Skip to main content

Geography Fieldwork Academy

Chris Webster of the Geography Fieldwork Academy has teamed up with the Norfolk Broads authority and brought his video making, resource creation and drone flying skills to bear on one of our National Parks, and the nearest one to where I live and teach.

He told me:

We've teamed up with the Broads Authority as part of the lottery funded Water, Mills & Marshes project to create a series of unique and engaging geography lessons for KS3 students. These lessons are designed to prepare students for GCSE geography by developing maths, fieldwork and GIS skills in addition to increasing their ability to interpret landscapes and analyse data.

The end product is here.

There are 6 lessons with all the relevant resources in word and PDF format, and they are rather good resources as well, which I am thinking of slotting in to my own KS3 scheme. Powerpoints are available for download, and also some videos.

The final few lessons explore the planning of a route for a Broads triathlon, which is a nice context for some creativity and mapskills.

One of the great elements of the resource that Chris has produced is that it is sort of lockdown ready, and ready to go with some links sent to students. It's 6 weeks of resources, but each week also has a narrated lesson which Chris has produced and shared on the main resource page.

There is a competition running alongside the project.

There is a chance to win some rather good prizes.

The prizes include a McConks Go Race 12'6 inflatable stand up paddleboard

Towelling change robes and paddling caps from Red Paddle
Caps, paddleboard leash and GoPro mount from BecauseSUP
CamelBak hydration backpacks and running belts from Burton McCall
Zoku mountaineering water bottles from Burton McCall
A wide range of goodies from the Ordnance Survey, including subscriptions to the award-winning OS Maps App, water bottles, mugs, ponchos, pens and stickers!!

Here's a 'trailer' for the resource, and for the National Park.


And here's one for the competition:


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Making Space for Sand

  Making Space for Sand is a project I was made aware of recently. The ‘Building Community Resilience on a Dynamic Coastline by Making Space for Sand’ project (also known as Making Space for Sand or MS4S) is one of 25 national projects funded by DEFRA as part of the £200 million Flood and Coastal Innovation Programme (FCRIP).  The programme will drive innovation in flood and coastal resilience and adaptation to a changing climate. The project website has an excellent section outlining the formation of Sand Dunes, particularly within the located context of Cornwall. Sand Dunes are an important part of the coastal defences in the locations where they are found. I am particularly familiar with the dunes on the North Norfolk Coast at places like Holkham.  I've previously carried out fieldwork on those dunes with both GCSE and 'A' level students, and also  Atkins has provided GIS support and created some visualisations of future landscapes.

Landscape in a Box - more student examples

Thanks to Jack Marsh for sending me some examples of 'landscapes in a box '. Landscapes in a box is one of the ideas that seems to have gone down the best of the things that I've shared over the years. The basic idea is to create a landscape within a box, perhaps a burger box (but could also be a shoe box) This was featured in 'Teaching Geography' in 2009. Jack used the activity with his groups, and has sent me three excellent images of contrasting images from the students: an Antarctic scene, New York's Central Park, and Paris... Outstanding work !! If you've used Landscape in a Box, why not share your students' work too...

Landscape ideas...

Some nice ideas for exploring the rural landscape from FACE. Some from my GA colleague Paula Owens here. Go HERE to download your own copy.