Geography
National Curriculum
Combining enquiry skills with fieldwork techniques and applying them to a broad range of practical activities, gives pupils of all ages and abilities the chance of meaningful and enjoyable learning opportunities. The Centre is well resourced and has considerable expertise in the subject area.
Settlement Study
‘What is a settlement and how do they grow?’ These key questions are explored using secondary sources and personal experiences. Pupils are encouraged to plan and design their own concept settlements based on specific criteria. Groups then have an opportunity to present their ideas and talk about the types of settlement they have created.
Settlement Study - Discovering physical and human influences in Geography
Contrasting Locality
The rural village of Wrotham is within easy reach of the Centre and allows extensive comparison with the urban environment. The Centre has produced a scheme of work: ‘Wrotham, a contrasting locality’ which uses the familiar 7 key question approach to investigating places. The CD format contains the scheme of work, photographs, secondary references and accompanying resources. It is available free of charge from the Centre. If we travel slightly further afield, Eynsford village offers scope for an excellent comparative study and a scheme of work with resources is available from the Centre.
River Investigation
The properties of water can be explored using experiments set up at the Centre. These are designed to help pupils better understand the terms erosion, meander, transportation and deposition before they visit the River Darent. At the river pupils investigate questions like ’where does the river flow the fastest?’ Pupils are encouraged to test their hypothesis and to use field techniques to measure velocity, profile the channel, observe how the river is being managed and record their findings. Management issues and the need to sustain resources are also discussed.
Enhancing numeracy skills by measuring river depth
Footpath Erosion
Trosley Country Park is near to the Centre and forms part of the North Downs Way, making it a popular recreation area for ramblers and tourists. The environmental impact caused by people using the park forms the basis of this imaginative study. Pupils survey the erosion of an existing footpath and record their findings. Then using ranging poles and clinometers, they set about surveying a section of the North Downs escarpment. These results are drawn up as slope profiles and the data is used to decide whether the footpath should be re- routed. Drama, role-play and debating are some of the ways in which pupils are encouraged to communicate their findings.
Micro climate exercise
Pupils have the opportunity to try out a problem solving activity using digital recording equipment in the field and computers in the classroom. An imaginative and enjoyable
exercise which can be adapted for older pupils.
The North Downs Trail
The local footpath network is easily accessible and includes the North Downs Way, Pilgrims Way and Trosley Country Park. The setting of this rural environment offers some striking contrasts to the urban environment. Pupils record their findings by annotating field sketches, making their own sketches and using digital cameras.