Geographical Association Conference 2005

“A Breath of Fresh Air”

Nick Lapthorn

Head of Centre - Juniper Hallwww.field-studies-council.org/juniperhall

enquiries.jh@field-studies-council.org

OUTLINE

Key Stage 1•Discovery/Rediscovery

•Earth Education

•Recording environments

Key Stage 2•Investigations

•Generating Enquiries

KEY STAGE 1

Discovery•Discover/Rediscover their environment

•Meet a tree

•Eye in the sky

•Smelly cocktails

•Leaf TV

•Record their environment

•Journey Sticks

•Story Telling

•Linear Mapping

•Sound maps

Meet a Tree

•Pupils work in pairs or small groups

•One pupil is blindfolded

•The other members of the group guide them to a tree

•The blindfolded pupil has to ‘meet a tree’

•The blindfolded pupil is the guided away from the tree and their blindfold removed

•They then have to find their tree again

•Just trees?

•Health & Safety

Eye in the Sky

•Pupils work in pairs or small groups

•One holds a mirror at 45o so they are able to see into the sky

•The other members of the group walk them around the study area

•Environments?

•Woodlands

•Built environment?

•Health & Safety

Smelly Cocktails

•Pupils create a ‘cocktail’ of smells in small pots

Leaf TV

•Use the pre-prepared templates to create ‘scenes’ using natural materials found in the environment

•Take it in turns to explain the scene created and materials used

Things to consider

•Picking ‘live’ plants

Sound Maps

•Children find their own area in which to sit

•On a blank piece of paper they record the sounds they hear around them

•The location of the sound should be relative to them on the piece of paper

•Can be recorded as images or words

Story Telling

We’re setting of on a big adventure. I’ve packed everything I need for a day out. The car park at the start is busy with people preparing for their adventures.

We head off up a steep hill being careful where we tread, evidence of larger animals are not too far away. The hill is steeper than we think and we decide to take a rest. It looks like other people have also been resting here and refuelling. We make sure that all we leave are footprints.

As we get to the top of the hill we enter the woodland. Other animals have already found shelter here. After the big climb we find evidence that other people have found an easier way up!

As we return to the start we see find signs of windier times. The walk over, we return home.

Story Telling

Linear Mapping

Sequenced

Non-scaled

Representation

•Icons

•Pictures

•Words

•Photos

Journey Sticks

•Physical extension of ‘Linear Mapping’

•Stick bound with string/wool

•Collect items from your walk which help to ‘tell the story’

KEY STAGE 2

Investigative Approach•Encourage children to ask ‘geographical’ questions

•Where?

•Who?

•How?

•WHY?

•Geographical vocabulary

Investigations

Why are the speed bumps

here?

What people live in this

street?

What speed do the cars travel at?

Do the speed bumps work?

Would you like to live

here?

How would you improve this

environment?

Investigations

Investigations

Investigations

Investigations

Investigations

Why are the speed bumps

here?

What people live in this

street?

What speed do the cars travel at?

Do the speed bumps work?

Would you like to live

here?

How would you improve this

environment?

Suburban Fieldwork

Environmental Quality Assessment

•Scoring the environment allows comparisons to be made

•Requires pupils to consider the landscape features

•Links to literacy

Positive 1 2 3 4 5 Negative

No litter X Litter every-where

Quiet X Very noisy

Uncrowded X Very busy

Suburban Fieldwork

What people live here?

•Direct data

•Questionniares

•Indirect data- inferred information on wealth & status

•Property value

•Property upkeep

•Cars

Suburban Fieldwork

What people live here?

•Cars as indicators of affluence?

•Average car price for the street

Suburban Fieldwork

Do the speed bumps work?

•Calculate the speed of cars along a street with traffic calming

•Measure out a known distance along a street that includes some speed bumps – 50m, 100m?

•Time how long it takes a vehicle to travel the distance

•Speed = Distance ÷ Time

•Compare with a street without traffic calming measures

Suburban Fieldwork

What vehicles use this street?

•Record the type of vehicle along different roads

•Public transport

•Commercial

•Private cars

•What can this tell you about the area?

Suburban Fieldwork

Methods of data collection

•Standard tick boxes…

•Questionnaires

•Traffic/Pedestrian counts

•EQA

•Digital photographs

•Video clips

•Field sketching

Any other ideas?