Local Area Fieldwork — SESE Geography Activity Pack (Ireland)

Local area fieldwork activities — SESE Geography

• MAP THE SCHOOL GROUNDS: draw a bird's eye view. Add compass directions. Mark features: buildings, trees, playground, car park.
• TOWNLAND STUDY: every place in Ireland has a townland name. Research your townland — what does the name mean in Irish?
• LAND USE SURVEY: walk around the local area. Record land use: residential, commercial, agricultural, green space. What patterns do you see?
• HUMAN FEATURES: photograph buildings of different ages and styles. Can you estimate when each was built?
• PHYSICAL FEATURES: identify any rivers, hills, valleys, or coastline near the school. Use an OS map to name them.
• INTERVIEW: ask an older community member what the area looked like 30-40 years ago. What has changed?
• ORDNANCE SURVEY MAP: use a 1:50,000 OS Discovery map of your area. Find your school. Identify 5 features using the map key.
• BEFORE AND AFTER: find old photographs of your area on the National Library website or local library. Compare then and now.

• ▶ HUMAN ENVIRONMENTS: settlement, economic activities, transport, tourism. Your local area is the starting point for all three.
• ▶ NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS: rivers, mountains, bogland, coastline. What natural features are near your school?
• ▶ ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS AND CARE: how is your local environment being looked after? What threats does it face?
• ▶ THE LOCAL → NATIONAL → GLOBAL PROGRESSION: SESE Geography starts local (your area) and gradually widens — to Ireland, to Europe, to the world. Each scale helps understand the next.
• ▶ ASSESSMENT: Geography projects are excellent assessment vehicles — map work, photographs, research, written reports. Portfolio assessment is encouraged.
• ▶ IRISH RESOURCES: OSi (Ordnance Survey Ireland) has free online maps at maps.osi.ie. IrishGenealogy.ie has historical census and land records. The National Photographic Archive has old local photographs.