Sample Lesson Plans

INTRODUCTION

What follows is a series of lesson plans based on statements from different units of the syllabus, accompanied by teaching resources on which the learning activities are based. These activities are suggested rather than prescribed; in many cases they can be viewed as a menu of options from which the teacher can choose according to the level taught or the ability of the class. The statements and syllabus units selected tend to emphasise what is new in the syllabus.

Each lesson plan is set out in a template which brings together the main strands of teaching for understanding and assessment for learning. The aim is to provide a framework in which teachers are encouraged to plan the delivery of each lesson in accordance with sound theory and best practice. A blank template is available for photocopying and use by the teacher.

The resources on which the lessons are based include O.S. maps, aerial and satellite photographs, graphs, tables and textual sources extracted from newspapers or magazines. They are either reproduced or web addresses provided from whence they can be downloaded. The student's learning is guided through the completion of the suggested activities, having received clear direction from the teacher. The student's learning is assessed through performing the tasks suggested, having been given criteria by which to judge success. Feedback should be given at the conclusion of the assessment through written or verbal comment, showing what is required for improvement.

The recommended time for each lesson is a single classperiod, unless follow-on activities are indicated;however it can be extended over two or more classperiods if needed.

TITLE OF LESSON:

The learning intention:
What the lesson is intended to achieve ­ this can be based on the outcomes listed at the beginning of each syllabus unit.

Previous learning topics/prior experiences:
Introduces continuity into planning. Builds on Junior Certificate course.

Reference can be made to current events, news stories, students' interests e.g. nationality of soccer players etc.

Students will have developed their skills in:
Where possible, skills should be integrated into lesson.

They will use these resources:
The maps, photographs, statistics, graphs and diagrams through which understanding will be developed.

They will have been introduced to new content:
By isolating the new content the learning task can be made more manageable to the student.

Students will be asked to display their understanding through:
Devising meaningful activities which will allow students to show their understanding. This should involve a number of activities which would allow multiple intelligences to be employed. The activities can be undertaken as classwork or homework. Past examination questions can be utilised if appropriate.

Contained in syllabus statements:
This ensures that each lesson is firmly rooted in syllabus statements.

The statements can be taken from more than one syllabus unit.

Stages of the lesson and methods to be used:
Detailed break down of activities.

Build in use of resource materials.

Possible format:

• introduction ­ what the lesson aims to achieve
• recap on previous learning
• introduction of new content
• setting assignments to reinforce learning/reveal understanding - classwork and homework
• recap of what has been covered in lesson.

SAMPLE LESSON PLAN 1: LEINSTER GRANITE

The learning intention:
Students will understand that

• the landscape familiar to many students is the result of processes involving the interaction of the tectonic cycle, rock cycle and surface processes
• the present location of fold mountains results from the historic movements of plates
• these past tectonic events contributed to the recycling and modification of rock which is evidenced by the present day distribution of rock types

Previous learning topics/prior experiences:
Plate tectonics

The rock cycle

Weathering and erosion (Junior Certificate)

Students will have developed their skills in:
Interpreting maps and diagrams.

O.S. map interpretation.

They will use these resources:
Information sheets 1 and 2.

O.S. map extract of Co.Wicklow e.g. Glendalough or Avoca.

They will have been introduced to new content:
Ireland's position relative to plate movements in the past.

The Leinster chain as a result of plate movements.

The recycling of rocks as part of the tectonic process.

Students will be asked to display their understanding through:
Describing the rocks from which the Leinster Chain is formed and relating this to the rock cycle.

Describing the earth movements responsible for the formation of the Leinster chain and relating them to plate tectonic theory.

Drawing diagrams to illustrate these processes.

Recognising structure and processes on O.S. maps.

Contained in syllabus statements:
Ireland's position relating to plate boundaries in the past (Core Unit 1.1)

Irish rock types (Core Unit 1.2)

Landforms are influenced by geological structures which have resulted from the operation of the tectonic cycle (Core Unit 1.3)

Landforms are influenced by operation of rock cycle (Core Unit 1.4)

Stages of the lesson and methods to be used:
Students will be asked to study Fig. 1 - a geological map of the Leinster Chain and identify the axis of folding. They will be asked to study Fig. 2 ­ a diagram of a section across the Leinster Chain. Arrows are used to indicate some of the processes which have contributed to the present landscape formation. These are: A: folding due to plate movement, B: igneous intrusion, C: contact metamorphism and D: sub-aerial denudation. Students can be asked to describe in detail these processes and their causes, and how they have contributed to the present landscape.

INFORMATION SHEET 1

CALEDONIAN IRELAND

Key terms: plate tectonics; plate convergence and collision; oceanic plate subduction; volcanic arc development; orogenesis.

In ancient geological times, extending through the PreCambrian, Cambrian, Ordovician and into the Silurian periods, an oceanic area existed in the southern hemisphere, sandwiched between three continental plates, referred to as Laurentia, Baltica and the micro-continent of Avalonia. This ocean, called Iapetus, was at its maximum width in late Cambrian times but it proceeded to close up as the continental plates converged. This convergence involved the subduction of the oceanic plate materials beneath the continents, causing volcanic island arc development through the re-melting of ocean floor rocks. Sediments that had been deposited on the floor of Iapetus were scraped up and accreted onto the continental plate margins. Eventually, the final collision of the continental plates resulted in a major event of mountain building or orogenesis referred to as the Caledonian orogeny. This involved considerable deformation (folding and faulting) and thickening of the crust and also the emplacement of deep-seated magma chambers in the form of plutons or even larger batholiths.

The suture which joined the colliding continents runs diagonally across Ireland in a line roughly from Limerick to Louth. Thus, southeastern Ireland and northwestern Ireland originated on entirely separate plates. The clear evidence of the Caledonian orogeny can be seen throughout Ireland with its predominantly northeast to southwest trending structural grain as it can in much of northern Great Britain, especially Scotland (hence the

name 'Caledonian'), western Scandinavia and eastern Greenland and also in the eastern United States in the Appalachian area. Since this episode the entire continental unit has drifted northwards into the northern hemisphere and experienced major modifications through geological time - most notably, the opening up of the Atlantic in Mesozoic time which separated the Caledonian areas of Europe and North America on different plates.

With regard to Irish geology, the volcanic rocks in southeastern Ireland (south Wicklow, Wexford and Waterford and also in parts of the north and west) represent the product of volcanic island arc activity associated with the subduction of and closure of Iapetus. The Leinster batholith and other plutonic emplacements of the north and west owe their existence to the orogenic episode also. The Ordovician and Silurian sandstones and shales of the Longford-Down axis area represent the scrapings of ocean floor sediments accreted against the northern continental margin in faulted structures. Much of the northeast-southwest structural grain in Irish geology has since been masked by later deposition, especially in the south and midlands (Devonian and Carboniferous sediments). Later deformation (mainly affecting the south) due to the Armorican orogeny, which involved different episodes of plate convergence, produced a different structural orientation in the south. Much later igneous activity in Tertiary times (probably associated with the opening of the north Atlantic) produced the volcanic outpourings of the Antrim basalts and the emplacement of the plutons of the Mourne and Carlingford mountains.

INFORMATION SHEET 2

SAMPLE LESSON PLAN 2:

PATTERNS IN INTERNATIONAL TRADE

The learning intention:
Students will understand

• why nations trade with each other
• the emergence of trading blocks
• the need for trade agreements
• how some countries are excluded
• Ireland's trading partners.

Previous learning topics/prior experiences:
Developed and developing economies.

Students will have developed their skills in:
Statistical analysis.

Location of countries.

They will use these resources:
Ireland's trade figures.

Outline world map. (This can be downloaded from http://www.eduplace.com/ss/maps/world.html)

Wall map or atlas.

They will have been introduced to new content:
Factors governing World Trade.

Trading agreements.

Trading blocks.

Does trade favour the developed countries and exploit the developing world?

Students will be asked to display their understanding through:
Using the trade figures, show how Ireland is part of the global economy.

Analysing the factors which govern world trading patterns and particularly Ireland's foreign trade. Why and how do countries try to regulate trade?

Contained in syllabus statements:
Economies are linked within a global framework (Elective Unit 4.3).

A distinctive trading pattern has emerged between Europe, USA and Pacific Rim (Elective Unit 4.3).

International division of labour (Elective Unit 4.3).

Some regions are excluded (Elective Unit 4.3).

Stages of the lesson and methods to be used:
Brainstorming session ­ why do countries trade with each other?

Suggested headings ­ climate constraints on food production, fuel and raw materials, specialisations, job creation, cost considerations.

The students are given Ireland's trading statistics and asked to describe and explain patterns. One way would be to locate named countries on a blank map of the world.

They could be asked to identify our most important trading partner and explain why. Would the same reasons apply to our second most important partner in trade? Our third and fourth?

Working through the list, what regional patterns emerge?

If the countries are shaded onto the world map, what regions are excluded? Why?

Students could be asked to link specific imports with the countries of origin. Is there a pattern of high value imports from developed countries and low value imports from less developed countries? They should try to explain this.

IRELAND'S MAIN PARTNERS IN TRADE 2002

SAMPLE LESSON PLAN 3:

CHANGING MIGRATION PATTERNS IN IRELAND

The learning intention:
Students will understand that:

• Ireland has changed from having a migration deficit from emigration to having a surplus from immigration in recent years
• this has partly come about because of strong economic growth creating gaps in the labour market which must be filled by immigration
• some of those returning are Irish who emigrated in earlier years
• many Irish still emigrate for different reasons
• there has been a sharp rise in immigrants seeking asylum
• the government (and EU) are examining migration policy to control and regulate these flows.

Previous learning topics/prior experiences:
Migration ­ Junior Certificate.

Media reports.

Students will have developed their skills in:
Statistical analysis.

Interpreting graphs.

They will use these resources:
Population statistics.

Graphs.

Reports.

They will have been introduced to new content: How and why Ireland's experience of migration has changed.

Where our immigrants come from.

Irish migration policy.

EU migration policy.

Students will be asked to display their understanding through:
A written report describing and explaining the balance between emigration and immigration over the past twenty years.

Comparing/contrasting their family or community's experience of emigration with the experiences of the new immigrants.

Describing the impact on and the contribution made to the local community by immigrants.

Describing how future events might influence migration patterns ­ changes to the economy, EU enlargement, foreign wars and famine ­ and how Ireland's present migration policy might meet these challenges.

Contained in syllabus statements:
Population movements have an impact on the donor and receiver countries. (Elective Unit 5.3).

Stages of the lesson and methods to be used:
Brainstorming the class for their perception of migration issues. This could involve questioning

• their own family experience of emigration
• their perception of immigrants in the workforce; i.e. in hotels, hospitals, multinational corporations locally
• their perception of immigrants in school and in the community
• their perception of asylum seekers

Briefly revise push and pull factors.

The class will examine the census tables, graphs and reports of migration from the Central Statistics Office.

What would explain the trends shown in these tables?

Arising from their study of those figures, do we need to control the flow of migrants? What policies might we adopt?

LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE

The learning intention:

Previous learning topics/prior experiences:

Students will have developed their skills in:

They will use these resources:

They will have been introduced to new content:

Students will be asked to display their understanding through:

Contained in syllabus statements:

Stages of the lesson and methods to be used:

CHANGING MIGRATION PATTERNS IN IRELAND

TOTAL WORK PERMITS ISSUED 1999-2002

Figure 2 Source ­ Department of Justice and Law Reform

ANALYSIS OF WORK PERMITS BY SECTOR: 1999-2002

Figure 3 Source ­ Department of Justice and Law Reform

PERMITS BY NATIONALITY 2002 - TOP 13 COUNTRIES

Figure 4 Source ­ Department of Justice and Law Reform

Figure 5. The high level of asylum applications is primarily the result of applications from nationals of Nigeria and Romania (49.2% in 2002). The highest source countries for 2002 were Nigeria (4,050 or 34.8% of the total number of applications for 2002) and Romania (1,677 or 14.4% of the total number of applications for 2002).

SAMPLE LESSON PLAN 4:

LOCATION OF SHOPPING CENTRES

The learning intention:
Students will understand:

• the factors which influence the location of major retail parks
• the effect these developments have on the immediate locality and city centre retailing
• planning for sustainable progress.

Previous learning topics/prior experiences:
Layout of towns and cities.

Changing land values.

Traffic congestion (all from Junior Certificate).

Students will have developed their skills in:
Photograph interpretation.

Map interpretation.

Text comprehension.

They will use these resources: O.S. map (Figure 1).

Aerial photograph (Figure 2).

Newspaper article (Figure 3).

They will have been introduced to new content:
Principles behind planning decisions.

Students will be asked to display their understanding through:
Preparing an advertisement to highlight the attractions of the shopping centre for national newspapers.

Developing a set of guidelines which planning officials could give to developers.

Using another map of a large town or city to locate a site suitable for a similar development.

Contained in syllabus statements:
Changes in landuse and planning issues (Elective Unit 5.5).

Expansion of cities (Elective Unit 5.5).

Urban problems of traffic movement and congestion (Elective Unit 5.6).

Environment quality (Elective Unit 5.6).

Stages of the lesson and methods to be used:
Students will be given an O.S. extract and an aerial photograph of Liffey Valley Retail Park. They will be asked to locate the centre on the O.S. map at Grid Reference O 073 347.

They will be asked to describe the layout of the centre. They will be asked to analyse the factors which led to the development of the shopping centre. Sketch maps will be required for both these tasks.

They will be asked why these centres have proved so attractive to shoppers and speculate on the size of the catchment area. They will then be asked to describe the positive and negative impact on the local area.

They will be asked to read a newspaper report and analyse the reasons why a number of proposals for similar developments have been rejected by planning authorities.

FIGURE 1

O . S . MAP1 : 5 0 , 0 0 0 SHEET 5 0

Ordnance Survey Ireland. Permit No. 7828 © Ordnance Survey Ireland and Government of Ireland

FIGURE 2

AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH, LIFFEY VALLEY RETAIL PARK

Ordnance Survey Ireland. Permit No. 7861 © Ordnance Survey Ireland and Government of Ireland

FIGURE 3

PLANNERS SAY NO TO RETAIL PARKS DESPITE BOOM

The spread of Retail Parks has received a check from Bórd Pleanála, despite their popularity with the public. Recent proposals to develop a new centre at Swords and extend existing centres at Blanchardstown and Liffey Valley have been refused planning permission because they cause traffic congestion and pose a threat to local traders.

These centres are a relatively recent development in Ireland. Centres like Liffey Valley Retail Park in West Dublin have proved enormously popular. Huge stores have attracted firms like PC World, Currys, Atlantic Homecare, B&Q, as well as outlets for tiles and carpets. The management cites the good road infrastructure as being well able to accommodate future developments.

However An Bórd Pleanála took a different view in March 2000 when it refused permission to double the size of Liffey Valley. The extension was to have included a massive Tesco supermarket. The grounds for refusal stated that the development would lead to massive traffic congestion due to its nature and scale.

This decision should go down well with the Irish Hardware & Building Materials Association and RGDATA, representing grocery shops, which both campaign against the large scale concentration of superstores because of the threat they pose to local traders.

New Retail Planning Guidelines state "large scale retail warehouse units in excess of 6,000 sq m are unlikely to be acceptable due to their effect on surrounding road networks and their potential for creating local monopolies which would inhibit competition with the local catchment areas".

Daily News November 2001

SAMPLE LESSON PLAN 5: COFFEE - FAIR TRADE?

The learning intention:
Students will understand

• the interdependent nature of the global economy
• the impact of global economic policies on developing economies and regions.

Previous learning topics/prior experiences:
Commodity production and dependency from Junior Cert.

Fair Trade from Junior Certificate.

Multinational Corporations (Elective Unit 4.2).

Students will have developed their skills in:
Maps (world scale).

Diagrams.

Comprehension. They will use these resources:
Coffee - a burning issue (Figure 1).

The price of a jar of coffee (Figure 2)

Outline world map. (This can be downloaded from http://www.eduplace.com/ss/maps/world.html)

Wallmap or atlas.

They will have been introduced to new content:
Dominance of multinational corporations.

Students will be asked to display their understanding through:
Designing a Fair Trade poster.

Organising a school awareness campaign.

Contained in syllabus statements:
Impact of multinational company with reference to global trading patterns (Optional Unit 6.2).

Human Rights issues (Optional Unit 6.2).

Fair Trade (Optional Unit 6.3).

Stages of the lesson and methods to be used:
Reading the newspaper article ­ `Coffee ­ a burning issue'. On an outline world map identify and locate the world's chief coffee producers as named in the article. Identifying global patterns of coffee production and consumption. Identifying the major multinational companies dominating coffee trading. Using the diagram show who benefits from the price of a jar of coffee to discuss the fairness of trade in coffee. Discussing factors responsible for the fall in coffee prices. Identifying the consequences for the producing countries. Explaining fair trade, the concept of fair trade towns.

Identifying actions which we as consumers can take.

FIGURE 1

COFFEE - A BURNING ISSUE

Torching nearly a million tonnes of surplus coffee beans is a radical way of solving the crisis in the world's coffee markets. But with prices at 30-year lows and farmers already burning their crop for fuel because it is uneconomic to sell it, the world's coffee producers may have to start thinking the unthinkable.

This week in the plush surroundings of the Hilton where a cup of coffee costs £3.50 - producers and consumer countries will be discussing the crash in prices which has halved the incomes of the 10m farmers dependent on the crop.

Tomorrow Oxfam will suggest a mass destruction programme of excess coffee beans funded by a windfall tax on the big coffee grinding companies, Nestlé, Kraft and Sara Lee. They estimate 15m bags of low grade coffee would need to be burnt to get the market back into balance and push prices above $1 a lb. The cost of the programme and compensation for the farmers would be $250m - which would be paid by the coffee roasting companies.

Wholesale prices have collapsed over the last three years from nearly $2.40 per lb to just under 50 cents, the lowest levels in thirty years. Allowing for the effects of inflation, coffee has never been so cheap.

Not that the consumer would have guessed. In the supermarket, a 100g jar of Nescafé Gold Blend has risen in price from £1.56 to £2.14 since 1994. Even at the best of times, coffee farmers receive a fraction of the price western consumers pay. Three years ago, when coffee prices were twice present levels, farmers received 14% of the retail price of a jar of instant. Today that figure is 7%.

Somebody is making money from coffee, and it is not the farmers.

Developing countries captured less than a third of the $43bn generated globally by coffee in 1997. The lion's share is captured by the big coffee processing groups such as Philip Morris and Nestlé. For the producing countries, the situation is getting desperate. Coffee growing isn't economic at these prices.

"The crisis in coffee markets is producing record profits for some and mass poverty for others," says Celine Charveriat, policy adviser at Oxfam, the international development charity.

In Tanzania, farmers can no longer afford school fees; in Chiapas state, south Mexico, seasonal labourers already on the poverty line have had their wages dramatically cut. Many have migrated to cities rather than starve in the countryside.

For Uganda, which depends on coffee for more than half its export earnings, the price slump has cost it $190m the equivalent of half the amount of debt relief it has received from the West. Agnaldo Jose de Lima, president of the association of coffee producers of Patrocinio, in the Brazilian state Minas Gerais, says the price is less than the cost of production.

"In my area you are seeing harvests abandoned. There is no point cultivating on weaker parts of land. You cannot recoup your investment. The farmer gets into a vicious circle. He cannot afford any fertilizer so the size of his crop falls, which means that he has even less money to invest."

Last May, the Association of Coffee Producing Countries (ACPC) hammered out an agreement to withhold up to 20% of its production from export to lift prices. This is the third such attempt to control the coffee market, but like the previous two it has been a dismal failure.

The problem is that the planned cuts are dwarfed by the size of the stockpiles built up by previous years of oversupply. The global coffee mountain stands at 56m bags - 3.12m tonnes of surplus beans.

Coffee consumption has remained relatively static for 20 years as production has exploded. The world grinds its way steadily through 103m bags of coffee a year on average, and unless coffee drinking takes off in a big way in populous countries like India and China, that looks unlikely to change. The International Coffee Organisation estimates production for 2000-1 will be 113m bags. Coffee exports have increased by 15% since 1990 because of new plantings by established producers and the arrival of newcomers to the market. Desperate for dollars to pay off western loans, developing countries have seized on coffee as an ideal cash crop.

Ten years ago, Vietnam was an insignificant producer of coffee. Today its industry, founded with World Bank loans, is the second largest after Brazil. In Colombia and Brazil, farmers were encouraged to switch from growing coca - the raw ingredient for cocaine - to coffee.

Unless coffee producers drastically change their policies, Oxfam says they are heading for a collective disaster. Rivalries between producing nations are hampering their attempts to tackle the crisis. Many of the Asian countries have raised production as prices have fallen to try to increase their revenues, but instead have contributed to the oversupply.

The Latin American countries back a renewed effort to make the export retention plan stick. The retention plan demands tough actions since coffee cannot be kept forever, and farmers are reluctant to see their harvest rot. Most of the producing countries lack anywhere to store the surplus. The ACPC's poorer African members have very little choice but to sell all their crop because they need the money. "What none of them wants to bite the bullet on is the fact that a huge amount of coffee needs to be destroyed," says Oxfam policy adviser Kevin Watkins. "The coffee mountain has to go, just moving it isn't the solution."

Oxfam says the big players have failed to pass on falling prices to consumers. "Indeed these trends have strengthened their market power along the supply chain, as they can pick and choose suppliers in Asia, Africa and Latin America, taking full advantage of lower prices and exercising their market power against vulnerable suppliers," says Ms Charveriat. David Nahum, secretary general of the Brazilian Coffee Industry Association, agrees that there is a crisis, but says the solution is to increase consumption, not destroy coffee. "Other producer countries should take Brazil's example. Ten years ago we consumed 6.8m bags. Now we consume 13.4m a year. The consumption in places like Indonesia and Central America is still very low." The radical solution may become more appealing to western governments when they consider the alternatives. Faced with falling prices, farmers in Latin America may decide that it makes sense to go back to growing drugs.

Copyright: The Guardian

FIGURE 2

THE PRICE OF A JAR OF COFFEE

SAMPLE LESSON PLAN 6: RAINFOREST BIOME

The learning intention:
Students will understand:

• the meaning of a biome
• the rainforest has evolved as an adaptation to climate and soils
• a complex interrelationship exists between climate, soil, vegetation and animal life
• this interrelationship is disturbed through human interference ­ rainforest destruction.

Previous learning topics/prior experiences:
Equatorial regions.

Tropical red soils.

Students will have developed their skills in:
Using atlas maps, photographs and diagrams.

Climate tables and graphs.

They will use these resources:
Climate graph.

Textbooks, encyclopaedia articles e.g. Encarta, websites.

They will have been introduced to new content:
Definition of a biome.

The interdependence between climate soil, vegetation, and wildlife.

The effects of rainforest destruction on the biome.

Students will be asked to display their understanding through:
Drawing an annotated diagram showing and explaining the structure of the rainforest.

Preparing a summary of why the rainforest should be saved.

Debating whether the economies of developing countries be developed without destroying the environment.

Contained in syllabus statements:
The pattern of world climates has given rise to distinctive biomes (Optional Unit 7.3).

Biomes have been altered by human activities (Optional Unit 7.4).

Stages of the lesson and methods to be used:
Students will be given climate tables and graphs for an equatorial region. They will be asked to describe the pattern of temperature and rainfall. They will then be asked how the climate will affect the process of soil formation and development of vegetation cover.

They will be shown photographs and diagrams of typical rainforest vegetation and be asked to describe the different layers.

They will be given an account of the wildlife and they will describe how it is adapted to this environment.

They will be asked to discuss the effects of recent developments which have resulted in the destruction of the rainforest. These will include soil erosion and impoverishment, elimination of species, increase in CO2emissions.

SAMPLE LESSON PLAN 7: WHAT BELFAST CAN TELL US ABOUT URBAN SEGREGATION

The learning intention:
Students will understand:

• issues associated with urban segregation.

Previous learning topics/prior experiences:
Plantation of Ulster (Junior Cert).

Media reports.

Students will have developed their skills in:
Map interpretation.

Photo interpretation.

Text comprehension.

They will use these resources:
Religious map of Belfast (Figure 1) Newspaper article (Figure 2) Photographs of conflict, parades, gable murals. These are available on the CAIN website http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/index.html

They will have been introduced to new content:
Segregation of population in Belfast and why it came about.

Religious conflict.

Students will be asked to display their understanding through:
Examining the imagery of political and religious affiliation ­ the red hand of Ulster, gable wall decorations, flags, Orange banners.

Comparing Belfast to Jerusalem.

Suggesting measures which the Northern Ireland Office could take to break down the barriers of hatred and mistrust.

Contained in syllabus statements:
Culture and identity are tied to ideas of ethnicity, which include race, language, religion and nationality. (Optional Unit 8.1). The impact of colonialism and migration on racial patterns (Optional Unit 8.1). The distribution of major religions (Optional Unit 8.1). Religious conflict (Optional Unit 8.1). Everyday expressions of culture and identity (Optional Unit 8.1).

Stages of the lesson and methods to be used:
Brainstorming the class to examine their perceptions of Belfast. Briefly explaining some factors which have influenced the polarisation of Belfast along religious lines; i.e. plantation, industrialisation, partition. Examining the map of Belfast and identifying the location of almost exclusively Protestant and Catholic areas. Explaining the correlation between patterns of segregation and income distribution. Examining the imagery of these locations, e.g. flying of flags, gable decorations, festivals and processions. Explaining why this pattern developed. Reading the article on religious segregation. Examining the consequences of this division and its impact on the lives of people e.g. employment patterns in shipyards, denominational schools, journeys to work and school, `peace lines'.

FIGURE 1

RELIGIOUS MAP OF BELFAST

Source: Dr Sunil Prassanan, Imperial College, London

FIGURE 2

PEACE BUT NO LOVE AS NORTHERN IRELAND DIVIDE GROWS EVER WIDER
Protestants and Catholics report more violence and less integration

Paul Brown in Belfast Friday January 4, 2002 The Guardian

Segregation in Belfast has got worse since the Northern Ireland peace process began, with Protestant and Catholic enclaves more entrenched and violence on the increase, according to new research.

Surveys carried out among 4,800 households in 12 neighbouring estates separated by so-called peace lines usually brick walls or metal barriers - show there is less integration than 10 years ago, particularly among younger people.

Prejudice on both sides was so marked among the 18- to 25-year-olds that 68% had never had a meaningful conversation with anyone from the other community. In all age groups six out of 10 said they had been victims of verbal or physical abuse since the first ceasefire of 1994, and the same number believed that community relations had worsened during the same period.

Dr Peter Shirlow, who is presenting his findings to the Royal Geographical Society and Institute of British Geographers conference in Belfast tomorrow, said the findings contradicted what politicians involved in the peace process hoped and believed was happening.

"Everyone sees themselves as a victim in Northern Ireland," he said. "There is a complete denial of the other side's victimhood; people cannot see themselves as perpetrators of violence and intimidation, only as victims of the opposite camps."

Dr Shirlow, who is a senior lecturer in geography at the University of Ulster in Coleraine, used specially trained members of both communities in the estates to conduct the research.

A further survey of 40,000 jobs in Belfast showed that workforces were also segregated. A mere 5% of the workforce in companies located in areas dominated by the Protestant community are Catholics, and 8% of Protestants had jobs in Catholic areas.

Dr Shirlow's research has been backed up by as yet unpublished analysis of the 2001 census. This showed that in Belfast in 1991 63% of the population lived in areas that were either more than 90% Protestant or 90% Catholic. By 2001 this had risen to 66%, showing that segregation was rising.

Figures from the Northern Ireland housing executive reinforce this view. After the 1994 ceasefire there was an upsurge of hope. Three thousand people moved into areas dominated by the other religion in the belief a new era was beginning. By 1996 the trend had reversed and since then 6,000 families have moved back into areas dominated by their own religion.

Dr Shirlow said the most significant single factor in these changes was the 1996 battle over Drumcree church where the loyalist community had been prevented from marching through an increasingly republican area. It had polarised opinion and fear in both communities throughout the province.

This kind of division had manifested itself again in the Catholic Ardoyne and Protestant Upper Ardoyne areas this autumn in the dispute over the Holy Cross primary school, when Protestants hurled a pipebomb at Catholic children walking to school.

According to the survey, older people were more likely to cross sectarian lines to shop, and to attend health centres and other facilities.

They were less likely to see themselves as potential victims of violence and more inclined to see good in people on the other side. This was mainly because they had memories and contacts in the other communities from before the Troubles erupted in 1968.

Young people were least likely to cross the peace lines. The number of acts of violence was increasing. Although the number of murders had reduced, the number of fist fights and other acts of intimidation or physical attack was rising.

For example, Dr Shirlow said, there had been two knee-cappings on Wednesday night. In both cases the ambulance was called before the attack had taken place. When the sirens were heard, the victim was shot. The idea was to punish, not to kill, Dr Shirlow said.

The only ray of hope was in the surburban and country areas. Here the mixing of communities was greater than before 1994, mainly because Catholics with better opportunities and jobs were moving to more affluent areas. Dr Shirlow said the only way to break down this division in Belfast was to get the issue into the political arena.

What was needed was some kind of "experience commission" where people with similar experience from both communities could share their knowledge.

"Currently Catholics see themselves as victims of loyalists and the British state, loyalists see themselves as victims of republicans and now the British state. We have to show that they are both victims and perpetrators."

Lines of dispute

• 68% of 18- to 25-year-olds living in Belfast have never had a meaningful conversation with anyone from the other community, according to the research
• 72% of all age groups refuse to use health centres located in communities dominated by the other religion
• Only 22% will shop in areas dominated by the other religion
• 58% travel twice as far as they have to locate what they consider safe facilities to shop, or go to a leisure or health centre
• 62% of unemployed people refuse to sign on in their local social security office because it is in an area dominated by the other religion
• 62% have been the victims of physical or verbal abuse since 1994
• 62% believe community relations have worsened since 1994

Copyright: The Guardian

SAMPLE LESSON PLAN 8: TODAY'S WEATHER

The learning intention:
Students will understand that:

The weather we experience is determined by systems which extend over huge areas of the North Atlantic and the European continent. These systems can be recognised on maps and satellite photographs. These maps are based on reports from weather stations on the ground and at sea. Satellite photographs help in locating and tracking these systems.

These systems behave in predictable patterns and that it is possible to make reliable forecasts.

Previous learning topics/prior experiences:
Weather and Climate in Junior Certificate.

The Global exchange of heat.

Air masses.

Fronts

Students will have developed their skills in:
Interpreting weather reports.

Interpreting weather maps.

Interpreting satellite photographs.

They will use these resources: Weather reports.

Weather maps.

Weather satellite photographs.

They will have been introduced to new content:
The main weather systems which influence Irish weather.

Students will be asked to display their understanding through:
Preparing a forecast for the next twenty-four hours.

Describing how Ireland's location influences the pattern of our weather.

Discussing whether Irish weather is more or less predictable than other regions they have studied and why.

Whether global warming is affecting our weather.

Contained in syllabus statements:
Weather maps and weather data (Core Unit 3).

Circulation in both the atmosphere and the oceans affect weather and climate patterns on a variety of scales (Optional Unit 9.4).

Mid latitude depressions and anticyclones (Optional Unit 9.4).

Stages of the lesson and methods to be used:
Downloading the weather reports from Irish weather stations from http://www.met.ie/ Downloading latest weather map and satellite photograph from http://www.met.ie/ or http://www.met-office.gov.uk/

Locating the nearest weather station on weather map and satellite photo. Relating the elements of the weather to the wider picture shown on the map and photograph. This can be guided by questions such as 'why is the wind blowing in this direction?' , or `why is it raining?'. Since these systems generally develop in a predictable way, how might the present weather develop? Check students' forecast against official forecast.