1. Have students present their work to the class.

Divide students into the same small groups from Lesson 7, Activity 1. Then invite each group to the front of the class to present their assigned question from Part 2 of the worksheet Mapping Languages and Religions of the U.K. and Ireland and the answer they arrived at. Encourage students to ask questions as groups make their presentations. Ask presenters to refer to the parts of the reading or maps that they used to answer their question.

 

2. Revisit questions about groups with new understandings.

Have a whole-class discussion in which students revisit some of the questions about what a group is from Lesson 6, Activity 1, with their new knowledge of religion and language groups in Europe. Ask:

  • What types of groups need to have their own region to live in? Why?
  • Which groups can or should be mixed together? Explain.

 

3. Discuss religious and language groups and country borders.

Then discuss why some language or religious groups might want their own country instead of being mixed with other groups. Ask:

  • Think about what you have learned from the readings and maps in Lesson 7. Have your ideas changed about how religious and language groups can cooperate within a country? How?
  • Should country borders be based on language and religion? Why or why not?

Informal Assessment

Assess students based on their presentations of their answers to the questions after the reading.

Extending the Learning

Ask students to think about religious and language conflicts in their own state or area of the country. Have students list the different languages spoken, or religions practiced, and consider:

  • Where is each language group located in your state?
  • Historically, where were the language groups located? Why have the groups moved or not moved?
  • Have any languages disappeared from your state? Why?
  • Why do some language groups maintain their language, while others are lost?
  • Have different languages caused conflict in your state? Describe the conflicts and how they were resolved.

Subjects & Disciplines

Learning Objectives

Students will:

  • explore how religion and language can impact country borders by uniting and/or dividing populations of people

Teaching Approach

  • Learning-for-use

Teaching Methods

  • Discussions
  • Reflection

Skills Summary

This activity targets the following skills:

Connections to National Standards, Principles, and Practices

National Council for Social Studies Curriculum Standards

National Geography Standards

  • Standard 1:  How to use maps and other geographic representations, geospatial technologies, and spatial thinking to understand and communicate information
  • Standard 10:  The characteristics, distribution, and complexity of Earth's cultural mosaics
  • Standard 13:  How the forces of cooperation and conflict among people influence the division and control of Earth's surface
  • Standard 4:  The physical and human characteristics of places

What You’ll Need

Materials You Provide

  • Lesson 7, Activity 1 completed worksheets
  • Pencils
  • Pens

Physical Space

  • Classroom

Grouping

  • Large-group instruction

Background Information

Ireland is also known as the Republic of Ireland. The United Kingdom includes England, Wales, Scotland, and northern Ireland. People in Ireland and the United Kingdom share similar landscapes and histories. But language and religious differences have led to fierce conflicts between the two close countries for hundreds of years. English kings and queens tried to conquer their Celtic-speaking neighbors, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, for almost a thousand years. Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, along with Brittany in northwestern France, and the Isle of Man, managed to retain their ancient languages and way of life. These areas were able to do so, even when conquered by the Romans and other invaders. Examples of Celtic languages include Gaelic, Cornish, and Welsh. Today, English is spoken virtually everywhere in the British Isles. Gaelic is used by only about one percent of Scots. The Welsh language persists in the place names of Wales. In Wales, laws were passed making all signs bilingual—both in Welsh and English. Still, only a fraction of people residing in Wales are monoglot, meaning they speak only Welsh.

 

King Henry VIII rejected Catholicism and turned England toward Protestantism in the 1530s. Afterward, the English battled Catholic enemies France and Spain for territories around the world. Ireland remained a loyal Catholic country. It rebelled repeatedly when Henry VIII and his daughter, Queen Elizabeth I, brought the country under English rule. Scottish and English Protestants colonized northern Ireland in the early 1600s. At the same time, England was competing with Spain and France to colonize North America. But the Irish natives resisted change. They retained their Catholic religion and native Celtic language and customs. However, the English were firmly in control of Ireland by the late 1600s. And Protestants were in the most powerful positions in the Catholic country. In 1801, the English empire was at the height of its power and declared that all of England, Scotland, and Wales were a "United Kingdom." But the Irish disagreed. In the mid-1800s, Ireland began a new movement for political independence, or "home rule." By 1922, the southern, more Celtic part of the island became independent. Eventually it was named the Republic of Ireland. But fighting and bloodshed between Catholics and Protestants continued in northern Ireland. The majority of people there maintained strong cultural, religious, and family ties to England. A peace settlement was finally reached in 1998. Now Protestants and Catholics share power in the government of northern Ireland.

Prior Knowledge

  • None

Recommended Prior Activities

  • None

Vocabulary

border
Noun

natural or artificial line separating two pieces of land.
conflict
Noun

a disagreement or fight, usually over ideas or procedures.
country
Noun

geographic territory with a distinct name, flag, population, boundaries, and government.
language
Noun

set of sounds, gestures, or symbols that allows people to communicate.
region
Noun

any area on Earth with one or more common characteristics. Regions are the basic units of geography.
religion
Noun

a system of spiritual or supernatural belief.

Articles & Profiles

Maps

Websites

  • Credits

    Media Credits

    The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit. The Rights Holder for media is the person or group credited.

    Writer

    Shelley Sperry, Sperry Editorial

    Editors

    Kim Hulse, National Geographic Society
    Christina Riska Simmons, National Geographic Society
    Emmy Scammahorn, National Geographic Society
    Kathleen Schwille, National Geographic Society
    Emily Wade, B.A. Philosophy, B.A. English

    Educator Reviewers

    Brian Blouet, The College of William & Mary
    Olwyn Blouet, Virginia State University
    Michal LeVasseur, Ph.D., National Geographic Alliance Network Liaison
    Audrey Mohan, 2007-2008 Grosvenor Scholar, National Geographic Society
    Ian Muehlenhaus, University of Minnesota
    Alexander Murphy, Professor of Geography and Rippey Chair in Liberal Arts and Sciences, Department of Geography, University of Oregon
    Peter Rees, University of Delaware
    Joseph Stoltman, Western Michigan University

    Expert Reviewer

    Margaret A. Legates, Coordinator, Delaware Geographic Alliance

    National Geographic Program

    2008 Summer Geography Institute: Beyond Borders

    Other

    Special thanks to the educators who participated in National Geographic's 2008-2009 National Teacher Leadership Academy (NTLA), for testing activities in their classrooms and informing the content for all of the Beyond Borders: Using Maps to Understand European Physical and Cultural Landscapes resources.

  • User Permissions

    For information on user permissions, please read our Terms of Service. If you have questions about how to cite anything on our website in your project or classroom presentation, please contact your teacher. They will best know the preferred format. When you reach out to them, you will need the page title, URL, and the date you accessed the resource.

    Media

    If a media asset is downloadable, a download button appears in the corner of the media viewer. If no button appears, you cannot download or save the media.

    Text

    Text on this page is printable and can be used according to our Terms of Service.

    Interactives

    Any interactives on this page can only be played while you are visiting our website. You cannot download interactives.