Title: Russia’s Climate and Folk Music
Objective: Students will: x listen to Russian folk music x make connections as to how important folk music was to the Russian people x make a climate map of Russia
Lesson Focus: x Social Studies Strand II, Geographic Perspective, Content Standard 1. “All students will describe, compare, and explain the locations and characteristics of places, cultures, and settlements. (People, Places and Cultures)” x Benchmark # 3 middle school x Social Studies Strand II, Geographic Perspective, Content Standard 2: “All students will describe, compare, and explain the locations and characteristics of ecosystems, resources, human adaptation, environmental impact, and the interrelationships among them. (Human/Environment Interaction)” x Benchmark # 1, 2, 3 middle school
Materials: x teacher input sheet on the Russian climate and the area x Selections of Russian folk music from CD x map of Russia x readings related to climate (see attached sheets) x tracing paper
What to Do: 1. Teacher sets the stage by asking students to visualize. See attached teacher input sheet.
2. Class discussion based on the students visualizations. Sample questions listed below. o What may life have been like for the Russian people in this area?
o What type of activities would people have done during these long months?
o How might the Russian people have felt given these environmental conditions?
3. Teacher shares more input and helps students to see the importance of folk music in the Russian culture. See attached teacher input sheet for more information.
4. Students listen to folk music while making a climate map of Russia. o Students trace or draw free hand a map of Russia. o Students show the 4 main climate regions of this country. o Students write 2-3 sentences explaining, in their own words, 2 of the climates found in Russia
Lesson created by Carol Mohrlock 34 Teacher Input
Imagine a huge mass of land. A country 3 times larger than the USA
A climate that is dangerous to the agricultural zone
Long and very snowy winters
Villages that are very far away from major cities
Sitting in the house for 8-9 months each year, before the invention of TV, video, radio, CDs
A small house where family members gather in one room
For hundreds of years people within this country did not have enough food
The goal is for the teacher to help the students see the importance of how folk music developed.
Lesson created by Carol Mohrlock 35 Text is from Boehm, R.; Armstrong, D.; Hunkins, F. Geography the World and its People.National Geographic Society New York: Glencoe McGraw-Hill, 1996.
Tundra Climate The climate of the Arctic tundra area is harsh and dry. The tundra is a vast rolling plain without trees. The top few inches of the ground thaw during summer months, however. This allows sturdy grasses, small berry bushes, and wildflowers to sprout. In parts of the tundra and the subarctic regions, the lower layers of soil are known as permafrost because they stay permanently frozen.
Subarctic Climate
Just below the Arctic Circle lie the subarctic areas. The few people living here face severely cold and bitter winters, but temperatures do rise above freezing during summer months. Huge evergreen forests grow in the subarctic region, especially in northern Russia.
Humid Continental Climate If you live far from the oceans in inland areas of North America, Europe, or Asia, you face a harsher humid continental climate. In these areas, winters can be long, cold, and snowy. Summers are short but may be very hot.
Steppe Climate Many deserts are surrounded by partly dry grasslands known as steppes. They get more rain than deserts, averaging 10 to 20 inches (25 to 51 cm.) a year. Bushes and short grasses cover the steppe landscape.
Lesson created by Carol Mohrlock 36