Tentative/planned timing

Contents/activities

1

Organizing. Greeting.

5

Warmer up activity

5

Homework checking/Review material of the previous lesson

1

Introducing the topic of the lesson – Today we are going to speak about the British georgaphical outline.

20

Introducing the new material

The British Isles lie to the north-west of the continent of Europe and consist of two main islands, the larger of which is Great Britain, the smaller is Ireland. There are over 5 hundred small islands known collectively as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, with a total area of 244, 100 square kilometres and population of 58, 837 thousand people. Great Britain is made up of England, Wales and Scotland. Among the smaller coastal islands forming administrative countries of the mainland one should mention the Isle of Wight off the southern coast of England, the Isles of Scilly off the extreme south-west and Anglesey to the west. The north-west and west of Great Britain surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean. In the west the country is also washed by the Irish Sea. The eastern coast is open to the waters of North Sea. The south-eastern tip of Great Britain is separated from France by the English Channel which is 32 kilometres wide at its narrowest point. Northern Ireland which lies to the west of Great Britain is separated from it by the North Channel and is washed by the Atlantic Ocean and the Irish Sea.

Great Britain is very irregulary shaped, being deeply indented by numerous gulfs of the sea; no part of the country is more than 120 kilometres from the sea.

The seas surrounding Great Britain are not very deep, they are good for fishing. The remains of extinct species of animals and plants help to establish the dates when the British Isles became separated from the continent.

The island of Great Britain is quite distinctly divided into two parts: mountainous (north and west) and lowland, sometimes hilly (south and east). The most important mountain territories are those located in the north of Scotland. Geologically these mountains are among the oldest in the world formed by ancient hard rocks with traces of volcanic activity. The largest valley – the central lowlands – divides these mountain ranges into the Southern Uplands and the Northern Uplands. The narrow valley of Glen separates the North-west mountains from the Grampians where the highest point of the British Isles Ben Nevis (1343 metres) is with its majestic beauty. From the Southern Uplands of Scotland the mountains stretch to Wales Peninsula. To the south of the deeply inlanded Solway Firth Gulf, along the Western Coast runs the mountain range of Cumberland. To the east of this massif lies the central upland known as the Pennines – the backbone of Britain, stretching up to the river basin of the Trent, verging on the English Midlands. Lowland Britain extends from the mouth of the river Tyne in the north-east of England to the mouth of the river Exe.

The rivers of Britain are short, their direction and character are determined by the position of the mountains. Most of the rivers flow in the eastward direction.

Due to the humid climate the water-level is always high. The rivers seldom freeze in winter, most of them remain icefree but they are not navigable for ocean liners. The most important rivers are the Severn, the Thames, the Ouse, the Tyne, the Tees, the Twees and the Eden.

Despite its reputation for grey skies and rain, the climate of Britain is generally mild, temperature and humid due to the influence of the warm Gulf Stream. Because the British Isles are surrounded by water the climate is also insular and it is much moister than on the continent of Europe. Although the weather changes frquently, the temperature seldom goes to extremes – it is rarely than +32 degrees C or less than –10.

Of course it rains throught the year but the wettest months are from September to January while the driest are from March to June. There is much more rainfall in the mountainous areas of the west and north than in central parts of Britain. The west which is washeed by the Atlantic Ocean and the Irish Sea is wetter than the coast washed by the North Sea. November, December and January have the least sunshine – only an hour a day in northern Scotland and two hours a day on the south coast of England. This abundance of rainfall results in thick fogs which can last for days and weeks at a time during winter and autumn. But rains help grasses to grow, providing British cattle with good pastures and British countryside with its beautiful green charm.

The coldest parts of the British Isles are in Scotland and the warmest in the south-west of Ireland and England. Snow is rare there and it never lies on the ground for long. All the British ports are ice-free and the rivers do not freeze during winter which allows successful navigation.

5

Practising the new material

1. Where is Great Britain situated?

2. What seas is Great Britain washed by?

3. What does Great Britain consist of?

4. Is Great Britain a mountainous country?

1

Evaluating the learners activity and knowledge of the lesson

3

Summarizing the whole material of the lesson

4

Homework giving

End-of-lesson activity