So what is Geography all about?

Geography at any level, or within any Key Stage, should examine the physical, human and environmental aspects of the place studied. Geography cannot be taught without the place dimension because without this any one will experience the ‘Geography of no-where’. So, ‘Treasure Island maps’ and ox-bow lake diagrams are classical examples of the former and need consigning to the Geography Recycle Bin.

Fundamentally, the subject is a resource-led subject (worksheets alone also need to be in that bin!!) there is great potential to adopt a more holistic approach that incorporates elements of other subjects. Indeed some of us never deviated from this approach and did not let the Strategies dominate or narrow the curriculum.

Now it is thought to be the future, but we all need to be careful to protect the discrete nature of the subject and steer clear of so-called all embracing, but potentially unfocussed, or ‘waffly’ topics.

It is essential, I feel, to defend the ‘What’s where and why is what’s where it is’ in every geography- led study.

At the time of writing we may be unclear as to what a future curriculum may be like, but the recommendations of the Rose and Cambridge Reviews do hold very clear suggestions for such a more integrated approach that protects the discrete nature of the subject, its specific skills and the all important breadth of learning.

Geography teaching needs to ensure a balance between the use of the geographical skills, the knowledge and understanding of the characteristics of the place and the essential geographical content, or specific subject knowledge.

All of this should be taught using an enquiry approach. Teachers ask the questions, but so should the pupils. The ‘W’ and ‘H’ questions: Where; When; Why, Who; What; Which and How?

Whatever happens to the curriculum, Paragraph 3 of the current National Curriculum is a most useful element. Here it supports the enquiry approach by driving place studies. Here are the elements of study that tease out the characteristics of the place under study. It helps me organise my teaching and hence learning around the enquiry questions. It helps me and my pupils understand ‘what makes the place like this’ and to make comparisons between places that are both familiar and unfamiliar.

So after any place-led lesson or study pupils should be able to explain the ‘geographyness’ of the place.

Essentially good ‘place’ teaching should convey the empathy with the place. This is why visual evidence (photographs, narrative and DVD, for example) is so important because we may not all be able to visit the place but the resources should transport us to the locality.

It is essential that places studied are located- its surroundings and the regional and national contexts. Additionally geographical studies should challenge stereotypes and misconceptions. A most vital part of such studies is the development and extension of geographical vocabulary and the progressive use of technical terms within appropriate contexts. This is very important if different genres of writing are used to support work in Language as both the writing and the use of appropriate geographical terminology should be assessed.

So if one is using commercially produced materials such as those from BBC Schools Television, an initial activity should be to use the photographs and DVD materials to identify ‘What we think we know/have discovered about the place?’; Record these as a concept map for later reference as one explores the places in more detail; Locate as a line map the characteristics of the country as a precursor to zooming in to the case study places. All of these as witnessed on the TV programmes.

We should also make connections with elements of other subjects, to produce a more holistic approach as well as protect the discrete nature of the integrated subjects. In studying places in Geography then elements of History will help pupils understand how the present day place has been shaped by the events of the past; Design and Technology and elements of Science; Art and Music; Religious studies, elements of PSHCE and citizenship with Drama and role-play can all enhance the lead taken by Geography and provide a stimulating cross-curricular topic. Good planning, however, is essential as all members of the team need to know what and when during the weeks of the topic the elements of the integrated are to be studied and how.

An idea for preparing the Geography.

Schools Television programmes can be not only an important and colourful resource but the programme synopses should be used to formulate a plan for the teaching of the geography-led topic. As these programmes are today available on DVD it means that sections of programmes can be identified in the Programme menu and by using such focussed and short sections means that pupils’ work for the lesson can be illustrated and developed more fully than watching the whole programme.

The author would use the latter as a summative process and more fully understand how all of the teaching and learning builds into a fuller understanding.

The author also recommends the development of portfolios for the topic, or perhaps at the end the production of a spiral bound book with all of the work held within it. In this way pupils are encouraged to value the work that they ‘do’ and each one has a collection to remember and celebrate the work conducted.

The use of topical events.

Many events of a geographical nature are well illustrated on television and the internet in ways that can ‘open the window on the wider world’ for primary children. The danger is that the subject can be ‘turned into a compendium of death and destruction’ so some care is needed to avoid that.

The author recommends the use of the ‘Cause-Effect-Response’ approach to avoid the former but also to turn the study into much more than pupils being passive recipients of the event.

The programme uses the volcanic eruption of April 2010 as an example of the above technique and also the use of an easily assembled working model to extend understanding.

The author had downloaded photographs from internet news sites; recorded ‘live’ news reports and utilised his own photographs taken on holidays to Iceland in order to ‘bring alive’ the model volcano.

The erupting volcano is an old idea. The author came across this in the 1980s but it is still relevant today.

To make the eruption one needs:

  • A model volcano. This could be a typical composite cone volcano or like Iceland an empty large soap powder box converted to represent the ice sheet
  • A jam jar lid to act as the magma chamber below the surface
  • Active ingredients of bicarbonate of soda; red food colouring and malt vinegar
  • The latter is best held in a squeezable bottle as it can increase the accuracy of the teacher’s aim when instigating eruptions.

It is important to do more than just make an eruption. If the model has been used before then the stains of earlier ‘lava flows’ can be discussed. Where? How much there than here? Where does one think it will go next? Relate this to live footage.

As the volcano erupts then the appropriate terminology and the downloaded photographs stuck on cocktail sticks should be placed on the working model in order to bring it alive.

Earthquakes can be replicated using two pieces of wooden shelving covered with a single sheet of newspaper. Cover this with paper to represent land and/or sea and place toy cars, wooden building blocks to represent buildings. Early Years/Foundation Stage play materials are ideal.

Have children slide the shelving alongside one another and then analyse. The movements replicate ‘real’ earthquakes.

A heavy ball rolling down a piece of gutter against a table leg will do the same and for more fun, make buildings from jellies. Make the earthquake. Analyse the results (just as accurate as wooden blocks) and then eat the buildings afterwards!!!!

Flooding is a natural event that is best-studied using newspaper/internet accounts and TV news broadcasts. If teachers collate the materials and print off these then pupils need to use these to create a large poster that shows how their working groups consider the floods to have been ’Caused’, the ‘Effect’ upon people and land and the ‘Response’ of people either before, during and after the event. A discussion based upon the findings will enable reports to be produced and stored/displayed.

This technique will also work for volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, hurricanes, storms and tsunamis.

However, it is not about drawing graphs of the death toll like some sensationalist non-fiction texts and newspapers.

All of this is to aid understanding and ‘open a window on the world’ and not as the author says ‘Just playing nicely!!!’

Making more of the Caribbean

There are many commercially produced materials for helping with the teaching of the Caribbean region. Generally these focus upon a case-study island, quite rightly because it is a large region, but the location of the case-study island within the region is very important.

The planning associated with this section was produced for integrating the BBC Schools Television series (now not available) but it is essentially a generic approach to the teaching of islands and the Caribbean region, so the substitution of the case- study place and its associated materials is relatively easy.

The banana boxes used to introduce the Caribbean are a stereotypical view of the islands but the author suggests that raising the stereotype is important in order to challenge it. ‘Are bananas the only product of the Caribbean?’

Whatever the resource it is important for teachers to ‘know’ these so that they are confident in the teaching, but additionally aware that should a natural event, such as a hurricane or volcanic eruption takes place within the region then the ‘moment seized’ and the event incorporated into the study.

There are also the associated logistics of exporting and transporting the products of the region to the UK, but it is essential that such studies are only a small part of the work and do not ‘overtake’ the teaching and leave the region badly taught, or worse still omitted.

Story

The story featured in the programme is a powerful way of exploring the human geography of the old city of Cairo, but a most important skill of the use of such stories is to ensure that the geography is teased out after the sharing of the whole story. It is less about the characters and what they did; it is about the ‘Where’. Whichever book is used it is essential to use the pages which best illustrate the geography, but not analyse every page as this could ‘kill’ literature for children.

The pages enable the ‘geographyness’ to be explored and extended. Clearly other materials such as TV programmes’ non-fiction and possibly ones own photographs can make much more of such studies that are initiated by the story. The important aspect here is to bring the story alive.

The author has seen how the story of a fictional girl on a Scottish island has been left isolated of geography because the teacher has used the story as if it was a language activity and not developed the ‘geographyness’ that the book can deliver.