Comprehensive Field Practice

14.7.2016

Students of the Faculty of Natural Sciences passed a traditional comprehensive field practice.

Each year, the third year students of the specialty “Geography” of the Faculty of Natural Sciences in spring and summer pass the comprehensive field practice on Physical and Economical Geography. The purpose of this practice is to fix the received knowledge in the course of training, expand the understanding of the nature, population and economy of different regions of Ukraine, form (fix) the observation skills in the field.

This year the practice route took place under the scheme: Kreminna – Kyiv – Kamenetz-Podolsky – Chernivtsi – Rakhov – Lviv – Kyiv – Kreminna. The direction “West” was selected for the practice is not accidental, because the right-bank Ukraine is a region with extraordinary natural, historical and ethno-cultural diversity. The journey lasted 12 days.

The practice program was very intense. Students got an idea of the terrain, the climate, the most important hydrological objects, flora and fauna of the western Ukrainian region, familiarized with many interesting and unique natural complexes, including the UNESCO natural heritage site “Beech Forests of the Carpathians” (Carpathian Biosphere Reserve), geological natural monuments of national importance – Smotritskii canyon laid over Smotrych river through the thickness of Tovtry (remains of ancient coral reefs) and gypsum cave Crystal. During the journey geographers saw the lowland and mountain rivers: Dnieper, Dniester, Smotrych, Tisa and others.

During excursions and through their own observations students deepened their knowledge about the features of the economy in visited areas, familiarized with the architectural style and character of development of different types of settlements, ethnic and cultural specificity of Podolia, Bukovina, Transcarpathia, Galicia. Unforgettable impressions remained after visiting Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, St. Sophia, the former residence of Metropolitan of Bukovina and Dalmatia (Chernivtsi), the ensemble of the historic center of the city – all are objects of cultural and historical heritage in Ukraine under the protection of UNESCO. The city of Kamenetz-Podolsk (complex “Old Town”) along with fortified castleas the best example of the fortifications of Eastern Europe became an opening for many participants. The Khotyn fortress as well as the charming city Chernivtsi left incredible memories.

The Carpathian Mountains as always struck by their beauty. In Rachivshchina (Transcarpathia) students visited the Museum of Mountain Ecology, trout farm, visited the point (a neighborhood with the village Dilove), defined in 1887 as the geographical center of Europe, admired the river Tisza – the most powerful water artery of Transcarpathia and the most left tributary of the Danube, talked to the real Hutsul, tried Hungarian Kettle and trout.

Most students acquainted with Lviv for the first time. During the three-day stay in the capital of Galician Ukraine they also had a lot of: visited on a sightseeing tour through the old city, up on the High Castle and the Town Hall, visited the Museum of Ethnography and Crafts, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, St. George’s Cathedral and others. Students got the true aesthetic pleasure from visiting Lviv National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre of Solomiya Krushelnytska where watched the premiere of the rock opera “Orpheus and Eurydice Forever.” There were also the endless walks through the market square, “Workshop of Chocolate”, coffee, souvenirs and other amenities.

The final stage of the comprehensive field practice began its cameral part – a generalization of the collected materials, preparation of video presentations, drafting group report and its defense, that was done successfully by the third year students.

In all regions of Ukraine, the group of students of Luhansk Taras Shevchenko National University  was happily met. Teachers and students of the Department of Geography express special gratitude to the Rector of the Yuriy Fedkovycj Chernivtsi National University Stepan V. Melnychuk and the Assistant Professor of the Department of Geography and Cartography of Ukraine Miroslav D. Zayachuk  for facilitating the practice of students in the city of Chernivtsi. Pleasant memories left from the communication with our wonderful guides Anastasia Donets and Svitlana Guminska in Kamenetz-Podolsk, Victor Vorokhta in Rakhiv and Svitlana Khatsko in Lviv, which the students are grateful for interesting excursions.

According to information
of the Faculty of Natural Sciecnes