports in Saint Petersburg, Murmansk, and Vladivostok. Inland navigation is ensured mostly via the large European and Asian rivers. In the European part, a dense network of canals has been established, connecting, among others, the Volga with other rivers. Thanks to these canals, Moscow is referred to as the “port of five seas”.