Notes of Lessons: Geography, Class III

[We have thought that it might be of use to our readers (in their own families) to publish from month to month during the current year, Notes of Lessons prepared by students of the House of Education for the pupils of the Practising School. We should like to say, however, that such a Lesson is never given as a tour de force, but is always an illustration or an expansion of some part of the children’s regular studies (in the Parents’ Review School), some passage in one or other of their school books.—Ed.]

Subject: Geography • Group: Science • Class III • Time: 30 minutes

By Dorothy Brownell
The Parents’ Review, 1903, pp. 848-851

Scandinavia—Norway in Particular

Objects

I. To introduce the children to Scandinavia.

II. To foster interest in foreign countries.

III. To teach the children how to learn the map of a country by means of map questions.

IV. To implant mental pictures of the characteristic scenery of Norway in the children’s minds.

V. To show, by means of comparison, the great difference in the physical features of the two countries which are included in Scandinavia, although they form only one peninsula.

Lesson

Step I.—Let the children learn the map of Scandinavia, Norway in particular, by means of the map questions previously written on the blackboard, writing down their answers.

Step II.—On coming to the children from Class Ia., ask for a general description of Scandinavia.

Step III.—Let the children fill in the blank map on the blackboard.

Step IV.—Require the children to give me the answers to the questions, and as they answer give information, in order that they may become acquainted with each place as it is mentioned, and be able to picture it in their minds.

Map Questions

From the Geographical Readers, Book IV.

I.—What waters bound the Scandinavian peninsula? To what land is it attached? What countries does it include?

Note.

Describe the government of Scandinavia briefly, showing that, although Sweden and Norway have a common sovereign, each country has an independent parliament, elected in very much the same way as our English Parliament.

II.—Through how many degrees of latitude does this peninsula stretch? What other countries of the world lie partly in the same latitude?

III.—Describe the coast of Norway. Compare it with that of Sweden. Name the four largest fiords or openings, beginning at the extreme north.

Note.

Give the idea of the extraordinary way in which the coast is cut up, and the immense number of islands which fringe it. So innumerable are they that large steamers can go through the deep but narrow channels which divide them from Stavanger to north of Tromsöe almost without seeing the open sea. Shew how these islands form an effective breakwater to the force of the Atlantic breakers, so that within their boundary the water is as calm and still as a lake. Describe the rocky, almost perpendicular sides of the fiords, over which the rivers fall in roaring torrents. Mention the fact that many ships of the Spanish Armada were driven as far north as Stadtland, and wrecked around this dangerous headland.

The Sogne is the largest and most important fiord. It is like a long sea channel running into the country for a distance of 100 miles, with branches right and left, over which wonderful torrents fall. The sides are very steep, and the water is very deep at the entrance. At the Sulen Islands, at the mouth of the fiord, Harold Hardrada collected his force for his expedition against England.

IV.—Name a group of islands north of the Arctic Circle. The most northerly island. The cape on this island. The most northerly cape on the mainland. The most southerly cape.

Note.

The Lofoden Islands are granite rocks, rising from the water in hundreds of peaks, with jagged and fantastic outlines. The cod fisheries of these islands are very important, and employ a great number of people.

Nordkin, which means “north chin,” is the most northerly point on the mainland of Europe. Incessant storms rage round the island of Mageröe, so that it is extremely difficult for anyone to land there.

Lindesnaes means “Lime nose.”

V.—Name five towns on the west, and three on the southeast coast of Norway.

Note.

Stavanger is the fourth largest city in Norway. Its chief trade is in herrings. It has a very ancient Cathedral.

At Bergen the houses are built on the slopes of the hills which run out into the deep sea. It was formerly the capital, and is now a great fish port.

Trondhjem is the oldest capital. The name means “home of the throne,” and in the Cathedral the kings of Norway are crowned.

Hammerfest is the most northerly town in Europe. Tourists go there to see the midnight sun. Read Charles H. Wood’s description of the midnight sun, from the Geographical Reader.

Christiania, the capital of Norway, is not a big town, but has a most beautiful situation. It is at the head of the Christiania Fiord, which is studded with countless grassy and wooded islands. Most of the houses are of wood, painted white, with green blinds. The fiord, which used to be very much frequented by the old Vikings, is blocked by ice for four months of the year.

VI.—The Scandinavian mountains nearly fill Norway—by what name is the range known in the north, south, and centre? Name three or four of the highest peaks.

Note.

There is no continuous range in the Scandinavian mountains; the whole is a high table-land, which increases in height as we go south, with here and there groups of peaks which appear like huge rocks dotted over the surface. These plateaux are topped with moors or snowfields from which glaciers descend right down into the sea.

VII.—How does the position of the mountains affect the rivers? Compare the rivers of Norway with those of Sweden.

Note.

Describe how, in Norway, the rivers rush in torrents over their rocky beds, while those in Sweden flow more gently down the gradual slope of the land. Give the threefold reason—great rainfall, small evaporation owing to the coldness of the climate, and small waste owing to the hardness of the rocks—for the great volume of water in the short, quick, Norwegian rivers.