Unit 8: Fascinating Sabah and Sarawak
This unit explores Sabah (The Land Below the Wind) and Sarawak (Land of the Hornbills). Pupils learn about Mount Kinabalu, Sipadan Island, the Sarawak River Cruise, homophones, and the prepositions of place 'over' and 'among'.
Sabah is 'The Land Below the Wind' and Sarawak is 'Land of the Hornbills'. Highlights:
Sarawak has the world's largest cave passage and 'The Pinnacles' limestone spikes
Sarawak Cultural Village, Cat Museum, Crocodile Farm in Kuching
Sepilok Orang-Utan Sanctuary — chance to see orang-utans during feeding time
Sipadan Island — internationally known diving destination
The biggest flower in the world is the Rafflesia
Welcome to Sabah — capital Kota Kinabalu offers diving, river-cruising, mountain climbing, water-rafting, and caving. From May Lee's cousin's email about the Sarawak River Cruise:
Mount Kinabalu is the highest mountain in Malaysia, over 4,000 metres tall, a World Heritage Site
Sipadan Island has 3,000 species of fish among colourful coral species
Sepilok is the largest orang-utan sanctuary in the world — daily feeding
perahu tambang are small house-like boats used to ferry locals across the river
The Astana was Rajah Brooke's residence; Fort Margherita is now a police museum
The new State Legislative Building resembles the Melanau tribal hat
The Batang Lupar River in Sarawak is known for its benak (tidal bore), one of the largest in the world. Pupils create a poster about it. Homophones are words with the same sound but different meanings and spellings.
son / sun — 'My son loves to play ball when the sun shines.'
ate / eight — 'Vijay ate his breakfast at eight o'clock.'
rode / road — 'The boy rode a horse along the road.'
for / four — 'For' indicates direction; 'four' is the number 4
'over' and 'among' are prepositions of place.
| over | movement from one side to the other, or across something — 'The orang-utan throws a banana over its head.' | |
| among | in the middle of or surrounded by other things — 'There is a huge rafflesia among the flowers.' | |
Irfan tells Jasleen about his trip to Sabah where he saw a baby proboscis monkey among a troop of proboscis monkeys in the forest. Proboscis monkeys are unique animals that can only be found in certain places in Borneo.
An adult proboscis monkey jumping over a stream to look for food
Write sentences using 'among' and 'over':
Example: The tourist is standing among the peacocks.
Example: The aeroplane is flying over Mount Kinabalu.
'Over' shows movement across something (a bird flying over the river). 'Among' shows being surrounded by or in the middle of other things (a rafflesia among the flowers). Homophones sound the same but have different meanings and spellings — son/sun, ate/eight, rode/road.
📝 Kosa Kata
Mount Kinabalu is one of the youngest non-volcanic mountains in the world — it is still growing at about 5 mm per year! The Rafflesia has no leaves, stems, or roots, and its flower can weigh up to 11 kg.
Uji Minda!
16 soalan • Boleh buat!