Introduction to Wādī Darbāt and Khor Ruri

Aim and introduction

This lesson introduces pupils to Wādī Darbāt and Khor Ruri by getting a sense of place through mapping and image interpretation. Wādī Darbāt and Khor Ruri had (and still have) big significance in the Dhofar region in the frankincense trade and is a breeding ground for birds. The khawr (lagoon) at the mouth of Wādī Darbāt was created from a sand bar.

Curriculum links

Locate the world’s countries, using maps…concentrating on their environmental regions, key physical and human characteristics…

Physical geography, including - climate zones, biomes and vegetation belts, rivers, mountains, volcanoes and earthquakes, and the water cycle.

Learning goals

• Locate Wādī Darbāt and Khor Ruri on a map.
• Identify some of the main features of Wādī Darbāt and Khor Ruri to understand what the place is like.
• Think of ways in which places like Khor Ruri are important for people and the environment.

Learning outcomes

Greater depth: pupils will be able to provide a detailed description of the location of Wādī Darbāt and Khor Ruri using geographical terminology such as compass points for direction. Pupils will be able to draw upon their own knowledge and evidence from the map to identify why landscapes are in certain places. They should be able to create an accurate sketch of either the Khor Ruri lagoon or Wādī Darbāt waterfalls with annotations describing them. Pupils should be able to draw upon what they have learnt in the lesson as well as their own knowledge to theorise the importance of these places to both people and the environment.

Expected level: pupils will be able to provide a description of the location of Wādī Darbāt and Khor Ruri using some geographical terminology such as direction. Pupils will be able to draw upon their own knowledge or evidence from the map to identify why landscapes are in certain places. They should be able to create an accurate sketch of either the Khor Ruri lagoon or Wādī Darbāt waterfalls. Some may have annotations describing them. Pupils should be able to draw upon what they have learnt in the lesson to theorise the importance of these places to both people and the environment.

Working towards: pupils will be able to provide a description of the location of Wādī Darbāt and Khor Ruri, some geographical terminology may be evident but might not be accurate. Pupils will be able to draw upon evidence from the map to identify why landscapes are in certain places. They should be able to create sketch of either the Khor Ruri lagoon or Wādī Darbāt waterfalls, this might lack accuracy such as scale. Labels of the features will be evident. Pupils should be able to draw upon what they have learnt in the lesson to theorise the importance of these places to people and/or the environment.

Support: pupils will be able to provide a simple description of the location of Wādī Darbāt and Khor Ruri, this might lack appropriate geographical terminology (i.e. using up/down rather than north/south). Pupils will be able to use evidence from the map to identify why landscapes are in certain places, some of these ideas may be inaccurate. They should be able to create sketch of either the Khor Ruri lagoon or Wādī Darbāt waterfalls, they are most likely to lack accuracy such as scale or they have labelled an image of the features. Labels of the features will be evident but limited. With support, pupils should be able to draw upon what they have learnt in the lesson to theorise the importance of these places to people and/or the environment.

Key terms

• Wādī (a valley / ravine which is dry in certain seasons)
• Khawr (lagoon)
• Seasonal
• Khor Ruri
• Fieldsketch

Learning resources

• Key terms image and definition sheet.
• Teacher presentation - Introduction to Wādī Darbāt and Khor Ruri.
• Images of Wādī Darbāt waterfalls and Khor Ruri lagoon for annotation (resources section of the PPT)

What you will need         

• Envelopes (to store puzzle pieces)
• Map of Oman with Wādī Darbāt and Khor Ruri, cut into random shapes to make a puzzle. Enough for one between two.                           

Challenge and support

A challenge for the starter could be to see if pupils can give examples of the key term they have. A challenge task for the puzzle task (main 1) could be to theorise the physical and human aspects which would explain why Wādī Darbāt and Khor Ruri are located where they are. For the main 2 task, pupils could be challenged to annotate their images adding description to what they can see.  

Support pupils by ensuring those who need it are given the image rather than the written definition in the starter exercise. In the puzzle task, encourage the use of sentence starters and draw a compass rose on the board so that pupils can orientate themselves around the map.  For the main 2 task, a printed image can be provided with key terms and pupils can add labels directly onto the image and stick it into their books.