"Look at it this way"

The OS Free Maps for Schools scheme is underway once again. Schools will receive letters in September relating to the scheme. As in previous years, schools can claim a free OS Explorer 1: 25 000 map for each 11 year old pupil. This year, schools will also receive 2 copies of a booklet called "The Language of Landscapes" along with the maps, produced in assocation with Natural England and the Geographical Association.

It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle. Ernest Hemingway Nick Hand is currently cycling around the coast of Britain . His website is SLOW COAST. Along the way, he is creating some wonderful short films, called SOUNDSLIDES made up of interviews with artisans and images taken at various locations. A recent addition was the famous Monday auction held on the green at Burnham Market. This gives a real "sense of place" and it instantly got onto the planning sheet for a lecture next year on Norfolk and "sense of place"... These would be relatively easy to make with students, as they need a sound recorder, and Audacity to do a spot of editing, plus a set of images. You can follo...

It may be that you haven't yet visited the Who do we think we are website. WHO DO WE THINK WE ARE has a very useful section written by Professor David Lambert , which provides an excellent summary of the appropriate links between geography and identity. The site also has a NEW interactive area, which contains ideas for teaching about cultural diversity in various contexts...

Animoto has been used while creating the resources for the toolkit book. Many teachers may also use it to link together images of landscape, or as an assessment piece.... Animoto now has the ability to have video clips embedded... Here's a quick video I put together to try it out... Nice... Now when people ask me at CPD sessions "can you put videos into Animoto" I can say, "Yes, yes you can...."

Thanks to Tony Cassidy for reminding me today via a post on SLN about the " Lines of Defence " project, which highlighted the rate of coastal erosion along a stretch of Suffolk coastline. View on YouTube to see larger...

A little Flickrslidr slideshow of some of my favourite Devon images from my recent family holiday... Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR .

Received a copy of this resource in the post today, along with the CD pack that comes with it: my contribution was the product of my Easter break. It looks rather good now that it's all complete... Disclaimer: other specifications and accompanying resource packs are available...

Milford Sound Collage For use with Lessons 9 and 10 Produced with Picasa Picture Pile Original images by Simon Hathaway

Fieldwork Entitlement Guidance V2 View more documents from GeoBlogs .

The plan for the KS3 TEACHERS' TOOLKIT is to support the printed books with additional resources. The additional materials that I will be adding here, or on the GA website will include: Additional sets of starter images (Creative Commons licensed) Further detail on New Zealand to support Lessons 9 and 10 Snowdon Cafe mystery and resources (additional lesson and assessment task if required) Landscapes Bingo activity - bingo cards and image set Further mountain resources 6x6 Story writing activity (as featured in OS Mapping News article) Information sheets on using a range of software to develop the activities in the book 5 W presentation and images "Monopoly" activity resources Travel writing: text extracts to use Google Earth file of locations in the textbook

Another Twitter tip-off (have I convinced you to give it a go yet ?)via Liz Smith The TATE Google Map has a selection of landscape paintings. You can navigate to the location shown in the painting and compare the view with what it looks like today... This would go very nicely with the lesson in the Toolkit book which looks at the representation of landscapes in art.

Book now at the printers....