Practical work: comparing the natural-geographic districts of Uzbekistan
To compare two districts, make a plan: 1) geographic position, 2) surface structure and minerals, 3) climate, 4) inland waters, 5) soil, plants and animals, 6) causes of the differences. Example: Ustyurt and Surkhandarya. Ustyurt is in the far north-west and Surkhandarya in the far south; Ustyurt is a plateau 100–200 m high, while Surkhandarya consists of mountains up to 4643 m and a valley. In Ustyurt the January mean is –10…–11°C, there are 153 frost-free days and 100–120 mm of precipitation; in Surkhandarya winters are mild (January about +2.8°C), summers very hot and the valley gets 133–230 mm. Ustyurt has no permanent river, whereas Surkhandarya has the Surkhandarya and Sherabad rivers. Ustyurt has grey-brown soil, wormwood and sora, and the saiga; Surkhandarya has grey soil, subtropical fruits, altitude belts and the ibex. The cause of the differences is that Ustyurt is open and flat in the north while Surkhandarya lies in the south ringed by mountains. The comparison can also be done for the pairs Kyzylkum–Fergana and Middle–Lower Zarafshan.
“Pair comparison”: split the class into 3 groups; each compares one pair (Ustyurt–Surkhandarya, Kyzylkum–Fergana, Middle–Lower Zarafshan) in a table by the 6-point plan and presents it.