1. Subject: Social Science- Geography
Teacher: Ricardo Forner
Title of the Unit- Introduction to PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
Course / Level – 4º ESO
1. Learning
1. Master the specific vocabulary and concepts commonly used in physical Geography.
outcomes
2. Locate continents, oceans, rivers, mountain ranges…in physical maps.
3. Identify and describe different landscapes, physical features, natural disasters…
4. Be able to follow historical routes in maps.
5. Get to know some basic facts about the climate and geography of the United
Kingdom.
6. Get to know some interesting aspects of life in the Arctic and the Antarctic regions
7. Be able to talk about some interesting regions on our planet which might be unique
from a geographical point of view.
2. Subject Content
1. Physical geography: introduction and basic concepts.
2. Map location.
3. Geography and climate in the UK.
4. Geography, flora and fauna in the Poles.
Language Content / Communication
Vocabulary
Nouns: archipelago, bay, canyon, cape, cave, channel, cliff, delta, desert, forest,
glacier, geyser, gulf, grassland, iceberg, hill, isthmus, jungle, lake, marsh, mountain,
ocean, peninsula, plateau, plain, tropical rainforest , river, savannah, sea, strait,
stream, tundra, volcano, earthquake, flood, hurricane, waterfall, latitude and
longitude, hemisphere, tropic, meridian, parallel, equator..
Verbs: fall, meander, flow, blow, float, enclose, grow, stretch, freeze, point, face, rise,
destroy, climb, spin, orbit, thaw, cover, boast…
Adjectives and adverbs: narrow, wide, arid, wet, mild, stony, tilted, northern,
southern, western, eastern, fertile, extreme, seasonal, high, low, extremely, scarcely,
densely …
Prepositions: far from, close to, into, on, round…off the coast, on the beach, in the
sea, all along, below/ above zero…

2. Structures
Useful phrases: It’s a kind of / it’s a sort of … // It stretches from… to
It flows through…; It faces… // It’s one of the… / It’s a unique example of…
Comparisons & superlatives: -er… than // more .. than // as…as // not so as
// less.. than // By comparison to… // On one side… on the other side // It’s
the same as… // It’s different from // It’s the -est // the most….in
Use of relative pronouns and clauses.
Use of different verbal tenses: present simple, past simple, present
perfect, passive, some modal verbs….
Wh-questions and Yes/no questions.
Connectors: to add points on a topic, to express a contrast, to describe cause
and result, to give examples, to show sequence, to conclude…
Discourse type
Identifying and classifying.
Giving definitions, examples and descriptions.
Asking and answering questions
Explaining
Language skills
Listening for specific information
Reading for general and specific information
Writing about the contents of a documentary
Speaking: definitions, examples, questions and answers,
brainstorming, and presentation to the rest of classmates.
4. Contextual (cultural) The world around us: some geographical features of Europe and the
element
UK.
Measuring distances: miles and kilometers. (Metric system vs. British
system)
The Poles. Global warming and endangered animals.

3. 5. Cognitive (thinking)
processes
Revising previous knowledge of the topic.
Identifying new words and concepts and using them correctly.
Defining, classifying and giving examples.
Getting relevant information out of videos, presentations and texts and using that
information to carry out the activities.
Comparing and describing.
6. Tasks and activities
1.1. Brainstorming- To introduce the topic and revise some previous notions and
vocabulary.
1.2. Gap-filling exercise- To explain, give examples, and start using new words connected
with the topic.
1.3. Presentation- Physical geography- To provide images and clear explanations that
help students to grasp the new concepts.
1.4. Matching exercise and mind map activities- To help them fix the new words and
ideas they have just been introduced to.
1.5. Crossword- A follow-up activity which might involve some fun as well as some
reinforcement.
2.1. Video and map location- To locate some geographical features in a map.
2.2. Marco Polo’s Journey- A simple web-based task to get familiar with maps and
historical routes.
2.3. Vocabulary games and web-based revision activities- To consolidate all the previous
learning.
3.1. Presentation and map location- To do some geography activities with physical and
political maps of Europe.
3.2. Video: UK culture- Climate and geography- To get to know better British climate and
geography.
3.3. Multiple choice and matching activities based on the video.
4.1. DVD- Documentary- The Poles. (National Geographic)
4.2. Questions and written activities based on the documentary.
5. and 6. Student’s oral presentations: “Amazing places” with comments and questions
from the rest of students and feedback from the teacher on both language and content.

4. 7. Methodology
Organization and class
Six or seven fifty-minute sessions. ( two weeks)
distribution / timing
There will be all sorts of interaction all through the unit:
-
Individual work
Pair work
Group work
Teacher-centred activities
Resources / Materials
Whiteboard
Computers with internet connection
Projector and screen
Handouts and web-based tasks
Dictionaries
Dvd
Embedded presentations, videos and links
Mind map..
Key Competences
Linguistic competence in English
Use of ICT
Knowledge and interaction with the physical world
Autonomous learning: learning to learn.
8. Evaluation (criteria
Criteria:
and instruments)
- The student can identify and use the basic concepts of physical geography to describe different
landscapes and regions.
- The student can locate certain countries and geographical features on maps.
- The student understands and can explain some basic facts about the British climate and geography.
- The student can understand and summarize some information about life in the polar zones,
describing the climate, landscape and the behavior of endemic species.
- The students working in a small group can used the Internet as a tool to gather information about
some amazing place; they can process that information and present it to the rest of the class in a five
or ten-minute oral presentation, followed by a short discussion on the topic.
- The student participates in all the activities and is always respectful with teacher and other
classmates
Instruments:
Attitude and daily observation. 10%
Activity and task accomplishment including written activities after the documentary 60%
Oral presentation
30%
( In this activity each group of students will be given some guidelines regarding content, structure,
language and extension that they will have to stick to. These eventually will help the teacher evaluate
the presentations and facilitate feedback )

5. Un primer modelo de esta plantilla ha sido publicado en:
Pérez Torres, I. 2009. "Apuntes sobre los principios y características de la metodología AICLE" en V. Pavón, J. Ávila
(eds.), Aplicaciones didácticas para la enseñanza integrada de lengua y contenidos. Sevilla: Consejería de Educación
de la Junta de Andalucía-Universidad de Córdoba.171-180.
Está basada sobre todo en la experiencia práctica a la hora de diseñar unidades y conversaciones con expertos y
compañeros. También he tenido en cuenta la teoría de las 4 Cs de Do Coyle, expuesto en numerosas publicaciones
como por ejemplo: Coyle, D., Hood, P. and Marsh, D., 2010. Content and Language Integrated Learning. Cambridge
University Press.
Ricardo Forner