School of Education

P O S T G R A D U A T E
CERTIFICATE in EDUCATION

TEACHING IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS

PRIMARY MODULE 7

GEOGRAPHY
 School of Education

P O S T G R A D U A T E
CERTIFICATE in E D U C A T I O N

TEACHING IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS

PRIMARY MODULE 7

GEOGRAPHY
Prepared for the course team by Simon Catling,
School of Education, Oxford Brookes Universiiy
Acknowledgements
Grateful acknowledgement is made to the following sources for permission to reproduce
material in this module:

Carter, R. (1993) 'Children, teachers and places', in Primary Geographer, 12,January 1993
O Primary Geographer 1993, The Geographical Association; An Intmduction to Teaching
Geography at Key Stages 1 and 2, copyright O 1993 National Curriculum Council.

Figures 1 and 15 Foley, M. and Janikoun, J. (1992) Ihe Really Practical Guide to Primary
Geography, Stanley Thornes Ltd; Figure 2 Catling, S. (1991) 'Mapwork - development and
progression', in Junior Education, 15(9), September 1 9 1 , Scholastic Publications Ltd;
Figure 3: Catling, S. (1992) 'The British Isles', in Junior Education, 16(11), November 1992,
Scholastic Publications Ltd; Figure 9: Krause, J., Campion, K. and Carter, R. (1993) 'Putting
physical geography in the right place', in Primary Geographer, 13,April 1993 O Primary
Geographer 1993, The Geographical Association; Figure 10: Teaching Geography at Key
Stages 1 and 2: an insetguide, Copyright O 1993 National Curriculum Council; Figuw 12
An Introduction to Teaching Geography at Key Stages 1 and 2, copyright O 1993 National
Curriculum Council; Figure U: Bowles, R. (193) Practical Guide - Geography: teaching
with the national curriculum, Scholastic Pubications Ltd; Figure 14: An Enquiry Appwch
to Learning Geograpby at Key Stages 2 and 3 O Cumculum Council for Wales 1993; Figuw
1 6 ChikirenS Work Assessed: geography and history key stage 1, copyright O 1993 SEAC.

The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA

First published 1995. Reprinted 1997

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Contents
Introduction
1.1 How this Module is organised

What is geography?
2.1 The study of place
2.2 The study of spatial patterns and relationships
2.3 The study of resources in the environment
Geography at key stages 1 and 2
3.1 The enquiry process
3.2 Using geographical skills
3.3 Understanding places
3.4 Understanding physical, human and environmental
geography: thematic studies
3.5 Integrating the three dimensions of geography: two
examples
3.6 Geography in the integrated curriculum
Children's geographical experience and ideas
4.1 Children, teachers and places
4.2 Places outside children's experience
4.3 Children's understanding of maps and photographs
4.4 Children's understanding of the physical environment
4.5 Children's understanding of human geography
4.6 Children's environmental awareness
4.7 In summary

Planning geography into the curriculum

5.1 Planning a geography session
5.2 Planning a geography scheme of work
5.3 Setting out a scheme of work

Assessment in geography
6.1 Interpreting statements of attainment and children's work

For the geography subject specialist

7.1 Taking geography further
7.2 Specialist geography assignment

References
1 Introduction
The primary geography curriculum encourages children:
s to explore their own local environment;
g to examine case studies of other places;
o to develop their skills in using maps and in undertaking fieldwork;
c~ to become increasingly aware of and curious about such aspects of
the world around them as:
- the features in towns and the landscape;
- the use of land and buildings;
- people's travel habits;
- the goods and services we all use;
- the patterns in our own and other people's weather;
- water in the environment;
- changes to the environment;
- ways to improve, manage and protect places.

During both key stages, the focus of geographical work is to build upon
and extend children's experience of the environment. Much of their
experience come:; through direct encounters with the places which they
live in or have visited, but children also develop an awareness of other
places, particularly through television, but also through books and other
sources of information, such as maps, photographs, artefacts, charts and
tables of data, computer programs etc.
The development of children's vocabulary about the world around them is
of central importance, encouraging them to use language with greater
clarity and precision.
Central to their way of working is the process of geographical enquiry,
which is concerned with enabling children to develop strategies for
investigating geographical topics and places.

1. 1 How this Module is organised

The second section of this Module considers the question 'What is
geography?' The third section outlines the requirements of national
curriculum geography, and then considers their inter-relationships. The
fourth section examines some of the research into children's thinking in
geography. The fifth section offers guidance on planning activities and
units of study in geography. The sixth section considers the assessment of
children's understanding. The final section provides further activities for
geography specialists.
Activities for students to undertake are included throughout. They can be
undertaken individually or working with other adults. There is a lot to be
gained from working with others: views and ideas need to be clearly
explained and can be challenged, and a greater variety of (and often
deeper) questions are raised. This is also true for children, who need to
encounter the kinds of questions that are most appropriate to explore and
consider how to tackle them (for example, through an enquiry approach).
 2 WHAT 15. GEOGRAPHY?
5

As with previous activities in the course, their purpose is to encourage

students:
to experience geographical study at their own level, using a variety of
resources;
to consider how the activities reflect national curriculum geography
requirements in both the programmes of study and the attainment
target;
to ascertain how the activities can be adapted for use with children.
There are activities for each key stage, reflecting the continuity and
development in geographical experience. It is up to students to relate
each activity to their own key stage focus. The activities include both core
and extension activities. All students must undertake the core activities;
extension activities can be used to develop aspects of geography further.
While using this Module, you should refer to the relevant national
curriculum geography requirements (DFE, 1995a; Northern Ireland
Department of Education, 1991; Scottish Office Education Department,
1993; Welsh Office, 1995).

What is geography?
The report of the geography national curriculum working group for
England and Wales provided a useful definition of geography:

Geography explores the relationship between the Earth and its peoples
through the study of place, space and environment.
(DES, 1990, p. 6)

'Place', 'space' and 'environment', they argued, are the key ideas at the
core of geographical studies.

2.1 The study of place

There are two important aspects to the idea of 'place':
1 how places come to be as they are;
2 what places mean to us (Wiegand, 1993).
Through the study of place, geographers attempt to describe and explain
why human and physical features, such as lakes and towns, are located
where they are. Place studies focus on what the features are like, how
they came to be as they are and what continues to influence their
development.
Geographers ask questions such as:
where is this place?
what is this place like?
why is it like this?
how is it changing?
how is this place connected to other places?