"Look at it this way"

The location for the BBC's Springwatch / Autumnwatch programmes has often been in places I know well, and even very close to home. From Pensthorpe near Fakenham to Minsmere, and particularly Ken Hill in Snettisham (where I lived for 12 years)... And now they've moved to an area of Derbyshire which I visited regularly for decades when I was younger, for walks, climbing, pubs and generally getting out of the city and into the countryside at weekends. The new venue is the Longshaw Estate, which is close to Grindleford (with its famous cafe and where my parents actually had their honeymoon), and Hathersage, and Fox House (where I was first served alcohol in a pub... but that's another story.) Burbage Brook - a classic location for fieldwork for schools from Sheffield - runs through it - through Padley Gorge, and Stanage Edge is not too far away, or several of the other edges where I used to climb. Heading for Hathersage you will pass Froggy Rock and then Surprise View - always...

A few years ago, I was invited to be involved with the Earth in Vision project  as a teacher advisor of some kind (my memory is hazy) but was unable to get involved due to my teaching commitments. The project has been developing throughout that time, with assistance from other teachers such as Lauren Otoo, and earlier this week the website went live. It was one of a number of projects involving Joe Smith , the new director of the RGS-IBG. The project explores content from the BBC Archive , and collects that which has an environmental relevance for educators. There are three special eBooks which have been (or are being) produced as part of the project. One of them is of particular interest: a book by George Revill which explores how BBC programming has helped shape how people see the landscape in the way that it is (re)presented. This can be downloaded in various formats from this page.

Really useful post and resource for those teaching Primary Geography . A new set of characters called the Go Jetters who teach young people about key geographical ideas. Geography helps children to make sense of their world. Very young children are naturally curious, and they love to actively explore the world around them, noticing all kinds of detail. That’s why they need to develop geographical vocabulary like the names of places, people and things, and the words needed to describe and locate them. It helps to think of children as little geographers – they each have their own world of private geographies  - the places they name for themselves with meanings that only they understand: the dens where they hide out with their friends, special meeting places in the school playground. Whether they’re playing in the back garden, or splashing through a muddy puddle on the way to school, children are intrepid explorers making new (to them) discoveries about the world every sing...

Just ordered my DVD copy of this amazing series, which should perhaps be an essential part of every geography department's multimedia library... It should perhaps sit alongside Planet Earth, Coast, and various other DVDs which I bought... There are so many clips and aspects of this series that should find their way into the curriculum in lower school, as well as supporting many GCSE contexts. There are 8 episodes in the series. There are chances to watch some of the previous episodes that haven't yet been broadcast on the iPlayer page Check out the BBC HUMAN PLANET EXPLORER for more details. Some fabulous images and other media on the HUMAN PLANET BLOG. Check out the SURVIVAL SKILLS resource too... splendid.. Following on from last week's FORESTS episode, there's an excellent GUARDIAN INTERACTIVE on the world's endangered forests. Finally, don't forget that you can get embeddable videos from each programme too, such as this one of the CEMETERY d...