FOUCAULT'S PENDULUM. UNCOMPLICATED TOOL IN THE STUDY OF GEODESY AND CARTOGRAPHY

Modern education methods often refer to the sophisticated and technologically advanced methods. In the process of education the latest technologies and inventions should be presented. Modern research achievements becomes an indispensable part of the technical studies. However the learning process of an engineer should refer to the standard methods of measurement and well known fundamental instruments. One of the simplest devices is the pendulum, and especially in the field of geodesy, the Foucault pendulum. The authors present a methodology for using the Foucault pendulum in the teaching of geomatics on the geodesy and cartography faculty. As a result, of that process the student's become familiar with the effect of the Earth's rotation in space and at the same time. The article presented the actual implementation of the geomatics teaching program in the Department of Geodesy at the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Gdansk University of Technology.