Why you are studying this coursework

The idea for this coursework came from my visit to Iceland with the A level geography students back in April.

Our guide for the trip was a man called Einar, who is an exceptionally passionate environmentalist and a tour guide to earn a bit of money. As usual the tour guide and teachers sat at the front of the coach and Einar was talking to me about his work fighting the construction of a dam in east Iceland. He showed me magazine articles in which he highlighted the hugely negative impact that the dam would have on the birds of Iceland. When I got home, I knew that I would have to organise a new piece of coursework for this year so I started researching the topic in more detail and we have ended up with this.

More information about Iceland can be found at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iceland

http://www.benoa.net/iceland/

http://www.randburg.com/is/photos/

The skills that you gain doing this coursework will be very useful for you at All Saints Sixth Form and University (and ultimately at work) as it teaches you to independently research and write an article giving different points of view and justifying an opinion.

More Resources

Use this list of internet resources to complete additional research.
http://www.4shared.com/file/3829086/d0219400/internet_resources.html?

Use these quotes to add that authentic journalistic touch to your articles.
http://www.4shared.com/file/3829073/27d37c40/quotes.html?

Just in case you left your information booklet at school and think that you cannot do your homework - think again! Here is the booklet.
http://www.4shared.com/file/3829059/f530f7dc/arguments_for_and_against.html?

Finally, here is a copy of the mark scheme we will use to mark your coursework. Use it if you are unsure about what sort of information to put in or unsure about the writing style the newspaper should be constructed in.
http://www.4shared.com/file/3829075/ceb0d975/karahnjukar_iceland_mark_scheme.html?

Information for Iceland Coursework

You will get two weeks or 6 lessons of class time plus two week sof homework to complete your coursework. A good piece of work will make use of the resources we give you in class, an excellent piece of coursework will use the information here to add detail and independent understanding to the work.

Iceland Coursework Downloads

Here is the link for your Iceland coursework task in case you leave yours in school. Click on the link, scroll to the bottom of the page, wait for the countdown to finish and the download button to show, click the download button and save the file to your computer.
http://www.4shared.com/file/3650503/9b7bda86/cross_unit_task_iceland.html?

If you want to type your coursework instead of write it up, follow the link below and you can download the newspaper layout. Follow the instructions above.
http://www.4shared.com/file/3430979/ff7d0890/iceland_newspaper_outline.html?

Iceland Coursework Links

The Iceland coursework is worth 10% of your final GCSE mark and it takes the form of a newspaper article about the controversial Karahnjukar dam project in East Iceland.

The dam is a very controversial project in Iceland because of the environmental impact that the hydro-electric dam will have. Lower down in the school we have taught you that renewable energy is always good, however that is not always the case!

There are lots of websites that you can use to access opinions, maps, photos etc about the project. Follow the links below and use them to help you research the huge variety of opinions for your newspaper article. By all means make notes, get photos and pictures from the websites, but do not copy and paste stuff because I know what the articles say and I mark the work!

http://www.karahnjukar.is/EN/ positive maps, photos and public opinion
http://www.natturuvaktin.com/english.htm negative impact on wildlife
http://www.inca.is/newspageiv.asp?ID=16 negative letter to Alcoa president
http://www.agiweb.org/geotimes/aug02/WebExtra0801.html balanced review
http://www.inca.is/photosiv2.asp?flokkur=kara photos of land to be flooded
http://www.mindfully.org/Water/2004/Karahnjukar-Hydroelectric-Dam1jan04.htm negative

http://lmhwww.epfl.ch/Services/ReferenceList/2004_fichiers/karahnjukar/491karanhnjukarPhotos.htm photos and images

http://www.icelandinfocus.com/ general website
http://www.icelandinfocus.com/index.php?/article/positive_effects_of_the_karahnjukar_project/
http://www.icelandinfocus.com/index.php?/article/negative_effects_of_the_karahnjukar_project/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/conservation/story/0,,1094580,00.html balanced
http://forums.virtualfestivals.com/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t40067.html opinions
http://www.lv.is/files/2005_9_21_LV_environment_in_our_hands_2005.pdf positive info booklet about sustainable energy use. An excellent resource.
http://www.fwee.org/Tours.html about hydroelectric power