• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

Beijing: a contrasting locality in China a unit of work for 5 to 8-year-olds by Arthur Kelly Liverpool Hope University, United Kingdom CONTENTS Introduction, rationale and how to organise the activities Getting started: an introductory activity Activity Resource Sheet A1: KWL exercise Activity 1: Where in the world is Beijing? (with suggested activities and extension tasks) Activity Resource Sheet A2: Outline map of China Activity Resource Sheet A3: China facts Activity 2: How could I get to Beijing? (with suggested activities and extension tasks) Activity 3: How is Beijing/China connected to where I live? (with suggested activities and extension tasks) Activity Resource Sheet A4: Looking for connections Activity 4: What might it be like to be in Beijing? (with suggested activities and extension tasks) Activity Resource Sheet A5: Weather in Beijing Activity Resource Sheet A6: Transport in Beijing Activity Resource Sheet A7: Some things to see in Beijing Activity Resource Sheet A8: What is Beijing like? Activity Resource Sheet A9: Landmarks and tourist sites in Beijing Activity 5: What are the main similarities and differences between Beijing and where I live? Activity Resource Sheet A10: Comparing primary school life Activity 6: How have the Olympics changed Beijing? (with suggested activities and extension tasks) Activity Resource Sheet A11: Are the Olympics good for Beijing? Activity Resource Sheet A12: Comparing China, the United Kingdom and Australia (outline maps) Activity Resource Sheet A13: China political map © Copyright Australian Geography Teachers’ Association Limited and The Geographical Association (UK) BEIJING: A CONTRASTING LOCALITY IN CHINA THE BEIJING GAMES Beijing: A contrasting locality in China by Arthur J Kelly Liverpool Hope University Introduction How to organise the activities This unit aims to develop five to seven year old Suggestions are made as to activities which can be pupils’ understanding of Beijing as a place that teacher led and those in which pupils should be contrasts with where they live, in particular to able to work independently. Ultimately it will be develop their knowledge and understanding and down to your professional knowledge of your pupils sense of place in relation to the city. It is intended and your particular context as to how you develop as an introduction to looking at a distant locality the ideas and how pupils respond—verbally, and that throughout pupils should explore drawings, maps, etc. A useful strategy with this age similarities and differences between Beijing and the of pupils is to make the topic real by introducing a GEOGRAPHY SPORTS locality where they live. While geography is at the character who is visiting the distant place. Jing Jing core of the learning outcomes, links with other the panda is one of the Olympic mascots and the curriculum areas give children a more rounded teacher could develop the activities through the view of a place. The unit also provides the potential eyes of Jing Jing who is visiting the city from rural to link with other areas of the curriculum, such as China. If children have their own toy panda’s they art and design, music, ICT and literacy. A number could bring them in for the journey! Use the of weblinks are provided on page 7 which enable weblinks provided at the end of the unit to access a 1 teachers to place the city within a broader wealth of visual material to make this topic come THE BEIJING GAMES geographical and cultural context. alive for the pupils. On a practical note, it is recommended that for durability maps and Rationale photographs are laminated. The Beijing Summer Olympics provide an excellent opportunity for developing pupil learning in a Getting started range of areas. This unit is specifically designed to A useful tool to begin any unit with is a KWL address geographical learning outcomes but the exercise (see Activity Resource Sheet A1). This is a opportunities for cross-curricular learning are formative assessment tool that allows the teacher to vast—a wealth of ideas are indicated by the sources find out what pupils know—or think they know!— provided at the end of the unit. The unit is about a topic or place. At this point pupils should designed to support: • the geographical enquiry process through the use of secondary sources • development of geographical vocabulary and skills • pupils’ exploration of geographical questions such as ‘Where is Beijing?’, ‘What would it be like to be in Beijing?’ and ‘How is Beijing changing?’ • pupils’ developing ability to describe what places are like, where they are and make comparisons between places • pupils’ developing understanding of human and physical geography • pupils’ developing understanding of environmental change and improvement. © Copyright Australian Geography Teachers’ Association Limited and The Geographical Association (UK) THE BEIJING GAMES BEIJING: A CONTRASTING LOCALITY IN CHINA complete the K (What I know) and the W (What I 2. Using the maps/globes trace a route to China would like to find out) columns. The K allows the and locate Beijing. Have pre-prepared cards teacher to make an assessment of prior learning with the names of countries, seas/oceans, etc. and will also allow possible misconceptions or that you would cross en-route. Ask individual stereotypes to emerge. The teacher can then plan children to come out to the front of the class to to engage with these through the unit. The W is hold the cards up to indicate route. Use important in scaffolding pupils asking geographical geographical vocabulary such as the points of questions. It is possible that, for younger pupils in the compass (north/south/east/west) to particular, the teacher can provide a number of describe the route. questions which they can select from but they 3. Can pupils use the scale on the map to work out should always be provided with the opportunity to approximately how far it would be from where come up with their own. At the end of the unit the they live to Beijing? How big is China compared L column (What I learned) should be completed— to the country where they live (it is nearly 40 this allows the teacher to assess what has been times larger than the United Kingdom— learned and celebration of learning with pupils. Appendix 11 provides a visual approximation)? Activity 1: Where in the world is Beijing? Pupil led (Where is Jing Jing visiting?) 1. Using an outline map of China (see Activity Resource Sheet A2) and bordering countries Resources required pupils to add location of: • Activity Resource Sheet A2: Outline map of China • Beijing with bordering countries • Russia, India, Mongolia, Nepal and Vietnam 2 • Activity Resource Sheet A3: China facts •Yangtse River, the Yellow River and the Pearl • globes River •atlases • Pacific Ocean and South China Sea • world maps • Mount Everest. • place name cards. 2. Pupils interrogate atlases to find out whether given facts about China (see Activity Resource Sheet SPORTS GEOGRAPHYSPORTS THE BEIJING GAMES These activities provide pupils with a locational A3) are true or false. framework in relation to Beijing and China, e.g. Note: it is intended that some of these will not City of Beijing, within China which is part of Asia. be in the atlases—this is to stimulate further They also help pupils to develop understanding of discussion/enquiry. the distance from where they live. Extension Teacher led The previous ten Summer Olympics have been 1. Using a world map and or globe teacher to ask held in Tokyo, Mexico, Munich, Montreal, Moscow, children to locate (or show them) where they Los Angeles, Seoul, Barcelona, Atlanta, Sydney, live. Then help them to find China and Beijing Athens. Using their atlases can pupils discover within China. If you have access to Google Earth which countries these cities are in? it can vividly make this come alive. Discuss whether they think that China/Beijing is near to Activity 2: How could I get to Beijing? where they live or far away. (How could we travel to meet Jing Jing?) Resources • travel brochures with Beijing as a destination • globes • atlases • world maps. These activities provide pupils with opportunities to develop understanding of how they could travel to Beijing, the distances involved and time taken. © Copyright Australian Geography Teachers’ Association Limited and The Geographical Association (UK) BEIJING: A CONTRASTING LOCALITY IN CHINA THE BEIJING GAMES Teacher led Teacher led 1. Discuss the different ways (modes of transport) 1. Discuss Activity Resource Sheet A4 with pupils— that pupils use to travel—walking, cycle, car, bus, explain that they are going to do some research ferry, aeroplane, etc. Compare forms of to find out about how they are linked to China. transport used on a day-to-day basis and those Go through examples and explain where used to travel to holiday destinations. Create a necessary. Pupils may focus on things that have table comparing day-to-day and holiday travel. been made in China at home but encourage 2. Using the maps and/or globes trace a route to them to try and find out about as many of the China and locate Beijing (recap from last aspects as possible. Encourage them to bring in activity). Ask pupils what is the main form of examples of things where appropriate. transport they think they would need to use to 2. Create a display which highlights the travel to China and why. connections elicited by this activity—this could 3. Discuss what types of transport they would have take the form of a map of China linked to a map to use to travel to Beijing, e.g. get bus to train of the pupils’ home nation with the examples station, train to airport, fly to Beijing.

Load more

  23

Copy Link