GEOG A TO Z: C IS FOR COMPASS

 

GeogAtoZ: C is for Compass

Day three of a GeogAtoZ series, supporting the Geographical Association’s National Festival of Fieldwork!

Navigation from your playground: Exploring the compass

Have you ever stood in your school playground and thought about what lies directly beyond the school gates? What's beyond? Behind that building? Tree? Hill? 

We might often focus on complex maps and distant locations in our teaching ...but great geography might better in primary start exactly where you are.

1. Start with the Big Picture

• The Ultimate North: Imagine standing on a hill or in your playground. Consider the North Pole in the UK is more than 2000 miles away. It immediately gives children a sense of scale and a connection to the global perspective. Remind them how far a mile is!
• Cardinal Points: Use an open space or playground as a base to establish "What's where" and in which direction: North, South, East, and West.
• The Big Questions: Ask your pupils: Would we find water sooner if we walked North or South? Which direction takes us to the nearest green space? You can use online tools like distance.to alongside traditional maps to find out.
   

2. Zoom into the Local Streets

• The School Perimeter: Begin small by looking at the roads (and their names) right outside your school gates.
• Familiar Footsteps: Connect going one direction to streets the children walk down every day—maybe they head that direction or divert from North to them wind East. Do they pass community landmarks? 

3. Expand to the edges of the mental map

• Local Hotspots: Look further afield to locate regional landmarks. Does the local football stadium, swimming pool, or town centre North or South of where you are? 
• A Room with a View: If possible, take the children upstairs in a school building to get a higher vantage point. Look out over the landscape to spot distant locations: mobile phone masts, tall towers, or prominent buildings.
• Nature and Transport: Map out canals, woodlands, parks, and main train stations that sit due North, South etc. Start to support their everwidening mental map.
• Regional Geography: Move beyond your town to look at major rivers, high hills, mountains, and entirely different cities that sit eg. North of where you are. 
• The Coast and Beyond: Keep following that compass line until you hit the coast, looking out for harbours and ports.
  
       
• The Final Frontier: If you are starting eg. in London, once you pass the northern coast and hit the open water, there is nothing but ocean between you and the polar regions! Look at a globe and follow a line of longitude. 

Geography Lesson Idea: Next time you are outside, grab a compass and have your pupils map their own "Linear Journey". By starting in the playground and radiating outwards, children build a structured understanding of how their local neighbourhood connects to the wider world.

See you tomorrow for D! Happy fieldwork!