R U S S I AR U S S I A Russia is the largest country in the world. It covers 1/7 of all of the land of our planet. Russia has the longest borders in the world, it is washed by 22 seas and has 12 in-land seas. The Urals are the oldest mountains in the world and lake Baikal is the world's deepest lake.

The Russian Flag The Russian Flag first appeared in It was the symbol of Russia for more than 300 years. It appeared as a modern flag in The flag has 3 stripes on it. The colours of the flag are symbolic. WHITE is faithful and sincere BLUE is honest and loyal RED is brave

The Double-Headed Eagle The double-headed eagle is an emblem of Russia. Above the heads there are 3 crowns. The eagle carries a sceptre, the sign of state power, and an orb, the sign of unity. You can see St George on the breast of the eagle. Its the oldest Russian symbol of love for the Motherland.

MATCH the TWO COLUMNS WHITE BLUE RED SCEPTRE ORB BRAVE HONEST STATE POWER UNITY FAITHFUL

M O S C O WM O S C O W Its an old city. Prince Yuri Dolgoruki founded it in In the 12 th century he was Prince of Vladimir and Suzdal and Kiev too. In those days, Kiev was a capital of a country- Kievan Rus. Kiev was in the south and Vladimir was in the north, so it was difficult to live and rule in both towns.

One day, when prince Yuri was going to Vladimir, he saw a large cloud, turned into an animal with 3 heads. Its a sign!said he. This is the place for a great city. Not far from that place there was a village on the bank of the Moskva River The ruler of the place was boyarin Stepan Kuchko. He didnt open the gates and a fight began. Prince Yuri and his men won the battle. And he said:I will build it here and call it Moskva.

RED SQUARE It is the heart of Moscow. It got its name in the 17 th century. In old Russian the word RED means BEAUTIFUL. The Spasskaya Tower is the tallest of the Kremlin towers. It is 67.3 metres high. The tower is famous for its clock, the Kremlin clock, made in the 16 th century. The minute hand is 3.38 metres long.

You can also visit the State History Museum here. Theres St Basil Cathedral. Theres a monument to citizen Minin and Prince Pozharsky. They were heroes in the war against Poland in It was the first monument built in Moscow.

PETER the GREAT Peter I, or Peter the Great, was born in Moscow in He was tsar of Russia for 43 years. He was the 1 st Russian Emperor. People remember Peter I for his victories in wars and the great changes he made to his country.

Peter I made history in many ways He was the 1 st Russian ruler to travel in Europe. He went to Holland and saw new ways of making ships. He made the rich people in Russia go to school and work for their country. Russia improved a lot and began to trade with other countries. At the beginning of the 18 th century, Peter I joined the Great Northern War in Europe. He wanted to give Russia what he called a window into Europe. When he lost the Battle of Narva against Charles XII of Sweden, Peter I made his army stronger and won the Battle of Poltava.

Q U I Z ??? True or FALSE 1.Peter I was tsar for more than 40 years____ 2.Peter I was the first Russian tsar to visit Europe ______ 3.Peter I won the battle of Narva _______ 4.Peter I made the poor people go to school __ 5.Peter I made big changes in Russia _____

Volgograd It stretches for 90 km along the banks of the Volga. It has an interesting story Tsaritsyn was founded. It has its name from a small river called Tsari tsyn It takes the new name of Stalingrad, in honour of Stalin.

during the battle the fighting destroys most of the city 1961-The Russian people name the city Volgograd, after the river Volga the Mamayev Kurgan museum complex opens to remind of those who died during the war. The main monument there is the statue of Motherland. Its 52 metres high.

Make the phrases about Volgograd: Its first name is… It stretches … Its second name is… During the war it … The Mamayev Kurgan is… The Statue of Motherland is… …was destroyed. …the main monument. …is a museum in the open air. …Tsaritsyn. …Stalingrad. …for 90 km along the Volga.

The History of Matryoshka Doll The Matryoshka Doll came to Russia from Japan at the end of the 19 th century. The 1 st Matryoshka was a girl in a print dress, a white apron and a bright shawl. There were six other dolls inside her. The doll looked very Russian and soon became popular. The name Matryoshka came from the common Russian name Matryona.

Connect the facts: MATRYOSHKA 19 th CENTURY JAPAN SIX DOLLS POPULAR MATRYONA

Sit down to TEA Tea was introduced to Russia in 1640 when the Russian ambassador boyarin Vasily Starkov returned from the Mongol horde and brought a gift of 200 tea packages, 500 grammes each, to tsar Mikhail Romanov. It was praised for its ability to refresh and purify the blood. The tsar liked this exotic drink and said: More! People in the west call tea served with lemon Russian Tea.

FUN TIME Novosibirsk is in the center of Russia. Its called the Snow Kingdom because it snows very often. Real winter starts in December. People prepare snow sites for the New Years celebrations. They make ice sculptures and snow mazes. They also decorate the places with lights. Everybody enjoys beautiful sculptures made of ice and snow.