Проектная методика в обучении английскому языку "Аляска – 49-й штат Америки"

Цели: изучить специфику штата, его историю, географию, промышленность, столицу, основные города, животный и растительный мир штата.

Основные задачи:

1. Совершенствовать знания и умения практического владения языком как средством общения.
2. Развивать творческие способности учащихся, их самостоятельность.
3. Повышать мотивацию учащихся с целью дальнейшего самостоятельного изучения английского языка.

Оформление классной комнаты:

• географическая карта штата,
• картинки из фотоальбома об Аляске,
• мультимедийная установка,
• компьютер.

Продолжительность занятия 90 минут (урок в профильном классе).

Ход урока

Teacher: Dear boys and girls, today we’ll see the results of our work. The aim of our project is to determine the best knowledge of Australia, its geography, history, species, principal towns, climate and famous people of the state.

Рассказы учеников:

State of Alaska History.

No one knows exactly when people first found the land called Alaska. Some anthropologists believe that people migrated from Asia to North America as long as 40,000 years ago. Others argue that it was recent as 15,000 years ago.

Several distinct groups of people are native to Alaska: Eskimos, Aleuts, Athabascan, and Tlingit Indians. As these groups migrated from Siberia across Alaska, they settled areas suitable to their particular life-style. Eskimos spread across the Far North and into Alaska’s western regions. A chain of North Pacific islands was claimed by the Aleuts. The Athabascan Indians remained in the Interior while the Tlingit Indians settled the Southeast, also referred to as the Inside Passage. Within this balance of power, each group developed a unique culture and prospered.

In search of lands beyond Russia’s eastern boundary, a Russian expedition under the leadership of Danish explorer Vitus Bering departed Siberia in June of 1741. The following month Bering sighted Alaska’s mainland. By 1745 Russian hunters and fur trades were well established in the Aleutian islands and the Inside Passage, leading the way for colonization. Other powers such as Britain, Spain and the United States expressed an interest in Alaska, but Russia remained the dominate foreign power until the mid-nineteenth century.

At the instigation of Secretary of State William Seward, the United States Senate approved the purchase of Alaska from Russia for $ 7,200,000 on April 9^th, 1867, and the United States flag was raised on October 18^th of that same year.

The most important dates in the history of Alaska.

Alaska-six states within a state

1. The Artic – this region, which includes the northern-most third of Alaska, is within the Arctic Circle. Average temperatures are about 47 degrees below zero in winter and about 10 degrees above zero in summer. The majority of people in the region is Eskimos and is home to the polar bear and walrus. The Eskimo economy depends on reindeer herding, hunting and fishing to survive.
2. Western Alaska- this area includes the Seward Peninsula, Norton Sound, the Yukon- Kuskokwin River deltas, Bristol Bay and coastal islands. Summers are cool and foggy; winters are moderately cool and windy.
3. Southwestern Alaska- the longest and narrowest of the Alaska regions. This peninsula extends into the Pacific Ocean a distance of 550 miles. From it the Aleutian Islands string out an additional 1,500 miles. This region is one of mild winters and cool, foggy summers. Storms are often born here, affecting the weather for all North America. The islands are of the largest volcanic chains in the world and the home of Kitmai National Monument. The Aleuts, who inhabit this area, are friendly, cheerful and religious, many having embraced the Russian Orthodox religion.
4. The Interior- temperatures around Fairbanks can reach 30* plus in the summer and -40* in winter. Long summer days make quick raising of vegetables, fruits and grains possible. This is the home of the Athabascan Indians. Some Indians trap, hint and fish while others work in modern industries.
5. The South Central Region – this is the most populated region, bearing the first oil and gas wells. This area contains much of Alaska’s farm land, Anchorage, is located here and noted for its metropolitan appearance and cultural assets.
6. Southeastern Alaska – sometimes called the Panhandle, this area has warm winters and cool summers. It is a narrow strip of mainland and offshore islands covered by massive forests. Fishing, canning and pulp mills are of increasing importance to the economy. Most of this region is part of the Tongass National Forest.

Geography and industry.

Alaska is a place of contrasts. Most of Alaska is still a wild frontier, yet you can also find skyscraper apartment houses. An Eskimo puts out to see in a whale skin boat, but the boat may be powered by an outdoor motor. And a dog team pulls a sled over snow and ice – hurrying to a modern airport. Alaska is not all snow and ice, however, even in winter. And in summer, the temperature in Fairbanks sometimes soars to 100 degrees F. Here truck gardens grow strawberries as big as plums, and the shining until late evening – can give you a sunburn.

The most northerly point in U.S. is point Barrow. Here from May through July, you an fish all night by the light of the midnight sun.

Alaska is big –twice as big as Texas (615, 230 sq mi). Alaska, with its numerous islands, has nearly 34, 000 miles of coastline. The island chain extending west from the southern tip of Alaska is called the Aleutian Islands. North America’s highest mountain is in Alaska – Mt.McKinley. Malaspina is as big as Rhode Island. And there is a volcano with a crater six miles across. This volcano Aniachak, is near the valley of ten thousand Smokes. Steam and smoke puffing from creates all over this strange valley make it look like some giant’s kitchen.

Salmon fishing is the most industry, but gold in what comes to mind when most people think of Alaska. With the discovery of gold in the late 1800s prospectors poised into Alaska’s wildness. Many of them settled there.

Today Alaska produces more platinum that any other state. Alaskans cut timber for their pump miles, pump oil from under the sea, and produce many beautiful furs.

Alaska species

Wildlife can be found everywhere in Alaska, from cities where moose, bears and wolves roam to more than 18 million acres designated by Congress as wildness areas as part of the National Wildness Preservation System. However, most refuges in Alaska require travel via air transport, making them difficult and expensive to reach.

Many species in Alaska such as black and brown bears, wolves, moose and many others are on the verge of Extinction. They are interesting in their own way. So, let’s learn about them more than we do.

Black bears are usually smaller than brown bears. They can look alike, but there several ways you can tell the bears apart. Black bears don’t have a shoulder hump like brown bears. Black bears also have a straight face, compared to the brown bear’s bowl – shaped face. Their paws are different too. They can be found in most forested areas in Alaska. Like brown bears, black bears hibernate in winter. Their dens are found in hollow trees or rocks.

Moose like bears can be brown or black but they have longer legs and larger body than bears do. Alaska is full of moose on the Coastal Trail or in Kincaid early in the morning or just before sunset. Moose like to roam along roads and highway that are close to rivers and ponds. They also take walks through the city and neighborhoods.

Musk oxen look huger than bears and moose. They are large animals with humped shoulders and dark brown shaggy fur that is so long it almost drags on the ground. A light brown patch of fur is on their back. Their legs are also light brown. Musk oxen have horns that look like big curls on the sides of their head. During the winter, they use their hooves to dig through the snow for grass to eat, but they try to stay their hooves to dig through the snow for grass to eat, but they use their hooves to dig through the snow for grass to eat, but they try to stay in areas where the snow has blown away.

The polar bears are the world’s largest land carnivore. The bears can weigh more than 1,000 pounds. These “sea bears” are excellent swimmers. They use their front feet to dog paddle and their back legs to steer. But the walrus is faster so can kill a polar bear by swimming under it and stabbing the bear with his long ivory tusks.

Sea otters. They’ve been nicknamed “Old Man of the Sea” comes from the silver hairs and whitish-silvery head of older otters. The under fur is brown, dark brown or black; pale brown or silver guard hairs.

Puffin’s nickname “Parrots of the Sea” because of their brightly colored beaks. Bit these birds aren’t always colorful. At the end of breeding season, their black feathers turn brown and their white face patches become dark, almost turning black.

This is the variety of Alaska’s wildlife. Many species are so beautiful but everything can’t be so good in our life. There is one “little” problem: EXTINCTION!

Cities and towns.

The City and Borough of Sitka is a unified city-borough located on the west side of Baranof Island in the Alexander Archipelago of the Pacific Ocean (part of the Alaska Panhandle), in the U.S. state of Alaska. Sitka is the state's fourth-largest city by population and the largest city in the United States by area. The name Sitka (derived from Sheet’ka, a contraction of the Tlingit name Shee At'ika) means "People on the Outside of Shee," Sheet’-ka X'aat'l (often expressed simply as Shee) being the Tlingit name for Baranof Island. The town is sometimes referred to as "Sitka-by-the-Sea."

The City and Borough of is a unified municipality located on the Gastineau Channel on the Alexander Archipelago of Alaska. Juneau is the capital of the U.S. state of Alaska. The municipality unified in 1970 when the City of Juneau merged with the City of Douglas and the surrounding borough to form the current home rule municipality. The area of Juneau is larger than that of Rhode Island or Delaware and almost as large as the two states combined. Juneau is nestled at the base of Mount Juneau and across the channel from Douglas Island. As of the 2000 census, the City and Borough had a population of 30,711. The U.S. Census Bureau's 2005 population estimate for the City and Borough was 30,987. Juneau's only power utility is Power. The current Alaska State Capitol is an office building in downtown Juneau, originally built as the Federal and Territorial Building in 1931. Originally housing federal government offices, the federal courthouse, and a post office, it became the home of the Alaska Legislature and the offices for the governor of Alaska and lieutenant governor of Alaska. There have been subsequent discussions regarding building a new capitol building, without significant development.

Fairbanks is a Home Rule City in Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, and States. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska, and second largest in the state. It is the principal city of the 'Fairbanks, Alaska Metropolitan Statistical Area' which encompasses all of Fairbanks North Star Borough and is the northernmost Metropolitan Statistical Area in the United States. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 31,324. The population of Fairbanks and vicinity is 82,840. Fairbanks is home to the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the oldest college in Alaska.

Ketchikan is the fifth most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska and the southeastern most sizable city in that state. Ketchikan’s economy is based upon tourism and fishing, and the city is known as the "Salmon Capital of the World." The Misty Fjords National Monument is one of the area's major attractions.Ketchikan is named after Ketchikan Creek, which flows through the town. Ketchikan comes from the Tlingit name for the creek, Kitschk-hin, the meaning of which is unclear; it may mean "the river belonging to Kitschk." Other accounts claim it means "Thundering Wings of an Eagle." Ketchikan also has the world's largest collection of standing totem poles located at three major locations: Saxman Village, Totem Bight, and the Totem Heritage Center.

Petersburg is a city in Wrangell-Petersburg Census Area, Alaska, in the United States. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 3,010.

Soldotna is a city in Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 3,759. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the city had a population of 4,087.^[1] It is the seat of the Kenai Peninsula Borough.

Kodiak (Russian: Кадьяк) is a city on Kodiak Island in Kodiak Island Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 6,273. The city holds about half of the community's population. Kodiak was the capital of Russian Alaska.

State symbols

State bird: Willow Ptarmigan, adopted by the Territorial Legislature in 1955. It is a small (15-17 inches) Arctic grouse that lives among willows and on open tundra and muskeg. Plumage is brown in summer, changing to white in winter. The Willow Ptarmigan is common in much of Alaska.

State fish: King Salmon, adopted 1962.

State flower: wild/native Forget-Me-Not, adopted by the Territorial Legislature in 1917.

It is a perennial that is found throughout Alaska, from Hyder to the Arctic Coast, and west to the Aleutians.

State fossil: Woolly Mammoth, adopted 1986.

State gem: Jade, adopted 1968.

State insect: Four-spot skimmer dragonfly, adopted 1995.

State land mammal: Moose, adopted 1998.

State marine mammal: Bowhead Whale, adopted 1983.

State mineral: Gold, adopted 1968.

State song: "Alaska's Flag"

State sport: Dog Mushing, adopted 1972.

State tree: Sitka Spruce, adopted 1962.

Quiz.

Have you got acquainted with Alaska?

1. Who Discovered Alaska?
2. When was Alaska sold by Russians to America?
3. What are six states within Alaska?
4. What is the nickname of the state?
5. When did Alaska become the 49^th State?
6. What is the capital of Alaska?
7. What is the state bird?
8. What is the state fish?
9. What is the state sport?
10. What is the state insect?
11. What is the state mammal?
12. What is the state flower?

Приложение 1.

Teacher: Thank you, dear boys and girls! It was really a good job. I’m sure that you were really happy to know so interesting facts about Alaska.