Classroom lesson 路 Gozo - Malta's quiet little sister馃嚥馃嚬 Malta

Gozo - Malta's quiet little sister

A smaller island with green hills, sea cliffs and salt pans

Green countryside and a coastal village on the Maltese island of Gozo

Photo 路 Wikimedia Commons

What is it?

Malta is actually a group of small islands. The biggest is called Malta. The second-biggest is called Gozo. People reach Gozo on a short 25-minute ferry ride from the north of Malta. It is greener, quieter and slower than the main island, with little villages, hilltops and pretty beaches.

Tell me more

Gozo is only about 14 kilometres long - you could drive from one end to the other in less than half an hour. About 30,000 people live there, which means many Gozitans know each other by name. Children often go to school in the village they were born in.

Along the rocky coast, you can find 'salt pans' - flat squares carved into the rock. Families have been making salt there for hundreds of years. They let seawater into the squares, the sun heats it, the water turns into steam, and the salt is left behind in white crystals. Then it is scooped up by hand.

Gozo has its own famous landmark called the Inland Sea - a small round lagoon that is connected to the open sea by a low tunnel through the cliffs. Tiny boats can sail right through the tunnel and out the other side. The water is so calm inside that you can see your own face in it.

Lots of farming happens on Gozo - tomatoes, onions, peppers and very famous cheese made from goat or sheep's milk called '摹bejna' (say 'JBAY-nah'). It comes in little flat rounds, sometimes plain, sometimes rolled in black pepper.

In the classroom

Walk your class through this in 15 minutes.

Talk together

Discussion prompts

  1. 01How might life on a small island be different from life in a busy city?
  2. 02Salt is just left behind when seawater evaporates. What else around your home is left behind when water dries up?
  3. 03Imagine you live in a village where you know everyone. What would be lovely about that? What might be tricky?
Try this

Classroom activity

Half-fill a plate with a little salty water (a teaspoon of salt in a small bowl of warm water - stirred). Leave it on a sunny windowsill for two or three days. When all the water has gone, what is left? Compare to Gozo's salt pans.