Urban Geography Fieldwork

The day of the Olympics opening was also the date when a new website was launched offering opportunities for fieldwork in the East end of London, associated with the Olympics Park and the associated regeneration....
A number of familiar names offer a range of options for visiting teachers and students, and at reasonable prices too...
Having accompanied John Widdowson with a full day visit by a school group a few months before the start of the games, I can vouch for the quality of the experience, and the associated materials. The teachers I accompanied felt that this would give their students an advantage when it came to the GCSE examination, as they had had personal experience of key locations.

There are plenty of important themes covered in GCSE Specifications which are covered by a day in the East End of London...
These would include sustainability, urban change and regeneration, tourism, environmental change, urbanisation and inequality.

Visit the website HERE for more details on how to book a session.

End of year debrief

Don't forget to join me at 7pm tomorrow night for a VITAL CPD Teachshare to look back on the academic year, and ahead to the next one....

One of the highlights of the year I'll be talking about will be my work on the Badger GCSE book.
Have you got your copy yet ? 
Would make perfect Summer reading on the beach.... much more exciting than '50 Shades of Grey'...

Mr. Sims: Geography Rocks

At an event last week, I met up with Mr. Sims, star of the Geography Rocks songs on YouTube and also on his own Bandcamp website.


Writing music is a great way of encouraging students to explain something in a concise and creative way.

GCSE Geographers could be asked to write songs for their revision on some of the themes that are included in the specification.

Here's an example on the Demographic Transition Model. You can embed the songs, listen to them, or even part with the small sum of one English pound to download them in various formats.

iPhone apps for Fieldwork

The Badger GCSE book provides a useful context of iPhone apps for learning. Students are encourage to design apps which are appropriate for a particular use.

There are almost as many lists of useful apps as there are apps, but I was impressed by this poster of ideas for 20 iPhone apps for FIELDWORK that was shared earlier by Paul Turner.

Paul is the editor of the Geographical Times newspaper.

Nice work !

There were a few apps here that were new to me, so I'll be having a little explore later.....

What are your favourite apps for fieldwork and controlled assessment ? 

A new competition for GCSE Geography Students

This is a new initiative that has been created by Discover the World and the Geographical Association.


It is aimed at GCSE age students.

Check the DTW blog for more information.

Discover the World have teamed up with the WorldWise strand of the Geographical Association to offer your students an outstanding opportunity. In September 2012 we will be announcing details of an exciting new annual award; aimed at Y9/10/11 students. Enter your students’ essays, relevant to their studies, into this national competition, and be in with the chance of winning five places on an incredible Norway study trip for your school. The winning school and student will also receive a GA certificate to be announced at the GA annual conference in April 2013.  

To enter students can submit an essay answering one of the questions provided. Essay questions will be relevant to DTW study aids and the various syllabuses helping to facilitate student learning. At the time of the launch there will be three Discover the World study aids:

1. Eyjafjallajokull volcano, Iceland.

2. Solheimajokull glacier, Iceland.

3. Tourism in Norway.

In addition, in no more than 200 words, students are to explain why they should win the award, how they will benefit from the experience and how they will use geography in their later life.

The competition is designed to:

 - help promote geography as an exciting subject.

 - incentivise students to write an essay, relevant to their studies, whilst facilitating their learning.

 - encourage students to study geography post GCSE.

 - help aid teachers when promoting their subject at options.

 - recognise outstanding geography students.

This would be a really useful way to promote GCSE Geography and encourage extended writing.

iPad Apps for GCSE Geography

Many geography departments are experimenting with, or considering purchasing iPads.
(Other tablet devices are available...... they're just not as good....)

According to a statistic I saw it a while ago, around 70% of school ICT managers are apparently considering the implications of iPads for their school networks, or have already taken the plunge with them.
Here are the apps I have on my iPad - exported thanks to a tip from Kathy Schrock...
My iPad Apps 




What are your favourite Geography apps for GCSE Geography ?

(i)GCSE Grade Booster

Although the Badger Book is described as a GCSE Grade Booster, there could also be the addition of an 'i' to the front, as many of the ideas would be of equal use to colleagues teaching the iGCSE Geography Specifications which are around.

Matt Podbury has started a new NING for those who are teaching (or about to start teaching) the iGCSE Geography

It's particularly aimed at those doing the Cambridge Specification 0460.

I was heavily involved in writing a textbook and teacher guide for this specification.

If you're teaching this spec or thinking of doing it, come and join us.

Using YouTube 2

Following the earlier post on the value of YouTube for revision, it's worth doing a quick search to see whether there is appropriate revision material available.
It's good to see that several teachers are creating and sharing this material.
Miss Room has a YouTube channel of videos that have had over 10 000 views in total (as of today) and cover a range of useful topics for GCSE Geography.

Why not set up your own YouTube channel ? It's easier than ever to record digital video these days - your phone probably allows you to take a video.

It's good to see a teacher who is sharing materials that are helpful not only to her own classes, but to anyone who finds them online. Also follow Miss Room on Twitter @GeographyCarrie

Are you aware ?

That it's Geography Awareness Week next week ?
Head over to the GA website to download your pack of materials.

Using YouTube

Remember that when you are on a page with a YouTube clip, you can set it to start at a certain time.
The information can then be shared in a URL or a hyperlink so that the video plays at a certain time. This can get over the problem of a long lead time, and also allows you to save the video to your favourites.
Once a video is saved in your favourites, as long as you are logged in, you can then use YouTube XL, which will remove the comments below a film, which can often be seen by students and are sometimes not particular suitable for viewing in a classroom...

Increasingly, schools are realising that there are benefits in removing the barriers to the use of this website.

If you are unable to view YouTube clips in your classroom, remember that you can always use


Do you have any favourite YouTube clips that you use for GCSE Geography Revision or teaching ?
Perhaps we could put together a Top Ten for this site...


Remember that ZAMZAR has now been prevented from converting YOUTUBE VIDEOS....