CLIL : History and ICE AGE the movie

a difficult approach

 
Using a movie like ICE AGE for CLIL activities related to History or Earth science can sound enjoyable and attractive, but we must pay lot of attention because .. it's just a cartoon movie and not a documentary. Its reliability in terms of school subject is indeed quite low. As usual, teachers have to study carefully contents and links, before using material in classes, expecially if the objective is to teach other subjects using a second language ( CLIL)
In the movie the characters are all prehistoric animals with the exception of some early humans ,who bear some Neanderthal-like facial features, yet are not shown conversing, only grunting or yelling, and possess technology that is much more sophisticated than the Human beings used in that period. For example, for what we know Neandertal men did not paint caves..This aspect can be a problem in CLIL teaching history in Primary school, when children can't understand and criticize the Historical misconceptions. What can also be noted is that, like many films of prehistoric life, the rules of time periods apply very loosely, as many of the species shown in the film never actually lived in the same areas.

LESSON PLAN

Subjects
Arts & Humanities ( Film)
Science (Physical Science,Earth Science,Natural History )

Objectives

Understand some Historical concepts about ice age and prehistorical life

Clear up some misconceptions that the movie Ice Age might give kids.

Level : Secondary


Ask students to share facts they know about the period of time known as the "Ice Age." Write their statements on a board or chart. For many students, their knowledge of the Ice Age might be limited to what they have seen in the movie cartoon Ice Age. They might share information such as

Earth was covered with ice.
animals that are extinct today -- like the wooly mammoth -- were around during the Ice Age.
the Ice Age lasted for many years.
They might not know that there have been several ice ages in Earth's history; or that the lakes they see might have been formed by ice-age glaciers.

Introduce these words

wooly mammoth, period, normal,
survive, carved, temperature


Ask students to use one of those words to complete each of these sentences.
Our next-door neighbor _____ a bear from a small piece of wood. (carved)
In the move Ice Age, Manny is a _____.
Uncle Joe will be staying at our house for a short _____ of time. (period)
The lowest _____ ever recorded in Antarctica was 129 degrees below zero. (temperature)
Unlike many other animals, camels are well suited to _____ the desert heat. (survive)
My _____ bedtime is 9:30. (normal)

 

Then let them to read the following paragraph

Real Ice Ages Longer Than Movie Ice Ages
In the movie ICE AGE 2 three animal friends had to move because an ice age is just starting. It's
getting very cold where they live.The same animals in ICE AGE 2 see that their lives will change now
that the ice age is ending and most of the snow and ice
that covered Earth is melting.
In real life, though, an ice age takes a long time to get started and can last thousands
or millions of years. The same animals could not have been alive at the start and end
of an ice age. An ice age is when the Earth’s temperature gets much colder for a long
period of time. Lakes and ponds that normally would not freeze turn to ice. Glaciers,
which are mountains of ice, grow bigger.
Scientists say the Earth has had four major ice ages
over the past billion years. During those times,
animals that liked warmer weather did not survive
and new animals came along that could live in colder
weather -- animals like the wooly mammoth. In
between ice ages, there have been times when Earth
has been very warm.
Paola Arduini