NAME: ________________________ DATE:________________________

GEOGRAPHY: Ice Action

GEOGRAPHY
Ice Action
It is not necessary to carry out all the activities contained in
this unit.

Please see Teachers’ notes for explanations, additional

activities, and tips and suggestions.

Ice Action
Theme

Level A1 – B1

Language focus vocabulary, word identification, grammar, use of student’s own

language.

Learning focus Using Geography textbooks and accessing curriculum content and
learning activities.

Activity types Matching, word identification, structuring sentences and text,

cloze, multiple choice, reading comprehension, categorising
vocabulary, recording learning, developing a learning resource.

Acknowledgement Extracts from The Human Planet. Patrick E.F. O’ Dwyer. Gill &
Macmillan.
We gratefully acknowledge Gill & Macmillan for the right to
reproduce text in some of these activities.

Learning Record A copy of the Learning Record should be distributed to each

student.
Students should:
1. Write the subject and topic on the record.
2. Tick off/date the different statements as they complete
activities.
3. Keep the record in their files along with the work produced
for this unit.
4. Use this material to support mainstream subject learning.

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GEOGRAPHY: Ice Action

Making the best use of these units

• Introduction should ensure that students understand what they are

doing and why. Many students will have some difficulty in understanding
both the language in the activity and the instructions/purpose for carrying
out the activity.

• You can create your personal teaching resource by printing these units
in full and filing them by subject in a large ring binder.

• Encourage students to:

o Bring the relevant subject textbooks to language support class.

It does not matter if they have different textbooks as the
activities in these units refer to vocabulary and other items that
will be found in all subject textbooks. These units are based on
curriculum materials.
o Take some responsibility for their own learning programmes
by:

Developing a personal dictionary for different

subjects, topics, and other categories of language, on an on-
going basis. This prompt is a reminder.

Recording what they have learnt on the

Learning Record, which should be
distributed at the start of each unit.

Keeping their own files with good examples of the

work produced in language support for different
subjects and topics. This file will be an invaluable
learning resource in supporting mainstream
learning.

Indicates that answers may be found at the end of the unit.

Don’t forget that many of the activities in these units are suitable
as homework tasks, for self-study, or for use in the subject
classroom with the agreement of the subject teacher.

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GEOGRAPHY: Ice Action

Keywords
The list of keywords for this unit is as follows.

Nouns
area / areas
boulder Verbs
box to transport
cirque to scour
clay to freeze
drumlin to thaw
esker to pluck
fjord to drop
glacier
glaciation Adjectives
gravel downhill
hollow erratic
ice glacial
lough glaciated
moraine medial
reference steep
ribbon terminal
ridge
sheets

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GEOGRAPHY: Ice Action

Vocabulary file 1
This activity may be done in language support class or in the mainstream
subject classroom.

Word Meaning Word in my language

cirque

fjord

esker

moraine

lough

steep

Get your teacher to check this and then file it in your resource
folder so you can use it in the future.

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GEOGRAPHY: Ice Action

Vocabulary file 2
This activity may be done in language support class or in the mainstream
subject classroom.

Word Meaning Word in my language

boulder

clay

erratic

ridge

to scour

to freeze

Get your teacher to check this and then file it in your resource
folder so you can use it in the future.

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GEOGRAPHY: Ice Action

Vocabulary file 3
This activity may be done in language support class or in the mainstream
subject classroom.

Word Meaning Word in my language

glacier

sheets

downhill

terminal

to thaw

to pluck

Get your teacher to check this and then file it in your resource
folder so you can use it in the future.

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GEOGRAPHY: Ice Action

Level: All Focus: vocabulary, spelling,

Type of activity: Whole class dictionary, writing
Suggested time: 10 minutes

Activating students’ existing knowledge

Use a spidergram to activate students’ ideas and knowledge on the key points
in this chapter. See Teachers’ Notes for suggestions.

Possible key terms for the spidergram:

area ice

ƒ Invite students to provide key words in their own languages.

ƒ Encourage dictionary use.
ƒ Encourage students to organise their vocabulary into relevant
categories (e.g. meaning, nouns, keywords, verbs etc.).

Students should record vocabulary and terms from the

spidergram in their personal dictionaries.

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 NAME: ________________________ DATE:________________________
GEOGRAPHY: Ice Action
Level: A1 Focus: vocabulary, spelling,
Type of activity: Pairs or dictionary
individual Suggested time: 30 minutes

Working with words - Tick the correct answer

See Question 2 above. What is the difference between your answer and a
mountain? Look at your textbook or ask your Geography teacher and then write
the answer here

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

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GEOGRAPHY: Ice Action
Focus: vocabulary, basic
Level: A1 sentence structure, indefinite
Type of activity: Pairs or article
individual Suggested time: 30 minutes

Picture sentences - Tick the correct answer

Sometimes we use ‘a’ and sometimes ‘an’ before a word. Look at these
words and see if you can understand when to use ‘a’ or ‘an’.
an esker a map
an ice cream a house

Now put the correct word in front of these nouns:

________ apple ________ banana ________ orange

________ iceberg ________ ocean ________ valley

________ exercise ________ essay ________ textbook

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GEOGRAPHY: Ice Action

Level: A1 / A2 Focus: word identification,

Type of activity: Pairs or vocabulary, sentence structure
individual Suggested time: 20 minutes

Odd One Out

Geography

Circle the word which does not fit with the other words in each
line.
Example: apple orange banana taxi

1. flame glacier boulder fjord

2. ice eskers door ridges

3. drumlin valley hollow lunch

4. ice cirque lake shoe

Write short sentences using the words below. Check the meanings in your
textbook or dictionary.

glacier _________________________________________________

ridge _________________________________________________

valley _________________________________________________

lake _________________________________________________

boulder ________________________________________________________

Are all these words in your personal dictionary?

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GEOGRAPHY: Ice Action
Focus: key vocabulary, writing
Level: A2 / B1 descriptive text
Type of activity: Individual Suggested time: 40 minutes

Hidden Geography keywords

Fill in the missing letters of the keywords listed below.
On the line beside each word, write whether the word is a noun, an
adjective or a verb.

1. g_ac_er ____________________

2. ci_q_es ____________________

3. f_o_ds ____________________

4. e_ke_ ____________________

Level A2
Write a short piece of text which includes all these four words above.

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

Check that these keywords are in your personal Have you ticked
dictionary. this activity on your
Learning Record?

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GEOGRAPHY: Ice Action

Level: A1 / A2 Focus: key vocabulary,

Type of activity: Pairs or pronunciation, spelling
individual Suggested time: 20 minutes

Unscramble the letters

1. When rocks are pulled up from the valley floor PLCUKDE

Answer __________________

2. Bowl shaped hollows in mountain areas CIQRUSE

Answer __________________

3. A type of lake that are long and narrow RBIOBN

Answer __________________

4). These are found in glaciated valleys MROANIES

Answer __________________

Solve the secret code

English= J C D E F R N M O S T U
Code= B X Y F G Q R O L E A W

example: EAWYFRA = STUDENT

GBLQY:_________________________

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GEOGRAPHY: Ice Action
Focus: reading comprehension,
Level: A2 / B1 extracting meaning from text,
Type of activity: Pairs or vocabulary
individual Suggested time: 30 minutes

Completing sentences

Fill in the blanks in these sentences. Use words from the Word Box below.
For over one million years the climate of Ireland was bitterly cold. There was only one

season: winter. Snow fell throughout the year. This snow accumulated in hollows on

mountain______ and under its own weight it was compressed (squeezed) into ice.

When these hollows were full, some of the_______ overflowed and moved very slowly

downhill through river valleys and on to lowlands. These valleys of ice are

called_______. The glaciers joined together on the lowlands to form ice sheets over

300 metres thick. As a glacier moves downslope the weight of ice causes the bottom

of the glacier to scrape the valley floor. This scraping action creates just enough heat

to_____ a thin layer of ice at the bottom of the glacier. When the ice stops, so does

the melting and the melt water________ and attaches itself to the rocks on the

valley floor. When the ice begins to move again it plucks out chunks of rock from the

valley and so causes erosion.

ice areas glaciers

Word
freezes melt
Box

Say this in another way:

bitterly cold ______________________________

snow accumulated ______________________________

chunks of rock ______________________________

scrape ______________________________

Use your dictionary if necessary!

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GEOGRAPHY: Ice Action
Focus: key vocabulary, topic
Level: A2 / B1 information, reading
Type of activity: Individual comprehension, multiple choice
Suggested time: 30 minutes

Multiple choice
(Read the text below and choose the best answers)

Text:
Hanging valleys and ribbon lakes are regularly found in glaciated valleys.
Hanging valleys are also glaciated valleys. They are tributary valleys that
hang into the main valley from a higher level. Rivers in hanging valleys
sometimes enter the main valley as waterfalls. Formation: Smaller
glaciers filled tributary valleys.
Because they were smaller their ability to erode these valleys was not as
great as large glaciers. As a result they did not erode them as deep as
the main valley.
When the ice had melted, the floors of the tributary valleys were left
high above the main valley. Examples: Black Valley near Killarney;
Glendalough in Co. Wicklow.
Ribbon lakes are long, narrow and deep lakes on the floor of a glaciated
valley.

1. Where are hanging valley and ribbon lakes found?

a) at school b) glaciated valleys
c) seaside d) in space

2. What are glaciated valleys also called?

a) house b) hanging valleys
c) beautiful d) photos

3. What did smaller glaciers fill?

a) cups b) waves
c) tributary valleys d) shoes

4. Are ribbon lakes long narrow deep lakes?

a) Yes b) No

5. Are ribbon lakes found on the floor of glaciated valleys?

a) Yes b) No

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NAME: ________________________ DATE:________________________
GEOGRAPHY: Ice Action

Level: A2 / B1 Focus: vocabulary, structure,

Type of activity: Pairs / small planning and creating text
groups Suggested time: 40 minutes

You are going to write a piece of text on the topic ‘How ice creates the
landscape’. Use your keyword list and textbook to help you.

First plan what you are going to write by making notes on this chart:
Introduction First paragraph

Important vocabulary
(Use your notes, textbook and dictionary.)

Second paragraph

Conclusion

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GEOGRAPHY: Ice Action

Use your plan and write your text.

Title __________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

When your teacher has checked this, file it in your folder so you can use it in the future.

Have you ticked

this activity on your
Learning Record?

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NAME: ________________________ DATE:________________________
GEOGRAPHY: Ice Action

Level: All Focus: content words,

Type of activity: Individual dictionary work, word
identification
Suggested time: 30 minutes

Grammar points
In this Unit, we came across the following adjectives:

• medial
• glacial
• terminal
Look up these words up in your dictionary.

Adjective Meaning Word in my language

medial

glacial

terminal

Adjective Hunt
Circle 10 adjectives in these columns.
Score 4 points for each correct answer.
Who will score the highest? Perhaps you will. Good luck!

fair erosion ice

long generally huge

narrow hot open

mountain large rock

deep downhill freeze

esker low boulder

glacier bright clay

Score: _______________ points

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GEOGRAPHY: Ice Action

Level: A2 – B1 Focus: working with adjectives

Type of activity: Individual/pair Suggested time: 45 minutes

Grammar Points

More Adjectives

1. An adjective is a word that describes a noun. There are many adjectives in

the chapter on Ice Action. Look at the sentences below, and decide which
adjectives belong in the blanks.

straight long steep-sided U-shaped

deep flat narrow steep

• Glaciated valleys are ______, ______, ______, valleys with ______ floors and
______steep sides.
• Ribbon lakes are ______, ______ lakes in glaciated valleys.
• Fjords are drowned, ______valleys which take the term of ______, ______
sea inlets.

2. Next it’s your turn. Pick a chapter from your textbook. Rewrite six sentences
leaving out the adjectives. Make a list of the missing adjectives. Now swap
sentences with another student and fill in the missing adjectives in one
another’s sentences.

3. Just for fun. Tell your partner about your likes and dislikes. You must use at
least two adjectives with each noun. For example:

• I love ______, ______ dogs.

• I hate ______, ______ cats

• I love ______, ______ music.

• I hate ______, ______ films.

Get your teacher to check this, then file it in your folder so you can
use it in the future.

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NAME: ________________________ DATE:________________________
GEOGRAPHY: Ice Action

Levels A1 and A2
Alphaboxes
Using your textbook, find one word beginning with each of the letters of the
U U

alphabet. Write the word in the relevant box. You could also write the word in
your own language.
a b c

d e f

Do you
g h i understand all
these words?

j k l
Get your
teacher to
check this, then
m n o file it in your
folder so you
can use it in the
future.
p q r

s t u

v w xyz

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GEOGRAPHY: Ice Action

Word search
Find the words in the box below. When you have found all the words, write each word
in your own language.
P E R
D A R E T E J C N
U R R Q I K M T D N S E E
R F E A T U R E S K X R D J X I D
U L P K D WF N K V C X Z L P C F I C
P M S E S K E R S A R S C O U R I N G U Y
H X U S V B T M O U N T A I N S H K K I Z
C J O M V Q O O B E D I A K I A L
K B S D U B L O U G H P X V Z G I
X H F M O R A I N E D R Y WI E H J F J O R D S B
MQV N L R Y C O U L B E Y C D C G L A C I E R S
A I B J R O X C T C WV D U L F Y X Q G D WZ L F
I C I R Q U E S P U P P B O U L D E R C H U N K S O P
Y S MH V M M WP Z J Z R R Q Z O K B E V G L L C T C
D C G A G N D H K H H Q L X Y G Q M G C V T M WK B Y
Y MA P M Y I E S G S M K L D P U C Q C Y B E
I G E M I D G I A G E R O D E V L F Y X L
D D I Z D U J G G Q T B Y J A P A P X I Y
B A S E A A P J X I
A G T E E Q S A D B F F
N V L S WD S T WE X I D E P O S I T G F
E Y I L A T E R A L Z U F D R U M L I N S
G X I D E N T I F Y X S C C C O C G S
F E P F O M K C E H N X M C R O H
B S H A P E D O Y J R I D
T P G L A C I A L
U J K
ARETE ERODE LATERAL
BASE ESKERS LOUGH
BOULDER FEATURES MAP
CHUNKS FJORDS MORAINE
CIRQUES GLACIAL MOUNTAIN
DEPOSIT GLACIERS SCOURING
DRUMLINS IDENTIFY SHAPED
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NAME: ________________________ DATE:________________________
GEOGRAPHY: Ice Action

Play Snap
Make Snap cards with 2 sets of the same keywords. See Notes for
teachers for ideas about how to use the cards.


glacier glacier

fjord fjord

ice ice

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esker esker

drumlins drumlins

gravel gravel

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ribbon ribbon

lakes lakes

cirques cirques

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Answer key

Odd One Out = flame, door, lunch, shoe

Letter Scramble = plucked, cirques, ribbon, moraine

Secret Code = fjord

Completing Text =

The Ice Age

For over one million years the climate of Ireland was bitterly cold. There was

only one season: winter. Snow fell throughout the year. This snow accumulated in

hollows on mountain areas and under its own weight it was compressed

(squeezed) into ice.

When these hollows were full, some of the ice overflowed and moved very slowly

downhill through river valleys and on to lowlands. These valleys of ice are called

glaciers. The glaciers joined together on the lowlands to form ice sheets over

300 metres thick. As a glacier moves down slope the weight of ice causes the

bottom of the glacier to scrape the valley floor. This scraping action creates

just enough heat to melt a thin layer of ice at the bottom of the glacier. When

the ice stops, so does the melting and the melt water freezes and attaches

itself to the rocks on the valley floor. When the ice begins to move again it

plucks out chunks of rock from the valley and so causes erosion.

(The Human Planet, page 68)

Multiple Choice = b, b, c, a, a

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NAME: ________________________ DATE:________________________
GEOGRAPHY: Ice Action

Grammar Points = fair, long, narrow, deep, hot, large, low, bright, huge,
open

Word Search:

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