Through funding from the European Geosciences Union, the Irish Ice Age Trail provides educational material for use by second and third-level students of physical geography and the Earth sciences. Each virtual tour is accompanied by background material and resources, as well as explicit exercises related to the natural history of the site.
All material is free to download and adapt. You can use the exercises as they are, or tweak materials to better fit the aims of your academic plan.
The Great (Virtual) Irish Glacial Tiki Tour
In addition to using the materials provided as they are, you can also use the tours as the foundation for a student-led 'Tiki Tour'. A tiki tour is a self-guided tour, and is an ideal way to engage students in a 'flipped' classroom approach to learning. This is especially useful for students in geomorphology courses (glacial or otherwise).
In this program, students are split into small groups. Each group is assigned a site, which they explore on their own. Groups make note of the landforms they observe and the history of the landscape implied by these features. This can be a simple exercise for introductory students, or can take on more complex permutations (with added literature reviews such as those provided for each site) for advanced-level students. The home page lists key features to be found/identified at each site, a great place for students to start.
Students then lead their classmates on a 'tour' of their research site, highlighting the landforms present and the processes responsible for landscape change through time.
Let Us Know What You Think!
If you use the Ice Age Trail in your classes we'd love to hear about it. We'd also love to hear how you think we can make this resource better. We add new material to the Ice Age Trail all the time, but is there something in particular that you'd like to see? Let us know!
Feel free to get in touch with us anytime with comments, questions, or feedback!