Learning geography through enquiry

Margaret RobertsGA Conference, Guildford, 2014

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, rather than of enquiry skills, helps me interpret landscape

My knowledge of geography helps me interpret townscapes

My knowledge of geography helps me understand current issues• Climate change• Fracking• Flooding• The implications of changes in house prices

My books are about learning geography through enquiry, not about learning skills through geography

Learning geography through enquiry

•Geographical questions•Geographical evidence•Thinking geographically

Geographical questions7ws and and H

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?

Geographical evidence: using sources• 5 key points• Layers of inference• Stereotyping

Geographical evidence: 5 key points

Using evidence: layers of inference

Geographical evidence: layers of inference

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: argument

• http://youtu.be/f771wXxw2vs

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 2: DART transformation

Thinking geographically: DART transformation

Thinking geographically 3: concept mapping

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

Geography National Curriculum

‘A high quality geography education should inspire in

pupils a curiosity and fascination about the world and

its people that will remain with them for the rest of

their lives’ (DfE, 2013)