What
do you know about Britain?
Suggested
Level – A2 pre-intermediate
Objectives:
-
to broaden pupils’ knowledge about Great Britain;
-
to develop reading, listening and
free speaking skills on the topic “Introduction to Britain”;
-
to improve skills in pronunciation;
-
to encourage pupils to communicate in
English.
Equipment:
the book “Opportunities in Britain”
(Workbook, pre-intermediate, Longman),
DVD-recorder, a map of Great Britain
and Northern Ireland,
thematic pictures, cards.
Procedure
1. Introduction
T:
Good morning, children! I’m glad to see you. Take your seats. Today we are
having a special lesson. It’s a video lesson. The topic of our lesson is “What
do you know about Britain”.
2.
Warming-up
T:
We study English and I am sure that all of you would like to visit Great Britain.
Am I right? You have already learned much about Great
Britain and today we are going to talk about geography,
climate of Britain.
We will talk about languages which are spoken in the country and the types of
the houses, and of course politics. Now, let’s do this quiz and see what we
know about Britain.
Answers:
1) 1-c, 2-a, 3-b;
2) a; 3) b;
4) a; 5) c;
6) b; 7) c; 8) a.
3. Main Part
Before watching the
video
T: What people and things do you associate with Britain?
(The word Britain is written on the
blackboard. Pupils write the words which are connected with Britain.)
Britain
Watching the video
T: Watch the video “Introduction” and tick the things
that you see.
T: Watch the video “Introduction” again and then
complete the sentences with these words.
changing science
politics traditional fish and chips pubs
Typescript
Introduction. Contemporary Britain is a
mixture of the traditional and the new. It still
has a royal family, people still eat fish
and chips, and there are still pretty villages with old-fashioned pubs.
At the same time, it's a growing multi-ethnic
and multicultural society developing in many fields - the arts, architecture, science, education, finance and politics. Britain is a place that's changing all the time.
T: Now let’s talk about geography and climate. Match the
words with the correct definition.
lake mountain
river coastline valley
cliff island field
1 A high, very steep area of rock by the sea.
2 An
area of Land usually surrounded by fences or hedges.
3 A
large area of water surrounded by land.
4 An
extremely high, steep, mass of rock.
5 The area of land next to the sea.
6 A
low area of land between hills or mountains.
7 A
long stream of water that flows along a definite course
into the sea.
8 A piece of land that is surrounded by water.
Answers:
1-
cliff, 2- field, 3- lake, 4- mountain,
5-
coastline, 6- valley, 7- river, 8- island
T:
Watch the video “Geography” and “Climate”.
Match the
regions (1-5) with their features (a-e).
Region Landscape and
Features
1.
Lake District a) beautiful beaches
2.
Wales b) flat
and low lying
3.
Scotland c) rivers,
hills, valleys
4.
South of England d) castles
5.
South and East e)
mountains, coastlines, islands
Answers:
1- c, 2- d, 3- e, 4- a, 5- b.
T:
Tick the things you see or hear. Then decide which sentences best describes the
British climate.
fog sunshine rain thunder
a
rainbow clouds
snow a
hurricane
1. Although there can be extreme weather, the UK has a mild
climate, with frequent grey skies
and rain.
2. There is often extreme weather in the UK
such as snow, and there are usually grey skies and rain.
Answer:
1
T: Watch
the video “The UK” and complete the factfile about Britain.
Answers: 1) Scotland, 2) Ireland,
3) 59, 4) third, 5) Northern Ireland,
6) Wales,
7)
Scotland, 8) Moscow, 9) London,
10) seven and a quarter, 11) largest.
Typescript
Geography. The landscape of Britain is incredibly varied. There
are beautiful beaches in the south of England. The south and east are mainly flat and low lying. As we travel north,
the scenery becomes more dramatic. Wales offers perfect Locations for castles. There are spectacular rivers,
hills and valleys in the Lake District. And
further north, Scotland
has magnificent mountains, coastlines and islands.
Climate.
Of course, the weather isn't always perfect. Although Britain often has grey skies and rain, it has a mild climate.
However, extreme weather does happen sometimes ...
The UK. England,
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland make up the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. People
usually refer to it as the UK
or simply Britain.
With a population of 59 million, Britain
has the third largest population in Europe. Belfast is the
capital city of Northern Ireland. It
grew up in the nineteenth century during Britain's industrial revolution.
It's a city of grand buildings and
interesting monuments. Cardiff is the
capital city of Wales.
It's a modern city that takes pride in its historic traditions. The capital of Scotland,
Edinburgh, is on the same latitude as Moscow.
It's a beautiful city which is rich in history. London, the capital city of Britain,
has a population of nearly seven and
a quarter million - which makes it the largest city in Europe.
T: What do you know about
political system in Britain?
Let’s watch the video “Politics” and decide if the sentences are true (T) or
false (F).
1. The
centre of government is in London.
2.
British parliament consists of three houses.
3. The Non-elected politicians meet in the
House of Commons.
4. There are three main political parties.
5. They are called Labour, Conservatives and Nationalist.
6. The Queen is the head of
state with a ceremonial role.
7. Power was devolved to the Scottish
parliament in 1999.
8. Northern
Ireland and Wales don’t have national
assembles.
Answers:
1-T, 2-F, 3-F, 4-T, 5-F, 6-T, 7-T, 8-F.
T:
We have a piece of information about the political systems in Britain. Let’s read it and compare
with the political system in our country.
T: What kinds of
houses do you know? Look at the pictures. Can you label the pictures with these
words.
Answers: 1) detached house,
2) semi-detached, 3) bungalow,
4) block of flats,
5) terraced house, 6) mansion.
T: Watch the video
“At Home” and complete the sentences.
Answers:1) houses, 2) semi-detached, 3) gardens, 4)
flats, 5) 2.4, 6) 30%.
T: Now we know about
geography, climate, politics of Britain,
but we didn’t talk about the language. So, please, answer some questions.
1
What is the main language of the UK? (English)
2
What language do 20% of the
population of Wales
speak?
(Welsh)
3
What language is spoken by some
people in Northern Ireland and Scotland? (Gaelic)
T: Watch the video
“Languages”. Look at the street signs and match the Welsh and English.
T:
What languages are spoken in our country? How
important is English in our country?
If we want to go to the UK, we must remember about the largest
airport ? What is it?
Watch the video “Travel” and tick the best
answer.
1 Britain joined the European Union in
a) 1983.
b) 1963.
c) 1973.
2 Britain has been linked to the continent via the Channel
Tunnel
a)
since 1974.
b) since 1994.
c) since 1984.
3 The Channel
Tunnel is just over
a) 50 km long.
b) 150 km long.
c) 15 km long.
4 Heathrow is the
a) busiest international airport in Europe.
b) biggest international airport in Europe.
c) busiest international airport
in the world.
5 Heathrow has
a) 60 million passengers a year.
b) 6 million passengers a year.
c) 16
millon passengers a year.
6 Stansted Airport is important for
a) international airlines.
b) national airlines.
c) budget
airlines
Answers: 1) c, 2) b, 3) a, 4) c,
5) a, 6) c.
Typescript
Politics. London is also the centre of
government. There are two Houses of Parliament, the House
of Commons, with elected MPs, or Members of Parliament, and the House of
Lords, which is non-elected. There are three main political
parties: Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal
Democrats. The head of state, Queen Elizabeth II, has a largely ceremonial
role. In 1999, the Labour government moved
some political power away from London. There is now a
Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh and
National Assemblies for Northern Ireland - in Belfast, and
for Wales - in Cardiff.
At home. The
majority of British people live in houses. Incredibly, one in
three homes is semi-detached. The British are famous for their love of gardens,
which perhaps explains why only 20% of families live in flats. The average family size in Britain is
getting smaller with only 2.4 people
per property. In fact, 30% of all homes only have one occupant.
Languages. English,
of course, is the main Language in the UK, but there are other native
Languages. About 20% of the population of Wales speak Welsh. Gaelic is spoken
in Northern Ireland and Scotland.
Travel. Britain has
been politically joined to Europe since it joined
the European Union in 1973. And it's been physically joined to the Continent
since 1994 by the Channel Tunnel. At just over 50 kms long, the
Channel Tunnel takes passengers from Waterloo Station in London to Paris, Brussels and Lille. Britain is a major centre for international travel. Heathrow is the world's busiest international
airport with over 60 million
passengers a year. Other major airports
around London
are Gatwick and Stansted, which are important for the budget airlines. And London, like
so much of Britain,
is always on the move.
4. Summing-up. Home Assignment
T: Dear children! Today we have learned some general
facts about Britain.
Let’s remember what they are (geography, climate, politics, languages and types
of houses). I hope you have enjoyed today’s video lesson. It has come to its
end. Thank you for your work. You were very active and get the following marks…
Your home assignment is to write a short message about Great Britain.
