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3 Draft Leaving Certificate specifications consultations

3 Draft Leaving Certificate specifications consultations

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Expectations For Students

Expectations for students is an umbrella term that links learning outcomes with annotated examples of student work in the subject specification. When teachers, students or parents looking at the online specification scroll over the learning outcomes, a link will sometimes be available to examples of work associated with a specific learning outcome or with a group of learning outcomes. The examples of student work will have been selected to illustrate expectations and will have been annotated by teachers and will be made available alongside this specification. The examples will include work that is:

  • Exceptional
  • Above expectations
  • In line with expectations.

The purpose of the examples of student work is to show the extent to which the learning outcomes are being realised in actual cases.

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes are statements that describe what knowledge, understanding, skills and values students should be able to demonstrate having studied geography in junior cycle. The learning outcomes set out in the following tables apply to all students. As set out here they represent outcomes for students at the end of their three years of study. The specification stresses that the learning outcomes are for three years and therefore the learning outcomes focused on at a point in time will not have been ‘completed’, but will continue to support students’ learning of geography up to the end of junior cycle. A glossary of action verbs and glossary of terms will support understanding of what is expected of students in each learning outcome. Junior Cycle Geography is offered at a common level. The examples of student work linked to learning outcomes will offer commentary and insights that support different standards of student work

Student learns about Students should be able to
1 Processes, Patterns, Systems, and Scale <br />2. Geographical Skills <br />3. Sustainability
  1. 1.1

    describe the formation and global distribution of volcanoes, earthquakes, and fold mountains in the context of plate tectonics and structure of the Earth

  2. 1.2

    distinguish between different categories of rock type, referring to composition and formation

  3. 1.3

    analyse the processes and effects of weathering and mass movement on our landscape

  4. 1.5

    explain how the processes of erosion, deposition and transportation shape our fluvial, marine, and glacial landscapes

  5. 1.6

    classify global climates, and analyse the factors that influence the climate in Ireland

  6. 1.7

    investigate the formation and behaviour of a significant weather event

  7. 1.8

    gather, record and interpret weather data

  8. 1.9

    differentiate between the types of energy resources produced by the physical world

  9. 1.10

    investigate a range of physical processes active in a chosen location and the connections between them.

  10. 1.4

    assess a soil type in a local area in relation to composition and vegetation

Student learns about Students should be able to
1 Processes, Patterns, Systems, and Scale <br />2. Geographical Skills <br />3. Sustainability
  1. 2.1

    describe the economic and social impacts of how we interact with the occurrence of volcanoes, earthquakes, and fold mountains

  2. 2.2

    evaluate the environmental, economic, and social consequences of rock exploitation and energy resources

  3. 2.3

    identify how the physical landscape influences the development of primary activities

  4. 2.4

    assess the exploitation of water, fish stocks, forestry, and soil as natural resources

  5. 2.5

    describe a local secondary activity in relation to its function and the factors that influence its location

  6. 2.6

    examine the causes and implications of climate change

  7. 2.7

    investigate examples of how people interact with and manage surface processes

  8. 2.8

    investigate how people respond to a natural disaster

  9. 2.9

    assess the interrelationships between the physical world, tourism and transport.

Student learns about Students should be able to
1 Processes, Patterns, Systems, and Scale <br />2. Geographical Skills <br />3. Sustainability
  1. 3.1

    use the demographic transition model to explain populations’ characteristics and how populations change

  2. 3.2

    investigate the causes and consequences of migration

  3. 3.3

    examine population change in Ireland and in a developing country

  4. 3.4

    consider the factors affecting the location and origin of rural and urban settlement in Ireland

  5. 3.5

    examine the causes and effects of urban change in an Irish town or city

  6. 3.6

    identify global patterns of economic development

  7. 3.7

    compare life chances for a young person in relation to gender equality, health care, employment and education opportunities in a developed and a developing country

  8. 3.8

    evaluate the role of development assistance in human development

  9. 3.9

    synthesise their learning of population, settlement and human development within the process of globalisation.

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