Curriculum Making
Teaching Ideas
The resources in this section have been created by teachers attending our Curriculum Making courses during 2007 and 2008. We are passionate about Living Geography and localised curriculum making and this area of the website shows what it begins to look like.
We have chosen examples of teachers' work which, we believe, demonstrate how teachers have localised the activities and underpinned what has been done with careful, purposeful thought. The chosen examples are NOT intended to be held up as exemplary or 'perfect' but as examples of curriculum development which teachers have been willing to share.
We hope they will inspire in different ways, but they are not supposed to be 'copied'. Interrogate them and see where they work for you (for your school and for your students). The resources can be used at different key stages - think how you might adapt or 'improve' them to suit your purposes.
A-Z
A Journey Down the River Ouse (KS2-3) View
Approach: Hide & Reveal activity, photos, maps
Concepts: Scale, interdependence, place, space
Keywords: River Ouse, assessment, map reading
A postcard from Japan (Year 9) View
Approach: Investigating and selecting images, Movie Maker
Concepts: Place, cultural understanding and diversity
Keywords: Global connections, Japan, culture, diversity, peer assessment
An Island Home (Year 2) View
Approach: Use of story, maps, plans and ICT to find out about a distant locality; use of Roamer (floor turtle)
Concepts: Place, space, environment
Keywords: Island, village, Coll, Scotland, local area, map, key, journey
Chembakolli: A village in India (KS2, Y3-6) View
Approach: Using photographs, maps, Local Studies digital mapping software
Concepts: Place, space, scale, culture & diversity
Keywords: Chembakolli, village, India, city, contrast, map, homes, weather, food, shopping
Does your shopping measure up? (KS3-4) View
Approach: Questioning, enquiry, problem solving, mysteries, identification of bias, map-reading, ICT
Concepts: Environmental interactions, space, scale, interdependence
Keywords: Sustainable development, location, sphere of influence
Eco-schools Project (Primary - whole school) View
Approach: Working with the Eco Action Team which was made up of all age groups except Foundation Stage
Concepts: Environmental action and sustainability, place
Keywords: Water, environment, litter, community, review, local sources, food, Eco Action Team
Environmental problems in your local area (Year 8) View
Approach: Fieldwork, investigation & enquiry, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Movie Maker
Concepts: Environmental interactions, place
Keywords: Environmental quality, pollution, concerns, local, fieldwork, out of classroom learning, investigation, analysis
Fairy Stories and Bawburgh Village Study (Reception and Upper KS2) View
Approach: Reception children map the story of the Three Little Pigs using the IWB and the software programme 'Local Studies'.
Concepts: Place, space, scale
Keywords: House, village, three little pigs, map, journey, route
Globalisation - Winners or Losers? (KS3-4) View
Approach: Questioning, thinking and reasoning skills, kinaesthetic learning
Concepts: Globalisation, interdependence, ethics
Keywords: Globalisation
Investigating our Local Area (KS2, Y3) View
Approach: Cross-curricular learning, fieldwork, creating maps and plans, using Local Studies software and online mapping
Concepts: Space, place, local scale
Keywords: Investigating, maps, locality, fieldwork, journey-sticks, country park, changing places
Making and Using Maps (Reception and Year 5) View
Approach: Reception: starting from story, 'The Gingerbread Man' and Year 5: using dry/wipe outline maps.
Concepts: space, place, scale
Keywords: Local Studies, story, route, Gingerbread Man, river, geographical features, Capital, countries, British Isles, Continents, World
Me and My Mobile (KS3) View
Approach: Questioning, enquiry, problem solving, ICT
Concepts: Interconnectedness, environmental interactions, sustainability, responsibility
Keywords: Consumer behaviour, commodities, sustainability, technology, e-waste, interconnectedness
Music - an Indian journey (KS2, Y4) View
Approach: Unit based upon a story, developed to combine ICT, Music, Geography, Literacy and Art
Concepts: place, space, culture & diversity
Keywords: sketch-map, Local Studies, map, story, India
Rivers and Wildlife (KS2) View
Approach: Interdisciplinary (through use of literacy texts), fieldwork, mapwork skills
Concepts: Place, changing human and physical processes, environmental interaction
Keywords: Human impacts, maps, rivers, imaginary settings, fieldwork, water
Using our Playground (Year 2) View
Approach: Familiarisation walk, observation, using a digital camera, Hide & Reveal activity, PowerPoint
Concepts: Place, space, location
Keywords: Local, environment, place, space, location, senses, map, symbol, key
Water and Life (KS2 - Year 6) View
Approach: Interdisciplinary, enquiry approach, linking global to local, action orientated
Concepts: Scale, changing human and physical processes, environmental interaction
Keywords: Active citizenship, enquiry, visual literacy, water
Water around us (KS2) View
Approach: Interdisciplinary, active fieldwork, using the locality
Concepts: Interdependence, place, environmental interaction
Keywords: Fieldwork, locality study, active citizenship, water
Who do we think we are? (Years 3 and 4) View
Approach: Links geography, history and citizenship. Asks, who lives in the local area, what brought them here and what might their locality be like?
Concepts: Place, identity, change, citizenship
Keywords: Place, identity, change over time, citizenship
Help us develop this section...
- What did you find useful/interesting?
- What do you think needs changing/developing?
- What would you like to see added to this section?