HERODOT - Using the Web in teaching Geography

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I. Syllabus of basic school

1.1. Objectives of teaching

The objective of teaching geography in basic school is to ensure that the student

is able to understand the natural phenomena and processes on the Earth and the relations between them;

is able to value the possibilities of human actions as well as the consequences of human activity in different natural conditions; is able to understand the need for sustainable use of resources;

is familiar with the racial, linguistic, cultural, and religious diversity of humankind and respects this;

is able to read and use maps;

is able to use geographic knowledge acquired in school in everyday life.

1.2. Content of teaching

Physical geography of the world - 7. Form

Graphicasy
Plans and maps. Map scale, different types of scales. Mapwork. Azimuth. Latitude and longitude. Map grids. Map symbology. General geographical maps and thematic maps. Generalization. The globe. Map projections. Local time and zonal time. Time zones and international date line.

Inside the Earth. The Earth's history
Origin of the Earth. Geological time. Eras and periods. Inside of the Earth. The layers inside the Earth's crust. Plate tectonics. Theory of continental drift. The forces that shape the Earth's surface. Faults, earthquakes, volcanoes. Rocks and their absolute and relative age. Ingneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks.

Land forms
Oceans and continents. Global land forms. Contour maps. The relief of the ocean floor. Forces transforming the Earth's land forms. Weathering, the work of flowing water, wind, glaciers, ground water and the sea.

Climate
Elements of weather. Factors affecting climate. Solar energy and its seasonal changes. Energy balance. General circulation of air.
The impact of the ocean on the climate. Continental and maritime climate. The impact of the relief on the climate.
Climate types. Climate map and climate figures. Global climate changes. The impact of human activity on the climate.

Waters
Oceans of the world. The depth of the world's oceans, salinity and temperature of the water, ice conditions. Oceanic currents. Tides. Coastal land forms and their changes. Inland waters. Rivers and lakes. Ground water. Wetlands. Glaciers. Use of waters. Resources of clean water. Impact of human activity on waters. Protection of waters.

The Physical and Human Geography of the World - 8. Form

Continental regions. Geographic discoveries
Continental regions. Parts of the world known to the ancient peoples. Geographical discoveries in the ancient world. The voyages of the Normans. The era of great geographic discoveries. Christopher Columbus and the discovery of America. Passage to India. The first trip around the world. The search for the Southern continent. Exploration of the inland areas of continents. Expeditions on the world's oceans. Expeditions to the Arctic and the Antarctic. Geographical investigation today.

World population
World population and its changes. Population density and distribution. Races. Languages. Religions. Countries.

Continents
Main features of the relief of the Earth Primeval continents, their division into shields and platforms. The Palaeozoic folding zones, old mountains and alluvial depressions formed on them. More recent folding zones, young mountain ridges, inland seas, and alluvial depressions formed on them.

Natural regions of the world
Climates and natural zones. Regularities of the location of natural zones. Polar deserts and the Arctic zone. Location. Climate. Glaciated and new glaciated areas. Vegetation and animals.
Tundra. Location. Climate. Inland waters. Permafrost. Soil formation in tundra. Vegetation and animals and their adaptation in the tundra. Living conditions in tundra. The influence of human activity on the nature of the tundra.
Coniferous and deciduous forest of the temperate zone. Location of the temperate zone. Climate. Inland waters. Soil formation. Podzolisation and sod-podzolic soils. Brown forest soils. Fauna. Use of forests and the influence of human activity on the forests.
Steppes of the temperate zone. Location. Climate. Inland waters. Soil formation. Chernozems. Vegetation and animals and their adaptations. Human influence on the steppes.
Deserts. Location. World's biggest deserts. Sand, clay, stone, and loess deserts. Deserts of temperate, subtropical, and tropical zones. Coastal deserts. Climate. Inland waters. Vegetation and animals and their adaptations. Living conditions in the deserts.
Humid subtropical forests. Situation. Climate. Inland waters. Red and yellow forest soils. Vegetation and animals. Human activity and its impact on nature.
Mediterranean forests. Situation. Climate. Inland waters. Vegetation and animals and human impact. Equatorial natural zones. Savannahs, monsoon forests, and bush. Location. Climate. Inland waters. Soil formation. Lateric soils. Vegetation and animals. Human activity and its impact on nature. Equatorial rain forests. Location. Climate. Inland waters. Soils. Vegetation and animals. Human activity and its impact on nature.
Vertical zonation, its formation., and occurence in different mountain ranges. Zones in the world's oceans. Oceans of the hot zone. Hurricanes. Corals. Mangroves. Tropical oceans. Cold currents Diversity of flora and fauna. Subtropical oceans.
Temperate oceans. Storms. Flora and fauna.
Polar ocean. Sea ice. Fauna.
Human activities on the ocean. Importance of the ocean.

Physical and human geography of Estonia - 9 Form

Geographical position, boundaries and size. Administrative division.

Nature and natural resources
Geology of Estonia. Mineral resources. Relief and its formation. Impact of glaciers on the formation of Estonian relief. Climate. The Baltic Sea. Rivers, lakes, ground water, wetlands and their formation. Soils and vegetation. Fauna. Estonian landscapes. Human activity and its impact on nature. Protected areas.

Main natural resources
Population and settlement.Estonian population and its changes. Population dynamics. Population pyramid. Population density and distribution. Occupations. Rural and urban settlements. Migration. Ethnic structure of population.

Introduction to economic geography
Structure of national economy. Main industries. Geographical factors favouring and impeding economic development: natural resources, population and culture, geographical position. The principle of comparative advantage (specializing) and geographical division of labour. Business and environmental problems.

Estonian economy
Economic-geographical position. Natural resources and their use. Agriculture and food processing industries. Fishing. Forestry, timber and paper industries. Energetics. Construction and construction material industry. Preconditions for the development of high technology industries. Light industry. Transportation. Education and health care. Finance. Recreational services. Foreign economic relations.

Europe
Definition of Europe as a part of the world: different concepts

Geographical position

Nature and natural resources of Europe
Relief and its influence on land use. Geology and mineral resources. Climate and soils. Rivers, lakes, inland waterways, water powers. Forest and fish resources.
Diversity of European nature and its impact on the social development. Population and settlements of Europe
Population of Europe its dynamics. population density and distribution. Settlements. Migration. Nations and cultures. Natural, social and cultural characteristics of West, North, Central, East and South Europe. Countries of each region.

Political division of Europe. European Union

1.2. Study results

The student finishing basic school

is able to use maps and atlases (as well as diagrams, charts, etc.) for obtaining information about and for orienting in issues concerning the Earth and the main features of nature of its different parts;

has a general understanding of the relief of the Earth and of the processes shaping it;

is familiar with the main factors that influence the climate of the Earth and with the characteristics of climate zones and their sectors caused by these factors;

is familiar with the characteristics of the main natural zones of the Earth on the continents and on the oceans;

is able to use the above mentioned knowledge for assessing the Earth and its regions as inhabitable space;

is familiar with the main principles of sustainable utilization of natural resources;

has, through putting the above mentioned knowledge and skills into practice, obtained a more thorough understanding and knowledge of Estonia and Europe as well as about the rest of the world.

II. Syllabus of gymnasium

2.1. Objectives of teaching

The objective of the teaching of geography in the gymnasium is to ensure that the student

becomes aware of his/her responsibility for nature as its user and shaper;

is familiar with global problems and their causes;

is able to understand the principles of the functioning of the world economy as a system and is able to place Estonia in this system;

is able to put his/her knowledge into practice for critically appraising new demographic, economic, and political information;

is able to obtain new information using maps, atlases, statistical materials or other sources.

2.2. Course I. Macro-geography of world economy

2.2.1. Content of teaching

Development of world economy and the political map of the world
Traditional modes of production. The world in the 15th century, especially parts with early and late agrarian mode of production.
The formation and spreading of early industrial mode of production (mercantile capitalism) in the Mediterranean countries and in Europe. The foundation of the colonial system and the formation of world economy.
The independence of North and Latin America
The development and spreading of late industrial mode of production (manufacturing capitalism). The formation of Europe and Euro-America, the beginning of modernization in East Asia. The transformation of the colonial parts of the world. The complete emergence of the differences between North and South. The political map of the world in 1914.
Post-industrial mode of production. De-industrialization of the North. De-colonization and industrialization of the South. Globalization.
The political map of the world today. The First, the post-socialist, and the Third World. Parts of the world today. Most important countries of the world.
Trans-national companies. International economic organizations.

The population of the world and populational processes
The population of the world and its dynamics. Indicators marking population reproduction. Demographic movements. The growth of the world population in the future. Changes in the occupational structure of population in the course of history. Education as a basis of these changes. Urbanization and its stages. Two waves of international migration. Population distribution in the world space.
Ethnic structure of the population. Peoples of the world and ethnos. The relations between people and state.
Populational processes in different parts of the world.

2.3. Course II. Geography of industries

2.3.1. Content of teaching

Agriculture and food processing industry Natural preconditions for agriculture and land resources in different parts of the world. Forms of agricultural production and their distribution in the world. Agrarian industrial integration. The geography of the production, processing, and trade of the main agricultural products (grains, vegetable oil, sugar, fibres, milk and meat products).
Short overview of the agriculture of different regions of the world.

Fishing
Fish resources, forms of fishing and their distribution. Geography of fishing and trading with fish products.

Forestry
Forest resources of the world and forms of forest management. The processing of timber, the geography of wood processing and the paper industry. World market for timber products.

Energy industries
The importance of energy. Natural energy resources, their utilization, and the structure of the energy. The geography of extracting mineral oil and natural gas, oil-processing, coal-mining, the production of electricity (including hydroelectric and nuclear power). World trade in fuels and energy. Short overview of the energy of different regions of the world.

Metallurgical industries
Natural resources. Structure of the metallurgical industries. The formation of metallurgic industrial complexes, globalization, and the ensuing changes in their location. The geography of the production and world trade of iron and aluminium. Short overview of the metallurgical industries of different regions of the world.

High technology industries
The structure of this economic sector, its division into old, 'new', and newest industries. Location factors of the old industries and their geography. Changes in the organization of production process and their influence on the location of "new" (fordist) branches. The spread of subcontracting, production webs, and their localization patterns. Globalization, trans-nationalization, and respective changes in world trade. The main features of the geography of "new" branches.
The patterns of the organizations of production process in the newest industries. Science parks. Main features of the geography of the newest industries.

Light industry
Structure. Forms of production management and their distribution. Shifts in the geography of light industry, the situation today. Globalization and trans-nationalization in light industry.

Transportation
Stages in the transportation process, modes of transportation and their co-operation in transportational systems. The formation and development of national and international transportation systems. Transportation systems of different parts of the world and the relations between them. World trade in transportation services.

Service industries
The concept and importance of services, in the post-industrial society in particular. Global geography of financial services. Recreational industries and their geography. Geography of educational services and their globalization.

2.4. Study results of the student who finishes the gymnasium

The student who finishes the gymnasium

is able to use maps and atlases;

is familiar with the processes influencing the world economy today, especially the processes concerning the regions of the world and larger countries;

is familiar with the populational processes going on in the world today;

is familiar with the situation in the main branches of the world economy as well as with the economic specialization of the regions of the world and more important countries;

is able to put the above mentioned knowledge into practice in order to understand global ecological, demographic, and political problems.

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