GThe magaAA ziine of the Geographical Association iissue no.. 33 summer 2016
■ Annual Conference and Exhibition report ■ Preparing for GCSE (9−1) and A level ■ Getting outside the classroom ■ Transport and logistics resources www.geography.org.uk The leading subject association for all teachers of geography The Geographical Association magazine summer 2016 no. 33 Contents
GA updates page News of the GA, its activities and people Write for GA news 3 GA Magazine! Policy matters 4 We’d love to hear more about GA Annual Awards 6 the great work that is going Award for Excellence in Leading Geography 7 on in GA member schools and GA Annual Publishers’ Awards 8 beyond so please do send us d your articles, write-ups and
GA networks 10 e photos.
v The deadline for the autumn Geography in action l issue (published in
o September) is 1 July 201 6 Activities by schools and students t Send your contributions via v Outstanding Geography Student Award 11 e email to Ruth Totterdell n ([email protected] ) G Future geographers 12 i A Kampala connection 13
CPD Keep in touch Courses and events To keep up to date with news from the GA and GA Annual Conference and Exhibition report 14 the world of geography: CPD training courses from the GA 18 Sign up to our email Teaching the core skills 20 newsletter at d www.geography.org.uk e
Subject updates v geographical l Keeping you up to date with geography association o
and geography education t v
Primary pathway 21 e
n @The_GA G
Qualification change 22 i Desmond, Eva and Frank 24
Resources GA Governing Body 2015 –16 Mr S Rawlinson President Teaching ideas and support Mr M Higginbottom Past President Getting outside the classroom 26 Ms M Biddulph Senior Vice President Transport and logistics 28 Mr N Lapthorn Junior Vice President Mr P Fox Named Trustee, TeachMeet 29 Honorary Treasurer Publications news 30 Mr B Digby Named Trustee Webwatch 32 Mr R Plews Named Trustee Meanderings 34 Mr D Gardner Chair of Education Group Dr S Scoffham Elected Member Cover image: Delegates make a river in a The GA is Mrs J Mansell Elected Member box to show the features and processes of a Mr A Marvell Elected Member river long profile at a hands-on workshop at supporting Ms C Erskine Co-option the GA Annual Conference last month. the Year of Dr I Cook Co-option Photo: Bryan Ledgard Fieldwork Mrs L West Co-option
GA strategic partners: Geographical Association To advertise in GA Magazine , please contact Lucy Oxley ( [email protected] ). 160 Solly Street, Sheffield S1 4BF Tel: 0114 296 0088 © The Geographical Association Email: [email protected] ISSN 1749-4435 Web: www.geography.org.uk Designed by Bryan Ledgard • Printed in England by Buxton Press Company number 07139068 Disclaimer: While the GA makes every effort to provide useful and relevant information to Charity number 1135148 members, it does not endorse the events, activities or products reported in these pages. page 2 The Geographical Association magazine summer 2016 no. 33 GA news Doreen Massey Never hiding behind academic jargon, she local and the global were equally compelling expressed complex ideas with clarity and wit, and her paper on ‘A global sense of place’, d r a combining critical insight with enormous originally published in Marxism Today (1991), is g d e warmth and personal generosity. During her a vital demonstration of the power of thinking L n long career at the Open University, Doreen geographically. Doreen Massey urged us to be a y r B made the case that ‘Geography matters’, less timid in taking on the world, providing a
: s o t providing new ways of thinking about economic model of committed scholar ship and a beacon o h
P development through her analysis of spatial of hope for the future. divisions of labour, contributing to debates Peter Jackson, University of Sheffield about space, place and gender, and advancing a searching critique of neoliberal cities. She was a close ally of Ken Livingstone at the GLC and her work on power geometries influenced governments across the globe. Besides her research and public profile, she contributed energetically to the life of the GA, serving as an Honorary Vice President, contributing to the GA Manifesto and writing for Geography , most Doreen giving the Keynote address ‘Why recently in Spring 2014. She was a captivating geography still inspires me after all these years’ speaker, seizing the political moment and at the 2010 GA Annual Conference. keeping audiences transfixed by the force of her argument. Her book For Space (2005) argued Professor Doreen Massey, who died on that space should be treated on a par with time Doreen at the GA Annual Conference in 2010 11 March, was a passionate and inspirational rather than seeing time as active and space as participating in the Mission:Explore mission to geographer whose influence as a public passive. Her ideas about the geographies of gauge how people react to individuals wearing intellectual went well beyond the discipline. responsibility and the mutual constitution of the a hoodie.
New Junior Vice President programmes, Primary Geography Quality Mark Geography editorial and professional networks such as those run by the Primary Geography Champions. We are, collective however, delighted that Paula will continue with her GA voluntary commitments, through membership of the Early Years and Primary Phase Committee and Primary Geography Editorial Board. She will therefore continue to play a prominent role in the primary geography education community nationally.
Stephen Scoffham has been elected as the Junior Vice President for 2016−17. He has been We are delighted that Professor Katie Willis a member of the GA for over 25 years. After of Royal Holloway University of London has training as a generalist primary teacher, he joined the Geography Editorial Collective. She became increasingly involved with urban replaces Peter Jackson , the longest-serving studies and outdoor learning before moving member of the Collective. We wish to thank into teacher education at Canterbury Christ him for his untiring efforts and many great Church University, where he is now a Visiting insights during his time with Geography . Reader. Stephen has been awarded the 2016 Outstanding All Rounder for outstanding service to the GA (see page 6). Let us know what you think! Geography in primary schools We are conducting a primary Fieldwork survey geography survey to provide detail of Paula Owens We are conducting a survey about the geography teaching in primary schools After 10 years’ service with the GA, Paula d state of geography fieldwork in and to also help inform our provision Owens has moved on from her role as our schools. The results will help us to for teachers and schools. The survey Primary Quality Mark and Curriculum e identify trends in fieldwork provision has 20 questions, most of which are Development Manager to seek new challenges. v across the country ahead of changes to multiple choice, so it should only take
Paula is well known and highly respected l GCSEs and A levels this September. It no more than five minutes to within the geography education community and will also help us to assess obstacles to
o complete. will be greatly missed by her colleagues here at t fieldwork, identify popular approaches
HQ. Over the past decade, Paula has made an v Visit www.geography.org.uk/ e to fieldwork and judge the support enormous contribution to the work of the GA, needs for schools. haveyoursay to take part and give us n your views. especially to our primary geography CPD G i
page 3 The Geographical Association magazine summer 2016 no. 33
by Alan Kinder, Chief Executive, and Policy matters Steve Rawlinson, President 2015 –16 • Who am I and what is my place in the teachers with new and potentially exciting The ‘Prevent’ world? opportunities to exploit this potential. • Where do I live and how am I connected to Geography can also help by providing a agenda and other people and places? global perspective on some of the political • Where and how do other people live? concerns underpinning ‘Prevent’. For example, What are other places and people like? geographers study globalisation – the geography deepening and accelerating economic, cultural alking with colleagues in schools recently, As Arthur Kelly points out (Kelly, 2016), and political connections and interactions it seems clear that the Government’s personal attributes such as age and gender can between people across the world that help to T‘Prevent’ strategy and the duties this be powerful influences on the identities of foster both co-operation and conflict between places on schools is an important aspect of the young people – we should explore these in our cultures. Notions such as sovereignty, policy environment in which teachers and teaching before making the assumption that nationhood, national boundaries and territorial senior school leaders now operate. pupils are ready to tackle abstract notions integrity can only be properly understood ‘Prevent’ forms a part of the UK Counter- connected to nationhood, such as ‘Britishness’. through geography, and by examining how Terrorism Strategy, first developed by the Home That said, geography’s focus on a pupil’s sense these ideas play out in different parts of the Office in 2003. The four strands of the strategy of their own place and locality can provide a world. In the secondary phase in particular, are ‘Pursue’ (stopping attacks), ‘Prevent’ very powerful tool for revealing how young geography teachers are also well versed in (preventing radicalisation towards terrorism), people see themselves in their community. This studying controversial issues, such as ‘Protect’ (against terrorist attacks) and allows them to explore some difficult ideas international conflicts, superpower geographies, ‘Prepare’ (damage control and recovery). But it relating to identity and diversity in practical international migration and uneven was only in 2011 that the Government defined and non-threatening ways. In the hands of a development, with pupils (Roberts, 2013); what it termed the ‘fundamental British values’ skilled geography teacher, the study of local studies that help to provide a knowledge of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and distant places, of our own and other context to the political debate about and mutual respect and tolerance (of those countries and cultures and (with older pupils) radicalisation and extremism. As teachers, we with different faiths and beliefs and for those complex ideas such as the way in which places should therefore be seeking to develop without faith), as part of the political discourse are formed and reformed through social, geographical knowledge and understanding of around radicalisation and extremism. cultural and political processes, all help to build the issues in parallel with our exploration of The requirements on schools have changed understanding of diversity, difference, pupils’ existing ideas and opinions. rapidly since then. In November 2014, new connection and similarity nationally and Finally, geography can bring a critical guidance was published by the Department for internationally. By avoiding the ‘single story’ perspective to the very notion that ‘Britishness’ Education (DfE) on promoting ‘fundamental about places, geography therefore tends to and ‘fundamental British values’ are unique, British values’ as part of schools’ obligations to deconstruct stereotypes and prejudices rather fixed or easily defined; helping pupils to develop the spiritual, moral, social and cultural than reinforce them. In her recent overview of construct their own understanding of these (SMSC) aspects of learning. Since 2015 Ofsted curriculum requirements from 5 –19, Eleanor ideas rather than requiring them simply to has required inspectors to assess the social Rawling showed how geography can take memorise a litany of values as defined by the development of children through their pupils from naming and locating countries, Home Office. The British values and geography acceptance of and engagement with through to understanding how places can help section on the GA website provides a range of ‘fundamental British values’; and in June 2015 shape our culture, identity and sense of self teaching resources for this purpose, such as a the DfE issued further advice to schools, (Rawling, 2016). Some new qualification fully-resourced lesson on ‘Who are the British?’ making clear that under section 26 of the requirements from this September, such as a John White, a Professor of Philosophy at the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act (2015), they UK overview at GCSE and the ‘Changing UCL Institute of Education, captures this line of must have ‘due regard to the need to prevent Places’ theme at A level, present geography critical geographical thinking by saying, ‘if people from being drawn into terrorism’ (DfE, 2015). The same advice set out schools’ educational duty to ‘build pupils’ resilience to radicalisation by ... enabling them to challenge extremist views and provide a ‘safe space’ to debate controversial issues’ ( ibid .). Counter-terrorism, radicalisation, national security: no wonder some teachers and schools are worried and feel all of this lies outside their areas of expertise. However, we would like to suggest that geography education can contribute in some important and distinctive ways here, and can help both teachers and pupils better understand this aspect of modern British public life. The GA’s Manifesto for geography ( www. geography.org.uk/resources/adifferentview ) explains how geography can engage the fundamental curiosity and questions that all children and young people share. It helps young people investigate their own identity (and often multiple identities) by posing questions such as: Figure 1: 17 sustainable development goals page 4 The Geographical Association magazine summer 2016 no. 33
Written by the CE and President, with occasional invited guest contributions, Policy matters provides updates on GA policy/direction as well as current projects and wider curriculum matters.
Figure 2: A research-based model for universal human values (Source: http://valuesandframes.org/handbook/2-how-values-work ) these are British values, I’m a Dutchman. The FE. Teachers of geography are very well ones [Nicky Morgan] mentions are those of equipped to make a positive response and we Weblinks and further liberal democracy. They are prized as much in hope that you will share your good practice in reading Helsinki or Washington as they are in London this area with your head teacher and with us. (White, 2014). There are several useful starting DfE (2015) The Prevent duty: Departmental points for teachers of geography wanting to SMSC advice for schools and childcare providers explore this debate. The Sustainable www.gov.uk/government/publications/ Spiritual Explore beliefs and experience; Development Goals (Figure 1) express a desire protecting-children-from-radicalisation- respect faiths, feelings and values; enjoy for ‘a world of tolerance, peace, global the-preventduty learning about oneself, others and the citizenship and combating extremism’ – placing White, J. (2014) https://ioelondonblog.word surrounding world; use imagination and tolerance and extremism in the arena of press.com/2014/10/16/nicky-morgans- creativity; reflect. international development and taking it out of new-loom-weaving-values-into-the- a uniquely British context. Alternatively, Moral Recognise right and wrong; respect curriculum attempts to define a set of universal human the law; understand consequences; http://valuesandframes.org/handbook/2- values (based on research in over 70 countries) investigate moral and ethical issues; offer how-values-work could prompt a useful classroom debate (Figure reasoned views. www.geography.org.uk/news/britishvalues 2). Finally, the GA (with SSAT) is offering free Social Use a range of social skills; andgeography critical thinking CPD to both primary and participate in the local community; www.geography.org.uk/projects/critical- secondary teachers, as part of the British appreciate diverse viewpoints; participate, thinking-in-geography Council’s Connecting Classrooms programme volunteer and co-operate; resolve conflict; www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/ (see page 20). This programme of training engage with the ‘British values’ of sustainable-development-goals could be fertile territory for bringing a democracy, the rule of law, liberty, respect Kelly, A. (2016) ‘Editorial’, Primary geographical perspective to the debate about and tolerance. Geography , 89, p. 4. Rawling, E. (2016) ‘The geography ‘fundamental British values’ and extremism. Cultural Appreciate cultural influences; curriculum 5-19: what does it all mean?’, Both Ofsted and the DfE make clear that appreciate the role of Britain’s Teaching Geography , 41, 1, pp. 6−9. ‘Prevent’ is more than a safeguarding issue parliamentary system; participate in Roberts, M. (2013) Geography through affecting a minority of schools, and are culture opportunities; understand, accept, Enquiry . Sheffield: Geographical demanding an educational response in all respect and celebrate diversity. school settings, from Early Years to Post-16 and Association.
page 5 The Geographical Association magazine summer 2016 no. 33 GA Annual Awards
d r Rex Walford Geography GA Annual Award for Outstanding All Rounder a g
d This award for outstanding service to the GA, e L Student Teacher Award Excellence n was given to Dr Stephen Scoffham . a y This new award, to honour the contribution This award is given to r B
: made to initial teacher education (ITE) in a person who has s o t geography by the late Rex Walford, recognises made a nationally or o h inspirational and innovative practice in primary regionally significant P or secondary geography ITE. Rex was a man of contribution to the unquenchable enthusiasm and optimism and a work of the GA in highly gifted teacher. It is hoped that this relation to policy or award will encourage, inspire and remind us all to the teaching and of what can be achieved through innovative learning of and imaginative geography teaching. The 2016 geography in 2015. award was made to Jason Cannons . Now an This was given to NQT, he completed his training at the Susan Pike , an University of Winchester. His submission outstanding exemplified his belief that ‘embracing a playful practitioner of approach to geography curriculum making is at geography within the the heart of my practice’. country of Ireland and beyond. She teaches Stephen has been the GA Honorary geography education at St Patrick’s College in Publications Officer for 12 years, retiring in Dublin. She shares her research interest in 2015. He provided a major contribution to the children’s and teachers’ experiences of school work of the Board and instigated several regularly at GA events. Susan also co-ordinates publishing partnerships for the GA. Stephen the GA Geography Champions network in was the editor for the Primary Geography Ireland, facilitating groups of teachers to work Handbook (2004 and 2010), which has greatly together to share practice. Susan has recently influenced teachers and students in learning completed a book for teachers entitled about good geography teaching. He has served Learning Primary Geography: Ideas and on the Early Years and Primary Phase Inspirations from the Classroom , featuring Committee, contributes regularly to GA journals innovative practices in primary schools in and more recently became a valued member of Ireland and England. the GA’s Governing Body.
GA Outstanding Service Dr Margaret Mackintosh is a member of both the Early Years and Primary Phase Diploma Committee and Primary Geography Editorial This award is given for outstanding service to Board. She was Honorary Editor of Primary the GA through membership of and contribution Geographer 1995-2005. Margaret has written to the work of its committees or special interest and contributed to numerous publications many groups. Four Diplomas were awarded this year. journal articles for Primary Geography , and Simon Renshaw has been a member of makes regular contributions to the GA Annual the Secondary Phase Committee for nearly a Conference. decade, holding the positions of secretary and co-chair during that time. He has regularly contributed to the outputs of SPC and has Information about GA awards Margaret Mackintosh with GA President Steve contributed to and led a number of workshops and nomination forms can be Rawlinson at Conference. Simon regularly writes articles for found at www.geography.org. conferences in various schools around the Teaching Geography . uk/get involved/committees country. He steps down from his role after the Iain Palôt has been Chair the Post-16/HE sigs/gaawards Nominations 2016 Conference. Paul’s first GA Conference Phase Committee since 2009. He provides should be submitted to Ricky and introduction to the GA was in 1972: in the effective and strong leadership of the group and Buck ( rbuck@geography. org.uk) following 44 years he has only missed one drives its wide range of activities. Iain has by 31 December 2016 . Conference when it clashed with a fieldtrip in represented the GA on several groups, including 1982! a consultation on numeracy in geography, and Nominations for the Rex on ALCAB. Iain has been active for many years Walford Geography Student in the Hampshire branch of the GA and its local Teacher Award should be made Sixth Form College. by either the tutor from the
Paul Baker has been a member of the d accrediting ITE provider Independent Schools Special Interest Group (university-/school-based, or e since 1991, when he moved to the Dragon other) or the school School in Oxford. He took on his current role as v geography/ITE mentor. l Chair/Admin Officer around 15 years ago. In Nominations must be o that time, he has taken geography to a position t submitted by 31 October
v 2016 evidencing work of strength in the Independent Sector. He has e tirelessly organised INSET days for both Prep undertaken in the preceding n
G academic year. and Senior School geography teachers and Paul Baker and Iain Palôt at the GA Conference i page 6 The Geographical Association magazine summer 2016 no. 33 Award for Excellence in Leading Geography
This award is voted for by GA members and is given to the article in each journal that is felt to have made the most significant contribution to geographical teaching and learning. Teaching Geography Winner: Planning your key stage 3 by David Rogers (Summer 2015) In this article David shows how his school has embraced the 2014 National Curriculum, which has provided an opportunity to develop a dynamic and relevant key stage 3 curriculum. The article offers some practical examples of how the new curriculum has been implemented.
Runners-up: • A more ‘authentic’ geographical education by Gemma Pollard and Aidan Hesslewood (Spring 2015) • Soil sense by Janet Hutson (Autumn 2015)
Primary Geography Winner: Making waves by Jason Cannons (Summer 2015) In this article Jason reports on how he used a creative approach to help pupils explore tsunamis and their impacts on Chile. The most successful part of the topic was the building of a working diorama to show how tsunamis are formed and their potential impacts.
Runners-up: • Camilla’s journey to school by Tony Dodsworth (Spring 2015) • Growing smiles by Nick Lee (Autumn 2015)
Geography Winner: The geographies of thanatourism by Tony Johnston (Spring 2015) This article explores the geographies of a form of travel where tourists encounter places associated with death, disaster and the macabre. It explores the commodification of death; the spatial tensions at thanatourism sites; and the emotional and affective geographies of gazing on commodified death.
Runners-up: • New insights on the roles of ice, water and climate change in recent landscape development on Mars by Colman Gallagher and Matthew R. Balme (Summer 2015) • Experiential learning and the visceral practice of ‘healthy eating’ by Rebecca Sandover (Autumn 2015)
page 7 The Geographical Association magazine summer 2016 no. 33 GA Annual Publishers’ Awards
easily be embedded into existing schemes of Each year the GA Publishers’ Awards ArcGIS Online work. While the ideas presented in ArcGIS recognise resources that make a significant www.arcgis.com/features Online are not wholly new, the online approach contribution to geography in primary Esri UK, Esri Inc., 2015 was felt to be a significant development. schools, secondary schools or colleges, and GIS has traditionally struggled to make an encourage the creative development of new impact in school geography, but this free, materials. Judges consider impact, quality, accessible and straightforward-to-navigate usability and originality. application has the potential to help every school make the most of cutting-edge technology. Silver Ashcloud Apocalypse – know your risks Digital Explorer http://gisevent.wix.com/gisday2015 www.digitalexplorer.com Raphael Heath, Royal High School Digital Explorer Team, 2015 Bath, and Esri UK, 2015 Ashcloud Apocalypse is a GIS resource that involves students examining a series of maps in order to collect data about their home area. This enables them to calculate the level of risk that they would face should a global apocalyptic event, in this case a mega volcanic eruption, occur. The judges felt this was a contemporary and highly original resource. The idea of preparing for such an event is new and exciting and enables students to think about ArcGIS Online is a GIS platform that enables global consequences and our interdependence. students to use maps, imagery, storymaps and While the resource was felt to be most data to investigate and analyse the world appropriate for GCSE students, its versatility around them. Students can use data from means that it would also be suitable both for organisations, such as the Environment Agency key stage 3 and Post-16 students. Teachers are and Office for National Statistics, or create and able to limit or increase data ranges, so it has share their own field data. The judges felt that the scope for stretching even the most able the platform is very easy to use and engaging. geographers to a very high level of geographical The information is up to date and of high thinking, particularly when analysing the map quality and the ability to share completed of results. The author’s objectives were to create storymaps is a useful feature. There are a freely available and interactive resource that samples available covering topics such as the gives teachers and students the confidence to Ebola outbreaks, the 2011 UK census and use GIS in the classroom. The judges believe Hurricane Katrina ten years on, which could that this resource fully meets that objective. Digital Explorer is a free website that provides teachers with a range of videos, photos and curriculum resources. The flagship ‘Live Expedition’ series allows students to connect live to research teams so that they can learn directly from experts in the field. The judges felt that this is a high-quality and contemporary resource that is suitable for both primary and secondary teachers. The lesson plans in particular are detailed, well-differentiated and fully resourced and can be adopted as they are or easily adapted to engage a range of students. While this resource could be used as part of a geography unit on extreme environments – expeditions are to places such as the Arctic, Antarctica and Great Barrier Reef – the resource booklets also have the potential to be used as part of a cross-curricular project. Overall, an engaging and well-presented resource that treats geography as a science and tackles some truly challenging and global issues. page 8 The Geographical Association magazine summer 2016 no. 33
The judges felt this is a comprehensive Highly resource for teaching geographical skills at A level and that it provides useful commended guidance for both teachers and students. The judges were impressed with the data sets, which can be used across a wide range of geographical skills. The content is A level content overviews set out in a way that is accessible for www.rgs.org/OurWork/Schools/ students and clearly organised for Teaching+resources/Key+Stage+5+ teachers to use. resources/Key+Stage+5+resources The judges felt that in this time of curriculum change the data provided is Professor Martin Evans, Professor useable and adaptable, and that use of Klaus Dodds, Professor Peter Jackson, the pack would have a significant impact Dr Peter Knight, Professor Richard upon student progress. Phillips and Dr Richard Waller London, RGS-IBG, 2015. In response to the new A level courses the RGS-IBG have published overviews for six new areas of core content for teachers. They are written by Higher Education colleagues who were involved in the A level Content Advisory Board (ALCAB). The judges felt that this free online resource will provide teachers with a valuable grounding in six of the content areas Skills on a Page: of the new A level, and inform and enhance their knowledge in these areas. A level AQA Geography Written by specialists, the overviews are Alistair Logie concise and up to date, and incorporate Bristol, ZigZag Education, 2015 complex key terms and helpful diagrams and Skills on a Page is a resource for figures. Each overview gives case study ideas applying and revising geographical skills. and suggests further reading. They offer useful The hand-illustrated worked examples support and professional development on the guide students through a wide range of new A level specification topics that teachers investigative, graphical and statistical might struggle with through the provision of and cartographic skills to then apply in a up-to-date subject knowledge. geographical context via the worksheets. Frederick Soddy Awards The Frederick Soddy Trust was pleased to announce the following schools have been granted awards to fund various fieldwork activities: • Carrington Primary School, Nottingham • Falinge Park High School, Rochdale • Heron Primary School, Gloucester • Hinde House, Sheffield • Grange Primary School, Gloucester • Pear Tree School, Preston • St Wilfred’s Catholic High School, Featherstone.
For information about the Frederick Soddy Awards go to www.geography.org.uk/resources/fieldwork/ fieldworkfunding Applications for next year’s funding must be received by 31 January 2017 .
page 9 The Geographical Association magazine summer 2016 no. 33 GA networks
New Branches Manchester Garrrington, after brave battle against cancer. We are pleased to have two new GA Branches. The Manchester Branch already have their Sally was well known and respected as a The Harris Academy London GA Branch has 2016 –17 programme planned. It starts on 11 teacher, examiner and author (Sally was the already held a TeachMeet. On 22 June 2016 October with Professor Andrew Goudie talking author of the GA’s Top Spec Geography title, Subject leads from OCR will be coming to on ‘Hazards in hot environments’. On 22 Energy: The burning questions with Sue Warn). Harris City Academy Crystal Palace to lead a November Dr Martin Degg speaks on ‘Tectonic Rob Morris is stepping down as chairman in FREE training event at 4.30pm for teachers hazards in the land of the Inca’. More details July as he retires from teaching. Dr Tim who will be delivering the OCR B specification from Paul Douglas Foulger ([email protected]) is the new from September 2016. The contact is Richard ([email protected]). contact for the Branch . Maurice (Richard.Maurice@harrisfederation. org.uk ). South Devon Welshwise Quiz What started as a sharing of ideas A bilingual quiz about Wales for year 9 pupils
e f between Chris Jesson from Gravesend is taking place on 21 June in Prestatyn High y F
Grammar School and Garry Simmons from n School and 4 July at the University of Cardiff. e l
e Wilmington Grammar School for Girls in H There is a cost of £10 per team and a :
o Dartford has now grown into the North West t maximum of two teams per school. Contact o h Kent GA Branch, a network of around ten Gill Miller for details ( [email protected]). P schools with the key aims of sharing good practice and discussing new ideas and York resources. They meet three to four times a year. Ian Packham (pictured) gave a lecture to the Garry said, ‘It’s always great to meet up with York and District Branch about his 25,000 mile everyone. We have lively discussions and all circumnavigation of Africa by public transport . colleagues come away with fresh ideas to try His story was both enlightening and touching out in the classroom’. To find out more about, in the way he tackled many myths about the contact Garry Simmons continent and revealed how the journey ([email protected]) and Chris Jesson Torquay Boys’ Grammar School winning team through 31 countries engendered his personal (jessonc@gravesend grammar.eu) . development. More details about the York d South Devon GA Worldwise quiz took place in Branch from Liz Brown o o w l March, eight teams took part and the winners ([email protected]). e s s were from Torquay Boys’ Grammar School e m
H a
(pictured). h n k a c d a i Dr Helen Fyfe ([email protected] ), P A
: n o Head of Geography at Torquay Boys’ Grammar a I t o y h School has taken over from Teresa Davidson s P e t r as Branch contact. Thank you to Teresa for all u o c
her hard work. o t
o
h
P Shropshire The Shropshire Branch organises four lectures a year, mainly on topics relevant to A level Geolincs students, and a local Worldwise quiz. This year Professor David Lambert (IoE) led the sixth included talks from Dr Martin Degg on Tectonic event for the GA branch for South Lincolnshire, Hazards, Dr Mark Rutter on Biodiversity in the (Geolincs). Our best-attended session so far, Galapagos and Alan Kinder on World Cities. We the workshop focused on two notions: were also fortunate to have heard David Fettes, curriculum leadership and curriculum making, an award winning wildlife photographer, and GeoCapabilities. David posed several speaking about his career and insights on questions about the purpose of education and human impact on the planet. Our Worldwise There are around 40 GA how we help students ‘face the future as winners were Adam’s Grammar School Branches holding talks, events confident and capable human beings’. The (pictured with Rob Morris, teacher, Charlotte and Worldwise quizzes answers, he suggested, are not Harman, and quizmaster, John Nanson), who throughout England and competitiveness, building learning power, broke Shrewsbury School’s monopoly on the Wales. Branch lectures are an transferrable skills or creativity; we should competition. Sadly, in February, the Branch lost important way of preparing focus on the ‘powerful disciplinary knowledge’ one of its committee members, Sally your students for the new A levels and Branch network
that students construct from their subjects. d David talked about how geographical thinking meetings provide valuable contributes to a student’s capabilities. e support during a period of For more information about v qualification change. There l GeoCapabilities see www.geocapabilities.org . could be a Branch near you. o For details about the South Lincolnshire Branch t Look out for more events this term and new programmes for v go to www.geolincs.wordpress.com or contact e Aidan Hesslewood (aidan.hesslewood@ next year at www.geography. n
G org.uk/getinvolved/branches bourne-grammar.lincs.sch.uk ). i page 10 The Geographical Association magazine summer 2016 no. 33 Outstanding Geography Student Award
The Outstanding Geography Student Award is a national competition run by the travel company Discover the World in partnership with the GA. The 2016 winner is Katherine Allen from Fettes College, Edinburgh. She has won five free places on an incredible trip to the Azores for her school.
he focus for the 2016 competition was the Azores, the Portuguese archipelago in the Tmid-Atlantic comprising nine islands. The Azores is one of the latest destinations for school parties travelling with Discover the World. • It is the Azores second-least populated island • UNESCO designated Flores a ‘Biosphere Students had to choose from one of two (less than 4000 people) and feels natural Reserve’ in 2009, a protected area designed decision-making exercises: and unspoilt. to ‘demonstrate an equilibrium between man • The Azores Tourist Board wants to promote • Its uneven terrain and stunning landscapes and nature’. Therefore an eco-friendly centre adventure tourism as it believes this sector make it ideal for hiking and other outdoor is ideal to blend in with the unique has the most potential. The task was to activities. landscape, which should be protected. identify a suitable location for an Adventure • It has an unemployment rate of 16% (in • It has an unusual landscape: abundance of Tourism Centre in the Azores, which would 2014) of which 41.5% (in 2014) were in the lagoons, waterfalls (pictured) and crater have facilities and equipment for activities 15−24 age bracket. Locating the centre here lakes. together with basic hostel accommodation. would give local employment opportunities • The temperature is ideal and although • Energy security is a major issue in the Azores especially for younger generations who rainfall is high this does not affect the given its remote location. In the past, the would otherwise leave to seek employment majority of the proposed activities. islands have tended to rely upon imported oil elsewhere (e.g. construction, activities, Katherine suggested activities that could take and diesel. For the future, the Azores running of centre). An increase in tourism place at the centre and also how the centre will Regional Government wants to increase its would have a wider positive impact on the adhere to sustainable principles. The judges renewable sources so that its dependence on island’s socio-economic development. were impressed by Katherine’s research and the oil is reduced. The task was to devise a plan annotated maps and diagrams that were part to move towards a sustainable energy future of her entry (pictured). for one of the islands in the Azores GCSE student Katherine found that archipelago. entering the competition gave her the Katherine chose the adventure tourism task opportunity to apply some of her knowledge of and selected a site on the west coast of the sustainable development from geography Island of Flores, near to Fajazhina, for a small lessons. She has become interested in the centre accommodating different groups of Azores during working on her task and is very people. The reasons she chose this location excited to be able to go there herself. She loves were: discovering new places and is looking forward to seeing the unique landscape and volcanic d l r activity of the Azores as well as the only tea o
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page 11 The Geographical Association magazine summer 2016 no. 33 Future geographers
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Geography Department. Over 30 students : o t from five schools had a full day, they toured o h the University campus, looking at its design P and sustainable development, engaged in a laboratory exercise on the movement of glaciers, and heard about the geography degree programme. Two lectures, outlined here, were given in the Humanities Bridge Street Building. Living within our means Patrick Kaberia Muthaura is one of three million Kenyan tea farmers. Most days he spends eight hours picking tea on the slopes of Mount Kenya. He works for the Michimikur Tea Company owned by its ten thousand farmers. Patrick explained the process of tea growing and processing. He also explained that tea is a very fussy crop and requires specific conditions Patrick Kaberia Muthaura, Michimikur Tea Company, Kenya. in order to produce a high density of healthy shoots for picking. Tea grows best at altitudes Educating young people to between 1500m and 2100m. It needs well- be environmentalists and distributed rainfall and stable temperatures. Tea is heavily reliant on established rainfall conservationists patterns, and is sensitive to evapotranspiration Mya-Rose Craig is a young birder as well as and frost. However, he is experiencing the an environmentalist, conservationist, activist,
g and writer. Her love of birds started early: she i impact of climate change. The pattern of a r
C showed a photo of her first bird watching trip rainfall is changing and it is becoming a n at 9 days old! The 13-year-old student at Chew e unpredictable. Rather than constant rain that is l e
H absorbed into the soil there is often very Valley School, near Bristol, is an ambassador © supporting Bristol’s year as European Green o intense rain that lands on parched soil and so t o Capital 2015. She is passionate about saving h runs off, causing soil erosion and floods. P Having grown up without having to use the planet and everything on it. She has been writing a blog, Birdgirl, about her bird Mya-Rose Craig, Sakib Ahmed and mosquito nets, the changing climate means Mohammed Foysal from the Bangladesh malaria is now a risk where he lives. A watching and other environmental issues that Spoon-billed Sandpiper Conservation Project reduction in income from tea harvest leads she feels are important, such as GMOs. She farmers to operate bad farming practices such realises that most teenagers don’t care of how oil spills impact on birds. She thinks that as planting eucalyptus trees. Fairtrade Premium know about these issues and that being everyone can find an animal that is interesting funds are spent on education and training. interested in nature is not ‘cool’. to them. Her favourite is the mountain gorilla. There are nurseries of indigenous trees that are In her talk Mya-Rose spoke about why she She illustrated her talk with pictures from her planted along rivers and help to slow down the thinks it is important for students to learn in travels; Mya-Rose has visited 38 countries! She water getting into the soil. geography lessons about nature and habitats writes about the wildlife she encounters and Patrick features on the Fairtrade video in the UK. She recalled a geography lesson the environments she sees. You can read about resource ‘My Next Fairtrade Adventure’ from when she was given a feather covered in oil. Mya-Rose on her blog http://schools.fairtrade.org.uk/resource/2234 This was a very visual way of demonstrating http://birdgirluk.blogspot.co.uk
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Mya-Rose Craig speaks to future geographers at the GA’s Annual Conference. page 12 The Geographical Association magazine summer 2016 no. 33 A Kampala connection
s t t Uganda and to sixth form sociology classes i
W about norms and values in a contrasting n a i t s culture. He also had meetings with teachers in a b e different roles at The King Alfred School, S
: s including intervention, use of data to inform o t o progress, appraisal and coaching. Benedict h P visited primary schools in Highbridge and Bristol. On his return to Uganda, Benedict formed the Kasubi Schools Organisation (KSO), linking 20 schools in his local area with the goal of sharing good practice. The first stage of this project has involved primary and secondary schools working together to support transition. Benedict is trialling the introduction of an appraisal process at his school, with the aim of rolling this out across the schools in the The scheme of work ‘Kampala: district. This project has evolved from the work A Case Study of a City in LIC’ is Benedict did with the Somerset Association of available at www.geography. The King Alfred School, in Highbridge, Secondary Headteachers (SASH). The link with org.uk/resources/kampala- Somerset, was delighted to host Benedict The King Alfred School has been maintained by scheme-of-work Ssaazi , a GAIIF award recipient from skype meetings with teachers from KSO. If you would like to know more Kampala in Uganda, when he visited the UK Benedict’s visit has inspired us to produce about GAIIF awards please visit in November 2015. After a weekend schemes of learning for GCSE students on www.geography. exploring London (pictured), including a visit Kampala as a city in a lower income country org.uk/getinvolved/ to Heartlands High School in Harringey, and on Uganda itself. We are sharing these committeessigs/international Benedict spent two weeks working with schemes of learning with other schools via the sig/gainternationalinitiatives schools in Somerset. Catherine Owen GA website and Sebastian presented a fund explains how Benedict’s visit was a great workshop on this connected case study at the GA Annual Conference. As part of the Year of For more information about illustration of how powerful cross-cultural d links can be. Fieldwork, our year 8 students are participating Benedict’s visit and the in a joint fieldwork project, sharing data on e resulting projects please contact
he purposes of Benedict’s visit were to land use in our local area with geography v Catherine Owen enhance the geography education of students from the St Charles Lwanga School. l (cowen@kingalfred. somerset. o Tstudents at The King Alfred School and to We are hoping to develop this link further t sch.uk ) or Sebastian Witts (switts@kingalfred. somerset. support his work as Head teacher of St Charles v by visiting Benedict in Kampala in July 2016 e Lwanga School. Benedict spoke to year 8 and plan to take a group of sixth formers to sch.uk ) from The King Alfred n
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Benedict in action at The King Alfred School. page 13 The Geographical Association magazine summer 2016 no. 33 GA Annual Conference and Exhibitio
Last month the GA’s three-day Annual Conference and Exhibition was held at University Place, The University of Manchester’s newest conference facility. The largest CPD event of its kind in the UK, it was attended by 780 delegates, with over 50 exhibitors offering a range of geographical resources. The conference theme chosen by GA President Steve Rawlinson was ‘Making Geographical Connections’. The twitter feed for #gaconf16 kept everyone up to speed on what was happening! Thursday 7 April While the exhibitors were busy setting up their stands, representatives from the GA’s Governing The Association at Work Body, Phase Committees, Special Interest Groups and headquarters staff attended the Association at Work afternoon session. They discussed presentations from teachers in the three phases, Trish Kavanagh, Catherine Owen and Laura Jayne Ward; developments of the GA website; the value of networks and the Year of Fieldwork. Meanwhile some delegates attended a fieldtrip to the nearby Peak District, visiting Edale, Castleton and Stanage Edge. In the evening, after the public lecture, GA The Wine Reception and Conference Dinner at Manchester Museum. Awards ceremony and wine reception, there was a Conference dinner in the fossils gallery of Manchester Museum, home to Stan, a full fossil skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus Rex.
On the Twitter feed
OCR Geography OCR_Geography We are on our way to #gaconf16! Woohoo! Can’t wait for fun in Manchester! @The_GA #geographyteacher James Boxall @JamesGIS @The_GA Best The award winners wishes for your #GA2016 Conference! Simply put – keep doing what you are doing; great Public lecture specifically malaria), the disease secured a example of geography teachers excelling. John Raine OBE , Head of Ebola Command foothold in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia. LJGeography @LJGeography #gaconf16 at Centre in Sierra Leone, gave a fascinating There was exponential growth in the number University of Manchester to collect our SGQM lecture on ‘Tackling the Ebola Crisis’. The first of Ebola cases from July 2014. John started Award from @The_GA on behalf of @LJ_School case of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in this his work at the response centre in October today #proud outbreak was identified in December 2013. 2014. They operated by receiving live and vickimcconaghie @Vicki11753290 So death alerts and burying the dead in less than looking forward to #gaconf16 @The_GA! Unrecognised at first, (the symptoms can be easily confused with general illness and 24hrs. Any live people were transferred to an Deciding on what workshops to attend looking isolation facility where they were tested. If the forward to being inspired! Ben King @benking01 Looking forward to person was positive then they were taken to a reading #gaconf16 tweets as I finish packing-up treatment facility. This resulted in a rapid my house for tomorrow’s move. Wish I could be decline in the number of cases, but reducing there too the number of cases to zero proved more Catherine Owen @GeogMum What a difficult than most imagined. John was proud
fascinating public lecture by John Raine about d to be part of such an immense team effort r
a managing the Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone. g that saw the region declared free of Ebola on d e Becky Kitchen @beckykitchen Lovely L 7 November 2015. We were privileged to hear n surprise to see an ex-student pick up a Centre a y John’s lecture and get a glimpse into how r B of Excellence certificate at the GA Awards last : such a complex and large-scale challenge was s o night. Well done Emma! t tackled. o Miss Fryer @MissLFryer Awesome h P #gaconf16 dinner...amongst fossils including Official Conference sponsors: ‘Stan’ (trex). Lovely people too. Great start!! Thanks @The_GA page 14 The Geographical Association magazine summer 2016 no. 33 On the Twitter feed n report Richard Waller @wallersaur @KeeleGeogs Off to the @The_GA conference and looking forward to spending time and learning in the company of enthusiastic geographers. Friday 8 April A Monteith @al_monteith In interpreting The first full day of the conference was packed landscapes: past ideas and present views. with lectures, workshops, field visits, debates Interesting history of geological theories and Teacher-to-teacher sessions. With a Ellie Mitchison @Ele_Mitch ‘Plates do not constant supply of coffee and tea, delegates move over a ‘semi-molten’ mantle’- just one of could browse the exhibition and the GA the facts we’ve had to relearn...but what do we committee stands. Meanwhile The University of tell the kids?? Manchester hosted the Future geographers day Dr Paula Owens @Primageographer Phew just finished after engaging with a wonderful for school students (see page 12) and the day 40+ participants at our workshop (thank you) in ended with a TeachMeet (see page 29). Former time for @The_GA Presidential lecture geography teacher turned stand-up comedian Alan Marvell @AlanMarvell Great turnout Mark Cooper-Jones entertained us at a buffet for the @The_GA #gaconf16 presidential in the evening. lecture making geographical connections Emma Rawlings Smith @Geography_Emma Steve Rawlinson suggests in the Presidential lecture that we should ‘put the meandering back into geography’ BlencathraFSC @BlencathraFSC At @The_GA conference in @yearoffieldwork GA President delivering ‘emotional connections’ in Refreshing your curriculum: a new KS3 Toolkit. Presidential speech Richard Maurice @HFGeography “Don’t turn geography into a cheap children’s novel” Deal in real life, however complex @bobdigby Chris Childs @geogchris Superb session with @bobdigby on non examination assessment at A Level #gaconf16 TTS Group Ltd @TTS_Group Excellent practical ideas for exploring local connections through fieldwork from @The_GA Early Years and Primary Phase Committee Mr Hazeldine @Mr_Hazeldine Here at the Geographical Associaton Conference. Great sessions today to further enhance my Teacher-to-teacher session from Mark Bailey The panel for the debate on ‘The role of knowledge and teaching strategies fieldwork in enhancing geographical knowledge and Beth Dean on ‘How to survive your PGCE GABranchCornwall @gacornwall The and NQT year’. and understanding’. Cornwall GA Branch are very much enjoying a fantastic conference here in Manchester. Lots of Presidential lecture brilliant lectures & workshops. Steve Rawlinson , GA President 2015 –16, FEHS Geography Dpt @fehs_geog Wow! spoke to a packed lecture theatre on his Really inspiring talk by 13-yr old Mya @BirdgirlUK about conservation! Fram students- conference theme of ‘Making Geographical take note! Connections’. He talked about personal Mr Simmonds @MrSimmoGeog Excellent connections, curriculum connections and tour of the UK coast by @nicholascrane. future connections. His passion for the Inspiring images outdoors and using his senses has always Miss Wilkinson @missawilkinson Great day helped him to understand and see places. at the #GAconf16 ! Found the ‘Success for low He gave the audience three challenges: literacy’ workshop particularly useful. Thanks to • Increase your connection with the GA @lauramwn and @wilkes_devon • Connect across all the phases of Richard Allaway @richardallaway education @GeoBlogs talking about the language of logistics and “authentic learning” • Re-image geography, use the G-word FEHS Geography Dpt @fehs_geog Another more often. interesting and extremely useful talk given by Alan Parkinson (@GeoBlogs)! Beth @BethDea k Wow! Great response to our NQT session #GAConf16 expected a small group-ended up with a full room! Hope we helped geographers David Rogers @davidErogers Really like the idea of assessments as celebrations of learning
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o Friday night at #gaconf16 tonight! h edge case studies’. P page 15 The Geographical Association magazine summer 2016 no. 33 GA Annual Conference and Exhibitio
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Keynote Address Above: ‘Carbon connections in the field’. John Carpenter , Head of Corporate Strategy at Thames Water and a former geography teacher, gave a personal perspective on geography and employment. His lecture ‘But I don’t want to be a geography teacher!’ was alternatively titled, ‘Why geography is brilliant and everyone should want to do it’. He talked about his own passion for geography, developed from a love of being in the mountains, and how geography is such an important part of his current job at Thames Water. He explored ‘From quick to very, very slow: Earth’s surface On the Twitterfeed the unique contribution that geographers activity’. Stefan Horsman @StefanHorsman can make in the world of work. John Carpenter from @thameswater “I’m a geographer, what’s your superpower?!” Stefan Horsman @StefanHorsman @RGS_IBG “Geographical ‘relevance’ isn’t just ‘topicality’... it’s also the application of geography to the challenges we face” Richard Maurice @HFGeography #gaconf16 session currently using @Skype to speak to a charity worker in Kampala slum! #geographyteacher idea here David Rogers @davidErogers Why study glaciology? Because you can’t get far in ‘Exploring creative cross-curricular connections’. understanding the British Landscape without it Stefan Horsman @StefanHorsman Reminder that as teachers we’re setting up views of the world through choices of places/themes & their framing #gaconf16 #geographyteacher Judith Roberts @JudithRoberts Still thinking geographically after #gaconf16 and watching flows & personal geographies at Piccadilly station. Rob Chambers @RobGeog Might not have been there but #gaconf16 twitter was buzzing – ‘Using imaginative play to teach river long ‘Using mobile devices to support the new thanks to all who tweeted for us who couldn’t profiles’. geography curriculum’. be there! clearly great conf! Alice L Griffiths @alicelouisegrif Still You can share in the CPD from the Annual Conference over the next few weeks as musing on all the wonderful stuff at the the presentations from the workshops and lectures will be uploaded to the GA #gaconf16 Best new casestudy: water scarcity, website. Visit www.geography.org.uk/conference gender and tourism in Bali #geographerteacher page 16 The Geographical Association magazine summer 2016 no. 33 n report
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Primary and International receptions On the Twitterfeed Ellie Mitchison @Ele_Mitch Finally relaxing after an amazing #gaconf16 full of new ideas and inspiration for Monday! Thank you to all involved. @The_GA Miss McLaughlin @CNCSMissMc Really enjoyed my 1st conference! Thanks everyone @The_GA &all presenters too! Will definitely be back! PeterKnightGeography @PKGeog Was at #gaconf16 #GA2016 today. One thing I was reminded of: what a great bunch of people Geography teachers are! #geographyteacher Jocelyn Popinchalk @jsqc First time at #gaconf, well worth journey from Norway. Thanks for learning, ideas and inspiration. #gaconf16 Ashanti Payne @ashantipayne Thank you elegates engaged in the conference @The_GA for an incredible 2 days. Feel inspired, theme by locating their hometown on a learnt lots & met awesome fellow teachers Dwall map and adding a postcard of their #gaconf16 #love2teachUoNITE #myPGCEyear place. Delegates came from 23 countries and all chris trevor @ChrisTrevorGeog Thanks to all over the UK. The receptions offered opportunities that made #GAconf16 such an inspiring event, where the Geography community made such for people to network and find out more about brilliant connections @The_GA the GA and how to get involved. GA Annual Conference and Exhibition 2017 : Inclusive geographies? In 2017 the GA’s Annual • Is school geography inclusive, for teachers and students, and how can it be made more Conference will return to so? the University of Surrey, • How can we extend the reach of the subject and support the development of the Guildford, on Thursday 20– interface between school and academic Saturday 22 April. geography? • How can school geography support young he theme for the 2017 Annual Conference people’s engagement with and participation is Inclusive Geographies? The posing of a in matters of local-global significance? Tquestion is deliberate here, because I In pursuing these questions I hope the hope that the conference will be an conference will consider how we engage a
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page 17 The Geographical Association magazine summer 2016 no. 33 CPD training courses from the GA
curiosity and fascination about the world understanding and the development of This year’s programme of CPD that remains with them for the rest of outstanding practice within the subject. courses and conferences Training Courses their lives; what better way to achieve Considering the question ‘What is geography?’, has something for everyone. this than by immersing pupils in real-world the day will also look at geographical skills, Whether you’re primary, geography outside of the classroom? The place and locational knowledge, progression secondary, post-16, an NQT looking course will provide numerous ideas for and the subject’s contribution to the wider for support or an experienced engaging fieldwork and will increase curriculum. The day will include presentations, teacher after some new ideas, teachers’ confidence in getting group discussion and practical activities, there’s a course for you. As always, out of the classroom. including planning for a geographical GA members receive huge discounts! www.geography.org.uk/ enquiry into distant places. outside www.geography.org.uk/ nonspec For primary Leading primary geography Investigating Ancient and Global geography at York Tuesday 7 June 2016 Modern Egypt and the River key stage 2 London Tuesday 5 July 2016 Nile at KS2 This course will help you successfully lead Manchester Tuesday 14 June 2016 London Tuesday 17 May 2016 primary geography and raise the standard of This interactive course explores and exemplifies London Tuesday 21 June 2016 geography teaching and learning in your school. This course supports effective geography and opportunities within the primary geography Join us to develop your understanding of curriculum for promoting pupils’ global history learning. Using the example of Egypt geography’s core knowledge and skills and and the River Nile, this one-day course will awareness and understanding. It examines the consider the successful application of the challenges posed by global learning, then looks explore how careful choice of content subject in relevant and exciting contexts. You in one subject can extend what your in-depth at some practical thematic and place- will also find out about geography’s based examples, linked to the National pupils will achieve in another. contribution to other subject areas www.geography.org.uk/egypt Curriculum, which will lead to outstanding and whole-school dimensions, such as In partnership with geography teaching. global learning, sustainability, values www.geography.org.uk/ and Learning Outside the globalks2 Classroom. l l
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page 18 The Geographical Association magazine summer 2016 no. 33
A level Geography: For secondary Preparing for change London Friday 1 July 2016 Manchester Wednesday 6 July 2016 and beyond With the changes to A level geography Progression in fieldwork: specifications, teachers need to prepare themselves and plan new resources for first building independence and teaching in 2016. This course will provide opportunities subject knowledge updates on Changing Birmingham Wednesday 22 June 2016 Leading the outstanding Places and Water and Carbon Cycles from London Thursday 30 June 2016 leading academics. Advice and guidance on With the changes to the GCSE and A level geography department: planning, resourcing, effective teaching and specifications, teachers are needing to reassess Improving standards and learning approaches, and the challenges and their fieldwork provision to ensure progression. leadership opportunities of the new specifications will be This course will provide strategies for out-of- provided. Delegates will have the opportunity London Monday 4 July 2016 classroom work as well as ideas for local to plan a series of lessons using a variety of Outstanding geography leaders systematically fieldwork opportunities, an exploration of innovative and engaging strategies, network review the quality of their teaching and the progression in fieldwork from Y7 through to with other teachers and decide what they relevance of their curriculum, and make the A level Independent Investigation need to do next to move forward. accurate self-assessment of their strengths and and opportunities to discuss the www.geography.org.uk/ weaknesses. The very best geography assessment of fieldwork by alevel departments unlock in students a life-long exam at GCSE and AS level. fascination with the world, and share their www.geography.org.uk/ d r innovative practice between themselves and a progression g d with others. e L
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Let us come to you Are you struggling to get out of school for training? Why not organise an in-house CPD day through the GA? Our tailor-made CPD days are ideal for training a group of teachers in your own school and, better still, we’ll arrange a session at a time and date that suits you. You can arrange for a GA consultant to visit your school if you need help with a particular problem or if you’re after some general geographical advice. Visit the GA’s website (www.geography.org.uk/consultancy ) for further details.
page 19 The Geographical Association magazine summer 2016 no. 33 Teaching the core skills
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The training is FREE and available to teachers in maintained schools, Free schools and academies across Register online at www.geography.org.uk/free-training England. page 20 The Geographical Association magazine summer 2016 no. 33 Early Years and Primary connections
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Helpful Connection : BBC presenter Nick Crane, when asked the question: What would he tell his seven-year-old self to get him interested in geography? ‘Here’s a map... now get on your bike and go and discover for yourself and explore’. What better message to send to the next generation! Unusual Connection: Who knew that pigeons had ‘local wisdom’? Thanks to Helen Clarke and Sharon Witt we now do! Did you know that pigeons often follow linear (1909) was suggested by Steve Rawlinson in is complexity handled – does it appear landscape features, such as roads, his Presidential Lecture. It describes a world in multifaceted and challenging or simple and communication wires or field margins, just like which humans have lost the ability to live on benign? How are pupils present and we would? Also that they would be the ones to the surface of Earth and live in isolation below presented? Much to think about: what really is go to if you wanted to find where to settle, ground, having all their needs met by an learnt in classrooms from the range of hide or find the ultimate free meal? This omnipotent, global machine. Travel is permitted resources primary teachers use? engaging and creative session had us thinking but unpopular and rarely necessary! You can about the possibilities of place through the find the story online. eyes of a creature who might know best. See Resource connections: Liz Taylor’s follow-up images and ideas at lecture on secondary textbooks, past and @Attention2place . recent, raised many questions relevant to Connection I will try : The ‘Transport considering the uses of primary geography challenge’ is a great idea support transition resources: Who produces them? Why are the from year 6 to secondary school, suggested by places and topics in them chosen? What does EYPPC co-chair Gemma Kent. Pupils earn the vocabulary used tell pupils and teachers? points by planning a route from school round What do the images used represent? How does London and back home by 3.30pm! Armed page layout influence ‘reading’ the page? How with a £10 budget they have to use as many types of London transport as possible and buy lunch! Unplanned connection: An unplanned discussion in a session chaired by Anthony Barlow meant a chance to discover delegates’ favourite geographical resources. A favourite was the Jeff Brown story, Flat Stanley (Egmont, 2003). Stanley is flattened and gets into all sorts of geographically imaginative escapades including being sent by post cross-country, flying as a kite (map work) and solving an art heist (examining the flattening of landscapes in paintings and photos). Best of all are the possibilities of using Stanley as a Barnaby Bear style key stage 2 ‘place-pal’ for journalling and joining an international community of pen friends through projects such as www.flatstanleyproject.com Story connections: So many stories to use! The Naughty Bus (Jan Oke, 2004) provides many ways into transport, place and mapping. Try out the less easy or comfortable to make connections: The Journey (Francesca Sanna, Flying Eye Books, 2016) explores migration issues, places and journeys through picture story telling. Divergent Connection: Read some EM Forster! The short story The Machine Stops
page 21 The Geographical Association magazine summer 2016 no. 33 Qualification change
including the GCSE Geography Teachers’ • Think creatively about homework It is now only four months before the Toolkit series , Fieldwork Through Enquiry and tasks Homework time could be used for teaching of the new GCSE and A level a large selection of DVDs. those activities that are not always courses begins. Rebecca Kitchen , the GA’s straightforward to do in school, such as Secondary Curriculum Leader gives some watching documentaries and practising suggestions of how you can use this time to Finishing touches fieldwork techniques. plan and prepare for these huge changes. • Create a reading list There may be parts of the new specifications that you haven’t taught before and so it is always a good Qualification change can appear to be a huge Preparing for idea to refresh your own subject knowledge challenge but it is important to remember that in these areas. You could also create a it is also an opportunity to reflect on what you GCSE (9−1) reading list to extend students’ teach and how. Many of the points above can understanding too! appear daunting but there is support from Awarding Organisations, other teachers and, of First steps course, the GA at every stage of the process. If there are topic options available in your chosen specification, decide which of these will be studied. Involve students in the decision- making process by canvassing your current GCSE students or putting together a student focus group. Decide where each unit is going to fit into your two-year plan. Examples of course planning guides have been produced by exam boards to provide suggestions and to support you with this. The GA has also produced a course planner sheet (see below). Decide how you are going to integrate geographical skills and fieldwork into your GCSE course. The specifications stipulate that students have to undertake fieldwork outside of the school grounds and in two contrasting environments. However, there is also scope to build regular learning outside the classroom opportunities into your plan in addition to this minimum requirement. See the article on local fieldwork on page 26 to help you plan this. Write down a list of ‘ingredients of good geography’ that you would like to appear in each scheme of work. Examples could include fieldwork experiences, opportunities to use GIS, assessment tasks to map progression, opportunities to practice geographical skills etc. Fleshing out • Develop schemes of work for each unit Many of the Awarding Organisations (AOs) have produced their own schemes of work, which can be adapted for your specific context. If another local school is doing the same specification then you could meet to share ideas and there are also opportunities to share virtually via the GA Ning. Refer to your list of ‘ingredients’ above regularly and incorporate them into each scheme of work.
• Resource your schemes of work You may already have tried-and-tested resources from previous specifications that can be tweaked to fit the new ones, and each AO has their own links to downloadable resources. It is worth looking at the resources from the AOs as there is overlap between the specifications and you might find something that can easily be adapted. Use the GA website for resource ideas Download a copy of these planning sheets from www.geography.org.uk/gcsereform page 22 The Geographical Association magazine summer 2016 no. 33
experienced classroom teacher. While these Getting up to were written with the legacy AS and A level A level geography: specifications in mind, many of them, such as Preparing for change speed with subject ‘tectonic hazards’ and ‘Superpowers’, are London Friday 1 July 2016 relevant now. There are also new titles to Manchester Wednesday 6 July 2016 watch out for over the coming months that With the changes to A level geography knowledge at are clearly linked to the new specifications specifications, teachers need to prepare (see page 31). A level themselves and plan new resources for first • Geography , the international journal of the teaching in 2016. This course will provide he new A level specifications contain some GA, contains many articles on research by subject knowledge updates on Changing challenging new content for both students leading geographers. Examples which are Places and Water and Carbon Cycles from and teachers to grapple with. Teachers T relevant to the new A level specifications leading academics. Advice and guidance on with a more physical background may be include: ‘Place: encountering geography as planning, resourcing, effective teaching and rubbing their hands in glee at the inclusion of Philosophy’ (Cresswell, 2008), ‘Challenging learning approaches, and the challenges and ‘Carbon and Water Cycles’ but struggling with assumptions: zero-carbon futures’ (Bromilow, opportunities of the new specifications will ‘Global Systems, Global Governance’, while 2009), ‘Virtual water’ (Lane, 2014) and then be provided. You will have the those with a more human bent may be ‘Putting global citizenship at the heart of opportunity to plan a series of lessons using relishing the thought of teaching ‘Changing global learning: a critical approach’ (Huckle, a variety of innovative and engaging Place, Changing Places’ but balk at the mention 2015) strategies, network with other teachers of ‘Landscape Systems’. In some respects, ‘it and decide what you need to do was ever thus’, but if you are concerned that next to move forward. your subject knowledge may not be up to date www.geography.org.uk/alevel or at the right level for A level teaching, where can you go for support? Below are some d r
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written by the Post-16 and Higher Education : o t Phase Committee of the GA. While there are o h many articles to commend, ‘Starting to teach P the Carbon Cycle’ by Helen Hore (Spring, 2015) is a superb introduction to this feature of the new A level. It covers the distribution and size of major carbon stores, and carbon cycle processes, and uses climate as a context for exploring the links and feedback between carbon and water cycles.
• Top Spec Geography is a series, available from the GA shop, which provides up-to-date information on a range of specialist • Geography textbooks are in production for geography topics. There are currently nine most of the new specifications and can be a titles in the series, each of which is written useful starting point for getting to grips with jointly by a leading academic and an Useful weblinks the level of understanding required. www.geography.org.uk/news/gcsereform Interestingly, Eduqas is not going down the for all matters relating to the new GCSE textbook route but will instead be providing specifications, choosing your specification, a teacher handbook and resources on their and resources including a course planner website. It is worthwhile arming yourself with sheet, a table highlighting how GA a few textbooks as different specifications publications fit with the new specifications have identified different ‘ways in’ to teaching and a list of ideas for teaching about some of the topics, and developing an landscapes. appreciation of this allows for a more holistic http://www.geography.org.uk/news/alevel understanding. For example, in the core topic reform for all matters relating to the new A of the ‘Water and Carbon cycles’, AQA have level specifications, choosing your gone for a straightforward physical specification and resources. geography approach; Edexcel have focused on climate and energy security; Eduqas have www.geography.org.uk/cpdevents/ contextualised carbon and water cycles curriculum/geographymatters ‘Geography within a global systems framework and OCR Matters’. have approached the topics by focusing on http://geographical.ning.com GA Ning Earth’s life support systems. http://sharegeography.co.uk/2016/01/02/ introducing-geogshare is an opportunity for • Book a place on the GA’s ‘A level geography: geography teachers to share resources. Preparing for change’ event. page 23 The Geographical Association magazine summer 2016 no. 33 Desmond, Eva and Frank
it is usually the finer detail, such as timings or rain water for a long time compared to slate, During a short period of a few weeks at the which side of the hills the rain falls. On this which dumps rainwater immediately onto the back end of 2015, a series of major storms occasion the weather system shifted a little to ground below. So the idea of ‘grabbing’ barrelled into the UK, breaking many long- the east, just nudging over the Pennines from upstream water is far from a new one. Further standing records as they did. Jim McQuaid the forecast prediction, and West Yorkshire downstream the next issue often encountered from the Institute for Climate and bore the brunt of the rainfall. is that of drainage. The continued spread of Atmospheric Science, University of Leeds, Simple school physics tells us that warm hard standings outside houses has been illustrates how the causes of flooding are air can ‘hold’ more water vapour. Just think highlighted as locking away access to hugely complex due to the very many about how humid it is in the jungle whereas increasing amounts of surface capable of factors that must be considered. high altitude mountaineers need to be very absorbing rainwater, all of which contributes to hree exceptional storms in a row – aware of the dangers of dehydration from the sheer quantity of water flowing into Desmond (5 –6 December), Eva (24 breathing in very cold air. Last year (early watercourses. TDecember), and Frank (28 –29 November in fact) we passed a very notable December) – gave little time for the water to event in global temperatures when the Met Is dredging the answer? be absorbed into the ground, causing major Office calculated we passed an increase in one Often the first response after a major flooding flooding and damage, particularly in West degree global surface temperature since pre- event is for the affected public to highlight any Yorkshire. Storm Desmond, for example, was industrial times (1850). This equates to a 7% deficiencies in the dredging strategy. responsible for the first appearance of a increase in water vapour in the atmosphere, Government cuts have hit the amount of waterfall over the top of Malham Cove in the which doesn’t sound like much but it can be resources deployed in this area. However, Yorkshire Dales for over two hundred years the difference between a catastrophic flood dredging just moves the problem downstream (www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north- occurring or not. and also speeds up the water, so it arrives in yorkshire-35026529). larger quantities, rather than slowing its Flooding issues progress and allowing more time for the A number of reports have recently been effects to percolate downstream away from A–Z of UK storm names produced in the aftermath of the Christmas flood-prone areas. The reduction in dredging of for 2015 –16 floods, and one calculated that the impact on watercourses on the Somerset levels was businesses in Calderdale alone would be highlighted during the floods of winter Abigail Henry Orla £47m, while across West Yorkshire as a whole 2013−14, when large areas of farmland were Barney Imogen Phil it was estimated at £170m, which represents underwater for weeks on end. One might Clodagh Jake Rhonda just over one per cent of the area’s economic argue that historically this region has flooded Desmond Katie Steve output! Nationally the costs of all three of and farmers have benefited from the highly Eva Lawrence Tegan these major winter storms is said to be in the fertile alluvial material brought by floods. From Frank Mary Vernon region of £1.25 billion when taking everything a different angle, very low-level maintenance Gertrude Nigel Wendy into account. of watercourses can by highly effective at I feel that many of the issues around preventing flooding but landfill tax has For the first time, as of the winter of 2015- flooding are not difficult concepts; many are increased the incidence of fly tipping often into 16 a storm deemed to have the potential to quite obvious if one were to spend any time culverts out of sight, but certainly not out of cause substantial impacts in the UK and/or thinking. However, when flooding occurs it mind when the heavy rains come. Ireland will now be named. The names were becomes an incredibly emotive topic and suggested by the public, with the Met Office people focus on only a few factors. receiving thousands of responses. Broken records There are many schools of thought when it Looking back at the rainfall and temperature comes to developing strategies surrounding records from the Met Office reveals just how My colleague, who lives in Otley just north of how we can tackle future flood risk. As to much water fell out of the warmer air that Leeds, has a weather station in his garden that which one rises to the top is heavily dependent arrived over the couple of weeks around recorded the typical monthly average rainfall upon who would be affected by the flood. Is it Christmas 2015. Social media was a bit of a on Christmas night alone! Social media was local authorities who have to balance budgets frenzy and in the hunt for the most extreme alight with pictures of flood markers on the or local planners who are squeezed to find numbers it was noted that before interest was sides of bridges showing levels close to long- suitable sites for much needed housing lost, by 28 December, Capel Curig in North standing historical records. Such were the developments? After the Second World War Wales had amassed a rainfall total for deluges that the word unprecedented seemed agriculture moved towards higher efficiencies December alone of 1012mm ( http://blogs. to pop up on most news broadcasts, so much and fields became larger and larger, channel4.com/liam-dutton-on-weather/ so that there were even discussions as to unhindered by tracks, hedgerows etc., which december-2015-uks-wettest-month- exactly what unprecedented was! Did the bad allowed larger, more modern equipment to be record/9518 ), while the previous record stood weather result in a revisiting of our used. The orientation of ploughed furrows can at 613mm! Not forgetting that this was even vocabulary? have an incredible effect upon the drainage before Storm Frank arrived! It’s not that the Christmas floods were speed of rainfall down a gradient. Ploughing or As our climate continues to warm – and unexpected; we knew they were coming a few dressing the surface perpendicular to the slope the vast majority of scientists acknowledge days before as a long tongue of warm air will obviously capture rainwater and prevent this – the frequency of these extreme events streamed all the way up from the mid-Atlantic, torrents flowing down. Such practices can also will increase, as will their magnitude. In the bringing with it warm moist air to the UK and go a long way to retain soil too, so multiple insurance world many companies now include plenty of it. Despite what some tabloids might benefits exist. Walter Scott notably likened the people with the rather exotic job title of tell you, UK weather forecasting is very good ‘moist, spongy, or peaty soils, which once ‘Catastrophe Risk Analyst’ on the payroll, the vast majority of the time and we don’t get covered the greatest part of the highlands of which could be taken as an indicator to things caught out very often these days. When we do, England’ acted like a thatched roof that held to come. page 24 The Geographical Association magazine summer 2016 no. 33
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: whether we should spend our way out of the in the upland catchment areas that might be o t o dangers from this major flooding events, but used to mitigate for what happens downstream. h P where to spend the money? The costs of protecting us from the most extreme ravages of Further reading and the elements are often very high and the probability of these occurring is low, which weblinks means that the funding is diverted to more www.see.leeds.ac.uk/news/news- ‘sure’ things. ‘Mopping up’ is very costly but all inner/counting-the-cost-of-the-floods too often this is just the first of many costs that http://ucvr.org.uk/ucvr-news arise, or are highlighted, when severe flooding occurs. http://remotepixel.ca/projects/modisviirs_before after.php?leftmap=MODIS_Terra_Corrected Reflectance_Bands721&leftdate=2015-12- Searching for solutions 29&latlngZ=[53.76657243186167,- d i Here in Leeds, there is a major research a 0.990142822265625,9]&rightmap=MODIS_ u
Q ‘collective’, snappily titled ‘Water@Leeds’. This c Terra_CorrectedReflectance_Bands721&right M has demonstrated to me the breadth of people m date=2015-09-06 i J with a vested interest in flooding research, far : o t www.examiner.co.uk/news/west-yorkshire- o from just meteorologists and engineers, but h P those interested in ecosystem services, upland news/flood-costs-soar-47m-calderdale- management and social science who have a lot 11150366 to offer from analysing how communities deal/ www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/environment/we cope with the horror of flooding. I am not a st-yorkshire-economy-takes-170m-flood-hit- flooding expert, I am not even a meteorologist; 1-7836695 my work involves measuring air pollution, be it http://uk.crawfordandcompany.com/catastrophe from ground stations or the UK’s research -response/major-events/2015-storm- aircraft, but it is relatively easy to take on board desmond.aspx the various issues to a sufficient level to appreciate that there are a great number of Check out the resources on flooding on the GA issues around flooding and they affect a broad website at www.geography.org.uk/resources/ section of the population, be they the victims, flooding
page 25 The Geographical Association magazine summer 2016 no. 33 Getting outside the classroom
y r Noises and maps Students listen to the e The GA’s strategic partner, the n n noises from various parts of the school, and a l Field Studies Council F
estimate how far away they are and in what n (FSC), has provided us with u a direction. They take a series of photographs for h S some fieldwork ideas that : each noise and record the noise on their o can take place in your school t o phone. They could build up an ESRI StoryMap h grounds or in the local area P of the noises in the school grounds. near your school. Take the opportunity during the summer term of the Year of Treasure hunt using Fieldwork to get your QR codes students out of the classroom QR codes can be generated using a number of to analyse, however, so this data could be and try some of these ideas out. websites (e.g. www.the-qrcode-generator.com ). quantified by asking students to place their When scanned with a device (e.g. an iPad) postcard on a graphical scale. Creation of axes these codes can display a website, an image or Micro-geography could be led by the students: what do they text. When hidden around the school grounds, Shoe selfies Students use cameras or phones wish to plot or find out? clues, compass directions or bearings can be to take pictures of a route through their school This fieldwork session can be used as a used to guide students on a treasure hunt. To grounds, focusing on a particular criteria (and way to engage students with the geographical differentiate, a number of trails could be set up shoes have to be included!). For example; safe enquiry process. From a few hours in the with students of different abilities starting from routes, congested routes or habitual routes. playground, deeper geographical questions can different origin locations. All trails should lead This can also be used to map different types of be formed, which could be studied further. areas of the school site according to who uses to the same destination; the first group to find the spaces, or the activities the spaces allow or the treasure will win! encourage. Positivity about their playground place % l l e Place-making picture d r 100 e t t frames o T h Place-making by improving the quality of t u R different types of place, so that people want to
: o t work, learn or play in them, is a process that o h P could be explored by using different views of 100 male 0 female 100 the school and grounds. Collect a range of Positivity about school % picture frames, real or paper-based, and ask students to ‘frame’ a picture of that would look Seasons in the school appropriate for that type of frame. Students could explain why they have ‘framed’ that grounds particular view and why the frame they have If you have trees on-site, accessible to students, then this project is a great way to help Micro-view Students take close up images of chosen is appropriate. students understand the changing of the parts of the school site that interest them. To seasons. This is an activity suitable for students follow up, students find out about where the aged ten years and older and is fully supported material has come from, and how it was by website resources at www.beagleproject.org produced and installed in the school grounds. Students use an identification key to identify l l e the tree species on their site, they then look for d r e t when new buds burst on the tree, when it first t o T flowers and when the trees have their first h t u leaves. Other things to record are when the R
: o t berries are ripe and the leaves start to fall. o h P Materials from the website range across science, with links to photosynthesis and respiration, through to deforestation, climate Playground postcards change and the carbon cycle.
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Which would be the best site within the school grounds to locate a small wind turbine? Students can collect a range of data: • Landscape and visual assessment When students have located several potential areas of the site to locate a wind turbine, they could complete a visual assessment of areas on and off the school site whose views might be affected by the building of the turbine. • Wind survey The power of the wind is proportional to the wind speed cubed, so a very small increase in wind speed can be very important in terms of power. The distance from buildings and trees can also affect the wind speed. The height of the land would Citizen science surveys also be important to include within this There are further ideas on the GA These surveys allow students to contribute to survey. Direct measurements of the wind website: www.geography.org.uk/ larger data sets. The OPAL Air Survey could be done, including speed and direction, garesources (www.opalexplorenature.org/airsurvey ) suggests which could be combined on a map with • The Secondary Phase Committee activities for students to discover the impacts of building heights, land heights etc. have produced some top ideas for local air quality on their natural environment. getting students out of the • Noise survey The noise of a turbine can Lichens on trees and tar spot fungus on classroom here: www.geography.org. affect the people in the surrounding area. sycamore leaves are used to determine how uk/download/ GA_SECKS3TopTenOut There are several free Decibel meters for affected the natural environment is by air doorsNew.pdf smart phones (Decibel 10th (apple) or Sound pollution. The OPAL Climate Survey • Take a look at ‘Map it, bike it, walk Meter (android)). It may be possible to set off (www.opalexplorenature.org/climatesurvey ) is it’, a series of three lesson plans for an air horn blast at the potential sites and now closed but provides a series of activities for Year 5 or 6 students featuring local measure the noise level within nearby key stages 3 and 4, allowing students to area fieldwork and emotional classrooms or playing fields. consider climate change by investigating mapping. There are opportunities for contrails from aircraft. Activities using bubbles • Questionnaires to local neighbours to the students to reflect on and develop and mirrors enable students to also explore how site could gather concerns and opinions their personal geographies and wind at cloud height differs from ground level about locating a turbine. increase their awareness of different and assess how sensitive we are to climate in ways to travel to school: • Secondary data can also be used, such as different parts of the UK. Resources for primary www.geography.org.uk/resources/ maps to highlight safety and access, bird pupils can be found on the Kids Zone pages mapitbikeitwalkit migration patterns, and meteorological data. (www.opalexplorenature.org/KidsZone ). • There are plenty of ideas for getting
d r out into the local area in our a g d Everyday Guide to Primary e L
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page 27 The Geographical Association magazine summer 2016 no. 33 Transport and logistics
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P transport geographies. www.ciltuk.org.uk Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport in the UK www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_e These new resources on the GA website mbedded&v=vj6n_2MCR9E for more on the comprise eight resourced lessons that explore a value of logistics and the work of CILT range professional sectors of transport and logistics through engaging enquiry questions. www.marinetraffic.com for the AIS Ship They develop greater geographical knowledge tracker and understanding and encourage students to www.dft.gov.uk/traffic-counts for ur lives function because decisions are apply this knowledge in real-word contexts and Department for Transport Road Census data made that result in food on supermarket ‘think like geographers’. They offer scope for Oshelves, fuel (and beer) in the pumps, explorations using tools, such as spatial our train arriving when timetabled, ships technologies and GIS, fieldwork, web-based Alan Parkinson is Head of Geography at docking at a time they are scheduled and when research and literacy tasks. Although written for King’s Ely Junior with responsibility for the tides are right, lorries travelling along key stage 3 these resources could be adapted KS2/3. He is a Primary Geography Champion roads, and newspapers delivered to the corner for use with GCSE and A level classes. for the East of England, and also serves on shop when we call in on a Sunday morning. A medium-term plan and a glossary of the GA’s Secondary Phase Committee. When transport systems work well they are relevant terms, along with some suggestions for often invisible to the consumer, and because further reading and web-based materials, are they are so efficient we take them for granted. included with the lessons. However, we are increasingly dependent on Brief details of the eight units are below: globalised transport systems to support all aspects of our lives and it is only when things Sector Context Activities for students go wrong that we notice them. Supply chain Pret a Manger: are you Looking at the work of Pret a Manger, and ready to tackle food waste? their commitment to reduce food waste, donate unsold food to charity and streamline their food ordering.
Transport Get your kicks on the A66 – Explore route planning, use DfT traffic flow planning decision making for a census data and write a consultancy report for fictional haulage company a small family haulage firm exploring issues using the cross-country route on the A66 that would affect their fleet.
Rail Back on track Students explore the impact of the Beeching Effective transport and logistics are cuts, and other issues affecting the running of essential to support economic development and passenger services. engage ment in the global economy. From thinking about the size, shape and weight of Active travel Keeping two wheels turning Looking at the operation of the Santander the product, transportation and handling, to planning cycle hire scheme in London, and the logistics removing unnecessary mileage to maximise the required. miles that vehicles cover every day requires considerable skill and knowledge. Much of the Bus and On the buses – following Exploring operational issues that could disrupt thinking is geographical in nature, focusing on coach Route 9 in London the smooth running of Routemaster buses spatial analysis and the need to better under - running through Central London. stand specialised concepts such as systems and flows, globalisation, inter dependence and Ports, Thinking inside the box – Make use of the AIS ship tracking website as sustainability. Plenty of geography there! maritime and tracing shipping containers students follow Maersk ships and explore n waterways how container ships have changed global o s n i trade. k r a
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Aviation Could you be part of an Exploring the work of Shelterbox, following a International Rescue? natural disaster, and their use of mapping and other tools to ensure that aid is distributed effectively.
page 28 The Geographical Association magazine summer 2016 no. 33 TeachMeet
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After an opportunity to refuel at the 2016 TeachMeet reception following a busy first day of the GA Annual Conference, over one hundred enthusiastic lurkers filled Theatre B at University Place in Manchester ready for the GA’s second ever TeachMeet. Here Emma Rawlings Smith language through the medium of rap. (Geography_Emma ) reports on the event. Up next was James Riley , who highlighted the success of his geography department’s Simon Ross was the first presenter and kicked debating competition. The exceptional quality off proceedings by outlining activities we can of entries, the student interest generated and use to encourage students to explore, be subject promotion all made the extra curious and develop a sense of place, through organisation and busy lunchtimes worthwhile. their own senses as well as the use of virtual Judith Roberts shared her own resources, including those available at experience of using Structure of Observed www.discover-geography.co.uk . Learning Outcomes (SOLO) for challenge and Bob Lang (@boblanggeog ) captivated the assessment without levels at key stage 3. Her audience by singing his entire presentation to key message was that if we want to engage the tune of Mambo No.5 by Lou Bega. Bob’s students, assessments should be seen as a celebration of their learning. playful presentation used the real time wind geography classroom. If you want to know Judy Gleen (@judygeog ) outlined the and weather animation site www.windyty.com more, you can read their book Knowledge and ‘ABC and D of Essay Plans’ to improve literacy to highlight how we can visualise weather the Future School (2014). at A level. She wanted students to avoid data, use overlays and retrieve historic data The highlight of the evening was Paul ‘writingeverything Iknow’ syndrome and using the timeline. Berry (@unicorn4275 ), who delivered his instead think about what the question is Alan Parkinson used his six minutes to presentation through the medium of beer! He Asking, Brainstorm ideas, Choose an essay suggest that we get involved in some kind of shared some of his experiences from residential structure and add in some Details. 365 project. This could be as simple as trips such as erratic rolling, gryke snorkelling Richard Allaway put on a pair of Google uploading one photo a day to the photo and scree cuddling to working with overseas Cardboard viewers (pictured top left) to explain journal site www.blipfoto.com , or something a charities. We would have heard more but beer how, with just the use of a phone and an app little more challenging. Alan started a book number six, a tasty ‘Black Sheep’, disappeared such as Google Cardboard, we can experience review blog in 2013. He hopes to finish all 365 the night before. virtual reality to get a better view of places in a entries in 2016. You can follow his progress at Last up was Raphael Heath with his GIS simple, fun and affordable way. 360° images http://geolibrary2013.blogspot.co.uk Day Top Ten Countdown. This rundown of are available online and can also be generated Catherine Owen (@GeogMum ) shared inspirational ideas for using GIS with students with the use of apps or inexpensive 360- with us a number of ways she has connected is available at www.youtube.com/watch?v=mm degree cameras. geography and literacy in her school. With visits rICPp69Bw by the writer Benjamin Zephaniah, Catherine Richard Maurice stressed the importance encourages students to push boundaries, of the work of Michael Young and David Thanks to David Rogers for engage with literacy and develop a love of Lambert on powerful knowledge in the organising the event once again and to Discover the World Education and Geography All the Way for sponsoring the
d event. If you were unable to join us, the TeachMeet was recorded e and is available to watch on You v Tube www.youtube.com/watch? l v=2RQYcoTn4I4 o t Check out v e http://teachmeet.pbworks.com to find out about other n G
i TeachMeets.
page 29 The Geographical Association magazine summer 2016 no. 33
Edited by Ruth Totterdell, Publications, Publications news Journals and Content Manager
lessons with teaching ideas to engage and been selected and used, and provides links to New for key stage 3 challenge all learners in the classroom. A further resources and reading. Choosing The next two titles in the KS3 Geography toolkit contains a complete unit of work: appropriate ‘tools’ from the Toolkit , teachers Teachers’ Toolkit, edited by Alan Kinder and • ten fully-worked lesson plans can learn how to develop their own materials John Widdowson, are due into the GA • all the resources needed for each lesson and create their own curriculum. warehouse during the summer term. Written plan, including information, images and by practising teachers, these latest titles activity sheets extend the coverage of the series. The sixteen • an introduction to the topic, a medium-term titles provide resources required for teaching a plan, glossary, links to further ideas and fresh, broad and balanced key stage 3 resources and a progression framework. curriculum. The series uses National The materials in each title from the Toolkit can Curriculum geography concepts and skills to be used directly in the classroom to engage, explore new places, themes and issues. challenge and enthuse learners. The Toolkit Each title focuses on a place, a theme or can also be adapted and extended. Each title an issue, and provides ten fully-resourced shows clearly how ideas and strategies have Mind the gap: How is They will critically consider what development means for people and places, how development development changing in can be defined and measured, where the most Southeast Asia and beyond? and least developed places are in the world, By Michelle Minton why development is unequal and who is Teaching a complex, far-reaching and ever- responsible for development. They will apply this changing concept such as international knowledge as they take a closer look at present development can be daunting for any teacher. and future development in Southeast Asia. Can or should this topic be simplified? Which named places and examples should we use? Ten fully-resourced lessons: How can we make comparisons but avoid • Defining development stereotypes? With a combination of coherent • Measuring development guidance and an adaptable framework, this • Varying development Toolkit aims to give teachers the confidence to • Development factors tackle controversial issues and help them • Changing development challenge common misconceptions, at the same • Equal development? time giving students the opportunity to critically • The scale of development reflect upon their own views. • Cost-effective development? In this unit students will investigate • Supporting development international development at a variety of scales. • Development roles climate, place knowledge of Oymyakon in Going to Extremes: What Russia, Mawsynram in India and the Danakil makes weather and climate depression in Ethiopia, understanding of how so extreme? extreme weather and climate affect people and By Garry Simmons geographical skills including weather The complex nature of the concepts responsible observation, interpreting weather charts and the for our weather presents many challenges for use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS). geography students, such as interpreting weather charts, understanding meteorological Ten fully-resourced lessons: processes and comprehending three- • What is weather? dimensional ideas that change rapidly over time. • Weather diary This unit will help students to deepen their • Extreme weather and climate knowledge of these concepts so that they gain • Atlantic storm a better understanding of what causes extreme • Dust storms weather and climate. • Tornadoes Through this unit students will develop their • The coldest town on Earth knowledge of what extreme weather and • The wettest place on Earth climate are, understanding the meteorological • The hottest place on Earth processes responsible for extreme weather and • From one extreme to the other
BRITISH OR A THORNY MOVING THE RISE AND FUTURE FASTER, HIGHER, LOO KAT IT INTRODUCING THE ROLE MIND WATER INTO AFRICA CHANGING THROUGH THICK GOING TO WHAT’S THE GAP WORKS EUROPEAN? ISSUE STORIES MY WORLD RISE OF CHINA FLOODS STRONGER THI S WAY INDIA OF STONES AND THIN EXTREMES THE USE? There are now sixteen titles in the series. View this table to see how they match the 2014 National Curriculum www.geography.org.uk/download/GA%20NC14%20Toolkit%20table.pdf. page 30 The Geographical Association magazine summer 2016 no. 33
A level GCSE (9 –1) Support for new We are extending Top Spec Geography , our Fieldwork Through Enquiry cutting-edge series for post-16 students, edited Written to support GCSE fieldwork this AQA qualifications by Bob Digby and Sue Warn, to meet the resource comprises ten worked examples of The GA has been working in partnership with demands of the new qualifications. The first of investigations based in a range of locations, Cambridge University Press on their print and these new titles, Changing Places , is to be each set clearly in its geographical context and digital resources to support the teaching of the published in the summer term. For information framed around an enquiry question. new AQA GCSE and AS/A level geography about how the Top Spec series supports the qualifications. These resources have a strong new A level qualifications visit www.geography. focus on the development of both knowledge org.uk/news/alevelreform/teachingalevelfrom and geographical skills, including fieldwork 2016-resources skills. With progression at their heart, they provide the tools for students to become Changing Places reflective, enquiring and independent learners, by Emma Rawlings encouraging students to ‘think like a Smith, Simon geographer’ and to understand the relevance Oakes and Alastair of geography in Owens has as its the real world. theme, ‘Changing These will be place, changing published later places’ – required on in the core content for all summer term. four A level specifications. The book is supported by a range of online supple - GCSE Geography mentary materials Teachers’ Toolkit and resources. We are extending this series to meet the demands of the new qualifications. The first of Contents these new titles, Form, Process and People: • How do we understand and represent A study of UK river and coastal place? landscapes , is to be published for the autumn • Place identity: how and why places vary term. Each toolkit contains a complete unit of • Changing places in the UK work: • Managing Britain’s changing places • ten fully-worked lesson plans • Investigating place • all the resources needed for each lesson plan, including information, images and Pumpkin DVDs activity sheets Don’t forget to check out our full range of Fieldwork investigation • an introduction to the topic, a medium-term Pumpkin DVDs, suitable for GCSE and A These titles support you and your students with plan, glossary, links to further ideas and level students. Each is about 30 minutes the fieldwork investigation. Methods of resources and a progression framework. long and comes with a fantastic bank of Presenting Fieldwork Data and Methods of teacher resources and student activities. Statistical Analysis of Fieldwork Data encourage confidence in the use of various techniques for presenting the data they have collected, and the most suitable method of statistical analysis to apply to their data and guidance on conducting the chosen test. For more information about any of the products listed on these pages, visit www.geography.org.uk/shop
We are selling a bundle of resources selected to support the teaching of the GCSE (9−1) specifications. The bundle contains Fieldwork Through Enquiry and three GCSE Geography Teachers’ Toolkits at an offer price. For information about how our publications match the new specifications visit www.geography.org.uk/news/gcsereform/teachinggcsefrom2016-resources
page 31 The Geographical Association magazine summer 2016 no. 33
Edited by Webwatch Alan Parkinson
In late 2015 and early 2016 several cities, As teachers begin preparing materials for including Paris, took drastic action to try to first teaching of the new GCSE (9−1) and A improve the quality of the air by banning cars level, this issue of Webwatch features ideas for the day and reducing other activity that for teaching some of the new content. results in air quality dropping to a point where residents’ health was at risk. Air pollution is Mapping places blamed for millions of deaths each year, and In preparing to write a chapter on Place for a Plume Labs have produced an app for urban textbook, I did a lot of reading, and came residents, which provides data for a range of across a range of supporting materials. One cities around the world. Personal forecasts and web-based map that could help here was advice are provided by the app, which is on iOS created by Ollie O’Brien, and shows the ages of and Google Play. As this topic is more in the houses, using data from the Consumer Data news for health geographies as well, this Research Centre. This shows how cities have would be a useful addition to departmental developed in specific phases over time, and devices ( www.plumelabs.com ) would be a valuable way of exploring local exploring climate change and ecosystems urban change, and how it may have influenced (http://climate.nasa.gov/earth-apps ). It provides the character of a place data and Earth imagery that help us see our Earthquakes (http://maps.cdrc.ac.uk/#/metrics/dwellingage ). place from far above. With the interest that Tim Earthquakes remain a topic that can still be Peake’s stay on the ISS has generated, this is taught as part of the new specifications. There perhaps worth exploring further with younger is a range of apps that offer information on students in particular. recent tremors, and I have provided details of a few. Population http://quakefeed.net is a free (and ad free) The Office for National Statistics has started to app, which offers a range of feeds to show package some of its work into visualisations recent seismic activity and other interactive content. These are available on the ONS website https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/quakefeed- (www.ons.gov.uk/ons/interactive/index.html ). It earthquake-map-alerts/id403037266?mt= 8 is worth exploring how some of these might feed into your teaching about population https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/earthquake/i Another important aspect of a place is its change and related issues for the UK. An d632040358?mt=8 name, and the Places map makes use of interactive timeline of long-term migration into https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id OpenStreetMap data and allows users to map and out of the UK can be accessed here =com.joshclemm.android.quake&hl=en_GB the relative density of place-names in different (www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/HTMLDo countries around the world. Users enter place- cs/dvc123/index.html ). name prefixes or suffixes to view a map I am fortunate to teach in a school that has its showing the geographic distribution of place- own seismometer, which forms part of the names containing those terms. For example, in British Geological Survey and IRIS networks. the UK we can enter the place-name suffixes of The current trace of seismic activity can be –thorpe, -thwaite or -by to see where different seen. groups, such as the Vikings, settled in Britain. http://www.bgs.ac.uk/schoolSeismology/school (http://bgrsquared.com/places/?country=GB&i= Seismology.cfc?method=stationDetails&station &l=dW5kZWZpbmVk&m=ZmFsc2U%3D&p=&s _name=KSELY =Ynk%3D&v=0.1 )
Air quality
The MyShake app turns your smartphone into a sensor. It is available on Google Play. The app tracks the movements of your phone and distinguishes between everyday use and the Surnames can also be mapped. There is an sort of movement that might be associated update of the People Profiler website that with a tremor. The app runs ‘silently’ in the shows the locations where surnames are background on your phone using very little common. ( http://named.publicprofiler.org ). power – just like the step-tracking fitness apps. When the shaking fits the vibration profile of Climate change an earthquake, the app sends the anonymous information to a central system that confirms Earth Now is one of a useful set of free apps the location and magnitude of the quake. produced by NASA, which would be useful for page 32 The Geographical Association magazine summer 2016 no. 33
Useful Twitter feeds Twitter feed Account What do they tweet about? Stephen Scoffham @StephenScoffham Primary geography matters. Stephen is one of the main people working in this area. Year of Fieldwork @yearoffieldwork The account celebrating the importance of fieldwork. Add the hashtag to your tweets and you’ll be featured in this feed. BBC Weather Watchers @BBCWthrWatchers Join to send in your weather photos and reports, and have a chance of being featured on a BBC weather broadcast. GA TESIG @GA_TESIG The Teacher Education Special Interest Group now has a Twitter presence too, as do most of the other SIGS. Explorers Club @ExplorersClub A club based in New York, which tweets on all things related to exploration. Interesting images and ideas for global learning. GA Cornwall Branch @gacornwall One of the newest GA branches. Center for Disease @CDCgov An excellent resource for those teaching about geographies of health – Zika and Ebola are Control and Prevention among the areas that are covered. Clarke & Witt @Attention2place Helen Clarke and Sharon Witt from the University of Winchester are lecturers in Teacher education, researching place and sharing ideas for connecting pupils with the environment. Iceland twitter feeds @TinyIceland As part of the preparations for a trip to Iceland, follow a range of relevant Twitter feeds to keep @Totaliceland up with what is happening in an area you are going to visit. @icelandcool @rvkgrapevine @IcelandNatural @IcelandThrills
Risky teaching Games Risk is an important element of all of our For the next issue of teaching, and is also a topic that can be Webwatch we would welcome covered with students. For example, the change in the guidelines on alcohol prompted a debate your ideas for apps and on the nature of the risks that we take with websites that could be used our own health, and prompted discussions with to provide interesting A level students on the extent of our own homework tasks. There is responsibility for what we do health-wise. The some debate about the value use of disability adjusted life years (DALYs), of setting homework – how rather than life expectancy is part of this. have you tried to change the d We have a Risky World unit, which starts nature of homework tasks, with a video introducing the idea of risk and e perhaps to ‘flip’ the the work of Professor David Spiegelhalter, the v classroom? Or perhaps you’ve Professor of the Public Understanding of Risk l done away with it altogether. o at the University of Cambridge. There are many teachers who use games in t (www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1PtQ67urG4 ). education. ChangeGamer ( www.change Let Alan know what you do by v I also recommend the Centre for Disease gamer.ca ) is the work of Mike Farley, who is e emailing him at n
Control and Prevention website ( www.cdc.gov ), also a geographer, which is a bonus. Plenty of G [email protected] i which provides guidance for emergency the games that are featured on the site have a preparedness that extends beyond diseases. geographical connection. The guidance is very clearly set out and up to ChangeGamer promotes the use of digital date. games to study themes such as energy, climate change, natural disasters, the environment and other topics including maps. The main function of ChangeGamer is to identify high-quality Alan Parkinson is Head of Geography at games and create free student activities for King’s Ely Junior with responsibility for key each of them, to encourage their use in the stage 2 and 3. He is a Primary Geography classroom. The vast majority of games are free, Champion for the East of England, and also browser-based, and playable on a number of serves on the GA’s Secondary Phase different platforms. One game I’m really Committee. Most of what appears in this interested to get stuck into is FireWatch by article was originally featured on Alan’s Campo Santo games. I’m also a fan of Never Twitter feed: @GeoBlogs . Follow Alan and Alone ( http://neveralonegame.com ), great for @KingsElyGeog for updates on his own first introducing Arctic landscapes and culture. teaching of the new specifications.
page 33 The Geographical Association magazine summer 2016 no. 33
Edited by Meanderings Paula Richardson Why we learn geography! reflect changes introduced in particular With wonderful shots of ice stacking as ice the past ten years. This will be a galleries and sheets meet the shore line of Lake Superior valuable tool in training teachers it will help near Duluth, this video was made on the 13 and youth workers as well as you identify February 2016 as the spring melt began. To promoting the use of outdoor their type, as inspire year 9 to stay with geography! learning. See more at well as www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqTEac8XFQo www.outdoor- learning more learning.org/Default.aspx?tabid about them. =118&Id=738#sthash.i59EP Download the Animal Jam for schools 5ox.dpuf app for £2.49 – it’s ‘cirrus’ly Daffodils in December good (sorry!). There’s also a great little video The globally averaged temperature over land clip on how clouds are formed – worth a and ocean surfaces for 2015 was the highest watch: https://cloudspotterapp.com among all years since record keeping began in 1880. During the final month, the December More or less equal combined global land and ocean average Bring your geography lessons to life by surface temperature was the highest on record exploring how inequality and poverty affect the for any month in the 136-year record. Russia lives of young people in different parts of the A brand new, cross-curricular programme has had its warmest spring and summer since world, including the UK. Created in partnership been launched by the National Schools records began in 1936 while Mexico had its with Young Lives and with the support of subject Partnership. ‘Animal Jam for Schools’, created wettest March since its records began in 1941. associations, ‘More or Less Equal?’ has separate in association with National Geographic, is an sessions in geography, maths and English that d r can be used in both a subject-specific and cross- a online playground for pupils who love animals g d curricular way. Interpret and communicate e L and the outdoors that will engage pupils in a
n geographical information, including qualitative a fun and interactive way. The ‘Animal Survival’ y r
B and quantitative data and maps, and lesson toolkit has been developed for pupils : o understand similarities and differences t aged 7–11 years: each class will embark on an o h exciting and adventurous animal journey, between places as well as key processes in P where pupils will work in teams to explore the human geography. ‘More or Less Equal?’ is animal kingdom, learning about animals, their based on data gathered in Ethiopia, India, Peru diets and how they adapt to their habitats. The and Viet Nam by Young Lives, an international lesson-ready teacher pack will enrich and research project exploring the effects of poverty support the curriculum in geography, science, on young people for 15 years. Find out more at art and design and maths. For further www.oxfam.org.uk/education/resources/more- information www.nationalschoolspartnership. Marrakech received thirteen times its monthly or-less-equal-geography? com/animaljam.php rainfall in one hour last August. Check it all out and more at www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/ Out and about summary-info/global/201512 What resulted in 70% of key stage 2 pupils Weather Watchers feeling they knew their teachers better and The BBC has recently launched Weather more than 80% of secondary students feeling Watchers, a brand new, online, crowd-sourced they had improved relationships with their weather club for people who want to join in peers and teachers?A residential visit of the nation’s favourite conversation. Not only course! Since 2009, ‘Learning Away’ has can they have fun creating their own weather worked with 60 schools across the UK to reports, but may even have their pictures and develop, test and evaluate what are now observations appear in BBC broadcasts. described as ‘brilliant residentials’. Residential Participants will be able create simple digital learning is ‘brilliant’ when it is led by teachers, weather reports to ‘now-cast’ what the co-designed with students, and fully integrated weather is doing where they live while into the curriculum. A research report developing basic digital skills such as summarises key findings from a three-year uploading content or sharing on social media The pilot game independent evaluation undertaken by York thanks to easy-to-complete digital templates. Consulting, along with recommendations from Do you pride yourself on knowing where places This would make a great interactive activity for are? Try the Lufthansa pilot test to land a the wider initiative. You can also access the pupils of all ages and offer them the chance of executive summary and full evaluation report plane! Just click on where you think the city is five seconds of fame as well! Join up at and the plane will land there, then it will show by York Consulting to help you promote www.bbc.co.uk/weatherwatchers fieldwork at http://tinyurl.com/learningaway you where the city actually is! Once the plane takes off you have eight seconds in the first Things are looking up round to identify the correct location, then five Updated guide to The Cloud Appreciation Society’s CloudSpotter seconds in the next round. When you’re really outdoor education app has now been updated with a new gallery good at it you can let the students have a go! The English Outdoor Council has updated its and interactive features to help you share your It can be addictive! Have fun at useful guide High Quality Outdoor Education to cloud photos. You can submit photos to www.lufthansa-vp.com/vp1/play.html page 34 The Geographical Association magazine summer 2016 no. 33
Meanderings lists free resources, events, competitions and awards of interest to geographers. Contact Paula Richardson ([email protected] ) if you have an item for listing.
l l n e with colouring-in opportunities. It brings a e r d r d l e i t whole new meaning to reading those t h o C
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h A scary lesson for everyone P An ingenious globe visualisation created by scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the USA provides a stark reminder of the extent of human impact on the world’s oceans. The A sensory journey graphic, which colour-codes impact from blue children around the world. Sign up for your through India (very low) to red (very high) shows that in the free Teacher’s Kit now, packed with fundraising Let the images and videos in this PowerPoint western hemisphere only a small portion of the tips, stickers and educational resources to help take you on a journey beginning in the bustling south-eastern Atlantic Ocean is still blue, while your students learn more about the world metropolis of Bangalore (Bengaluru), through most of the rest of the waters are orange around them and how they’re helping. Free Mysore and on to Gudalur, a small town in the (medium) and portions of waters off the north- resources to support Den Day include Nilgiri Hills or ‘Blue Mountains’. This adaptable eastern USA and northern Europe show high geography lesson plans and resources on primary resource is designed to bring India to damage. See for yourself at http://coast.noaa. disasters, the homes of children around the life and encourage pupils to think about what gov/psc/dataviewer/?redirect=301ocm&utm_so world and Save the Children’s work, developed they would see, hear, smell, taste and touch as urce=SocialMedia&utm_medium=SocialMedia by members of the GA. Sign up now for your they experience a different locality, country and &utm_campaign=30daysofocean#view=human Teacher’s Kit at denday.org culture. More information at Impacts www.actionaid.org.uk/school-resources/search Resources about the /s/key_stage/0-2358/country/0-2382/subject/0- refugee crisis 2380 ActionAid’s new set of resources is ready to liven up your literacy and geography lessons Colouring in is now with gripping stories and colourful activities officially allowed that tell the real stories of child refugees. They will help to build empathy and literacy, and to You’ll probably be aware of the latest craze, help your class answer questions such as: adult colouring-in. It isn’t just a UK craze, it’s • How is life different for child refugees? sweeping the world, as The Guardian reported • And, if you were a refugee, what would in February, ‘Five of Amazon’s top ten were you take? adult colouring-in books, as were six of Brazil’s top ten non-fiction list. Last year in France, the combined colouring-in industry sold 3.5m books’. In our day-to-day activities we use Take part in Save the what are called beta brainwaves, which use up Children’s Den Day h g r a lot of energy. Slowing down, which is often Build a better world with Save the Children’s u b x hard to do, is helped by focusing on an activity Den Day – back on Friday 17 June ! It’s easy o
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© that we can happily spend hours poring over : 17 June or a pick a date to suit you). Get o t o maps and planning new adventures and so pupils to build dens together, donate £2 each h P have produced a range of maps to provide us to take part, and raise money to help other
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P Good news for the Yorkshire Dales The Yorkshire Dales National Park is being the north and, to the west, Barbon, Middleton, humans, (if present at the time) might have extended – in fact it will increase by nearly a Casterton and Leck Fells, the River Lune, and been able to outrun them. According to the quarter to become England’s largest National part of Firbank Fell and other fells to the west new estimate, Tyrannosaurus Rex may have Park. From 1 August 2016, the boundary will of the River Lune. The National Park population ambled around 8 kilometres per hour (5 miles), cover new areas in the north west in Cumbria is around 20,000 and is set to rise to about slower than a plodding amateur marathon and, for the first time, west into Lancashire. 24,000. Find out more at www.yorkshiredales. runner or even a middle-aged power walker. This will bring it to within touching distance of org.uk/about-the-dales/boundary-extension Research published in a recent edition of the Lake District National Park, which is also Cretaceous Research observed that if you were set to grow by around 3%. The new boundary And finally... out walking your pet junior T. Rex, you’d be for the Yorkshire Dales National Park will now A rare set of tyrannosaurus footprints is giving comfortable at a brisk walk but if you were extend to include the Orton Fells, the northern researchers insight into the walking speed of walking an adult, you’d be jogging. Who knew! Howgill Fells, Wild Boar Fell and Mallerstang to the prehistoric beasts, and it’s possible that Worldwise week resources his pack of resources provides activities surrounded by geographically based for students from primary to post-16, connections, as well as disconnections. Worldwise week is 20 –24 Tfocused on the 2016 GA Annual These resources can be downloaded from June . The resources can be Conference theme ‘Making Geographical www.geography.org.uk/getinvolved/worl used at any time. If your Connections’. The teaching ideas will help dwise/worldwiseweek students engage with this pupils and students to consider how they are • How do we connect? year’s theme please submit • Mapping connections examples of students’ work to • Connecting with the future GA HQ to • Transport and travel connections [email protected] and • Flooding connections they could feature in this • How do students with special magazine. Submissions for educational needs connect with the key stage 3 and 4 students world? can be used as evidence of your school’s overall involvement in Worldwise. This could lead to an invitation to take part in the 2017 Worldwise Challenge d weekend, a free-of-charge,
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