GEOG A TO Z: D is All About Data

 

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, gathering and assessing against reality, as well as being critical of other sources of experience and evidence. What is this locality actually like?  

Collecting raw data might help geographical understanding of concepts being studied. They might “stick” in situ - so use the power you have when outdoors and give that immersion time and adult support to select locations, see what can be seen and surveyed and support the questions that flow from what they notice. 

Moving beyond the traffic tally

Traditional methods to survey might be quantitive. These might be traffic tallies, environmental surveys, land-use maps and possibly interviewing people. These are important, but might we broaden this to create deeper learning experiences?

1. Elevating the view on traffic
 

Go high? Instead of standing on the pavement, take the children up a building to see the perspective of the traffic flow. Look out of a window, stand on the roof or rooftop playground, stand on a bridge, sit on the top deck of a bus. Don't just count cars—look at the whole pedestrian story and everyone who uses this space.

• Are there crossings, bicycles and segregated lanes?
  
• Is this a low-traffic neighbourhood, and how is that being supported? Is it contentious? What is low? Why not zero? How has this locality been designed - for cars, public transport and/ or people?
• How do the pedestrian crossings operate? Are they automatic, and do cars actually stop? What do all these markings mean?
• Explore cultural differences: children might not realise that a zebra crossing doesn't look or operate the same way in other countries.
• Look at the shape of the pavement or road and street planting and trees: who planted them, who maintains them, and how do they alleviate pollution or moderate traffic-flow?
  
  2. Upgrading the environmental index

Environmental surveys can be excellent tools to stimulate debate. Score from 1>5. 

Rate categories such as street furniture, wildlife and nature, litter and graffiti, and the built environment such as the road and pavements. Count potholes and think how these are created. How might these be getting worse and why? Ask learners to add a qualitative comment. Before this or after you have done this - use learners' senses. 

3. Sensory and visual surveys

• Sound surveys: Don't just guess where it is loud or quiet. Grab a decibel meter app to measure the noisiest and most peaceful spots near you.
  
  
• Photo surveys with a twist: Challenge pupils to find the "top five" oldest, newest, highest, lowest, or "most decrepit" buildings that are in need of repair. Why are they so? Build descriptive vocabulary that brings their locality to life. Use tools like vocabulary books like the Descriptosaurus approach: https://www.routledge.com/rsc/downloads/Descriptosaurus_Guide_to_Creative_Writing.pdf
  
  
• Hunting for hidden nature: Look for litter, but also hunt for where nature is fighting back. Where are the cracks in the pavement and buildings where plants are breaking through? It is a great reminder that underneath the tarmac and concrete, nature is still living beneath the mud and muck we try to distance ourselves from in urban lives.

4. Interactive land use and sketching

• High-street collages: Before mapping land use, prepare learners with a photo collage of shop signs. What’s behind the sign? They might know the big brands and supermarket, but what about shops they never step into? What do they sell, and where can we find connections to the wider world through their products?
  
  
• Filling in the gaps: Sketching is a fantastic skill, but instead of starting from scratch, give pupils a pre-drawn template with gaps. Have them fill in the middle shops or focus on the tops of buildings. The architecture at the top of a shop often tells a completely different historical story than the modern shopfront below.
  
  

5. Interviews and the weather

• Qualitative street-scapes: Be brave as the teacher doing your reccy visit and take a mobile device to interview people. Tell them what you are doing and why? Use audio only if they don’t want to be filmed. Use this to prepare learners in the classroom or as a way of reminding them what these locations are like. If you can't interview passers-by, get the children to think from the perspective of the people who care for the streets, like litter pickers or road workers. What would their data tell us about the streetscape? What’s the worst time of the day for them?
• Testing the real vs digital: Narrate the weather as you experience it and record it. Then check the BBC weather app back inside. Does outdoors match the online data?
   
  
• Data loggers and apps: Dust off the data loggers from the science cupboard! Measure light levels to determine the perfect spot to plant a box of flowers so it thrives. Anemometers: Use them to measure wind direction and speed, noting how urban environments create dramatic wind tunnels compared to open spaces like the coast or where there are no tall obstructions.
  
  
  
  By using these simple fieldwork tools, we might move beyond passive counting and into more active and deep, critically-engaged geographical thinking. Happy data collecting!