GEOGRAPHICAL ENQUIRY Why Enquiry Too many boring

GEOGRAPHICAL ENQUIRY Why Enquiry?

Too many boring textbooks Too many facts and too much copying Boring and irrelevant Cant’ see the point of it Too easy and not enough challenge Too much repetition OFSTED 2008 No one asks me what I think

NEW OLD Concepts Ideas Facts Information Relevance Real Out of date Imaginary PLTS Learning Challenge Enquiry Resource led Recall Record Information Teacher led Criticality Passive Uncritical Pupil Voice Values Teacher Textbook Continuity Progression Disconnected

Enquiry and Learning

What is it? How does it fit in? How do we develop understanding? Schemata or existing concepts Children learn through actively engaging with their environment. They construct new knowledge by relating it to what they already know and challenging their existing thinking.

DEVELOPING UNDERSTANDING IDEAS UNDERSTANDING ‘Making Sense’ MENTAL PROCESSES EXPERIENCE

What is geographical knowledge?

What is knowledge of the world like? • Static ……………. Dynamic • Simple ……………. Complex • Factual ……………. Perceived • Complete …………. . Partial

Geographical Enquiry • ‘Geographical enquiry is clearly outlined as an active, questioning approach to teaching and learning which includes values enquiry, and is integrated with the development of geographical skills. It is also explained that enquiry and skills are developed and used when studying the required content and not separately. All work in geography should include an element of geographical enquiry. ’ Rawling 2000

Increasing relevance

What does this slide show? What is the geographical significance?

Did You know? The average distance a woman in Africa walks to collect water is 6. 5 km The weight of an average bucket carried on a woman’s head is 20 kg

Other examples can be found on the web • World Mapper provides a range of maps showing global issues of geographical significance e. g. http: //www. worldmapper. org/display. php? s elected=227

What is geographical significance? • Why have you chosen the topic? • Why is it geographically important? How would you justify it? • How will you communicate its importance to the pupils? • Are you teaching topical issues with obvious relevance? • Are you developing understanding of real places?

Stages in Learning • Engagement – stimulus- curiosity- questions - concrete examples • Construction – using data - making sense - challenge –thinking – relating new to old – modifying • Reflection – debrief - consolidation– plenary

Roberts (2003) page 44

Route to Enquiry Awareness Enquiry Questions What is it? Stages in Learning Stimulus Definition Description Analysis/ Explanation Prediction/ Evaluation Decision Making Where is it? What is it like? How did it get like this? Making Sense How is it changing? What do different people think about it? What are the choices? What is likely to happen? With what consequences? What do I think should happen? Reflection

Higher Order Thinking ‘Higher order thinking occurs when a person takes new information and information stored in memory and interrelates and/or rearranges and extends this information to achieve a purpose or find possible answers in perplexing situations. ’ Lewis and Smith (1993, p. 136)

Lesson Beginnings • ‘Some teachers have adopted a rigid formulaic three-part lesson which does not allow for spontaneity and creativity. • It is common to see pupils at the start of the lesson copying objectives into their books with little thought or care. Not only does this waste time but what they are copying is the content. . ’ • Some good use has been made of ‘starters’ to lead and engage pupils’ interest and lead into or support the main teaching activity. ’ (Ofsted 2008)

STIMULUS ‘A Need to Know’ • Enquiry involves investigation into a geographical issue. • Enquiry can be teacher led or pupil led. • Enquiry can be a lesson or a sequence of lessons • For enquiry there has to be a ‘need to know’ – a purpose for the investigation. • Stimulus materials are resources which are used to introduce a topic, create interest, develop curiosity and raise relevant questions for investigation.

“ I care more about the colour of the gear knob on my Mercedes SLK than the amount of CO 2 it produces. ” Jeremy Clarkson Who said what? David Attenborough "I'm no longer sceptical. Now I do not have any doubt at all. I think climate change is the major challenge facing the world. "I have waited until the proof was conclusive that it was humanity changing the climate. " "If we care about our grandchildren we have to do something and demand our governments do something. "

Enquiry Sequence Should I be bothered about climate change? • What different opinions are there on climate change? • What is climate change? • What causes climate change? • How do humans contribute to climate change? • Who and what will be affected by climate change? • Are there any solutions? • What do I think now? • Will I change anything about my life?

READ THIS TO YOUR CLASS • As I got down from the plane the first thing I that struck me was just how hot it was. The sun was so bright yellow against the vivid blue sky that I had to shield my eyes. As I looked around me the ground seemed parched and dry. I put my hand on the ground and felt the warmth. Grains of sand ran through my fingers. I looked around to see any signs of life and all I could see were a few strands of dry grass like straw. In the distance it all looked the same. It seemed endless with no signs of life except a few spinney plants poking from the dry golden ground. My first thoughts were ‘Where on earth am I? ’ ‘Can I survive here? ’ What do you need to know?

Could I survive in a desert? • • What is a desert? Where are the world’s deserts? What are deserts like? Why are they like that? How are they changing? What are the impacts of change? Could I survive?

Task stimulus Long Term Effects of Tsunami • The Red Cross are keen to attract more money to support the victims of the Tsunami. They feel that people have lost interest in it because it was so long ago. They want you to write an article for their magazine to attract more funding. You need to help people understand that there are long term effects of such a disaster. What do you need to know?

Tsunami • What were the short term impacts? • What are the long term impacts? • How can we persuade people to send more money?

Extract from newspaper article 60 Million and Counting • • • By George! Our little baby is one in 60 million Feb 3 2006 By Andrew Heath MEET little George Scott, Britain's 60 millionth person - and the son of proud Kenilworth couple Ian and Emma. Weighing in at 8 lbs 15 oz, and born at 10. 32 am in Warwick Hospital on Tuesday, a week and a day ahead of schedule, George is unaware he made history. But his birth, by caesarean section, coincided with the time experts predicted the UK population would go over the 60, 000 threshold. It marked a rise of 10 million in the UK since the 1970 s and is likely to be the last landmark of its kind for 60 years. Are there too many people in the UK? What do you need to know?

Are there too many people in the UK? What do we need to know? • How quickly is the population is rising? (population growth) • Where do people live and is enough space left? (population density and distribution)

Example of the beginning of a scheme of work on Climate Change.

Should I buy Starbucks Coffee? • Since March 2001, thousands of activists have taken part in protests and leafleting events outside Starbucks cafes in over 300 cities in the US, Canada, New Zealand England in what has become the largest consumer campaign ever mounted against a major US food and beverage company. • http: //www. globalexchange. org/campaigns /fairtrade/coffee/Starbucks. Flyer. pdf

Ugly Monstrosity or Thing of Beauty? www. npower. com/yourhome/green/northhoylewindfarm/ www. bbc. co. uk/videonation/articles/c/cornwall_windfarm. shtml

You are sent this E Mail, Dear All As you may be aware, in order to reduce that amount of waste going to landfill, Oxfordshire County Council is proposing to build an incinerator to burn very large volumes of domestic and industrial waste either at Sutton Courtenay or at Ardley. The local communities believe that there are considerable downsides to the use of incineration in terms of human health, the environment and cost. These are clearly and succinctly set out in the film you can find on You Tube using the following link: • http: //uk. youtube. com/watch? v=yht_xf. Ung. Jk&feature=channel_page. • Please have a look at this and if you agree, help us to persuade OCC to evaluate the options to Incineration in the interests of the future health of Oxfordshire’s community by signing the petition at: • http: //www. scai. co. uk Please sign up. Regards Sarah Would you sign the petition? What do you need to know? What further questions might you ask?

Enquiry Resources • Identify bias, opinion and abuse of evidence – this includes evaluating the quality of information by asking questions about its source, what it was collected for and how it has been analysed and presented. Geography National Curriculum

Tables of Numbers Need Tasks That Promote Understanding Can you spot the rogue data? How can you spin the data? Source: Chris Durbin

Active Learning Strategies ‘Magenta Principles’ • • Reduce it Change it Assemble it Search for it Connect it Arrange it Enlarge it Simplify it Waingels College, Reading • Classify it • Compare and contrast it • Deconstruct it • Apply it • Prioritise it • Act It out

Who killed Ratty? The water vole was once a common sight along our river banks. It is now the UK’s most endangered mammal • What type of habitat does a water vole like? • How and why has that habitat been changed? • What are the effects of the changes? • Can anything be done to restore these habitats? • What do I think should happen?