E is for [built] environment Images of Sheffield showing the range of architectural styles The latest installment in the Geog A to Z series, supporting the Geographical Association’s National Festival of Fieldwork , focuses on teaching about the [built] environment . Expanding your geographical vocabulary Using rich, varied terminology and synonyms is a way to help learners engage with and accurately describe their surroundings . Writing at length is an aim of the National Curricuum (2013), so why not support this by arming them with the vocabulary! For those looking to develop their descriptive toolkit further, you might wish to use the books from Routledge called Descriptosaurus , here's a free downloadable sample. Look up! Shops and their tops When studying urban environments, an idea to introduce to pupils is "shops and their tops," a phrase coined by Kate Glanville at the 2024 Geographical Association conference . This encourages learners to lo...
GeogAtoZ: Day Four – All About Data Welcome to day four of GeogAtoZ, supporting the National Festival of Fieldwork from the Geographical Association. Today: data. When it comes to fieldwork experiences, data might be said to be central to building understanding, but what data might primary teachers and learners collect? The importance of data In the recent Getting our bearings Ofsted Geography Subject report, a key finding highlighted that pupils are rarely taught how geographers collect, present, and analyse data. They might then miss out on learning how to reach conclusions and evaluate what they have found. If we want pupils to think like a geographer ( Jackson, 2006 ) , we should ensure they can access relevant, first-hand experience. (Ofsted, 2023) Fieldwork allows us to see processes, human and physical, and supports engagement with contextually place-specific knowledge. To really understand an environment, pupils should be active in the field, gath...