Lakes

Passage three Lakes Questions 5 and 6. Listen to some students having a discussion.

OK. Let's see where we are on this project for geography class. Our presentation's in two days, and I hope we're almost ready. I hope so, too. We were each going to look up information about a different lake-with an emphasis on how each lake was formed-and we'll each present information on that lake to the, to the class. My job was to look up information on Lake Superior, and I've done that. I've done my research on the Caspian Sea. And I'm ready with information about Lake Baikal. Great. I'll go first. 111be discussing the Caspian Sea, which is the largest inland body of water in the world. The Caspian Sea is a saltwater lake between Europe and Asia. It is believed that this lake was Originally connected to the world's oceans, which would account for its saltwater content. As the Earth's plates moved, this arm of the ocean was cut off. Well, here's what I found on Lake Superior. Lake Superior is, of course, one of the Great Lakes in North America, and it's the largest freshwater lake in the world. Along with the other Great Lakes, it was formed by glaciers. Glaciers covered the northern part of North America until 10,000 years ago and were responsible for carving out the Great Lakes, including Lake Superior.

OK, now for Lake Baikal, which is the lake I'll be discussing. Lake Baikal's in Russia, and it was formed when the earth's crust broke apart at a fault. Because Lake Baikal formed over a split in the Earth's crust, it's a very deep lake, the deepest lake in the world. Lake Baikal's so deep that, even though its surface area is much smaller than the surface area of Lake Superior, it could hold the water of all the Great Lakes combined. Well, it looks like we've all found information about each of these lakes, and, in particular, how they were formed. Now we need to talk about how we can present the information to the rest of the class. 5. WHAT ARE THE STUDENTS DISCUSSING? 6. WHY ARE THE STUDENTS DISCUSSING THIS MATERIAL?