Geo- resources –February 2012 Sharon Witt

Aims To know the National Curriculum map work requirements for Key Stages 1 and 2 To know and understand how to develop the children’s graphicacy skills To evaluate resources for teaching places e.g. maps, photographs, etc To develop a range of geographical teaching and learning strategies

Good geographical detective work could include: Surveys e.g. carrier bag survey, traffic, land use Counting Measuring Maps Field sketches Questionnaire Etc… Pictures Sounds Children’s Feelings Local people’s feelings writing Sketches Data Photographs Noises via a Dictaphone

What is graphicacy? Children are increasingly making sense of their world through visual images which for young children provide more information than text The skill of interpreting pictorial forms of spatial information is known as graphicacy Baldwin and Coleman( 1965) described graphicacy as “the fourth ace in the pack” along with literacy, numeracy and oracy. Using visual resources either through first hand experience or fieldwork can help a child really see Geography

Why use photographs? Images play an important role in shaping our ideas about ourselves and other people Good open- ended resource with lots of potential in the classroom Important for children to question photographs and develop their visual literacy, enquiry and critical thinking skills Can provide stimulating, challenging and creative learning opportunities and hep them gain knowledge and critical understanding of the wider world Photos are highly influential in our lives – every single day we are exposed to hundreds of images , from the cereal packet to adverts , newspaper photos, shop window displays .Images like these play an important role in shaping our ideas about ourselves and other people

How do children respond to and “read” photos? Do they see what adults see? Children will “home in” on clues in the picture that seem familiar and use these to interpret the photograph (even if their understanding of the clue doesn’t fit the context of the rest of the picture) Children may add details that aren’t there! Children respond differently to photographs according to their age Children will tend to ignore the unfamiliar. Margaret Mackintosh Research shows that when children look at photos they are probably not seeing what adults assume they see this means it is important to use activities that help children to look carefully and critically at different parts of photo as well as looking at the photo as a whole eve They may see things they associate with what they feel about the photo based on their existing knowledge and preconceptions Young children find detail very important – they may not notice the middle ground of the picture and will look more in the foreground and background older children concentrate on the overall themes of the picture

How do children respond to and “read” photos? Do they see what adults see? Children will “home in” on clues in the picture that seem familiar and use these to interpret the photograph (even if their understanding of the clue doesn’t fit the context of the rest of the picture) Children may add details that aren’t there! Children respond differently to photographs according to their age Children will tend to ignore the unfamiliar. Margaret Mackintosh Research shows that when children look at photos they are probably not seeing what adults assume they see this means it is important to use activities that help children to look carefully and critically at different parts of photo as well as looking at the photo as a whole eve They may see things they associate with what they feel about the photo based on their existing knowledge and preconceptions Young children find detail very important – they may not notice the middle ground of the picture and will look more in the foreground and background older children concentrate on the overall themes of the picture

Alison Cook & Sue Parsons Feb 2009 Research says… That understanding pictures is a skill that needs to be taught through planned, directed activities. Young children do not see a picture as a whole, but as a series of unconnected, random details. They notice foreground and large background objects but tend to ignore the middle ground. (Mackintosh, 1998) Alison Cook & Sue Parsons Feb 2009

General sequence of response Big objects, things they know, recognise & can name Size & colour Foreground detail (not necessarily relevant to main essence of photo) Main essence & associated objects – less interest in details Grasp of the whole picture, generalisations Alison Cook & Sue Parsons Feb 2009

How can we help pupils to see the image? Develop appropriate vocabulary Give a title to help generalisation Focus on different areas of the image Building, sky-scraper, tower block, island, bridge, quay, transport, aerial view… Manhattan from the air Look at the bottom of the picture… Alison Cook & Sue Parsons Feb 2009

…and then read the picture? Matching - how are these the same/different? Appreciate size, scale and distance – why are the tulips so large? Sort photos into sets – own or given classification Sequence photos eg features from a local walk or the journey of a river Make a field sketch from a photo, then label, annotate, colour different aspects Handle increasingly complex & unfamiliar images Alison Cook & Sue Parsons Feb 2009

What could the children do with this image? Answer your (differentiated) questions Label what they see, describe, begin to explain Ask their own questions about it Expand the picture width-ways Add speech/thought bubbles Use clues to make a sensible guess about location Pretend to be there – make up a story/newspaper item/postcard home… Alison Cook & Sue Parsons Feb 2009

Use tried and tested methods and develop your own! Photo activities Field sketching Labelling Titling Describing Sequencing “good and /or bad adjectives Speech bubbles Questioning Freeze frame Hot seating Matching sets Drawing photographs Comparisons Cropping/ masking Questioning What can you see what is she/he doing What are the bricks for? Why is she working outside? Would you like to live there How else could he or she … Be creative! Use tried and tested methods and develop your own!

Unusual sights – children can write captions!

Catling and Willy (2009,p. 44) We see places through two lenses : as real places and as imagined places. Our experience and knowledge of places is inevitably limited and partial providing an image of these places . Our involvement with places creates an image which is personal .Yet much that we know of places through experience or via secondary sources is shared. ...We may deal with multiple perspectives of the same place to create our own view .These place views are partial and situated.

Game show Geography http://www.sln.org.uk/geography/gameshowgeography.htm

Types of Maps and their Symbols Picture maps Architects and other plans Large and medium scale OS maps, including: 1:25,000 scale (Pathfinder) 1:50,000 scale (Land ranger) Street maps Road atlases Thematic maps, e.g. weather forecast maps Flat maps of the world and continents Atlases Not forgetting: Globes

Other maps encountered, including: in newspapers on the internet in brochures on t-shirts in magazine

Opportunities for Map work Learning about symbols and the map key Learning about grids Learning to use a compass Learning about relative size and scale Learning about map purposes and selectivity Making maps of the table and room Making maps in the school grounds Making maps of a street and an area Using picture maps to find out about places Using aerial photos to find out about places Using Ordnance Survey maps to find out about places Using maps in locality packs to find out about places Using atlas maps to find information Using ‘all sorts of maps’ at a variety of scales Learning about maps and places through picture/story books

Types of symbols used on maps Lines: e.g. rivers, boundaries Points: e.g. telephone box Shapes: e.g. buildings, fields Pictograms: e.g. trees Colour: e.g. water, woods Words: e.g. place names Numbers: e.g. contour heights

Understanding ‘conventional’ maps Know about the information in the ‘margin’ on maps Identify the information that is supplied with a map This should include: key grid compass rose scale bar title Recognise that not all maps have these features!

National Curriculum Map work Requirements for KS 1 and 2 KS 1/2 Geographical skills: use plans and maps at a variety of scales use atlases and globes at a range of scales make plans and maps at various scales

Through Geographical Skills in KS1/2 PoS: children are introduced to maps children use and make maps children develop their map skills and competencies children use maps in various contexts Map work should be integrated with place and thematic studies: use maps in locality/place studies use maps in thematic studies use maps looking at topical matters Elements of map work should include: locating features, places and issues showing distributions and patterns appreciating size and scale identifying changes and development specifying the role of the map

2. Where do I hang out? ADULT last week Daughter’s house Where do you go to in an average week? Where did you go last week? What is your ‘everyday’ geography? Beach Local Hall tap dancing LLLLLLLLLLL LLLLLLLLLLL Cliffs LLLLLLLLLLL Friend’s house 0000000000 LLLLLLLLLLL Local shop Sittingbourne Sheerness +++++++++++++++++ Walk +++++ Train LLLLLLLLLLL Car Town 0000000 Bike St Pancras Ebbsfleet ++++++++ City Station Shop House London Paula Owens

2. Where do I hang out? Oliver’s map Nanny’s house Aged 5 My house The beach Paris’s house Daddy’s shop Bus stop Jungle way home Child’s beginning map - unstructured Paula Owens

3. Who do I hang out with? CHILD Uncle Zac Auntie Kerri My cousin Mummy and Daddy CHILD Nanny and Granddad’s house Mummy and Daddy Beach Friends LLLLLLLLLLL LLLLLLLLLLL Cliffs Mummy and Daddy xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx LLLLLLLLLLL Nanny and Granddad Mummy Uncle Danny LLLLLLLLLLL Local shop LLLLLLLLLLL Sittingbourne Sheerness Daddy’s shop Mummy Mummy Mummy Add significant people to the map Who are these people? Where do you meet them and why? Bus xxxxxx LLLLLLLLLLL Walk Town House Car Shops School Paula Owens

4. I am where I live Gardening, canoeing, Walking, Personal geography ‘glasses’ of an adult sea Gardening, canoeing, Walking, bird watching, photography, biking garden birds tracks cliffs vVv vVv vVv copse marsh What environmental features are around your home? Where do you play? What do you do? How do the locality features influence activities? Paula Owens

Other mapping ideas Generic mapping ideas to suit all ages Write down the names of geographical features on some post it notes . Can the children find them on a map? Landmark mapping – draw the things YOU remember ! This can raise the issue of what do you put on a map. Will it be there tomorrow ? Emotional mapping Transition mapping- emotional journey from Year 6-year 7

Directed Task Explore the Oxfam “mapping our world” site and consider it’s use within a primary classroom http://www.oxfam.org.uk/education/resources/mapping_our_world/ ICT – Explore the Geography Teaching today on line cpd http://www.geographyteachingtoday.org.uk/online-cpd/course/primary-geography-and-ict/ Wendy North’s Everyday Geographies blog – it is very good with lots of resources. http://primarygeogblog.blogspot.com/

Collaborative map making Have a go ! What do you think ?

Other mapping ideas Generic mapping ideas to suit all ages Write down the names of geographical features on some post it notes . Can the children find them on a map? Landmark mapping – draw the things YOU remember ! This can raise the issue of what do you put on a map. Will it be there tomorrow ? Emotional mapping Transition mapping- emotional journey from Year 6-year 7

Directed Task Explore the Oxfam “mapping our world” site and consider it’s use within a primary classroom www.oxfam.org.uk/coolplanet/mappingourworld/ Look up workshop notes on using Digital photography in the classroom at all levels by Bryan Ledyard and John Halocha .This includes an input on how to take effective geographical photographs , a range of websites offering high quality free digital images and using images to support enquiry and creative thinking http://www.geography.org.uk/events/annualconference/derby2007/#top