Geography+Resources

**//Our Creek Our Future: Caring for the South Creek Catchment//**
Innovation for Investigating and Teaching Local Environmental Issues Colyton Learning Community An Australian School Innovation in Science, Technology and Mathematics (ASISTM) Project Produced by: Teacher Associates, University of Canberra, 2009 (available at The Education Centre, University of Canberra)

The resource contains the whole document of the project from its beginning and results as well as contains an Interactive Whiteboard Resources CD. It aopts the framework of the 5E learning cycle (and instructional model) approach including engage, explore, explain, elaborate and evaluate. The resource provides students with hands-on activities and based on the notion of scientific inquiry to investigate the waterways. The distinctive features of 5E learning cycle include:
 * it is an instructional model for teachers to plan units of work or lesson plans
 * it is not strictly sequential

The resource also provides teacher with opportunity to conduct diagnostic, formative and summateive assessment to students' learning.

Edited by Constance Chen

Education For A Sustainable Future Australian Government Department of the Environment and Heritage, November 2005 []
 * A National Environmental Education Statement for Australian Schools**

Lesson Plans National Geographic Xpeditions

Primary Connections-Curriculum Resources Australian Academy of Science

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Resource 5B-SoSE-Opportunities for Coastal and Marine Studies=====

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Australian Government Department of the Environment, Water, Haritage and the Arts. (2009)=====

Seaweek: Marine bycatch matters Marine Education Society of Australasia (MESA)

Think about the future
 * Creator:** Education Service Australia Limited (emerged by Curriculum Corporation and Education.AU on 1 March 2010)
 * Suitable Year Level:** Lower Secondary
 * Content:** Develop students' understanding of self and others in social contexts, today in future years
 * Strategy:** Provide students with opportunity to consider what they will be doing and thinking five years from today; engage students to compare their consideration with their Asian counterparts Recommendations

Edited by Constance Chen

Geography in the Australian Capital Territory: A Mixed Picture (Freeman, J. 2006) & Everyday Geography: Re-Visioning Primary Geography for the 21st Century (Martin, F. 2006) Main points from Freeman’s article & Martin’s article-


 * Geography exists into the KLA called SOSE
 * SOSE has many components that are incorporated within therefore, it requires greater amount of time to teach and learn.
 * Many teachers see more time required to teach geography-based component of SOSE.
 * In the outcomes specified within each of five content strands in SOSE, unique characteristics of Geography are often lost inside the structure.
 * Teachers who teach SOSE-geography should be subject specifically trained so they can encourage, engage and influence students into geography.
 * More variations should be used to deliver geography to students so it can draw students to deeper understanding.
 * There are two groups of people- who see geography as one of the most important subjects to learn, highly interesting and connected, to the ones who see it as- irrelevant, boring with list of facts to be learnt.
 * Most primary teachers feel it as latter because they are unable to apply their knowledge to students which also affects students’ attitudes toward geography.
 * Geography should be taught differently and in fresh manner in order to overcome this perception.
 * Geography should be related to everyday experiences will increase the relevance of geography.
 * Accurate and up-to-date information is hard to locate, but important.

Teaching resource: A Study into the Teaching of Geography in Years 3-10 [] A Study into the Teaching of Geography in Years 3-10 discusses current practice in the teaching of geography in Australian schools and factors which affect the quality of teaching and learning of geography. It also investigates the fundamentals that every Australian student should know in the subject before they complete Year 10 and provides a sample national Years 3-10 geography curriculum framework to stimulate further discussion (abstract from the website).

- by Youn-Ju You (u3017630)

Websites: [|Picture Australia] Picture Australia and The Learning Federation have come together to create a number of slideshows for use in schools. This is a large collection of photographs and images that could be used in the SOSE classroom, particualrily for the purpose of visual literacy lessons. It contains slideshow trails for the following areas: Geography & Environment, Art & Culture, History & Society and Sport. There is a large collection of images which could be used in different ways for different age groups. [|**Australian Screen**] ** Suitable age range: ** Year 4-10 @Full resource recommendations Lucy Munro
 * Online Resource **
 * Curriculum links: ** ELA 21: The student understands about Australia and Australians
 * Description: ** Australian Screen offers a large selection of resources for geography through the incorporation of provides teachers and students with the opportunity to view a collection of moving images. Many of the clips are supported with teachers’ notes which have been written by specialist curriculum writers and expert curators’ notes which can provide helpful background knowledge.

By Katie Nicolls** [] An interactive whiteboard/Smart board resource aimed at 8-14 year old students. A series of 9 whole-class interactive activities are offered (along with teacher notes) with an aim to develop inquiry skills and investigate how different maps affect students’ view of the world. Although this resource was created to cover the UK curriculum, it is a valuable resource for teachers of Geography world wide.
 * "Mapping Our World" - An Interactive Resource

In my précis, I examined an article titled //Geography in the Australian Capital Territory: A Mixed Picture// which implied reasons few public school students within the ACT continue studies in Geography throughout their later schooling. One of the reasons given was a suggested lack of exposure to unique Geographical skills to students in public primary schools. The article suggested that as a result of this lacking exposure, students entering high school can have no assumed knowledge of Geography. As a result, I am recommending a mapping resource, with mapping being one of these unique Geographical skills. In her précis, Sophie Andriolo wrote about the need to teach mapping skills to students and the importance of mapping as a main skill in Geography. According to the article examined by Sophie “maps are excellent tools for discovering where things are and how they move”. Her précis further explains the different types of mapping skills, and the way different aspects of mapping are relevant to students’ lives.
 * __Resource Recommendation__**

23.EC.3** - the globe as a representation of the Earth and distinctive landscapes and places
 * Curriculum Links:
 * 23.LC.5** - significant geographic areas and reference points in the world
 * 23.LC.9** - locate places and geographic features on world maps
 * 23.EA.9** - locate places on a world map where significant issues and events are occuring and identify their geographical features using geographical language

National Geography Curriculum draft shaping paper []
 * __An Additional Resource__**

I also recommend becoming familiar with the resource of the draft shaping paper for the Geography curriculum. Although still in the draft stages, student teachers can use the draft paper as a resource to become familiar with the Geographical content that they will be required to teach in later years. This will assist in public school teachers developing the necessary skills and knowledge to teach the subject area. The article I examined in my précis stated that that within the public school system, the incorporation of Geography into SOSE means inadequate time is spent teaching Geography and teachers lack the skills and training to teach the subject. This future National curriculum will combat any inconsistency in teachers’ Geographical knowledge and skills.

Freeman, J. (2006). [|Geography] in the Australian Capital Territory: A Mixed Picture. //International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education.// 15(2). pp 185-188
 * References: **

Van de Schee, J. (1998). //Map analysis as a main skill in geography to train thinking about real life situations.// Geographical Education, 11, 24-29.

ACT Curriculum Document //Every Chance to Learn//

[|**Water, Water, Everywhere?**] Grade level: 6-10 From Discovery Education, this website offers main services including:

In Classroom Resources, there is a session called Lesson Plan Library. The Library is divided into three learning levels: The teaching resource is useful as it details a list of sessions including objectives, materials, procedures, adaptations, discussion question, evaluation, extensions, suggested readings, lilnks, vocabulary, and credit etc. The resource draws upon environments and relevant issues at global level and provides handout for the teacher to encourage students to brainstorm the environmental issues. The resource can be adapted in order to fit into Australian context and issues. For excample, a lesson called Water, Water, Everywhere? can be adapted to engage students to manipulate a data module in order to find out the relationship between population growth and water availability in Australia. A lesson like the Water, Water, Everywhere? can lead students to learn knowledge about the environment, develop inquiry skills to investigate isssues in the environment as well as develop problem solving skills and acquire attitudes of care for the envorinment by writing a practical action plan for sustainable development.
 * products & services
 * classroom resources
 * home resources
 * professional development
 * store
 * Grade level K-5
 * Grade level 6-8
 * Grade level 9-12

References:

Discovery Education. (2010). Classroom resources: Lesson Plans Library: 6-10 Geography-Water, water, everywhere? [] (Constance Chen)

__Resource:__  **Podcasts for Learning** []

__Description:__  This website gives a good run down of how to use, create and work with podcasts in the classroom. Through not directly related to geography education, I found this resources via the article I chose, that did specifically look at using podcasts in geography education. The design of the webpage is quite basic, but all the information needed is provided. All the information is split into subheadings including tips and tricks, for teachers, finding podcasts, where to start etc which makes it easy to find information. All information is presented in both the form of YouTube clips and written descriptions. The site also has a long list of links to podcasts that can be used in the classroom.

__Articles:__  I chose this resource as it related to the article I wrote my precise on ( Now Hear This – Exploring Podcasting as a Tool in Geography Education by K Lim ), and also Natalie Edwards chosen article ( Seeking Younger Children’s ‘Voices’ in Geographical Education Research by S Catling ). This resource, will allow teachers to learn and be confident in using/creating podcasts in the classroom. Further students from a young age are very tech savvy and want to learn through and design using all aspects of technology. Therefore if teachers are educated and understand podcasts as a tool, they will more likely introduce it into their classroom, and allow students to learn and create their own podcasts.

__Links to Geography podcasts:__ The National Geographic has a range of podcasts relating to geography that could be used in a primary/high school setting - [] This geography site has a range of links to geography based websites that use podcasts – for both primary and secondary geography education - []

__References:__  Catling, S. (2005) Seeking Young Children's 'Voices' in Geographical Education Research, //International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, Vol.14, No. 4. //[|E-Reserve] item available in unit 7985 Social and Environmental Education 2, University of Canberra, ACT. Lim, K (2005) Now Hear This – Exploring Podcasting as a Tool in Geography Education, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University http://homepage.mac.com/voyager/brisbane_kenlim.pdf

Nicole Linsell (u302733)


 * My Wonderful World**

Primary Geographer Thinking Geographically by Simon Catling Active Learning Strategies using images in Geography by GrahamYates – Precis by Lucy Munro Resource: [] This resource is a National Geographic run website that provides teachers, children and parents with many on-line resources to promote geography and promote why learning about geography is important. The on-line games and resources are great and really test the learner. This site provides links and resources for teachers to allow their students to be really active learners in geography. Being a visual learner is really important as Lucy states “this new millennium as becoming a visual society” and this resource really promotes visual learning. Both the articles by Simon Catling and Yates for me told the importance of using stimulating visual resources to provide students with the engagement to learn geography. With this resource students can create maps, do quizzes and other games and activities to learn geography. I really like this website and it has given me many ideas for teaching geography.

Cameron Love

Suitable age range:** K- 4 [] Luke Vearing, u3016966
 * __Map Reading and Activities__
 * Curriculum links:** 21.LC.10 identify and represent key features of places in Australia on maps.
 * Description:** This site is a great little tool for establishing the importance of mapping for younger children. This lists the essential components of maps, and gives some great ideas for school activities relating to mapping, and also activities for home use as well.

Ginninderra Catchment Group http://www.ginninderralandcare.org.au/category.php?id=49 Although geography or ecology aren't one of my interest groups, I came across this site and thought it might be useful. It has resources for teachers including information about wetland habitats and how to design your own frog bog. I'm sure it has other relevant teaching resources as well.

Cheers, Elise Cummins.

Full resource recommendation (For week 4 interest group). Cathy McMahon (u3025770)
 * Suitable Age Range:** Kinder - Year 6
 * Curriculum Links:** Every Chance to Learn: ELA 21: The student understands about Australia and Australians.
 * Integrated Curriculum Links:** Every Chance to Learn: ELA 17: The student chooses and uses measures.
 * Description:** Quikmaps is an online tool which enables users to draw on top of Google Maps. Users can personalise their maps by adding a wide variety of markers and icons, text, as well as straight or freeform lines. **Registration is required to save maps, however it is free and you don't even need to supply an email address.**

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|TIME for Kids – Around the World – Sightseeing Guide]

 * __Suitable Age Range__****:** K - 6
 * __Curriculum Links:__** ELA 23 The student understands world issues and events
 * __Description__****:** This resource allows students to explore countries in Africa, Asia, Central America, Europe, North America, South America, as well as Australia and New Zealand. First select a country to look at, for example Egypt. Then you click on [|Sightseeing Guide – Egypt] which will take you to a map of the country. Not only are the maps fantastic, but they also offer pre determined significant locations to look at. Students can then select a location, which then brings up a photograph and a caption describing the location.

Click here for the full resource recommendation. Lauren Miller (u3026149)

“**Why should I be interested in Geography**?” [] “**Geography Matters**” [] The geography resources I have chosen stem from the educational advice found in the article “// __The key role of metacognition in an inquiry-based geography curriculum__ //” ( Kriewaldt, 2006 ) which I wrote my précis on. The other article I have chosen is “ __Active learning strategies using images in geography__” (Yates, 2000). There were several people who presented a précis on this article and there were two particular points made by different people which encouraged me to find the resources that I have. __Lucy Munro__ wrote, “//This article recognises this new millennium as becoming a visual society as students will obtain most of their knowledge and perceptions of the world from visual images//…”

__Kylie Apps__ included, //“Images should be used to provide opportunities for students to think for themselves and ask questions about what they see”.//

The youtube clips I have attached are more //general// clips relating to geography, more like an overview, however I think they both have great potential to strike up some interesting thoughts and questions in the students. Following watching the clips, the teacher could have the students complete an Assessment for Learning Task which could be the beginning stage of an inquiry unit. This is where it is important for the students to be asking the questions as opposed to the teacher. In recognition of Kreiwaldt’s (2006) article, I would have the students keep a journal of the questions they had after watching the clip. Then for each one write how they could go about finding out about what interested them. Then I would have them write what they found out and how they went about it. Then list any further questions they have from what they found.

Alternatively, either of the youtube clips could be used in a Geography class for several other purposes: 1 – To introduce the beginning of teaching geography and spark interest in the students. 2 – The teacher could have some of the pictures, some of the questions posed, or some of the statements made in the clip and plan an activity around them. 3– An example that students could view as being a way to respond creatively to what they’ve learnt (specifically identifying the choice of words, music, pictures, etc


 * Kriewaldt, J. (2006) //The key role of metacognition in an inquiry-based Geography Curriculum//. Geographical Education, 19, 24-30. (e-reserve)
 * Yates, G. (2000). Active learning strategies using images in Geography. Geographical Education, 13, 68-76. (e-reserve)


 * Sarah Desmond (3026218**)

[] This resource is a short video giving some ideas on how to start introducing/teaching map skills to students. Some ideas include: · Introduce language used in association with maps · Show where current events are taking place · Show where places are in relation to other places · Include ordinal directions around the classroom e.g. put arrows on classroom walls showing the north, south, east and west of school · Have students make a map of the classroom, the school, their house, their community etc · Introduce games where students - plot things on a map - identify places on map · Introduce puzzles with maps on them so students can assemble a map (with Australian states, continents, electoral areas etc) And here [] are some free mapping activities and worksheets (some of the activities are not related to Australia, but their ideas are great and you can adjust them so they are suitable for your class J ) Van de Schee (1998) suggests the three skills required to use maps effectively include map reading, map analysis and map interpretation. The websites above include activities for students to practice these skills. Both Tammy (1998) and Van de Schee (1998) recommend map work be applied to real life situations.

Tammy, K. (1998). 'Oh! I can use a map to find my way! v.11, 1998: 29-36. Van de Schee, J. (1998). //Map analysis as a main skill in geography to train thinking about real life situations.// Geographical Education, 11, 24-29.

Emma Dixon 3016923

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Students today are bombarded with activities and resources outside the classroom that engage them in all learning styles. The application of Tony Ryan’s Thinkers Keys develops innovative and creative thinking for all learning styles. This link will take you to a document that provides examples and justifications for all of the Thinkers Keys. It’s really easy to adapt the questions to suit the level and outcomes you are working towards.

Emma Dixon 3016923


 * Teaching Resource Website:**


 * Australian Federation of Societies for Studies of Society and Environment (AFSSSE)** []

The aim of the plan is to develop all Australians with the knowledge and skills to understand what is environmentally sustainable development and more importantly, how to live sustainably. The plan is free to download so that it allows teachers to use it as the background informaton and guidelines to explain the concept of sustainability to students
 * National Action Plan for Education for Sustainability** []

Kriewaldt, J. (2004). The place of school geography in education for sustainability. //Geographical Education//, //17//, 27-32. Retrieved from University of Canberra E-Reserve. []
 * Two precis about Geography Education:**

Kriewaldt, J. (2006). The key role of metacognition in an inquiry-based geography curriculum. Geographical Education, 19, 24-30. Retrieved from University of Canberra E-Reserve. []

(My pricis) The article that Kriewaldt wrote in 2004 provides a direction of teaching Environmental Education. It is about an overview of school geography in education for sustainability in Australian curriculum. Some key points include:
 * Despite Environmental Education policy is found in most Australian states and territories and is part of Key Learning Areas, knowledge and skills of personal action in relation to practice sustainability is insufficiently addressed in curriculum documents
 * The success of Educstion for sustainability needs to adopt a holistic appraoch and integrate dimensions including environments, social equity and economy (three Es), biophysical, economic, social and cultural, and political systems
 * Geography focuses on understanding the relationships between people, places in the environment
 * Education for sustainability needs to draw on actions for protecting and restoring the nature of environment and should link with citizenship education
 * incorporate education for sustainability into geography, critical pedagogy with inquiry-based and student-centred learning should be taken into account in order to achieve a holistic and transformative education

(Another precis) Another article that Kriewaldt wrote in 2006 addresses the constructivist approach of teaching geography. The approach is based on the theories of Piaget, Bruner and Vygotsky and other psychologists. It addresses the way of how learners learn and states that learning occurs when learners extend their prior learning and existed knowledge to construct new ideas. Some key points include:
 * Applies an inquiry-based approach
 * Incorporates metacognition - the process of thinking about one's own thinking
 * New learning requires the rethinking of prior knowledge as learning is a proactive activity
 * Learning requires self-motivation
 * In an inquiry framework, students develop their higher-order thinking by asking questions such as What? Where? How? Why? How ought? and what might I do about this?
 * In an inquiry-based learning environment, students show progressive attitude to learn and investigate both primary and secondary sources, make practical recommendations and provide conclusion of thier findings
 * Scientific methods are involoved to help students evaluate and test a hypothesis
 * Tasks are open-ended
 * Central to the inquiry approach is the belief that learning should be something that the student does matter than something that is done to them

Kriewaldt also explains the components of metacognition including:
 * Metacognitive knowledge - knowledge of the nature of learning, effective learning techniques, and personal learning characteristics
 * Metacognitive awareness - of the task and of progress
 * Metacognitive control - making productive decisions about approach, progress and outcomes

In Kriewaldt's point of view, metacognition is learning to thinkg about the how and why. Effective learning can be achieved when the learner is strategic, self-regulated and reflective in the process of learning.

Constance (Li-Fen) Chen (u3016575)

__Resource Recommendation- Google Maps__ __Year level__- 2,3,4
 * Glyn Hupalo 3024677 **

I have decided that the best resource to use in conjunction with my précis Education: Quick name Togo’s Capital, and Cameron Loves précis Primary Geographer Thinking Geographically, is Google Maps.

As mentioned in my précis, David Smith bestowed great geographical knowledge on his students who began with next to no knowledge. He began with the basics of geography, which were learning the countries of the world, and where they belong on the map. His usual of visualisation allowed students to gain their understanding of the world.

Similar to my précis, Cameron’s talks about the importance of visual links, and use of maps in teaching Geography. Google maps will allow students to engage with the world map at a level they feel comfortable. Some students may use it for the task of gaining knowledge of various countries, while other students may perform the more advanced task of learning the geography of specific cities or towns. Furthermore it allows students to explore the world visually the way they see it; through the countries and areas that interest them, while improving their ICT skills.


 * Google Maps **
 * Website: @http://maps.google.com.au/maps?hl=en&tab=wl **

The first article focuses on changing the way geography is viewed, learnt and taught by both students and teachers. It talks about connecting geography to the students’ everyday lives to ensure it is a subject they both enjoy and understand. The second article talks about allowing students to be active in their learning and self-regulate what they learn and how they learn it. It states how important it is for students to talk about their learning and the importance of inquiry as an active process through which learners construct knowledge about the world’. Sally Gore-Johnson
 * Readings**: ‘Everyday Geography: Re-visioning Primary Geography for the 21st Century’ and ‘The key role of metacognition in an inquiry-based geography curriculum’.
 * Intended age group**: Can be adapted for use with any age group
 * ELA:** ELA Syudents understands about Australia and Australians - can also include a number of the interdisciplinary ELA's depending on how the resource and programs are used.
 * Resource Evaluation:** The resource I have chosen is The Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve and the adjoining school ‘Birragai’. The nature reserve has a range of different geographical features and the school provides a variety of programs that cater for students of any age and not only focus on geography but a number of SoSE topics. This resource allows for the teacher to be as free with their planning as they wish or to choose from the set programs, but either way it allows for the students to be active within their own learning. A great way to use the nature reserve would be to look at the changes that have occurred before and after the Canberra bushfires, culminating the unit with a visit to the reserve to view the landform themselves. The entire list of programs available can be viewed at the Birragai website: __http://www.birrigai.act.edu.au/educational_programs.__Take particular notice of the program 'Walking the boundaries' as it has a focus on geography looking at the changing landforms of the region, but each program has geography intertwined within the outcomes. This is a wide resource that can be interpreted and used in a variety of ways to meet the outcomes for students of any age.

from the National Geographic Xpeditions website []
 * Resource Recommendation:** ‘Into the Ocean’


 * Year Level:** K – 2


 * Stephanie Tully**


 * Readings:**

Bonnor and Ralph, in their chapter, define what geography is and highlight essential skills that need to be developed in order to obtain the most out of geography. The authors point out that a good geographer is one that asks questions and then uses their skills and tools to obtain the answers for those questions. The questions that one must ask are: What is there? Where is it? Why is it there? What are the effects of it being there? How is it changing over time?. The skills range from being observant, gathering information, doing research, and describing. The tools that are integrated vary between primary and secondary resources such as photographs, interviews, landscapes, maps, sketches, surveys, etc.

The article by Kriewaldt, focuses mainly on teaching geography through an inquiry-based lesson which in turn will encourage the use of metacognition. This makes learning geography become more of a ‘geographical inquiry’ focus moving it away from the rote learning of geographical facts. This form of learning is more of an active process as students will have the opportunity to construct knowledge about the world by building on and adjusting their prior knowledge as they obtain new knowledge.

Together the articles highlight the need to have a more active geography lesson, one that allows the students to think about what they are learning and incorporate what they already know. This means that the students will have the opportunity to develop the required geographical skills needed to obtain the answers to the questions they seek.


 * Resource explanation:**

The resource I have found is from the National Geographic website. This site offers many lesson plans and is a great site for teachers to use when seeking geography-based resources. As the introduction to the resource, the students will have the opportunity to apply their prior knowledge during discussions on what they already know about the ocean, e.g. what lives there, what we use it for, etc.

Using photographs by David Doubilet, students explore the underwater scenery and discuss why certain animals live in particular environments, and what David is trying to show us by taking this photographs, etc.

This resource can be used a varity of ways, either in the format that is written on the site, or adapted to lead the students towards environmental sustainability. However, I believe that this resource allows you to start local then expand out, incorporating prior knowledge and allowing the students to be active in their learning experience, while allowing the development of geographical skills.

Bonner, C. & Ralph, B. (1994). Key Skills in Geography. pp 1-17(2nd ed.) Melbourne, Australia: Longman Cheshire Pty Ltd. Located in the TEC at the University of Canberra. Kriewaldt, J. (2006) //The Key Role of Metacognition in an Inquiry-Based Geography Curriculum.// Geographical Education, 19, 24 – 30. Found in E-reserve in the Geography folder.
 * Sources:**

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Melissa Dixon. Student ID: u3025265 Kreiwaldt, J. (2004). //The place of school in geography in education for sustainability//. Geographical Education, 17, 27-32. This article can be found in the e-reserve: <span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; text-decoration: none; textunderline: none;">[] <span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Kriewaldt, J. (2006). //The key role of metacognition in an inquiry-based geography curriculum//. Geographical Education, 19, 24-30. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">This article can be found in the e-reserve: <span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> []
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">__Week Three Précis__ **

In her article, // The place of school in geography in education for sustainability, // Jeanna Kreiwaldt explores the concept of sustainability education and investigates its role within schools and classrooms, with particular reference to Australia. Kreiwaldt also examines the involvement of school geography in regards to education, and how it can contribute towards sustainability, and how it is linked to pedagogical approaches.

<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Kriewaldt addresses the constructivist approach of teaching geography in her article, //<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif';">The key role of metacognition in an inquiry-based geography curriculum //. The approach is based on the theories of Piaget, Bruner and Vygotsky and other psychologists. Kriewaldt discusses how learners learn. She states that when learners extend their prior learning and existed knowledge, they can construct new ideas and learning occurs.

<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">[] <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">“Thinking Maps, developed by Dr. David Hyerle, are visual teaching tools that foster and encourage lifelong learning. They are based on a simple yet profound insight: The one common instructional thread that binds together all teachers, from pre-kindergarten through postgraduate, is that they all teach the same thought processes.” <span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> The Thinking Maps program consists of eight graphic organisers used to construct, record and display the thinking processes going on inside the student's mind. By doing this, the student is making their thinking explicit and visible, thus removing the abstract nature of thinking, which is so often where students struggle. The Thinking Maps reflect the fundamental, generic concepts that we employ on a daily basis. The eight concepts Thinking Maps refer to are: - Describing attributes or properties - Defining in context - Sequencing - Seeing analogies - Identifying cause and effect - Classifying - Comparing and contrasting - Analysing whole-part relationships Some points about Thinking Maps: - Introduces learners to the elements of metacognition and transfer. - 'When using Thinking Maps, students, teachers and administrators become self-reflective, looking into their own thinking, and become self-regulated learners.' (David Hyerle, 2004) - Thinking Maps extend students metacognitive awareness - Graphic organisers have enabled the students to record the cognitive processes for use in the piece of structured, persuasive writing that formed the outcome of the task, whilst their conceptual thinking has become visible and explicit.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">__Resource – Thinking Maps__ **

Resource: [|Virtual Australia] Suitable for Grades: K-6 and could also be used in highschool Sarah Withers 3025232

The Virtual Australia website ( [] ) is a great resource as it provides photos from around Australia that could be used in the classroom. The photos are sorted into several different groups such as landscape, cities, outback, flora and fauna. These classification make it easy for both the teacher and the students to find pictures relevant to what is being taught in class.

These photos provide visual images of places that many of the students may not have seen in person. They give the students an opportunity to see what for instance a certain Australian landscape that they are learning about looks like. As discussed in Lucy Monro précis and Kylie Apps précis referring to Yates article Active Learning Strategies Using Images In [|Geography] (2000) visual images are very important in the classroom but are often overlooked and just added to make an activity interesting. Kylie Apps wrote in her précis that

“Images can be used to help students that have trouble reading and interpreting texts, therefore using images to promote learning, especially in the area of geography, can help low achievers and increase their self-esteem.”

The article that I wrote my précis on by Catling (Primary geographer : thinking geographically, 2003) also stresses the important of visuals in learning geography and has several suggested activities that include using photos.

This website provides a variety of clear photos of Australia and its features. It would be very useful when teaching about Australia’s varied landscapes as it provides the students with visual, realistic material to show the different areas they are learning about. It also has a brief description of the area the photo was taken to provide users with background information about the place.

Catling, S. (2003). Primary geographer : thinking geographically. //Interaction, 31//(2), 37-39.

Yates, G. (2000). Active learning strategies using images in [|geography]. Geographical Education, 13, 68-76.


 * Books:**


 * James Green Geography Resource **


 * My Map Book – By Sarah Fanelli **



ELA 21. The student understands about Australia and Australians 21.EC.10 Recognise Australia's shape (e.g. in images and on maps) and some of its places (e.g. relevant to students' experiences or classroom focus). ** This book contains twelve detailed and engaging maps such as ‘Map of my day’ and ‘Map of my dog’. Each spread of this picture book contains a full-coloured map that can be used to illustrate the uses of, and ease with which maps can be created to young learners. One of the best features of this book is that the maps are set in the context of a students ‘every day life’ helping to teach the concepts of geography, location, relative location and spatial association from the students perspective out.
 * Year level K-2**
 * Curriculum Links

Fanelli, S. (2006). // My Map Book. // London: Walker Books LTD.
 * References**

ACT Department of Education and Training. (2007). //Every Chance to Learn, Curriculum Framework for ACT schools, Preschool to year 10.// Canberra ACT: ACT Department of Education and Training.

DVDs/videos:

Other: Precis:- Martin, F. (2006). Everyday geography: re-visioning primary geography for the 21st century. //Geographical Education//, 19, 31-36. (Located on e-reserve). Van de Schee, J. (1998). Map analysis as a main skill in geography to train thinking about real life situations. //Geographical Education//, 11, 24-29. (Located on e-reserve).
 * //Aboriginal Australia (Map)// - The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies** (u3011402)

While many people think geographically without even realising it, it is still important to develop map reading skills to enhance spacial reasoning as well as demonstrating conncetedness of places as discussed by Sophie Andriolo in her post. A subject that can be explored through maps is the Indigenous heritage of the Canberra area.

Maps relating to Indigenous heritage can be both very useful and limited. The resource Aboriginal Australia, a map by David Horton which is available from The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies outlines the land where each particular Indigenous language was primarily spoken. The map cannot be completely accurage however, as Indigenous people were rather vague about boundaries, not seeing land as something to possess like the Europeans did, bit it does give an idea. Through maps the interactions between the Indigenous people can be explored - for example, the Indigenous guide, Adrian (on the Aboriginal Black Mountain Ranger Guided Walk), explained that people from the Ngunnawal married people from Wiradjuri if marriages were getting too close. This idea can be strengthened by showing where the Wiradjuri region is compared to the Ngunnawal region and how large the Wiradjuri area is. Treks by Ngunnawal people along with other groups are much better explained when you see where they were coming from. If there is a map of the areas each Ngunnawal family group lived, this could be compared to a current day map to see relationships such as how an Indigenous group with a particular name lived in the area now called by a similar European name. To help students relate to the maps, an excursion to a lookout area such as on Black Mountain with a guide to point out the rough perimeter of the Ngunnawal region may help them to comprehend the maps as well as see ho current day maps relate to what they can see from that view (becoming a little more like 'everyday geography').