USEFUL EQUIPMENT
The following equipment may prove useful for investigations in the field.
Data logger
a sensing device which automatically transmits data to be recorded on a computer. Different sensors measure a range of qualities, e.g. temperature, pressure, wind speed, water flow, ph in rivers. It may be shared with the school science department.
Ranging rods
useful for measuring depth of streams, can be used with string and builder's spirit level for taking levels.
Tape measure
preferably plastic coated, otherwise may stretch when wet.
Compass
for surveying.
Clinometer
for measuring slopes.
Water testing kit
testing water quality.
Soil testing kit
measuring ph in soils.
Geological hammer
collecting rock samples.
Plastic bags
for collecting samples. Self-sealing bags are the best.
Sample bottles
for taking samples of water for testing back in school.
Clipboards
essential for notetaking.
SUPPORT PACKS AND VIDEOS
Some of these resource packs and videos were commissioned especially for Irish schools. They should be in schools already.
The State We're In
EPA resource pack for TY has many useful applications for LC particularly in its investigation methodology.
Essential Stone
CRH Video and resource pack with applications for LC Physical Geography and Human Interaction with the Physical Environment.
Exploring our World
A Development Education resource pack for Junior Cycle with applications and resources which are equally applicable to Leaving Certificate geography.
Written In Stone
A video available from the Geological Society of Ireland. Shows how Ireland's landscape has evolved.
CD-ROMS
Encarta
Available on Cd-rom and DVD. This encyclopaedia from Microsoft has excellent articles on geographical topics lavishly enhanced with photographs, animations and video. The atlas is superb; anywhere in the world can be immediately located in the greatest detail. Highly recommended for project work.
Britannica
Same as above, more restrained in its presentation, but possibly even more detailed in content.
BOOKS
Ireland's Environment AMillennium Report
Environmental Protection Agency 2000
The Making of Ireland Landscapes in Geology
Williams and Harper IMMEL 1999
Written in Stone
Kennan Geological Survey Ireland 1995
A Story through Time
McKeever GSI/Geological Survey of Northern Ireland 1999
80:20 Development in an UnequalWorld
Colm Regan TIDE 2002
The Karst of Ireland LimestoneLandscapes, Caves andGroundwater Drainage Systems
Karst Working Group 2000 Geological Survey of Ireland
Reading the Irish Landscape
Frank Mitchell and Michael Ryan Town House 1997
Atlas of the Irish Rural Landscape
Aalen, Whelan and Stout Cork University Press 1997
Places and Regions in GlobalContext: Human Geography
Paul L. Knox and Sallie A. Marston Prentice Hall 2001
Population, Resources and Development
Chrispin, Jegede Collins Educational 2000
Geography: An Integrated Approach
David Waugh Nelson Thornes 2000
The Dictionary of PhysicalGeography
Goudie, Thomas (editors) Blackwell Publishers 2000
The Dictionary of HumanGeography
Ron J. Johnston Blackwell Publishers 2000
A Dictionary of Geography
Susan Mayhew Oxford Paperbacks 1997
JOURNALS
Geography Viewpoint
Journal of the Irish Geography Teachers Association.
Irish Geography
The journal of the Geographical Society of Ireland. Available on the web at http://www.ucd.ie/gsi/journal.html
Geography
The journal of the Geographical Society.
Teaching Geography
The journal of the Geographical Association. Visit their website at http://www.geography.org.uk/index.asp
National Geographic Excellent for maps and photographs. Website at www.nationalgeographic.com
M A P SOrdnance Survey Ireland
A full list of all available maps can be seen at www.osi.ie
Geological Survey of Ireland
A series of Geological maps of scale 1:100,000 cover the country. These are published with an accompanying guide.
USEFUL ADDRESSES
Environmental Protection Agency
Johnstown Castle
Co. Wexford
ENFO
17 St. Andrew St.
Dublin 2
http://www.enfo.ie/
Office of the European Commission
Dawson St.
Dublin 2
Trocaire
Maynooth Co.
Kildare
http://www.trocaire.org/
Concern
52-55 Lr. Camden St.
Dublin 2
WEBSITES
The following websites are recommended as being of high quality and appropriate to the syllabus. Although they are presented here as being linked to one section of the syllabus, many are relevant to other areas.
The Geography Support Service will develop a subject website and this will provide links to all the web addresses given here. It will be kept updated and extended as other sites are recommended or developed.
GENERAL GEOGRAPHY PORTALS
Portals provide links to multiple sites, usually providing a commentary and indicating the quality of each site.
Scoilnet
www.scoilnet.ie
This website has been created by the NCTE as the reference point for Irish educational matters.
BBC Webguide
www.bbc.co.uk\webguide
A comprehensive entry to selected sites, not all relevant to the Leaving Cert, but all of very high quality. Divided into course related sections key stage 3&4 and A Level are the relevant ones.
About
www.geography.about.com
An excellent introduction to world geography broken into categories. Main emphasis on American case studies.
Internet Geography
http://www.geography.learnontheintern et.co.uk
Excellent site with British bias includes teacher lesson plans.
The Internet Geographer
www.internetgeographer.com
Hundreds of links to other sites but a heavy emphasis on U.K. sites.
NEWSPAPERS
Newspapers provide articles of local, national and international issues and events. They provide extensive archives and can be quickly and easily searched by date or keyword.
Irish Times
www.Ireland.com
Currently requires a subscription. Archives back to 1998 are easily searched by excellent search engine.
Irish Independent
www.unison.com
Requires registration. Archives are searchable by date.
Examiner
www.examiner.ie
Requires registration. Archives can be searched from front page.
The Guardian
www.guardian.co.uk
Offers special reports on topics such as famine, population, climate change. Suggests linked articles and offers links to suggested relevant sites.
WEB RESOURCES TO SUPPORT UNITS OF STUDY:
Patterns and Processes in the Physical Environment
Geological Survey of Ireland
www.gsi.ie
Provides local geological maps. Provides detailed walking and driving geological guides. Has information on 2003 Mayo Bogslide.
Rivers
http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/faculty/ritter /geog101/textbook/fluvial_systems/titl e_page.html
An online textbook on fluvial systems.
Glacial Systems
http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/faculty/ritter /geog101/textbook/glacial_systems/titl e_page.html
An online textbook on glacial processes.
The Essential Guide to Rocks
http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/rocks/ index.shtml
Try out Britain's Rocky Past an interactive guide to the Geological Time Scale too bad it doesn't include Ireland. The Rock Primer describes how rocks are categorised.
Geography in Action
http://www.geographyinaction.co.uk
A site covering aspects of Northern Ireland and border counties. Has an excellent interactive geology map, extensive photograph collection and useful data on human geography, particularly the city of Belfast.
Geomorphology from Space
http://daac.gsfc.nasa.gov/DAAC_DOC S/geomorphology/GEO_HOME_PAG E.html
A NASA site containing hundreds of satellite photographs illustrating different geomorphological processes.
Visible Earth
http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/
Another NASA site which allows for searches by country, region or topic.
Volcano World
http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vw.html
A comprehensive site covering all the world's active volcanoes.
United States Geological Survey
http://www.usgs.gov
A comprehensive site covering many topics. Excellent source for factsheets, illustrations, satellite photographs, etc.
Classification of Rocks
http://www.zephryus.demon.co.uk/virt ualschool/lessons/Lesson008.htm
A brief look at how rocks are classified. Text with some illustrations.
Exploring the Environment
http://www.cotf.edu/ete/main.html
A NASA sponsored site offering many projects and activities.
Regional Geography
IDA
www.idaireland.com
The Industrial Development authority is the agency with responsibility for attracting foreign investment in industry and services into Ireland.
Duchas
www.duchas.ie
The agency responsible for preserving our natural and built heritage.
Teagasc
http://www.teagasc.ie/agrifood/index.h tm
Facts and figures on Irish agriculture.
Bord Iascaigh Mhara
www.bim.ie
Information on Ireland's fishing industry.
European Union
www.europa.eu.int
The official EU website. Good on the history of European integration, institutions and policies. Is linked to Eurostat.
Italy
http://www.channel4.com/learning/mic rosites/I/italia/
Developed in conjunction with a programme series Italia on Channel 4. Contains factsheets, games and quizzes.
National Atlas of Sweden
http://www.sna.se/e_index.html
Thematic maps of Sweden.
Look at Norway
http://www.lookatnorway.org.uk/
An educational site on Norway offering handouts and photographs for downloading.
Brazil
http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~sergiok/ boaviagem.html
Good site for information and photographs of Brazilian regions and cities.
Brazil
http://www.sln.org.uk/geography/brazil /Contents.html
More photographs of Brazil.
Virtual Zambia
http://www.bized.ac.uk/virtual/dc/
A tour of the Geography of Zambia focusing on development issues. Contains student worksheets and resource material.
Kenya Web
http://www.kenyaweb.com/
A comprehensive site filled with information on this African country.
Geographical Skills
Ordnance Survey
http://www.osi.ie/
Mainly a commercial site geared to selling maps, but it has a section on the history of the Ordnance Survey in Ireland.
Ordnance Survey Great Britain
http://www.ordsvy.gov.uk/home/index/ .hmtl
More wide ranging than the Irish site. Has a section on map reading, also GIS. Local area maps can be downloaded free.
Aerial photographs of Dalkey andSandycove, Dublin http://www.dalkeyhomepage.ie/aerial.h tml
Aerial photographs of Fethard,Co. Tipperary
http://www.fethard.com/mainpages/aer ial.html
Earthshots
http://edcwww.cr.usgs.gov/earthshots/s low/tableofcontents
A United States Geological Survey Site. Uses a variety of satellite images over years to show environmental change. Contains exercises and solutions.
Visible Earth
http://visibleearth.nasa.gov
A Nasa website offering thousands of satellite photographs searchable by theme or by country. Five star!
Patterns and Processes in Economic Activities
Enfo
www.enfo.ie
A fine Irish source for downloading leaflets on the environment.
World Bank Development Data
http://www.worldbank.org/html/schools/
Comprehensive information on population and social conditions for world regions.
New International
www.newint.org
A journal giving alternative views on development issues. Excellent information source for developing countries and the issues affecting them.
Globalisation
http://www.globalization101.org/issue/
Deals with issues arising from globalisation.
Young People's Trust for theEnvironment
http://www.yptenc.org.uk/docs/environ mental_facts.html
Information leaflets on many environmental issues aimed at students.
Exploring the Environment
http://www.cotf.edu/ete/main.html
A NASA site on environmental issues such as global warming.
Patterns and Processes in the Human Environment
Central Statistics Office
www.cso.ie
Has a section for students which provides basic statistics on a range of themes.
Irish Refugee Council
www.irishrefugeecouncil.ie
Up to the minute news on refugee movements into Ireland.
World Bank
www.worldbank.org
While the World Bank is often maligned for its policies which sometimes seem to impoverish further the developing countries it is supposed to help, its website is an exemplar of well presented information.
Unicef
www.unicef.org/-------sowc98
United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund. Good on statistics, maps, reports, and the Universal Declaration of Children's Rights.
United Nations Population
http://www.un.org/popin/
Population information from the United Nations.
Population Reference Bureau
http://www.prb.org/
Everything you wanted to know about population.
United Nations Website
http://www.un.org/english/
The official website with links to all its affiliates, such as UNESCO, World Health Organisation, etc.
Developing World Urban CaseStudy Rio De Janeiro http://www.macalester.edu/courses/geo g61/chad/titlepag.htm
Social contrasts in Brazil's second city.
Mexico City
http://www.macalester.edu/courses/geo g61//jpalmer/bannerCOLS.html
Describing one of the world's major conurbations.
Irish Overseas Aid
www.irlgov.ie/iveagh/foreignaffairs/iri shaid
Details of Ireland's aid programme.
Dynamic Population Pyramids
http://www.magnet.at/heilig/dto_new/a ni_1.html
Shows graphically how selected countries' population profile changes over time.
Global interdependence
Development Cooperation Ireland
http://www.dci.gov.ie
This is the site of Ireland's official government aid agency. Contains details of Ireland's Bilateral Aid programme along with a list of aid topics. Lots of photographs also.
CAFOD
http://www.cafod.org.uk/schools/
Cafod is the U.K. Catholic relief agency. Again this site contains lots of resources.
World Vision
www.worldvision.com.au
World vision is an international aid organisation. This Australian site has many resources for downloading, including excellent handouts on hunger, debt and trade.
One World
http://www.oneworld.net/article/frontp age/
A comprehensive resource with a magazine-like approach, concentrating on issues and regions.
Geoecology
Global Soils
http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/faculty/ritter /geog101/textbook/soil_systems/title_p age.html
An online textbook on soil formation.
The World's biomes
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/glossar y/gloss5/biome/
Introducing five of the world's major biomes.
Biomes
http://www.radford.edu/~swoodwar/C LASSES/GEOG235/biomes/main.html
An even more comprehensive site from Radford college.
A sustainable environment
http://www.eco-portal.com/
This is a portal which links to sustainable development sites.
Tropical rainforests
http://ran.org
Emphasis on action to prevent destruction of rainforests.
Rainforest
www.rainforestweb.org
World rainforest information portal.
Journey into Amazonia
http://www.pbs.org/journeyintoamazon ia/
A quality site with an interactive game and lots of information about the Amazonian rainforest.
The virtual rainforest
http://www.msu.edu/~urquhar5/tour/
A large picture of the rainforest appears on screen, then as the mouse is moved across the picture, different plants and creatures are highlighted. Informative and very well presented.
Disappearing forests
http://www.unep-wcmc.org/forest/ original.htm
The original forest cover of the globe before man began to destroy it c. 8,000 years ago.
Culture and identity
World cultural profiles
http://www.settlement.org/cp/english/i ndex.html
This site set up by the Canadian government profiles the cultures of over 60 countries (including Ireland) from which Canada receives immigrants.
Ethnic geography of Belfast
http://www.geographyinaction.co.uk/E thnic%20Diversity/Ethnic_intro.html
Information and commentary on a divided city.
CAIN
http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/ni/index.html
Conflict archive on the internet. Lots of background information and statistics on Northern Ireland.
Flashpoints
http://www.flashpoints.info/FlashPoint s_home.html
A website devoted to conflict, both international and internal. Catalogued by country and topics.
The Atmosphere-Ocean Environment
Online weather
http://www.onlineweather.com
Gives regional weather forecasts for Ireland and Britain. Provides climate data for local areas.
Met Eireann
http://www.met.ie/
Gives recent reports from Irish weather stations.
Met Office (U.K)
http://www.met-office.gov.uk/
Comprehensive information on all aspects of weather as well as up to the minute weather reports, maps and satellite photographs.
Encyclopaedia of the atmosphericenvironment
http://www.doc.mmu.ac.uk/aric/eae/W eather/weather.html
An A-Z guide to weather terminology. For simplified explanations, click on the Bart Simpson icon.