Geography Teaching Today

Author: There were a lot of inspiring things and moments at the conference, lots of bright ideas, not least from delegates, but one quote relating to our cross-cutting theme and one of the reasons for getting more involved was 'Where can you draw the line and say "that's not my patch - I'm not bothered"?'.

Course Leader: Andy took a cross-curricular approach to the topic of water, moving from what pupils already knew to exploring the global dimension in terms of water management and accessibility. From here, he explored physical hazards associated with water and ended by focusing on local implications and actions to safeguard and reduce water consumption. We chose to share Andy's work because:

• The concept of scale is used to link the global to the local and to develop understanding of water as a resource, a habitat and an agent of change.
• There is provision to support pupils in applying their knowledge and understanding of water through direct action (identifying and taking steps to reduce water use in the locality).
• Good use is made of a range of images to develop visual literacy and promote in class discussion.
  

• What can you see?
• What vocabulary can you use?
• Where in the world is this?
• Can you explain any processes at work?
• Who would use this water?
• What else do you know?
• What questions do you want to ask?

Andy used a selection of images from the Yann Arthus-Bertrand website as a stimulus to begin thinking about water, its different forms, processes and uses. This makes a useful starter activity and helps to tease out pupils' initial understanding. Either select and use the pictures alone on your IWB or paste them into a quiz template as given below.

Download: Outline Medium Term Plan
Download: Quiz Template
Download: Pupil Poster

Please be aware of copyright law when using images from the internet. Yann Arthus-Bertrand's photos can be used in the classroom but must not be distributed without permission.

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