Learning geography through enquiry Margaret Roberts GA Conference, Guildford, 2014
Dec 15, 2015
Enquiry, skills and fieldworkEDXCEL GCSE Geography A
Students will be assessed on their ability to:
•Identify, analyse and evaluate geographical questions, hypotheses and issues
•Establish appropriate sequences of investigation
•Extract and interpret information from a range of sources
•Describe, analyse and interpret evidence
•Draw and justify conclusions from evidence
•Evaluate methods of data collection, presentation and analysis of evidence.’
OCR A Level•An ability to carry out individual research/ investigative work, including fieldwork•Investigative skills•Questions for investigation, e.g. what are the characteristics of urban areas
AQA A Level •Investigation: preparation for this unit of work will involve enquiry work outside the classroom•- for example data collection, measurement of features in the field… internet research•Fieldwork enquiry
My knowledge of geography helps me understand current issues• Climate change• Fracking• Flooding• The implications of changes in house prices
Learning geography through enquiry
•Geographical questions•Geographical evidence•Thinking geographically
Geographical questions
Does the question:
•Capture the interest and imagination of students?
•Place an aspect of geographical thinking at the forefront of students’ minds?
•Result in a tangible, lively, substantial, enjoyable outcome activity?
Geographical questions
EDEXCEL A level•What are the main types of physical risks facing the world and how big a threat are they?•Why are some places more hazardous and disaster prone than others? •What is globalisation and how is it changing people’s lives?•How does evidence from personal, local and national sources help us understand the pattern of population change in the UK?
Geographical questions
Does the question:
Capture the interest and imagination of students?
Place an aspect of geographical thinking at the forefront of students’ minds?
Result in a tangible, lively, substantial, enjoyable outcome activity?
What does this source definitely tell me? What can I infer? (what guesses can I make?)What doesn’t the source tell me? What other questions do I need to ask? (Jakobshavn Isbrae Glacier, Greenland)
Layers of inference
This can be applied to images, found online, showing the retreat of Jakshavn Isbrae Glacier, Greenland
Using evidence: In the past textbooks represented the Italian south stereotypically, e.g. referring to only negative factors influencing farming
The representation of the Italian South in an Italian atlas• The climatic advantages of the south are mentioned with its mild
winters and earlier spring• The lack of mountains in Puglia is mentioned as an advantage• The fertile volcanic soils near Naples are mentioned• For every region, the atlas shows a map of agricultural production,
showing the range of produce in the south• Data provided in the atlas, for an activity for primary school children,
show that three of Italy’s six most productive regions for farming are in the south (Campania, Puglia and Sicily)
Although textbooks have described farming in the south of Italy as ‘subsistence’, it is in fact commercial and can supply goods to every supermarket in the UK
Thinking geographically: making connections
• Developing arguments• Reading for meaning (DARTs)• Concept mapping• Applying criteria
•
Thinking geographically 1: argumentation• What is the enquiry question you are investigating? • What is the claim being made? Who made it?• What reasons are given for this claim? (Warrant)• What do you know about geographical facts or processes that might
support the claim? (Facts and Backing)• Are there any counter-arguments that could be make against the
claim? (rebuttals)• In view of the evidence does the claim need to be qualified?• What is your conclusion?
Thinking geographically 4: applying criteriaThe Peak District Sustainable Development Fund supports projects that bring environmental, social, economic and cultural benefits to the National Park. Projects are assessed against assessment criteria…
Geography through enquiry
• Aware of questions
• Critical appreciation of evidence
• Greater knowledge and understanding of geography
GCSE Geography subject content April 2014
Progression statement
An increasing involvement of
students in planning and
undertaking independent
enquiry in which skills and
knowledge are applied to
investigate geographical
questions
Use of data
The ability to identify questions and
sequences of enquiry to write
descriptively, analytically and critically,
to communicate their ideas effectively,
to develop an extended written
argument and to draw well-evidenced
and informed conclusions about
geographical questions and issues