Physical geography

Game

There follows a selection of words describing a range of geographical features. Read each set of notes and see ifyou can guess which country is being described. The answers are given below.

1-а peninsula bounded by a large mountain range in the North - a wide plateau extending to the ocean in the South — unpredictable monsoon climate - population (approximately 720,000,000) concentrated in the northern plains -

2— enormous forest areas in the interior - coastal mountains in the West - numerous islands off the north coast - lowlands in the North - continental climate, severe inland, more moderate by the sea - total area: 3,851,809 square miles —

3— a wide variety of land and climate — a huge river basin in the North - thickly forested - a vast plateau in the South - densely populated in coastal belt to the East - relatively underdeveloped in central areas beyond the highlands in the South-East — lies on the Equator -

4- consists of four main islands — mountainous and hilly - many active volcanoes - subject to earthquakes, typhoons and tidal waves - extends

through many degrees of latitude - the climate, therefore, is very diverse -

5- located round the mouth of the Rhine and opposite the Thames estuary - a long coastline - most of the country flat and low-lying - large areas in the

West and North below sea level - subject to floods - complex network of canals -

6- mountainous with numerous lakes — varied climate according to altitude, ranging from tropical to temperate to cold - highest point over 18,000 feet

(nearly 6,000 metres) - desert in the West - half of the country lies inside the

Tropic of Cancer -

7- to the North the southern slopes of a gigantic mountain chain - tropical forests and jungle - highest peak 8,845 metres - fertile valleys for agriculture in central zone -

8— most highly developed country in its continent - rich in mineral deposits and other natural resources - large industrialised urban areas round coasts - rural in the interior - rich vegetation, good irrigation -

Answers: 1 India 2 Canada 3 Brazil 4 Japan 5 Holland 6 Mexico 7 Nepal 8 South Africa

Note the following rather tricky uses of the words north, south, east, west and the more general terms northern, southern, eastern, western.

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Physical geography

Practice

Make or find an outline map of your country or a country you know well and describe its physical geography, drawing in the key features.

Write or discuss the answers to the following questions.

1Which country or countries might you choose to live in if you had to emigrate? Give the reasons for your choice.

2What influence can a country's physical geography have on the lifestyle, standard of living and quality of life of the population?

3Write out a page or two from the diary you kept during your solo flight around the world.

Write the opening of your speech at a conservationist 'Friends of the Earth' meeting, complaining about the ways in which man is interfering with and destroying his natural environment.

If your country couldn't be well described using the words and phrases given in this section, add any others you would need below.

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The plant world

Reading

Read through these two pieces ofhomework, noting some ofnature's key words.

20.4.89How Plants Grow (Biology Homework for Mr Chambers)

Of all the year's four seasons, it's Spring I like the best,

When Nature's clothes are not yet on, except its pants and vest. The twigs are growing stronger, the tree-trunks stand up proud, And on their sprouting branches the birds all sing aloud. There's blossom on the cherry trees and acorns on the oak,

The ash and elm and beech look fresh, and everyone drinks coke. The hedgerow is a lovely sight, it's getting on for June,

The flowers are in their tiny buds, they'll be in bloom soon. And then we'll see their petals on top ofhealthy stems.

To me they are as precious as the most expensive gems. There are nettles by the river, there are rushes by the lake,

There's masses ofmoss and thousands offerns, the thistles and thorns are awake. There are needles on the pine trees and beginnings of their cones,

And fruits growing on the bushes, the heavy shrub, it groans (under the weight, sir)

I know all the plants will wither, they'll fade and then they'll die, The clover will be over, and I always wonder why.

And then in late September, oh dear, here comes the autumn.

The coloured leaves blow off the trees, last year I ran and caught them.

No, this willnotdo. Ourlessonsareconcernedwith biology, notEnglish verse. You will do this again, and give it to me on Friday!

24.4.89How Plants Grow (Biology Homework for Mr Chambers)

Plants can be divided into ten categories, including bacteria, fungi, algae and less common and much longer Latin names. One of these comprises all flowering plants, crops, trees and most other natural vegetation on land.

Plants grow by a process called photosynthesis, which nobody really understands, including me. The leaves (or foliage) absorb carbon dioxide from the air when the pigment in them called chlorophyll is exposed to sunlight. Meanwhile, the roots absorb water and mineral salts from the soil and somehow send them up the shoot.

There is something poetic about the reproductive process in 'higher' plants. Every cell contains two sets ofchromosomes, each with a lot ofgenes arranged in pairs. I think this is important. The flower is the reproductive part ofthe organism. It has four main parts: sepals on the outside, then petals, then stamens which hold the pollen grains or male cells, and inside the style, containing ovules in ovaries - basically the female seeds. Then the bits of pollen are carried by the wind or insects to the female part, two cells come together, pollenation has taken place, and the thing is fertilised. This is a brief summary of how plants grow. Perhaps the picture will help:

Better work, but I think we could probably do without the artistic illustrations thank you. Our lessons are concerned with biology.

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The plant world

Practice

Only try to learn the following words if you are a real nature-lover. On the other hand, it might be worth being able to recognise them.

Try to find the answer to each question from the words printed below it.

1 Which one of these is not an evergreen tree?

a cedar a cypress a holly tree a laurel a willow a fir tree a yew

2 And which of these is not deciduous?

a (silver) birch a sycamore a horse-chestnut a poplar a plane tree a yew

3There are, of course, hundreds of different flowers: some wild, some cultivated, some both (like a daffodil). Which of these are normally garden flowers, and which wild? Mark them G or W respectively.

primrose poppy

The following sentences are broken up into three sections, which have been mixed up. Try to rearrange them, so that they make more sense. They are describing where certain plants are usually found.

There was / were:

[3j Write or discuss the answers to these questions.

1How do you feel schoolchildren can best be introduced to nature and the natural sciences?

2How would you arrange, ifyou could, a garden of a hundred square metres?

[4]Write part of an enthusiastic letter to a friend explaining why this present season is your favourite one.

Write an article for your local magazine entitled: 'City-dwellers don't know what they're missing'. Try to convince the reader of the joys of the countryside.

Add any other words about plants and flowers as you meet them.

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