Wider Geography Summer Challenge

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What is Wider Geography?

Wider Geography is a free, new project developed by Internet Geography to encourage young people to engage in geography in a fun way. Wider Geography aims to foster a love of geography through challenging young people to try new experiences that will broaden their geographical horizons. Through its six themes, wider GEOGRAPHY has something for geographers from primary age to 6th form. The 6 main themes are:
Each theme recommends activities for students to try out.

Wider Geography Summer Challenge

Internet Geography has launched the Wider Geography Summer Challenge. We’re inviting schools to encourage students to participate in the Wider Geography Summer Challenge. The challenge involves students experiencing a range of Wider Geography activities over the summer holidays. They record their experiences on the table on the back of the wider GEOGRAPHY Summer Challenge flyer. They can then submit a 400-word overview of their experience of the Wider Geography Summer Challenge. Three winners will be chosen from the submissions. Each winner will receive prizes including a £30 Amazon voucher.

How can teachers and schools use Wider Geography?

Below are some suggestions of how teachers and schools can use Wider Geography to encourage young geographers to participate.
1. Primary schools can set the challenge as a project over the summer holidays
2. Secondary schools can set the challenge as a transition activity for year 6 students
3. Secondary school geography departments can set the Wider Geography Summer Challenge as a summer project
3. Hold a school-wide competition and submit the best 400-word overviews to Internet Geography
We’ve created a flyer to share with parents to let them know about the Wider Geography Summer Challenge. Download the Wider Geography Summer Challenge flyer. You can also download an A3 Wider Geography Summer Challenge poster for your classroom.

How can you support Wider Geography?

We are looking for more suggestions for activities to add to those we’ve come up with so far. You can see these by going to www.internetgeography.net/wider
We are also seeking prize donations for the winners of the Wider Geography Summer Challenge. If you can help with either of these please contact us at [email protected] Finally, if you use social media such as Twitter it would be appreciated it if you could help promote Wider Geography using the hashtag #widergeography.

Scaffolding to tackle alien questions

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Having recently read Mark Esner’s post on the TES on Scaffolding: are you using it properly? it reminded me about a scaffolding strategy I’ve used in the past to tack alien ‘questions’.

You’ve crafted and delivered a fantastic set of lessons where students have soaked up knowledge and developed their understanding around a particular topic only to crash and burn when faced with an extended exam question.

Sound familiar?

Then you’ve experienced the scourge of the classroom – the alien question. Alien questions are usually greeted with blank expressions, quickly followed by the looks of pure panic. Despite having developed incredible subject knowledge, applying this to an exam question that students don’t understand is a near impossibility.

Having experienced the curse of the alien question in the classroom, I quickly realised students need to dissect exam questions to apply their skills, knowledge and understanding. This led to the development of a resource that provides students with scaffolding in completing alien questions. Enter DISSECT to Alien Questions. DISSECT is a simple acronym to help students remember how to attempt an alien question:

  1. Decipher the question
  2. Identify facts
  3. Sensible Structure
  4. Examples
  5. Command words
  6. The conclusion
DISSECT the exam question

DISSECT the exam question template

The modelling starts with working out what the exam question is asking. This is followed by identifying examples, such as case studies, that will be included in the answer. Next, the key facts that will be included in the response are recorded. A simple structure is then be planned. Finally, a brief plan for a clear and concise conclusion is recorded. Of course, the model is flexible in terms of the order taken to prepare an answer. For example, planning the conclusion may come before planning the structure.

Below is an example of scaffolding for an alien question that has been live modelled with students.

Example DISSECT the exam question

Example DISSECT the exam question

Eventually, the scaffolding needs to be removed in order for students to be able to tackle alien questions independently. After all, they can’t take the framework into the exam with them. So, how might this be achieved? Below are a series of steps that could be taken to help achieve this:

  1. The teacher models the thinking process they would go through in completing the alien exam question using the template;
  2. Repeat this several times with different exam questions;
  3. Students work in small groups using the template to plan an answer to an alien question. They then rotate around the class looking at other group’s plans and add annotations;
  4. Students complete the template in pairs, then share with other couples to get feedback;
  5. Students use the model independently;

This would occur over an extended period as students will need several experiences using this approach until it is embedded.

Download the template and example below:

DISSECT template

DISSECT earthquake example

If you model any examples using this technique please send a copy over to share via [email protected]

Anthony Bennett

 

 

Hornsea Slumping 3D Model

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The 3D model below shows mass movement, in the form of slumping, to the south of coastal defences at Hornsea on the Holderness Coast. The image shows a 50m section of boulder clay cliff adjacent to the caravan park slumping. At its widest point 8m of the cliff top was lost. Click play to explore the model.

Hornsea Slumping
by Internetgeog
on Sketchfab

The aerial images were captured using a DJI Mavic Pro. These were then rendered into a 3D model in Photoscene then uploaded to Sketchfab.

Climate Change The Facts

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Climate Change – The Facts is a 2019 British documentary presented by David Attenborough that discusses the causes, effects and solutions to climate change.

Climate Change the Facts is available on iPlayer until the 18th Map 2019.

I’ve put together a comprehensive list of questions and answers that can be used in the classroom. Feel free to edit the document. I went a bit OTT with questions!

Download the question sheet

 

Christchurch Earthquake Animated Map

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Christchurch earthquake map is a fantastic resource for illustrating the swarm of earthquakes that occurred on February 22nd 2011, when 185 people were killed as the result of a magnitude 6.3 quake.

To access the resources head over to the Christchurch earthquake map

Christchurch Earthquake Animated Map

Christchurch Earthquake Animated Map

Next, click February 22, 2011 under quick links (on the left of the page). The animation will start automatically. The magnitude and depth of the earthquakes are illustrated using coloured proportional circles.

2011 Christchurch Earthquake Map

2011 Christchurch Earthquake Map

You can speed up and slow down the animation using the media controls to the top right of the page.

We’ve recently added Christchurch earthquake case study resources on Internet Geography.

Coastal Environments CPD – Erosional Landforms, Coastal Management and Fieldwork on the Holderness Coast

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Geography in the News 11

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Geography in the News 11

Geography in the News has been created to encourage students to read more widely, examining synoptic links and keep up to date with geography-related news. It has been developed to be given to students as homework and includes differentiated activities for them to complete. Our downloadable homework comes in an editable format so you can make adjustments appropriate to your students. We’ll be publishing a new homework relating to a recent event in the news every week during term time.

A peer/self-assessment sheet will soon be made available to download so students can peer/self assess their homework to help reduce your workload. You can access past mark schemes by signing up to a free subscription to Internet Geography.

Our eleventh homework is based on an article on BBC website examines the morbid impact of melting glaciers on Mount Everest. View the article.

Homework Plus Features

If you are looking for a more open-ended approach to setting home Geography in the News homework take a look at our new template.

If you like Geography in the News please consider subscribing to Internet Geography Homework Plus. This is a new development on Internet Geography. We regularly publish homework to support skills development at GCSE. Homeworks will include the opportunity to practise and develop map skills, exam technique and statistical skills. So far we’ve covered a range of skills including:

  • exam technique
  • 4/6 figure grid references
  • sketches from photographs
  • height on a map
  • longitude and latitude
  • mean, median & mode
  • range & interquartile range
  • gradient, contour & spot height
  • the direction a photo has been taken in
  • pie charts
  • bar graphs & histograms
  • line & compound graphs

Homework Plus assignments also come with a mark scheme that can be used by teachers or students for peer/self-assessment.

In addition to Homework Plus resources, you also have access to GEOGREVISE. We regularly publish resources based on a unit from the AQA GCSE Geography course. Every GEOGREVISE pack  includes:

  • A four-step guide to revision
  • A personal learning checklist (PLC) for a GCSE Geography unit
  • 10 strategies for revision
  • lots of retrieval practice questions for a GCSE Geography unit
  • Answers to all retrieval practice questions
  • An overview of retrieval practice for parents and copies of the questions to support parents in engaging with revision

This resource is ideal for class-based revision, intervention, homework and engaging parents in revision.

You will also have access to our new Geography Infographics and resources to support the new AQA GCSE Geography Pre-release.

Subscription for Homework Plus, including GEOGREVISE starts at only £20 per year for an individual class teacher. Also available are department level subscriptions for schools. Find out which subscription is right for you. By subscribing you’ll have instant access to all the documents published so far.

Download: Geography in the News 11

By downloading the document you agree not to edit the document header and footer before issuing to students. You also agree not to redistribute the document on a public forum e.g. TES, Schoolology or similar. You are welcome to share with students on services such as Show My Homework, however, do not make the document available to other users. 

Seen a useful article for our next Geography in the News? Please let us know using the form below.

AQA GCSE Geography Pre-release and literacy levels

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Having read the AQA GCSE Geography Pre-release I was quite surprised at the complexity and structure of the language. I thought it would be useful to put together some flash cards to support learning the key terms used in the document for sharing with Internet Geography Homework Plus subscribers. As I started putting the list of keywords together it quickly occurred to me that this would be quite a big job.

According to the exam board (see the Pre-release FAQ posted by Rob Chambers in the fantastic AQA GCSE Geography Facebook group), the text is age appropriate. Having pulled together a considerable list of keywords, I was less sure of this.

So, I decided to copy and paste the text into the University of Nottingham’s SMOG (Simple Measure of Gobbledegook) calculator. Once I had the SMOG score for the text I compared it, using the linked resources, to get an idea of text reading levels.

These average scores for newspaper editorials:

The Sun: under 14
The Daily Express: under 16
The Telegraph and The Guardian: over 17

Alternatively, it may be helpful to relate this readability score to levels in the National Adult Literacy Standards. As a rough indication:

• 9 –10 = approx. Entry Level 3;

• 11–12 = approx. Level 1; and

• 14 –15 = approx. Level 2.

Before I reveal the score for the AQA pre-release it is important to note that this system is far from an exact science and a readability test should only be taken as one indicator among many for the suitability of a text. Also, we should accept that the inclusion of a number of pharmaceutic terms are using in figure 1).

Below is a screenshot showing the results of the SMOG test on the AQA GCSE Geography Pre-release.

SMOG Test for AQA GCSE Geography Pre-release

SMOG Test for AQA GCSE Geography Pre-release

 

What this certainly reinforces is the need to support students in being able to access the text.

If you have access to a more reliable test it would be great to hear from you.

It might be worth bookmarking this page for when you write your exam analysis in the summer.

 

 

Slumping at Hornsea March 2019 – One week on

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Geography in the News 10

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Geography in the News 10

Geography in the News has been created to encourage students to read more widely, examining synoptic links and keep up to date with geography-related news. It has been developed to be given to students as homework and includes differentiated activities for them to complete. Our downloadable homework comes in an editable format so you can make adjustments appropriate to your students. We’ll be publishing a new homework relating to a recent event in the news every week during term time.

A peer/self-assessment sheet will soon be made available to download so students can peer/self assess their homework to help reduce your workload. You can access past mark schemes by signing up to a free subscription to Internet Geography.

Our tenth homework is based on an article on BBC website examining worldwide climate strikes by students. View the article.

Homework Plus Features

If you are looking for a more open-ended approach to setting home Geography in the News homework take a look at our new template.

If you like Geography in the News please consider subscribing to Internet Geography Homework Plus. This is a new development on Internet Geography. We regularly publish homework to support skills development at GCSE. Homeworks will include the opportunity to practise and develop map skills, exam technique and statistical skills. So far we’ve covered a range of skills including:

  • exam technique
  • 4/6 figure grid references
  • sketches from photographs
  • height on a map
  • longitude and latitude
  • mean, median & mode
  • range & interquartile range
  • gradient, contour & spot height
  • the direction a photo has been taken in
  • pie charts
  • bar graphs & histograms
  • line & compound graphs

Homework Plus assignments also come with a mark scheme that can be used by teachers or students for peer/self-assessment.

In addition to Homework Plus resources, you also have access to our weekly GEOGREVISE. Each week we publish resources based on a unit from the AQA GCSE Geography course. Every GEOGREVISE pack  includes:

  • A four-step guide to revision
  • A personal learning checklist (PLC) for a GCSE Geography unit
  • 10 strategies for revision
  • lots of retrieval practice questions for a GCSE Geography unit
  • Answers to all retrieval practice questions
  • An overview of retrieval practice for parents and copies of the questions to support parents in engaging with revision

This resource is ideal for class-based revision, intervention, homework and engaging parents in revision.

You will also have access to our new Geography Infographics.

Subscription for Homework Plus, including GEOGREVISE starts at only £20 per year for an individual class teacher. Also available are department level subscriptions for schools. Find out which subscription is right for you. By subscribing you’ll have instant access to all the documents published so far.

Download: Geography in the News 10

By downloading the document you agree not to edit the document header and footer before issuing to students. You also agree not to redistribute the document on a public forum e.g. TES, Schoolology or similar. You are welcome to share with students on services such as Show My Homework, however, do not make the document available to other users. 

Seen a useful article for our next Geography in the News? Please let us know using the form below.