Dykumų geografinių zonų kompleksinė analizė ir jos turinio taikymas geografinėje edukacijoje

• Main Author: Karamyševa, Natalija
• Other Authors: Gerulaitis, Virginijus
• Format: Master Thesis
• Language: Lithuanian; English
• Published: Institutional Repository of Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences 2011
• Subjects: desert; deserts geographical zones; analysis; application in geographical education; Arctic; Antarctic; Lanes; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://leu.oai.elaba.lt/documents/2005555.pdf; http://leu.lvb.lt/LEU:ELABAETD2005555&prefLang=en_US

Geography subject in the school program should comprehensively familiarize pupils with all the events taking place around us in this World. However, the fact is otherwise: many things are listing in the abstract and are analyzing superficially, so pupils do not create adequate world-view and do not understand many things. For example: this fact is with the geographical areas of deserts and its complex desertification problem. According to this, the task of the master work was to make complex analysis of the deserts geographical areas with highlighting the process of desertification, determining the content of the application and its applicability in geography education. Based on the geographic zonal consistent pattern and Petrov M. P. classification of the deserts, the structure of the wilderness geographical areas is: arid deserts (dry and hot climate), which are widespread in following climatic zones - subtropical, tropical and middle latitudes; polar deserts (dry and cold climate), which consists of Arctic and Antarctic wilderness; and nival deserts , which is the analogue for the polar deserts in the mountains, they spread on the mountain tops over the snow line. Desertification and its spread are impact of the atmospheric circulation, ocean flows and geographical location of the terrain. The same natural phenomena make impact on natural conditions of the desert, its housing characteristics and on the social - economic characteristics of the population living in these areas. Desertification process, which is consequence of the human activities and climatic events, is one of the world's ecologic problems, which intensifies each year, especially in the outskirts of the deserts and in the countries of the hot and dry climates of Africa, Asia and Australia. By the UNEP data, each year the World lost six million hectares of irrigable land. In general, from this process is suffered 40 million hectares of the land. Cold deserts, both polar and nival, facing the reverse process - its disappearance. For example, in the Arctic over the past 25 years ice area decreased by 25% and the Arctic ice has become thinner 30-40%. It is estimated that each year the Antarctica gives to the ocean about 40 km3 of ice. Mountain glaciers shrink speed in average grew from 30 centimeters per year in 1980-1999 by 1,5 meters in 2006. These changes make as well as a variety of problems (such as flora and fauna species loss, subsidence of river) and as the positive effects (such as emergence of new shipping lanes). In the content of the geography subject in the school (in the programs in general and in the geography textbooks) is suppositional rather narrow and fragmented presentation of the knowledge about the geographical areas of the desert. There is lack of clear and precise classification naming the deserts spread. Insufficient quantity of the information is listed about population social - economic situation in the wilderness areas, determined only by the examples. Desertification process concept is present only in some classes. By my accomplished research - estimation of the knowledge level in 6-12 classes about the desert geographical areas and desertification process concept - found that pupils’ knowledge of the desert geographical areas and desertification process in senior classes are higher: pupils are able to mention more precisely features or objects associated with desert areas. Pupils of all the classes have an average knowledge of the natural features of the deserts geographical areas and social - economic features of the countries, whose territories or its parts are on the deserts geographical areas. However, one of the main problems is that pupils have not learned about the spread of deserts in the climate zones. The pupils wrongly identify the climatic zones by the correctly indicating the climatic features. Most of the pupils of Class 8 (35%), Class 9 (22-24%) and Class 12 (11%) indicate that those deserts are widespread in dry and hot climate zones, which are in equator’s climate zone. Also, any of the classes do not mentioned that deserts are in the temperate zone. A small proportion of pupils are familiar with the specifics of the process of desertification and its spread. Only about a third part of pupils had heard about this process, except Class 8, and most of them associate it with the sand amount increases and its vandalizing. They indicate the prevalence of it in African continent, in areas of hot climates and in areas around existing deserts. With reference to the analyzed material analysis and accomplished research, present information about the geographical areas of the deserts should be organized and clarified in the program/content of the school geography course this way: precisely characterize kinds of the deserts and theirs features, their spread in the climate zones, relate closely life peculiarity of the inhabitants with determined natural conditions of the deserts by giving more attention to the causes and consequences of desertification problem and to the methods of the struggle with this ecologic problem.