Opportunities to visit and explore the local environment are essential if the aims and objectives of the geography curriculum are to be achieved. Investigations in the environment, or geographical fieldwork as these activities may be termed, are vital for a number of reasons. Geographical fieldwork in the locality should
- stimulate children's interest in the environment and provide an enjoyable and active learning context
- enable the child to come to know the locality in which he/she lives, to appreciate its features and characteristics and so develop a sense of what is distinctive about his/her own place. This understanding and appreciation of one's own locality is an important aspect of the child's personal development
- encourage a questioning, critical approach to geography in which children are stimulated to ask questions, recognise and investigate patterns, suggest and test hypotheses and so develop critical thinking skills. Fieldwork should allow children to apply, test and extend their understanding of the geographical concepts that they have encountered in the classroom
- provide real situations in which geographical skills are seen to be necessary and relevant, thus encouraging mastery of the techniques and concepts involved
- foster the critical foundation on which a sense of responsibility for the care of the environment is based
- involve group work and co-operative working which encourage the development of many of the social skills that are outlined in the SPHE curriculum. Meeting other people in the environment will, for example, provide opportunities for the child to develop an awareness of the peoples and communities in the locality and their inter-relationships
- provide children with a basis from which they can begin to compare and contrast the features of other environments in Ireland and other parts of the world and the lives of the peoples who live in these places
- be used to integrate many elements of the primary curriculum, including history, science, language, mathematics and the arts with geography.