One of the best places to learn about natural landscapes and the environment is at a dedicted visitor and education centre. The information available is rich and varied, appealling to all ages and levels of interest. You can also meet the people who work closely with and in interesting landscapes. Staff at visitor centres can provide a world of information in an exciting and engaging way.
Many of the learning activities presented on GeoNEED.org can be carried out at a visitor centre.
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The Burren’s Geology and Landscape movie:
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The Burren Centre in Kilfenora is a wonderful place to embark on a trip through the history of the Burren’s natural and cultural landscape. The exhibition – ‘A Walk through Time‘ – allows you to see many of the features of the Burren in an exciting and informative way.
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This study module is related to the Nordland National Park Centre and its close surroundings. The area has many interesting Geological features and cultural monuments from earlier times. The module is aimed at understanding a Geological phenomenon in nature, river terraces, and their formation based upon using a Geo Lab installation. The valley, Saltdalen, has [...]
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This study module has been developed at Menntaskólinn á Egilsstöðum, Egilsstadir upper secondary school. The school has around 300 students, mainly from the East -Iceland area. East Iceland is mainly a rural area with a few villages, Egilsstaðir being the largest with around 2500 inhabitants. Egilsstaðir is situated in Fljótsdalshérað, the municipality in Iceland that covers the largest area, 8884 km2 with around 3700 inhabitants altogether. Menntaskólinn á Egilsstöðum is the largest upper secondary school in East – Iceland and focuses on university preparatory studies, built on four majors, one of which is natural science.
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“Aika matka” is a 3-kilometer long environmental trail which is located in downtown Rantasalmi. It consists of nine stops and 12 fascinating stories of which five deal with geological and the rest with culture historical topics.
The stories introduce the visitor to highlights in the geological and cultural past of the region. Main geological theme is the time concept characterised by the evolution of the landscape and the water level alterations of the Saimaa basin. The culture of the region evolved around the Haapaniemi Military Academy and the related manor culture.
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The Geological Information System (GIS)-based learning assignments are designed for upper secondary schools. The assignments develop geographical thinking. The assignments for Leivonmäki National Park are closely connected with the geological nature trail called ”Luupään lenkki”. In the tasks, geological data of the Leivonmäki National Park will be examined with Google Earth. The tasks develop the learner’s processing skills, problem-solving skills and science content knowledge.
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The Burrenbeo Trust is an environmental education and conservation charity. Burrenbeo runs the Ecobeo primary schools programme – a heritage education programme designed to raise an awareness of the Burren’s vast and varied heritage among primary school students…
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The Good and Bad Geology study module is linked to the Nordland national park centres learning program in Nordland county. The study module Good and bad geology consists several numbers of activities. The visit at the centre is supposed to be a cognitive starter for the understanding of environmentally challenges in relation to different aspects of the use of geo-recourses. After the visit the schools can keep on working with issues that came up under the module. This to make sure that the learning process in this issue will continue.
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A collaboration between the Earthquake Centre at Kópasker and the Visitor Centre of Vatnajökull National Park in Ásbyrgi, with the assistance of teacher in Öxafjarðarskóli (An elementary school in the municipality of Norðurþing)
The Earthquake Centre at Kópasker and the Visitor Centre (Gljúfrastofa) of Vatnajökull National Park in Ásbyrgi, with the assistance of teachers from Öxafjarðarskóli, have made an Earthquake educational project for Elementary Schools.
The project involves a visit to both of these Centres, with the main emphasis on earthquakes and especially on the earthquake that struck Kópasker on January 13th 1976. In addition, there will be educational information about other geological phenomena in the vicinity of Kópasker and Ásbyrgi.
The project involves a one-day visit to the two Centers. The employees at the Centers will guide the students around their exhibition, inform them about earthquakes and volcanic activities and then the pupils have to solve certain tasks. Prior to and following the visit, teachers have to prepare their students for the visit and process it when back in the class room again.
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A collaboration between the Earthquake Centre at Kópasker and the Visitor Centre of Vatnajökull National Park in Ásbyrgi, with the assistance of teacher in Öxafjarðarskóli (An elementary school in the municipality of Norðurþing).
The Earthquake Centre at Kópasker and the Visitor Centre (Gljúfrastofa) of Vatnajökull National Park in Ásbyrgi, with the assistance of teachers from Öxafjarðarskóli, have made an Earthquake educational project for Elementary Schools.
The project involves a visit to both of these Centres, with the main emphasis on earthquakes and especially on the earthquake that struck Kópasker on January 13th 1976. In addition, there will be educational information about other geological phenomena in the vicinity of Kópasker and Ásbyrgi.
The project involves a one-day visit to the two Centers. The employees at the Centers will guide the students around their exhibition, inform them about earthquakes and volcanic activities and then the pupils have to solve certain tasks. Prior to and following the visit, teachers have to prepare their students for the visit and process it when back in the class room again.
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The NEED project study module designed for the Finnish Stone Center comprises of new hands-on exercises, an exercise booklet for pupils, handbooks for teachers and guides, posters and equipment, and other related materials.
In the study module ‘Rocks around us’ pupils learn to know some rocks and minerals, they learn to understand the use of rocks and minerals, and to know Geology as a career. The module develops thinking, learning and problem‐solving skills as well as information management skills. Instruction relies on an investigative, problem‐centred approach.
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Activities of the learning module ”Koli Landscape” are primarily designed for two age groups: from 5th to 6th grade and 9th grade. Pupils learn about landscapes, and how landscapes form and change through geological processes and human actions. The landscape of Koli is particularly under study.
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The Burren Outdoor Education Centre is situated amid curved limestone hills and provides quality outdoor education experiences to people of all ages.
At the Burren Outdoor Education Centre, you can explore the unique Burren landscape at first hand, experience an array of challenging adventures, and learn about the environment…
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At the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience you can learn about the formation of these famous cliffs; why they are of such international importance in terms of natural and geological heritage; and why the cliffs are a Special Protection Area. At the Cliffs of Moher, you can learn about the cliffs either indoors in the Atlantic Edge exhibition, or outdoors on the cliffs themselves. A Cliffs Ranger can provide information about learning activities.
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At the Burren National Park, you can explore the fascinating karst environment of the Burren as you trek along the established walking routes that cross the national park.
You can also learn about all the habitats in the National Park – and appreciate the wonderful natural history that makes this part of the Burren so important to environmental and geological conservation.
