Aims: to develop cognitive skills and creativity, to nurture ecological education and caring attitude to the nature of the region.
Objectives:
- To develop pupils’ knowledge about their native region as an area with unique nature;
- To consolidate pupils’ skills of working with the maps of the native land and using other sources of ethnographic information;
- To start the development of geographical and ethnographical education;
- To contribute to nurturing pupils’ their love to place of birth and living, their morality and patriotism;
- To contribute to ecological education and caring attitude to the environment;
- To teach the application of geographical and ethnographical knowledge and skills in everyday life in order to save the environment, to behave in a socially responsible way, and for the health of the pupils;
Communicative sub-aims: to develop pupils’ ability to express their opinion and to accept the position of others; to develop cooperation and team work skills, ability to work in a group, to argue and analyze.
Personal sub-aims: to develop civil responsibility for the nature of Kuzbas and Russia; to develop a responsible attitude to studying and readiness for self-development; the ability to eveluate the own work and the work of the group.
Cognitive sub-aims: to develop the ability to work with additional information, maps, herbarium, birds’ voices, copies of animals’ footprints, to analyze, to come to conclusions, to find additional information and present it in a variety of ways; to develop the ability to draw conclusions based on different sources of information.
Regulatory sub-aims: setting the goals and objectives and finding the ways to achieve them; the ability to express own points of view on different issues and support them.
The course of the event
The pupils are divided into teams of 6. Every team chooses a name, a motto, a logo, and a captain. The contest consists of 7 rounds. For every correct answer the team is awarded 5 points. Fans can also bring their team extra points by answering correctly the questions for fans.
The teams enter the hall as the Kuzbass anthem is being played and the slides about Kuzbass are being shown.
“Hello, dear pupils and the guests of our contest. Today we are conducting an ecological game about one of the regions of Russia. You often encounter the term “ecology”. What is ecology? How do you understand this term? (“ecos” – dwelling/home, “logos” – science).
This region is of great importance for the country’s economy. It’s located in the center of Russia and has a small area and unique nature. What region of Russia are we going to talk about? (Kemerovo region)
If you look at Siberian map,
You can see the outline of the heart.
Its beat is heard by all people.
Its beat is the region’s work rhythm.
Its name is pulsating in each one of us.
This region is proudly named as Kuzbas.
– What’s another name for Kemerovo region? (Kuzbass)
– Let us get acquainted with the jury and the teams. The jury are the principal of the school, the director of studies, the director of education, a social teacher.
ROUND 1: GREETING. “Here We Are!”
The team present their name, moto, logo, and a captain.
ROUND 2: WARM-UP “Tell Me about Yourself or Your Ecological Address”
Each team gets a task card. While answering the questions, the team members name their ecological address. Every team gets 1 point.
- The system …
- The planet …
- The country…
- The region …
- The city…
- The street …
- The building …
- The room …
ROUND 3: MAPPING “The Unknown Lands”
Teams get a countour map of Kemerovo region and task cards. They need to outline the borders of the region, labeling the neighboring regions, large cities of the region, rivers, lakes, and relief. Allocated time is 7 minutes. The contour maps are handed in to the jury for checking. The round is worth 5 points. The main objects on the map are:
Neighboring regions: Altai and Khakassia Republic, Tomsk and Novosibirsk regions, Altai Krai and Krasnoyarsk Krai.
Kuzbas cities: Taiga, Kemerovo, Novokuznetsk, Prokopyevsk, Kiselevsk, Mezhdurechensk, Yurga, Kemerovo, Belovo, Gur'yevsk, Furnaces, Anzhero-Sugensk, Myski, Barnaul, Leninsk-Kuznetsky, Salair, Berezovsky, Tashtagol, Kaltan, Polysaevo.
Large rivers: the Tom, the Yaya, the Kiya, the Inya, the Chumysh.
Lakes: Bolshoy Berchikul, Srednemultinskoe, Tanay, Rybnoye.
Landforms: the Kuznetsk Alatau, the Kuznetsk basin, Mountain Shoria, the Salair ridge
ROUND 4: FAN CONTEST “Give and Take”
Questions are asked to the fans. While answering, fans raise a flag with their team’s logo and get the right to answer the question. Every correct answer is awarded 1 point.
- What’s the least “modest” river of Kuzbass? (The Yaya river - “the Ii river))
- What city of Kemerovo region can be drunk? (Kiselevsk)
- Which town of Kemerovo region can you get lost in? (Tayga)
- Which town of Kemerovo region can be eaten by hares? (Osinniki)
- Which river is considered to be “rocky” by the Shors? (the Kiya river)
- What river in Kemerovo region can fly away? (The Lebyazhya river - “the Swan river”)
- What plants aided the formation of coal in Kuzbass? (horsetail, moss, and fern)
- Name a relict plant growing in Kemerovo region? (a lime)
- What’s the biggest predatory cat that can be found in Kemerovo region? (a lynx)
- What large deer can be encountered in the forests of Kemerovo region? (a moose)
Kemerovo region is a unique area. Like everywhere else, you can find here ecological record breakers and champions. (A pupils’ report of choice)
THE MOST INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT KEMEROVO REGION
- Our region is the smallest in area in Siberia and the Far East. It occupies 95.7 thousand square kilometer. It’s 4% of the territory of the Western Siberia and 0.56% of the country’s area.
- The hardest material found by geologists in the Salair ridge is mossanite. It’s harder that corundum and almost as hard as diamond.
- In the territory of the region, there were found the biggest deposits of talcum (Alguyskoe field), native copper (Tibetskoe field) and manganese ore (Usinsk field).
- The most ancient coals –aged more than 300 million years – are deposited in the vicinity of the settlement Barzas, Kemerovo region and have three names: tomites, barzas matting, barzasites.
- The rarest mineral containing boron is ludwigite (the only placer in Russia). It was discovered in the area of Temirtau village.
- The biggest meteorite found in Kemerovo region is Chebankul meteorite weighing 123 kg. It fell in the headwaters of the Malaya Kondoma river.
- The biggest dinosaur cemetery in the territory of the CIS was found in the right bank of the rive Kiya near Shestakovo village in Chebulinskiy area. The psittacosaurs, atlantosaurus, allosaurus, crocodiles, turtles, and ancient fishes found there are 130 mln years old.
- The lowest atmospheric temperature in Kemerovo region was recorded on the 5th of February 2001 in Chebula village (-53.8 C), the highest – on the 12th of August 1998 in Kemerovo (+43.6 C).
- The largest precipitation (up to 2500 mm per year) is recorded in the western mointainside of the Kuznetsk Alatau.
- The biggest waterfalls of the region are located in the Kuznetsk Alatau. It’s a ribbon waterfall “A Silver Ribbon” on the Tomuyas river (the Usa river basin) in the Rocky mountains – 90 meters high- and “Fox” waterfall (the Kiya river basin) in the north-east of the Kuznetsk Alatau – 25 meters high.
- Willow, aspen, coltsfoot, kandyk (Erythŕonium), anemone, pasqueflower, snowdrop or a cross, pulmonaria are the first to bloom in spring.
- The most hardy bird is a crossbill that can breed during severe winters. The most hardy fish is a burbot that also spawns in winter.
- The biggest sedentary bird is a grouse (3-5 kg), the biggest migrant is a whooper swan (7-13 kg). The smallest bird is a goldcrest (506 gm).
- The most ancient, the smallest, and the most numerous mammal in the region dwelling in bushes, edges of the marshes and lakes, and other shaded and damp places is a shrew.
- The most aggressive insects of the Kuzbas are red wood ants. The inhabitants of a nest can kill from 20 to 100 thousand animals daily.
- The largest space in Siberia and the Far East is occuped by taiga. It means “forest” in the Yakut language. In our region, the areas of lowland coniferous taiga are called urmans.
- Fern is the most ancient plants in the Kuzbas.
- The most common furbearers in the forests of the region are animals from the family of mustelids. Sable, weasel, ermine, mink, polecat, otter, Siberian weasel and wolverine belong to this family. The most common are a Siberian weasel (more that 13 thousand individuals), a mink and an ermine (from 5 to 6 thousand individuals). The rarest of them are wolverines (not exceeding 100 individuals) and otters (not exceeding 200 individuals).
- The biggest deer in our forests is a moose. The rarest deer is a reindeer dwelling in alpine tundra. The smallest deer that can rarely be seen in the region is Siberian musk deer. Its weight does not exceed 15 kg. Its main food is moss and lichens. Males are hunted for their musk gland excreting musk that is used in the production of the best perfumes.
- The plants of our region can be used to produce pigments. Purple pigment can be derived from blackberry, black – from the root of knotweed, yellow – from poplar buds or birch leaves, brown – from the bark of bird cherry, green – from bark of elderberry or birch, or the leaves of nettle.
- A fir tree has the longest “childhood”. It blooms and produces seeds for the first time at the age of 50-70.
- The last one to bloom is the most beautiful, fragrant, and melliferous tree - lime. It blooms in the end of July for only 10-12 days. However, this time is sufficient for the bees (working even at night!) to collect the same amount of nectar from one lime tree as from a hectar of buckwheat.
- One of the most long-living trees of the Kuzbas is larch which can live up to 400-500 years of age and larch wood becomes much stronger and darker in color after death. Up to 1500 and more cubic meters of larch wood per hectar can be harvested which is the largest amount among the trees.
ROUND 5: PLANTS AND ANIMALS OF KEMEROVO REGION “Walking down the Forest Path”
The flora and fauna of Kemerovo region is diverse. The plant communities include mixed and spruce forests, pine forests, meadows, where various animals dwell.
The contest is awarded up to 6 points.
1. The following herbarium speciment are given: algae, moss, fern, gymnospermae plant, angiosperm, lichens, and horsetail. What do these specimens have in common? Which ones were of great importance for the environment of Kemerovo region?
2. Herbarium samples are given. Pupils are supposed to choose and name medicinal plants growing in Kemerovo region. Why are they important? What diseases can they treat? When can they be gathered? What part of these plants is used for medicinal purpose?
3. Identify an animal from Kemerovo region using clues.
А) This animal has a large bulky body, a broad head and a short neck.
В) The legs are stocky. Its tail is not visible. The body length can reach 3 meters and the body weight around 750 kg.
С) It’s omnivorous and can eat carrion. It hibernates. (A BEAR)
А) It has 2 pairs of incisors in the upper jaw located in two rows, and one pair of incisors in the lower jaw. The incisors grow in the course of its life.
В) It feeds on solid food and the bark of the trees.
С) The body length is about 40 cm. The hind legs are longer than the front legs. Its ears are long, the tail is short. (A HARE)
А) Males are bigger than females. The body length can reach 3m, their height – up to 2.4m, their weight ranges from 350 to 600 kg.
В) It feeds on grass, bushes and wood, mosses, mushrooms, and lichens.
С) Its neck and body are short, but its withers are quite high resembling a hump. Its legs are long. It has a large head and a humpy nose. (A MOOSE)
ROUND 6: CAPTAIN CONTEST
Now we are going to check the knowledge of the captains. The contest is evaluated out of 5 points. The captains raise the logo of their team to be allowed to answer.
- Listen to the voices of the birds living in Kemerovo region and identify them. To get an extra point, add an interesting fact about that bird. (a – a woodpecker; b – a canary; c - a cuckoo; d – a hooded crow; e – an eagle-owl; f – a goldfinch; g – a jackdaw)
- The captains are given task cards with the footprints of the animals of Kemerovo region. A captain writes their answer on the card and passes it to the jury. (a – a squirrel; b – a hare; c- a moose; d – a dog; e – a bear)
ROUND 7: THE RED DATA BOOK OF KUZBAS
Every team is given task cards with the names of rare and endangered animals and plants of Kemerovo region. The teams need to fill the gaps correctly in the names of rare and endangered animals and plants of Kemerovo region. Every correct answer is awarded a point.
- A B_A_K ST_ _RK (a black stork)
- AN _SPR_Y (an osprey)
- A PE_EGR_NE FA_C_N (a peregrine falcon)
- A G_L_EN E_ _LE (a golden eagle)
- A S_AL_OWT_IL – butterfly (a swallowtail)
- AN _ POL_O - butterfly (an apollo)
- A SI_ER_AN W_OD _ROG (a siberian wood frog)
- _HODEOL_ RO_EA (rhodeola rosea)
- SI_ERIA_ FAWN L_L_ (siberian fawn lily)
- _AT_R _ALTROP (water caltrop)
- A_IAN GLO_EF_OWER (asian globeflower)
- _AEONI_ ANO_ALA (paeonia anomala)
Dear pupils, our contest is over. We hope you will behave properly outdoors. We all have to remember that whatever our future environment will look like depends on each of us.
“SAVE OUR PLANET FOR THERE IS NO PLANET B”
The jury sums up. Awards are given.
References:
- Soloviev, L.I. Geography of Kemerovo region. Kemerovo “SKIF” – “Kuzbas”, Kemerovo, 2005.
- Atlas for pupils, Kemerovo region. – M.:Prosvescheniye, 2002.
- Soloviev, L.I.Ethnographical games.2nd issue. KRUPK & PRO, 2012.
- Soloviev, L.I. Geography of Kemerovo region workbook. Kemerovo: Kuzbas, 2005.
APPENDIX
ROUND 2: WARM-UP “Tell Me about Yourself or Your Ecological Address”
| SYSTEM |
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PLANET |
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COUNTRY |
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REGION |
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CITY |
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STREET |
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BUILDING |
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ROOM |
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ROUND 3: MAPPING “The Unknown Lands”
Outline the borders of the region, labeling the neighboring regions, large cities of the region, rivers, lakes, and relief.
Neighboring regions: Altai and Khakassia Republic, Tomsk and Novosibirsk regions, Altai Krai and Krasnoyarsk Krai.
Kuzbas cities: Taiga, Kemerovo, Novokuznetsk, Prokopyevsk, Kiselevsk, Mezhdurechensk, Yurga, Kemerovo, Belovo, Gur'yevsk, Furnaces, Anzhero-Sugensk, Myski, Barnaul, Leninsk-Kuznetsky, Salair, Berezovsky, Tashtagol, Kaltan, Polysaevo.
Large rivers: the Tom, the Yaya, the Kiya, the Inya, the Chumysh.
Lakes: Bolshoy Berchikul, Srednemultinskoe, Tanay, Rybnoye.
Landforms: the Kuznetsk Alatau, the Kuznetsk basin, Mountain Shoria, the Salair ridge
ROUND 7: THE RED DATA BOOK OF KUZBAS
- A B_A_K ST_ _RK
- AN _SPR_Y
- A PE_EGR_NE FA_C_N
- A G_L_EN E_ _LE
- A S_AL_OWT_IL – butterfly
- AN _ POL_O - butterfly
- A SI_ER_AN W_OD _ROG
- _HODEOL_ RO_EA
- SI_ERIA_ FAWN L_L_
- _AT_R _ALTROP
- A_IAN GLO_EF_OWER
- _AEONI_ ANO_ALA
JURY EVALUATION SHEETS
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WARM UP |
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2 |
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3 |
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4 |
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5 |
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6 |
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7 |
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