NATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS CURRICULUM SUPPORT
Geography
Human Environments
Advice for Practitioners
[NATIONAL 5]
This advice and guidance has been produced to support the profession with the delivery of
courses which are either new or which have aspects of significant change within the new
national qualifications (NQ) framework.
The advice and guidance provides suggestions on approaches to learning and teaching.
Practitioners are encouraged to draw on the materials for their own part of their continuing
professional development in introducing new national qualifications in ways that match the
needs of learners.
Practitioners should also refer to the course and unit specifications and support notes which
have been issued by the Scottish Qualifications Authority.
http://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/34714.html
Acknowledgement
© Crown copyright 2012. You may re-use this information (excluding logos) free of
charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence.
To view this licence, visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open government-licence/ or e-mail psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk.
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to
obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.
Any enquiries regarding this document/publication should be sent to us at
enquiries@educationscotland.gov.uk.
This document is also available from our website at www.educationscotland.gov.uk.
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Contents
Introduction
5
Urban change
6
Rural change
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INTRODUCTION
Introduction
This advice and guidance highlights an approach to delivering the Human
Environments element of National 5. It will focus on the development of
exemplar material practitioners may wish to adapt when covering the topics
contained within the Human Environments unit. In particular this advice and
guidance will provide detail of how practitioners may deliver aspects of
Urban and Rural Change incorporating aspects of Land Use. Learning,
teaching and assessment in geography are not simply for the examination, but
should develop the capacities outlined in Curriculum for Excellence and
prepare the learner for the challenges that lie beyond National 5 by
developing skills for life, further learning and entering the workplace.
Geography is well placed to offer a broad and varied curriculum, allowing
learners to develop skills that are classroom based (in the form of map
interpretation skills, processing and interpretati on skills and IT skills) and the
ability to engage with local environments to collect first -hand data and
develop a deeper understanding of the factors that have shaped the locations
learners live in and interact with on a daily basis.
Geography has the ability to break down boundaries, allowing learners to
interact with individuals and groups to understand the factors and issues
created by change in an area or region and how this may shape thought at the
global level.
All the fieldwork activities outlined in this resource are meant to provide
examples of practice to practitioners and should not be taken as being in any
way prescriptive.
Learning from this area of the course can be used to work toward the
attainment of the outcomes for the Added Value uni t at National 4.
Practitioners should refer to the relevant SQA documentation regarding
outcomes and assessment and to the Education Scotland advice and guidance
for Added Value in Geography. Aspects of this unit may be appropriate for
consideration when planning National 4 and Higher.
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INTRODUCTION
All advice and guidance contained in this resource may act to exemplify
potential approaches to learning and teaching that practitioners can reflect on
when planning their own context. It is not encompassing for this unit o r for
the learning outcomes.
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URBAN CHANGE
Urban change
The urban change aspect of National 5 offers the opportunity for learners to
engage with locations within developed and developing nations. Detailed
study through specific case studies allows learners to deve lop a detailed
understanding of the issues, problems and conflicts arising between different
land users and within different land use zones.
Practitioners may wish to allow learners time to research their chosen case
study area, allowing the opportunity for prior knowledge to develop before
fieldwork or further research may take place.
Learners should study different land use zones within a city in the developed
world as well as the recent changes within city zones such as the C entral
Business District, inner city and the rural/urban fringe. The study of a city in
a developing nation will look at issues surrounding the development of shanty
towns and slums.
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URBAN CHANGE
Urban change gathering and processing techniques
Topic
Research skills
Processing techniques
City land use
zones

Land use transect through the
city chosen

Poster presentation

Video news report

Land price map and location
of key services

Graphical
presentation

Use of crime statistics to
compare different areas of the
city

Virtual fieldtrip (using
software such as Google Earth
or Bing Maps)

Questionnaire of
residents/shoppers

Graphical
presentation

Internet research

News report

Video conference with school
local to the area (Glow Meet)

Podcast

Glow Blogs

Narrate virtual tour
(such as Google
Earth)
Changes in city
zones
Developments
in shanty towns

Internet and news research


Portrayal of slums in TV,
media and computer games
(eg Slumdog Millionaire)
Role-play with
learners assuming
different roles

Virtual tour

Newspaper report

Use of online video resources
(BBC Class Clips, YouTube,
Google Video)

Virtual fieldtrip (using
software such as Google Earth
or Bing Maps)
The National 5 curriculum will continue to allow and encourage centres to
offer learners high-quality fieldwork experiences, with many continuing to
develop fieldwork experiences in urban zones within a city or town close to
their centre.
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URBAN CHANGE
The development of units and fieldwork experience for use at National 5
could allow centres and learners to create their own fieldwork, spending time
in class using OS maps or satellite image software (Google Earth or Bing
Maps) to choose locations to collect first-hand information, selecting their
own areas of study.
City land use zones
The use of mapping software such as Digimaps for School
(http://digimapforschools.edina.ac.uk, subscription only) or Streetmap
(www.streetmap.co.uk, free access) may allow learners the opportunity to
create personalised OS maps, complete with scale, title and annotations. This
may allow centres the opportunity to prepare for unique, relevant and
ultimately learner-led fieldwork.
Learners may be able to choose the locations where they wish to undertake
fieldwork, studying aspects of land use, environmental quality and building
type and allowing comparisons to be made between different sample sites. On
return to the classroom learners may then spend time undertaking further
research of land values and crime statistics as well as population
demographics. The Scottish Neighbour Statistics website
(http://www.sns.gov.uk, free access), which allows learners to access detailed
information for postcode areas, may enable learners to conduct further
research on their return to their centre of learning.
This detailed information, along with excellent fieldwork experience, would
give learners the opportunity to develop a first -hand understanding of the
differences between different urban zones within a single settlement.
Once research is complete learners can present their findings in any number
of ways. These could range from poster presentations showing graphical and
tabular results, to a news report highlighting the key pieces of information
collected and sharing video or photographic experiences from their different
sample sites.
This may encourage learners to assess their presentation of work and the
effectiveness with which they were able to collect information from both
primary and secondary sources. Learners could also create their own land use
map from their fieldwork experience, using images and data to develop
detailed visual presentations.
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URBAN CHANGE
Changes in city zones
Areas within the city are constantly changing, as architectural tastes change
and new land users demand and develop space. As an example of an approach
to learning, learners may become engaged in studying how urban zones have
changed within the city they are using as case study material.
A range of primary and secondary research activiti es from practitioners may
allow learners to engage fully with case study examples, allowing a detailed
knowledge and understanding to form.
The use of mapping software such as Old Maps (www.old-maps.co.uk, free
online access) or the historical imagery layer on Google Earth
(http://earth.google.co.uk) may allow learners to compare land use changes
during and after fieldwork experience, allowing them to consider issues that
may arise in the field.
This, along with the undertaking of interviews and questionnaires of local
residents, may allow recent change within an area of study to become
apparent, along with the impacts on local people.
Learners may also take advantage of GLOW Meet to arrange a video
conference with a school within their area of study to understand how life has
changed for those living within the subject of any case study. This may allow
a detailed understanding of how local residents may be affected by changes
and the positive or negatives experiences change may bring.
These fieldwork experiences could allow learners to understand the changes
that have taken place within their case study location, helping them to
develop a detailed knowledge of the issues surr ounding urban change, its
impact and consequences.
The information collected may be presented in a number of forms and using
varying presentation methods. Learners may wish to create a video report of
their case study to share with other schools via GLOW or simply to share
their experiences with peers. Podcasting the changing urban zones may allow
learners the opportunity to keep their fieldwork experiences on their MP3
players, allowing them to revise whilst walking to and from their centre.
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URBAN CHANGE
Developments in shanty towns
It is probably unlikely that learners will have the opportunity to collect first hand information from a shanty town so fieldwork in this section may be
limited to secondary sources. The use of visual aids may allow learners to
engage fully with the case study, developing a detailed understanding of the
problems caused by rapid urbanisation in the developing world.
On-demand video services such as YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/) and
BBC Learning Zone (http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/) offer
excellent and detailed case study material from which practitioners can select
relevant learning. This type of resource could give learners the opportunity to
develop their own knowledge and understanding of the rise of shanty towns
and the problems facing slum dwellers across the developing world.
Comparisons could easily be made, incorporating aspects of development and
health, and addressing global inequality. Practitioners may wish to search for
videos looking at Shanty Towns, contrasts in Urban Areas or study a specific
shanty town such as Rocinha, Brazil or Kibera, Kenya as well as the solutions
to Shanty Town issues. Practitioners may wish to share quality examples with
each other through GLOW.
Self-help schemes are an important issue for residents in Shanty Towns
throughout the Developing World. Charities such as Comic Relief
(www.comicrelief.com), UNICEF (www.unicef.org) and Practical Action
(www.practicalaction.org) offer materials and schemes to help residents of
Shanty Towns improve their living conditions, their success and responses by
Governments to improve conditions within Shanty Towns.
Centres may wish to vary how learners present their knowledge. Newspaper
reports may allow learners to develop a detailed knowledge whilst improving
their literacy skills. Learners may also wish to develop ideas along the theme
of a day in the life of a slum dweller, creating ideas for a drama sketch or
creating a diary highlighting different aspects of life in a shanty town.
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RURAL CHANGE
Rural change
The rural change aspect of National 5 offers the opportunity for learners to
engage with locations within developed and developing nations. Detailed
study through specific examples will allow learners to develop a n
understanding of the issues, problems and conflicts arising between changing
land uses and practices in both the developed and developing world.
Practitioners may wish to allow learners time to research their chosen
fieldwork locations, allowing the opportunity for prior knowledge to develop
before learners enter the field or further research may take place.
Rural change gathering and processing techniques
Topic
Research skills
Processing techniques
Changes in the
rural
landscape in
the developed
world

Land use transect through a
rural landscape
Comparative study of land use
of a farming landscape
through time
Interviews
Soil analysis
Virtual fieldtrip (using
software such as Google Earth
or Bing Maps)

Internet and news research
Use of online video resources
(BBC Class Clips, You Tube,
Google Video)
Virtual fieldtrip (using
software such as Google Earth
or Bing Maps)







Changes in the
rural
landscape in
the developing
world







Land use
transect/crosssection
Overlays for use
with OS map extract
Fieldsketch
Graphical
presentation
(Numeracy)
Virtual tour
News report
Role play
assignment/drama
GLOW Blogs
The National 5 curriculum will continue to allow and encourage centres to
offer learners high-quality fieldwork experiences, with many continuing to
develop fieldwork experiences in rural areas close to their centre.
HUMAN ENVIRONMENTS (NATIONAL 5, GEOGRAPHY)
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URBAN CHANGE
Rural change in the developed world
Learners could gather information on rural change in the developed world
from primary or secondary sources. Farming and Countryside Education
(www.face-online.org.uk) offer a wide variety of farm profiles along with
accompanying land use maps, allow learners to create maps highlighting rural
change.
Learners may be able to choose the locations along a transect they wish to
record information on, studying aspects of land use and soil quality , and
allowing comparisons to be made between different sample sites.
Whilst undertaking fieldwork learners could take soil samples from various
sites across their selected transect. Learners may wish to analyse these on
their return to their centre, developing interdisciplinary learning with science.
This would allow learners to develop ideas of land use and differing soil
quality throughout their chosen transect or farming location.
Learners may also have the opportunity to interview a farmer or estate
manager in order to develop a detailed understanding of recent changes in the
landscape. Learners could develop a land use map to analyse how the
landscape may have changed in relation to modern developments in farming
(diversification, organic farming, mechanisation, genetically modified crops).
On return to the classroom learners may then spend time undertaking further
research of land use change, field size and further analysis of any samples
collected. This detailed information, along with excellent fieldwork
experience, could give learners the opportunity to develop a first -hand
understanding of the recent changes in their rural landscapes and the possible
causes of this change.
Once research is complete learners could present their findings in any number
of ways. These could range from land use transects or cross-sections and OS
map overlays or tracings to field sketches and the presentation of data in both
graphical and tabular forms. A group PowerPoint or Prezi presentation
(http://www.prezi.com) could allow learners to share key pieces of
information collected with their peers, along with video or photographic
experiences from different sample sites.
This could encourage learners to assess their presentation of work and the
effectiveness with which they were able to collect information from both
primary and secondary sources, whilst also allowing them to share their
findings with other centres, possibly those within a large urban area that are
unable to develop rural fieldwork of their own. Centr es may wish to use
GLOW to share information and experiences between learners.
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RURAL CHANGE
Changes in the rural landscape in the developing world
It is probably unlikely that learners will have the opportunity to collect first hand information from the developing world so fieldwork in this section may
be limited to secondary sources. The use of visual aids may allow learners to
engage fully with the case study, developing a detailed understanding of the
problems caused by rapid urbanisation in the developing world.
On-demand video services such as YouTube (http://www.youtube.com) and
BBC Class Clips (http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/) offer excellent
and detailed case study material from which practitioners can select relevant
learning based around aspects of rural change. This type of resource could
allow learners the opportunity to develop their own knowledge and
understanding of the recent changes in the rural landscape in the developing
world and the impacts these changes have on local people. Comparisons could
easily be made to incorporate aspects of fieldwork experience from the
developed world, allowing learners to use their previous knowledge and
fieldwork experience.
Centres may wish to vary how learners present their knowledge. Newspaper
reports may allow learners to develop a detailed knowledge whilst improving
their literacy skills. Learners may also wish to develop ideas along the theme
of a day in the life of a slum dweller, creating ideas for a drama sketch or
creating a diary highlighting different aspects of life in a shanty town.
HUMAN ENVIRONMENTS (NATIONAL 5, GEOGRAPHY)
© Crown copyright 2012
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