David Rogers

I'm certain that very few people have failed to notice that GCSEs are changing.  In terms of Geography, the biggest challenge that many face is the changes to fieldwork. During the Year of Fieldwork, we see the most distinctive part of the subject reduce from 25% to 15% and from Controlled Assessment to and examination paper. Many will not be sorry to see Controlled Assessment go in terms of workload. Although I can understand this, I see it as a great loss to our ability to explore high quality geography: the fieldwork enquiry is  what geographers do.  The fear around an exam paper is that students can be drilled to pass them, and I hope that Ofqual try to ensure that this doesn't happen. Having said this, there are positives: Students will need a deeper understanding of fieldwork and therefore do more of it. The inclusion of two contrasting environments and a signed statement of fieldwork completed provides powerful leverage for more fieldwork. Geography's po...

Just time for a quick story. Back from a day along the East Sussex coast - classic gemorphological sites such as Birling Gap, Cuckmere Haven and Rottingdean. The day is set up to tell a story, moving from an undefended stretch of coast where nature will be allowed to take place uninterrupted to Rottingdean where humans are 'holding the line.' The narrative of such a day is just as important as what is measured. The day is about the complex interplay between human activity (spanning hundreds of years in the case of Birling Gap and Cuckmere Haven) and unstoppable physical processes. Of course, there's loads of measurement, field sketches, talk and questioning about processes, landforms and human decisions. But then there are also the moments where measurement takes place by using the human mind and brain. Those that have been out in the field with me, whether on a Geography fieldtrip or expedition, know the phrase 'Eyes were invented before (map/compass/ranging ole/t...

A simple but effective way of engaging young people in the field is to challenge them to replicate a photograph.  In this case, the task is impossible as the Barton-on-Sea cliff is so unstable, the sign above has vanished.  This can lead to a discussion about why the photograph couldn’t be matched. This technique can also add a little bit of time and stop pupils rushing through a fieldwork site. For example, this image: or this one: requires students to really explore a location. Of course, it also helps to have an edible food prize!

I enjoyed an Alpine start today thanks to my little boy. I found myself looking at this list of top 100 Apps thanks to Rich Allaway . One of the Apps featured was Wikitude . After exploring the Nearest Wiki App and it's possible uses in Geography fieldwork , I thought I'd have a play. There is great potential for Geography Fieldwork by using this App. The WIKITUDE World Browser presents the user with data about their surroundings, nearby landmarks, and other points of interest by overlaying information on the real-time camera view of a smart-phone. I used the iPhone version. The first thing I did was to explore the view outside of my flat window. I found that there were more points of interest, mainly centered around commercial establishments. This was far more information than was provided by the Nearest Wiki App . The information accessed about the Toby Carvery was a review summary. This information could be useful when pre-visiting a fieldwork location, or looking f...

I try to get out with my son most days that I'm home. Yesterday, I tried out a few ideas with the Nearest Wiki App . I set out with a simple goal: discover something new about my local area . Having to push a 5 month old around simulated having a class of pupils! This activity would be suited to a group that had a ratio of 1 iPhone for a group of 3-4 young people. Of course, check that you follow your institutions off-site activity procedures. Near to my house, Goring-by-Sea train station was the closest Wikipedia entry available. However, when I arrived, I didn't find any worthwhile information! So, using Nearest Wiki again I looked for another location. The further away an entry is, the higher it will appear on the screen. This is handy when trying to plan how far to go. I decided to look at the entry for Goring-by-Sea village. On the way, I would pass other areas of interest and see if they were on the app. I found that many features did not appear. This may be a ...

After watching an episode of Click on the BBC news Channel, I was alerted to the Nearest Wiki App. This App has massive potential for Geography fieldtrips . By having an iPhone or available it would be possible to: 1. It is possible to find out a little more about your surroundings. For example, by launching the Nearest Wiki App the camera, GPS and compass is used to calculate where you are are in which direction the camera is facing. This allows Wikipedia articles that are close to be displayed. Below is what I could see from my flat's balcony. By clicking on one of the article summaries, the app displays the full wikipedia entry: This has huge potential for use during pre-visits and even in setting activities and research 2. Pupils can create geolocated Wikipedia articles Young people could create an augmented reality of their school, local area or street. They could create and write a Wikipedia article which could then be viewed by visitors This has huge potential, especi...

These 3 items were used in a bit of on-site fieldwork. We are lucky to have access to the main building roof which is a good 30m above the ground. Thermometers were left at strategic points. Before venturing on to the rood the pupils undertook their own risk assessment. Classes wee asked to identify risks and then develop a rule to reduce the risk. This is far better than talking through a list of rules and developed pupils understanding of risk management. For example - Risk: we could fall off, Rule: don't climb on the wall surrounding the roof. The risk assessment was reinforced with a virtual tour in Google Earth. Pupils were then given a statement 'Priory School has no effect on its micoclimate.' The slate was used to record the temperature at each sample point - nice a quick for a demonstration. The enquiry process was concluded back in the classroom. Each class now has to upscale the enquiry to incude the whole school site. However, they are not allowed to use any sc...

Year 7 are starting the new unit: Portsmouth: our amazing place. This year all KS 3 schemes of work will not end with an assessment. This is to encourage pupils to make links between units. I think that if a unit ends with an assessment pupils are more likely to compartmentalize the information. For example, in Year 8, Rainforest's is followed by Tourism in the Rainforest with sustainability being the key concept that runs through both units. Year 7 start off with Amazing Places and the Place, Space and Scale concepts will run through into the next unit. The Year 7 unit is available here . s part of the new unit I hope to report on the different fieldwork techniques used with Year 7. To me, fieldwork should be small scale and embedded into the curriculum - within an hour lesson it's really easy to get out of the classroom. This unit will employ lots of on-site and local area fieldwork as well as integrating the use of maps, both electronic and paper, and GIS. In a trial this ye...

A little while ago I posted about the FSC's Eco-Challenge , a fully funded weekend residential. Well, day 1 is out of the way and I'm hoping that the quiet as I write this post will continue for the rest of the night! Today the group focused on developing team work. They also began to explore what the term 'eco' means. I spotted the poster below at the centre which reminded me about the Geography Collevctive missions. I think it would make a great statement not to buy anything for a day. With direct debits would that be even possible ;-)

These photos were taken the last time I had the pleasure of walking in the Cairngorms. I'm hoping that the weather will be a little different this time around! The objective is to summit all 18 Munro's in the range over a 4ish (flexibility being the key). Can't wait for a little bit of wilderness! The expedition will be a warm up before heading to Skye and then taking on the 3 Peaks Challenge. There will also be a couple of teaching outcomes. I have (for the first time) planned my route using Anquet mapping software. Our actual track will be recorded using a GPS during the trip. The resulting comparison will be used to teach some map skills. I intend to explore the decision making process along the expedition route. The other projects are very much in progress. Using GPS information to make a GE file showing signs of human use in on of the most remote areas of Scotland. We should not come across a settlement for the length of the expedition. We'll be taking along a ca...

Fieldwork time again for Year 10. I was surprised to find out that the school never really used to do fieldwork for GCSE data collection. This is something that is now rectified and all Year 10's are offered the opportunity to gather data. The experience of speaking to members of the public is great personal development too! We tend to stay local as our pupils identify with the local area. However, who says you have to travel far to push boundaries? As I've found out today many of our pupils have never visited the locations! Plus, pupils can easily collect extra data in their own time. I think that exploring the local area is a great way to motivate pupils.... We spent some of today just looking around us. It's surprising what you can find. For example we spotted that Portsmouth is really trying hard to re brand themselves as a tourist destination....

A post on the SLN forum by Alan and an article in Teaching Geography about learning outside the classroom reminded me of a lesson idea. This Year 11 lesson involved popping out to the local shopping precinct and talking about urban structures. This was followed up by a homework. The task was for the pupils to take photographs of the services within a 5 minute walk from their home. Sounds risky? I got the students to carry out their own risk assessments for this - an activity that they scarily enjoyed! I did the same activity and the results would be used to compare our access to services. At the time I was living in inner city Portsmouth while the school is located in a suburban area. The results were shown and the following discussion revolved around whether the students or myself had a better quality of life. I argued that I had access to fashionable shops, a great hairdresser and of course entertainment establishments... A movie of the 'Slice of Services' can be found here...