Pupils exploring geographical significance
As well as setting out questions or criteria for pupils to use, we should involve pupils in identifying
their own questions or criteria for geographical significance.
This might grow out of their initial geographical studies, which have provided some ground work
in looking geographically at the world around them and have involved them is using questions like
those above, so that they have a basis for developing their own ideas. This approach shifts the
expert/teacher predetermination of significance criteria and of ‘significant places’ to discussions
and decisions by the pupils with the teacher.
There are a various activities that can be planned into geography topics to develop pupils’ ideas
and decisions about what is geographically significant for them and to help them recognise and
appreciate what others see as significant. The following ten activities are intended to enable
pupils to examine:
 why they are studying particular topics – their significance;
 what is significant within the topics;
 how and why they have meaning for people, including significance for themselves and
other groups of people;
 what ideas about and sense of geography they develop through looking at significance in
their studies.
Personally
Thinking about my place
Pupils individually, then in groups,
 look at what they do in their locality, where they go, with whom, why – their personal
geographies – perhaps through selecting photographs or taking their own locally and
making a presentation (display or talk);
 consider what has personal meaning for them about the locality and discuss their views,
noting where there are shared features, events, changes, perceptions, etc and which are
unique to them personally;
 examine whether and why (or why not) the pupils’ shared experiences and
features/sites/etc give them significance locally.
Connecting with the world
 Pupils individually, then in groups,
 play a version of Globingo (include a figure?) to acquaint them with the idea of global
connections and interdependence;
 identify various types of and reasons for connections they have with the ‘world’ beyond
their local area;
 decide on the most significant connections with the wider world and how and why these
are important to them and others;
 consider the significance of the ‘global in the local’ and the ‘local linked to the global’.
What can I do?
Pupils individually, and in groups,
 use a local or other case study (at any scale) to examine how people treat the physical
and social environment, how they might abuse it, care for it, manage it and improve it;
 develop their ideas about why physical and social environmental concerns and care are
important to people;
 consider how they might make a contribution to caring for and improving the physical
and/or social environment, setting out why such action is important to them;
 identify a particular positive environmental action that they will undertake, and later
feedback on what they did (a citizenship connection).
Through general geographical studies
Photo check
Pupils, in small groups,
 are provided with a set of photographs showing a variety of features and people (e.g.
actors, landscape, house, food, clothing, urban scene, river/canal, etc – perhaps culled
from adverts or the news in newspapers or on the web);
 select photographs which they consider show something geographical;
 identify what they think is a significant geographical photograph and explain what it is that
makes it significant for them;
 consider whether it would be significant geographically for other people.
Getting to the heart of the matter
Pupils, in small groups,
 watch a national TV news report about a recent or current physical and/or social
environmental event or issue (they may need to watch the news extract several times);
 identify reasons why it was included as newsworthy, and for whom;
 discuss and note what they think the important aspects of the report are;
 consider reasons why the report was presented the way it was;
 give a presentation about what they think makes a ‘geographical’ event significant
enough to be a national/international news item.
Where in the world
Pupils individually, or in small groups,
 use atlases, news reports, other pupils’ and adults’ lists – whatever information they
consider will help them – to create a list of features, places and environments across the
World;
 select from their list to show a maximum of 20 features, places and environments they
consider to be so significant that they and other people should know of them and their
location;
 produce a world map that shows these locations;
 compare this with other such maps (e.g. of World heritage sites);
 justify their selection in a presentation.
In learning through a geography unit
Our local leaflet
Pupils, as a class and in small groups,
 undertake a study of their own local area using fieldwork and a wide variety of resources;
 identify as the conclusion to their unit of study what would be important about their local
area to pass on to other people;
 create a leaflet or web site entry to show the important local aspects;
 justify why they have chosen these aspects of their place.
What’s important there
Pupils, as a class and in groups,
 undertake a locality study using a photopack and associated resources;
 are asked towards the end of their unit of work to decide what has most meaning for and
impact on people living in the place they have studied;
 create a poster to show what is significant about this place;
 explain why they have selected these aspects of the place;
 if school links with the locality exist arrange to compare your ideas with what children
there consider significant about their place.
Helping others to understand
Pupils, in groups,
 undertake a thematic study in geography, such as on water, rivers, coasts, settlements, a
disaster, an environmental issue;
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justify why in the topic is important for yourselves and other groups of people to know
about – identify which other groups of people, as real audiences;
identify and explain what the important aspects of the topic are that should be
understood;
create an illustrated booklet, a PowerPoint presentation, a web page or present an
assembly to show and justify their choices.
For key stage 2/3 school transfer
Learning geography
Pupils, in groups,
 are given the opportunity towards the end of Year 6 to consider what they have learnt in
geography that is important for them to remember and pass on to their geography
teacher at secondary school in Year 7;
 are given cards stating the various aspects of geography the pupils have studied in key
stage 2, which they sort in order of importance to themselves;
 identify the reasons why they have chosen those aspects of geography that they have;
 prepare a report or informative leaflet for their new geography teacher.