Внеурочное занятие по страноведению "Австралия"
занимательные факты по английскому языку (8 класс) по теме

Australia. The Lucky country.

Цели урока:

Социокультурный аспект:

1. Знакомство с Австралией (ее географическим положением, символикой, составом,  флорой и фауной).
2. Развитие умения представлять собственную культуру.

Развивающий аспект:

3. Развитие внимания, памяти, догадки, способности к логическому изложению, развитие умения работать со страноведческой информацией.

Воспитательный аспект:

4. Воспитание интереса и положительного отношения к другой стране, потребности в приобщении к культуре другой страны.
5. Развитие познавательных потребностей.

Учебный аспект:

6. Формирование лексических навыков говорения.
7. Совершенствование произносительных навыков.

Ход урока:

I Орг. момент

Good afternoon, my dear friends!!! How are you?

Today we’ll learn about Australia (запись на доске [ostreiljo]). It’s a wonderful land. At this lesson we’ll learn about Austalia’s geographical peculiarities, its official name, its territories and states, Australian deserts, cities, animals, birds and plants.

Are you ready?

II Фонетическая зарядка:

A greek astronomer and geographer Claudius Ptolemy thought that there existed a southern unknown land. It was called “Terra Austaralis Incognita” meaning “the unknown land of the South”.

Today you’ll  learn many new words on the topic “Australia”. There are some of them:

Canberra [k  nb  r   ]

Sidney [sidni]

Melbourn [m  lb   n]

Perth [r    O]

Tasmania [t   szm   ni   ]

the Murray [m  ri]

koala [koua:lo]

wombat [womb   t]

echidna [ekidn   ]

platypus [pl   tip  s]

emu [i:mju:]

kookaburra [kuk   b   r  ]

marsupial [ma:su:pi   l]

Please, try to read them correctly.

       III Речевая зарядка:

1. What do you know about Australia?
2. Can you find it on the world’s map?
3. Can you name its capital?
4. Can you name oceans?
5. Can you name parts of it?

IV Представление страноведческого материала:

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is formed of Australia, Tasmania and several smaller islands (for example, Cocos Islands, Kangaroo Island and others).

Austaralia itself is made up of the mainland of Australia and the island of Tasmania in the South and numerous smaller islands. It is located between the Pacific Ocean and the Indian oceans in the Southern Hemisphere.

The Australian continent is washed in the North by the Timor Sea, the Arafura Sea, Gulf of Carpentaria and Torres Strait, in the East by the Tasman Sea and the Coral Sea of the South Pacific Ocean, in the South by the Bass Strait and the Indian Ocean.

Australia’s neighbouring countries are Indonesia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea in the North, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia in the north-east and New Zealand in the south-east.

Its main mountain chain is the Great Dividing Range which is known as ”Australian Alps”. It runs along the western coast. Australia’s highest point, Kosciuszko in the Australian Alps is only about 2,000 metres high.

Other mountains include the Kimberly Range, the Hamersley Range and the Flinders Range in south Australia.

Australia is very dry. In the centre of continent there are three deserts: Great Sandy Desert, Great Victoria Desert and Simpson Desert. In fact, Great Sandy and Great Victoria Deserts are among in the largest deserts in the world.

Australian Desert Facts

•        The Australian deserts listed below make up about 18% of this continent, but a full 35% of Australia receives so little rainfall, it is classified as desert.

•        70% of the country is classified as arid or semi-arid, which means it gets less than 500 mm of rain a year.

•        That makes Australia the driest inhabited continent on Earth. Only Antarctica is drier.

•        Only 3% of the Australian population live in those dry 70% of the continent, the rest of our people is concentrated on the coasts.

•        The main reason for the formation of the Australian deserts is their location.

•        Like most major deserts across the world the Australian deserts can be found around a certain latitude (roughly 30° north/south of the equator) where the weather phenomena create a dry climate:

•        Hot moist air rises at the equator. It cools as it moves north or south, the moisture condenses and falls as abundant rain onto the tropical regions. Finally the now dry air sinks over the subtropical regions, warming as it sinks, which encourages evaporation, and voila: you get more evaporation than rain, perfect conditions for the formation of a desert.

•        While climate change means most of Australia is experiencing the worst draught ever, it also means that rainfall in the Australian desert is increasing!

There are not so many rivers and lakes in Australia. Its best known rivers are:

• the Murray (2,600 km long);
• the Darling (the Murray’s tributary; is the longest river in Australia – 2,740 km).

Massive salt lakes are often dry for long periods. They are fed by a large river system which carries water to fill them. The largest lake is Lake Eyre [eiri].

Australian territories and states.

Australia consists of six states and two territories.  In 1900, there were six British colonies on the Australian continent. On January 1, 1901, they united to form a single independent country, professing allegiance to the crown of England.

For a start we will begin the description with two territories: the Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory.

The Northern Territory has only one per cent of Australian population, though the territory of it is 20 per cent of the whole country. This is because the region is very dry. But there are still rain reasons.

The capital of this territory is Darvin. Its population “enjoys” thunder over 90 days per year.

Another big and important city is Alice Springs.

It’s interesting to know!

Camel racing is a popular sport in the Northern Territory. The Camel Cup is an annual celebration with fun rides, great food and live music. The winning camel rider and camel’s owner get the trophy.

The other territory of Australia is Australian Capital Territory. It is the location of the Australian national capital Canberra. 

In 1901, when it was decided to build a national capital, two cities – Melbourne and Sidney rivaled. To settle this argument a new capital Canberra was built  roughly between the two states – New South Wales where Sidney is and the State of Victoria where Melbourne is.

It’s interesting to know!

The name “Canberra” comes from the Aboriginal word “kamberra” meaning “meeting place”.

6 states of Australia are:

 New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania.

New South Wales is Australia’s most populated state. The capital of this state is Sidney. It’s the largest and one of the most well-known Australian cities.

Victoria state is the smallest mainland state, but its population is still relatively big – it is 4.6 million people. Most of them live in Melbourne, the capital of the state. Melbourne is thought to be country’s cultural, fashion and food capital. It is Australia’s second largest city after Sidney.

Queensland is often called “a holiday state”. That is true because it has a lot of attractions: beautiful beaches, rain forests and National Parks. It is the second largest state after Western Australia.

Its capital is Brisbane. The main industries here are agriculture and mining. Recently, tourism became very important.

It’s interesting to know!

Queensland is crossed by the Tropic of Capricorn.

South Australia is the driest state of all Australian states. Adelaide is the capital of it and is called “the city of churches”. The city is also famous for the Festival of Arts.

Western Australia is the biggest state which occupies almost one third of Australian continent.  In spite of its size, the population of this state is less than 1.8 million. Perth is the capital of Western  Australia.

This state has very long coast lines with white sandy beaches. So, tourism the fastest growing industry here.

Tasmania is the one and only state in Australia which is on the island. Bass Strait separates it from the mainland. To the east, there is the Tasman Sea and to the South – the Southern Ocean. Tasmania’s capital is Hobart.

Origins of names of Australia’s states:

1.        New South Wales: Named by Captain James Cook for its resemblance to the south coast of Wales.

2.        Queensland: Named in honor of Queen Victoria of England.

3.        Tasmania: Named for its discoverer, Abel Janszoon Tasman.

4.        Victoria: Also named for Queen Victoria of England.

5.    Adelaide was named after King’s of England wife.

The flag, symbols, the coat of arms and the National Anthem of Australia.

The flag of Australia was chosen in 1901, and in 1954 it became the Australian National flag. It consists of many elements. In the canton (left upper corner) there is the Union Flag. Under the Union Flag there is large seven-pointed star known as the Commonwealth Star. To the right of them there five white stars (one small and four big ones) – they are the Southern Cross constellation.

It’s interesting know!

The small Union Jack represents the historical link with Britain, the large seven-pointed star represents States and Territories, and the small stars from the “Southern Cross” are an outstanding feature of night sky in the Southern Hemisphere.

The flag of Australia is the only one which flies over the whole continent.

The Commonwealth coat of arms is the formal symbol of the Commonwealth of Australia. Symbols of Australia’s six states are together on its shield.  Austaralian endemic animal and plant symbols are presents on the coat of arms.

The national floral emblem is the golden wattle (acacia). It frames the coat of arms.

The kangaroo and the emu are Australian native animals that hold the shield on it.

The platypus and the kookaburra are the symbols of New South Wales, the koala is Queensland’s symbol and the symbol of Western Australia is the black swan.

Australian national colours are green and gold. They are on the floral emblem of wattle. Gold is for beaches, harvest, wool and green is for landscape, forests and eucalyptus trees.

The Australian National Anthem is called “Advance Australia Fair”. It was adopted in 1974 and is used in important public ceremonies, sport and community events.

Flora and fauna of Australia

The most peculiar feature of Australian animals is the pouch (that is a kind of a pocket). The best known of them are the kangaroo and the koala bear.

The kangaroo is a marsupial animal, i.e. an animal that carries babies in the pouch for eight months.   It is the largest marsupial in the world.  It can weigh 85 kilogrammes.

It’s interesting to know!

Australians call a male kangaroo “a boomer”,  a female kangaroo – “a flyer” and a baby kangaroo – “a joye”.

Why a kangaroo?

When European explorers first saw these strange hopping animals they asked a native Australian Aborigine about their name. He answered “kangaroo” to say “I don’t understand your question”.

The explorers thought this was the animal’s name. That is how the kangaroo got its name.

The koala is a small bear- like animal which lives in the eucalyptus trees. Most of its time the koala spends in these trees sleeping. However, they like to eat only some kinds of eucalyptus trees that grow in Australia.

Koala has a black nose and thick furry coat. It can weigh 10 kilogrammes. Though it looks very cuddly it has very sharp teeth and very sharp claws.

The koala’s nickname is a “native bear”.

It’s interesting to know!

Many people believe that koala is a bear but it is not even related to bears. The koala is related to the kangaroo and the wombat.

The reason why it is called “bear” is that it looks very much like a teddy bear.

The name “koala” is the Aboriginal name for “no water”.

The echidna and the platypus are the only two egg-laying mammals in the world.

The echidna is a toothless ant-eater. The platypus is a small animal with a beak of a duck and it also lays eggs.

The dingo is a wild dog about 50 centimetres high and usually sandy-coloured.

There are also so endemic animals as the Tasmanian Devil and the possum.

Tasmanian Devils live on their own, and come out at night to hunt for food. They eat small birds and mammals, as well as insects. They have black coat and a small bear-shaped head.

There are 800 varieties of birds in Australia. Among them there are emus, eagles, hawkes, parrots, cockatoos, lyrebirds, bower-birds, kookaburras and black swans.

The emu is a large bird which runs well but cannot fly. The emu and the kangaroo are represented at the emblem of Australia.

 The kookaburra is a popular Australian bird that sounds like a human laughing.

Many beautiful Australian birds have unmelodious voices.

Some of Australia’s fauna can be very dangerous to people. There are crocodiles in the North. There are so also spiders and poisonous snakes (death-adder) and tiger snake, for example).

Though the emu and the kangaroo are symbols of Australia, there is a very popular animal which is less exotic but it also symbolizes the country. It is a sheep merino which is famous for its fine wool. There is even a monument to the sheep in one of the Australian cities.

Because Australian climate is good for sheep-farming there are a lot of sheep farms (called “sheep stations” in many parts of the country where wool is produced for export.  There are around 150 million of sheep.

The climate in Australia is very dry. Because of this there are places like deserts where very little or almost nothing grows.

In the North there are tropical forests, in the north-east there are savannahs and grassland, in the south-east there are forests of eucalyptus or other ever-green trees which never lose their leaves, even in winter.

Some plants cannot be found in other parts of the world either. They are endemic. Its main native plants are wattle (acacia), eucalyptus (gum), mulga (mimosa), palm, fern and cedar.