Що ми знаємо про Великобританію (8 клас)

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.