GRADE8 UNIT 9 LESSON4 THE NILE

GRADE8 UNIT 9 LESSON4 THE NILE

LEARNING OUTCOMES

• read a text for specific details

• listen to a dialogue about the Nile

• value how to save natural resources

Warm-up

Why should we be careful with water ?

Open Ended

-Read the following text and answer the questions :

The Nile

In the past, the Ancient Egyptians called the longest river on our planet Ar or Aur, which means ‘black’, because after the river

flooded it left behind black

sediment. Nowadays, the most common name for this river is enNîl or an-Nîl in Arabic and Nile in

English. The Nile flows for 6700 km through ten different African nations and its large delta meets

the Mediterranean Sea on the coast of Egypt. Throughout history, there have been many expeditions to discover

the source of the Nile. In the nineteenth century, many people believed the source of the Nile to be LakeVictoria, but nowadays, we know that the real source of the Nile is probably one of the many the smaller rivers that flow into Lake Victoria. However, we still don’t know which

one, and and explorers from all over the world still travel to Africa to try to solve the mystery.

Lake Victoria is definitely the source of the White Nile, one of the two big tributaries of the Great Nile, the great mother river which flows down to the sea. The other main tributary is the Blue Nile, which comes from Lake Tana in Ethiopia. The two meet in Sudan to form the Great Nile, which flows into Egypt, where it finally meets the sea. The Nile delta is about 160 km long

and covers 240 km of coastline. The sea tides bring salt water into the Nile’s estuary where it

mixes with fresh water.This is home to some of the biggest reptiles in the world: the Nile crocodiles!

Open Ended

2 Read the text again. Are the sentences true (T) or false (F)?

Open Ended

3 31 Two friends are talking about a documentary they have just watched on TV. Which of these things do they not mention?

a form of transport

a reptile

a dam

a temple

Open Ended

4 Read the Listening strategy box. Then listen again and tick the sentences that are correct.

1 The girls hadn’t heard of the Nile before watching the documentary.

2 The girls agree that the Nile crocodiles are scary.

3 The documentary told the story of a man who was killed by a crocodile.

4 The girls would like to visit different parts

of Egypt

Open Ended

WB EX

1 What’s the capital of Egypt?

Giza

Cairo

Alexandria

2 What was the Great Pyramid of Giza?

a temple

a palace

a tomb

3 The river Nile was called ‘black’ in ancient

times because of its ...

frequent floods.

dirty water.

sediment.

4 How long is the river Nile?

more than 6,500 km

about 6,000 km

less than 6,500 km

5 What are the Blue Nile and the White Nile?

the source of the Nile

tributaries of the Nile

the Nile’s estuaries

6 Where do the Blue Nile and the White Nile

meet?

in Sudan

in Ethiopia

in Tanzania

7 The Nile meets the sea in the ...

Mediterranean.

Red Sea.

Arab Sea.