Stories, Maps and Living Geography

iving geography Right here, right now… Asks how and why is this place changing? And what’s it to do with me? Tackles issues of sustainable development Is real, relevant, enquiry driven learning Makes links between localities and the wider world Involves learning through the soles of your feet - fieldwork

Themes: Place, environmental change and sustainable development These books are excellent starting points and provide hooks for discussion about our surroundings Jeannie Baker (1987) Where the Forest meets the Sea Walker Books ISBN 978-0-7445-1305-9 The reflections of a young boy exploring a prehistoric rain forest in Queensland. Evokes ideas about how the landscape was, is and might be. Jeannie Baker (2002) Window Walker Books ISBN 0-7445-9676-9 The rural landscape becomes gradually urbanised as the countryside changes over the course of a lifetime to a city. Jeannie Baker (2004) Belonging Walker Books ISBN 0-7445-9227-5 Changes showing the regeneration of an inner city area over time. Themes: Place, environmental change and sustainable development

Thinking about change … Discuss what you have read and relate to own lives What changes can you see through your window/ in your local area? Why are these changes happening? Speculate then do some fieldwork and investigate the wider locality Use ‘viewing frames’ to focus on a particular view Using first hand experience – apply skills to develop empathy and speculate about ‘windows’ in other parts of the world

www.quikmaps.com You could record your feelings about the views from different sides of the same building using a programme like Quikmaps by dragging emoticons onto a map then clicking to open up and edit text boxes. Export finished maps to Google.

Using the books as a starting point, consider what other people in distant localities might be saying about changes where they are. This example uses an Ashden Awards www.ashdenawards.org film about the ‘Shanxi Mothers’ and their drive to install more sustainable energy use in their local community. Imagine you live there and write a comment about what you can see. Share your comments with another class or school through a mapping programme.

Other ideas Create a 3D plan of the view from your window or local area using collage, inspired by Jeannie Baker’s illustrations. Use existing maps of the local area as the basis for a display and link to current images of key features. Use this as a starting point for teaching in subsequent years – identifying changes. Use past and present aerial images of a locality to identify change. Imagine and envision how your own locality might change. Create a series of pictures and words to tell the story. Map your school grounds or even just your playground and envision changes you would make. Collaborate with others in your class to create a 3D plan of what you would like it to look like. Present your ideas to governors and plan what you can achieve and how.

Use ‘view finders’ made from cardboard to frame views and draw what you see

Work as a school to record views in your locality Stained glass windows can be simply made – use pupils’ drawings as a starting point for composite pictures that can be traced onto perspex and coloured in with water –based glass paints

What geographical experiences link to this finished work? First hand experience of place, (fieldwork) Learning new and relevant vocabulary Creative inspiration from a sense of place Learning how to improve and sustain localities ESD Asking questions, e.g. Where is this place? What is this place like? Why is it like this? How is it changing? Using relevant skills, e.g. annotated sketching, digital imaging, collaboration

Create your own ‘windows’ showing a snapshot in time Other panels can be added over time to record changes.