GEOGRAPHY TIPS NO 2
GEOGRAPHIC CONCEPTS
WHAT IS A GEOGRAPHIC CONCEPT?
This is simply a geographic ‘idea’. These are the big ideas in geography we want students to
know about as a result of studying geography.
WHY WERE THESE CHANGED?
The old geography syllabus was based around 11 selected important geographic ideas (or
IGI’s). These were distance, location, process, interaction, system, region, culture,
perception, pattern, accessibility and change. Students were expected to be able to identify
these ideas, define them and use them throughout their geographic studies. Having a finite list
like this was helpful to teachers in that they recognized what ideas had to be covered.
A finite list, however, does not allow for any change to bring the subject up to date. Other
geographic ideas are of equal importance but they were not recognized. With the introduction
of the New Zealand Curriculum the geography achievement standards were aligned which
was seen as an opportunity to allow more flexibility with the concepts we teach. By renaming
these ‘concepts’ it made it clear that these were different to the old IGI’s. The intention was
for this to not be a defined list but one that can vary according to what you cover in
geography and what current trends suggest.
WHY DO WE HAVE TO TEACH THEM?
You cannot teach a course in geography without using concepts in its broadest sense. They
are what we want the students to learn and are therefore vital in any geography course. They
provide the framework for any geography study. Concepts are mentioned in assessments in
three ways:
1. Their use as part of standard titles. This occurs for example in
- 1.2 Demonstrate geographic understanding of population concepts
- 1.4 Apply concepts and basic geographic skills to demonstrate understanding of
a given environment
2. Their use as one of the main descriptors for the standard such as in the Level 1
and 2 Research where findings must incorporate the relevance of a geographic
concept.
3. Their use as a descriptor for the excellence grade in Level 1 and 2 which stateusing geographic terminology and concepts
HOW ARE CONCEPTS APPLIED?
In the case of AS 91008 “Demonstrate Geographic understanding of Population concepts”
the concepts to be covered are those indicated. For example: Population Distribution,
Population Diversity, External Migration, Internal Migration, Population Change, Natural
Increase and Population Sustainability. Students should know what these concepts mean, be
able to define them and apply them to their case study environments.
In the case of the Achievement Standards on Skills (1.4, 2.4 and 3.4) the concepts used by
examiners will be drawn from the list of concepts in the Teaching and Learning guidelines. In
other words the list of those we must and should teach as defined below. A definition of the
concept is generally provided for the student so that it is the application of it that is assessed.
In the case of the research internal standard it is advised to also keep to established main
concepts.
Where a concept is used as part of a descriptor for excellence level then any concept may be
applied unless a key concept is indicated by an examiner for a question. For example in the
AS91007 (1.1) a student may be asked to explain how their Extreme Natural Event has been
formed using the concept of ‘process’. As well as doing this it is still good practice to
encourage students to incorporate as many concepts in any answer as they can. A good
student will discuss concepts within any answer.
WHAT CONCEPTS SHOULD BE COVERED?
To be a geographic concept the idea must have a ‘spatial’ component. This is because
geography explores the people/environment interaction. Concepts occur at 3 different levels:
1. The concepts we must teach.
2. The concepts we should teach.
3. The concepts we can teach.
The concepts we must teach
These are often referred to as the Key Geographic concepts. These are the ones that students
could be assessed on and so must form a major part of a geography programme. These are
identified in the Teaching and Learning guidelines (http://seniorsecondary.tki.org.nz/Socialsciences/Geography). There are 7 of these key concepts that come out of the Achievement
Objectives for senior geography. These are: Pattern, Process, Interaction, Environment,
Change, Perspective and Sustainability.
The concepts we should teach
These are the ideas you would like a student to leave geography being aware of. In many
cases they ‘fall out’ of a key concept. For example any study of ‘environment’ will also be
considering ‘location’, ‘distance’, “place’ and ‘region”. Additional concepts include some of
the principles of the New Curriculum seen as important to our subject such as citizenship and
globalization. They also include the Maori concepts found in the Glossary of Maori concepts
on TKI such as kaitiakitanga, manaakitanga and hekenga. While these form the main ones
there is no definitive list. Several other big ideas such as ‘culture’, ‘accessibility’ and
‘system’ clearly fall into this category.
The concepts we can teach
These are the concepts likely to come up when teaching a particular geography unit. The
concepts covered will vary depending on the topics or themes chosen for study. For example,
when teaching AS91007 (1.1) you are likely to use the concepts of “Extreme Natural Event”,
Facilitator name, Month, year [version ie. Draft v3]
2
‘Natural Hazard, ‘Rehabilitation’ and ‘Mitigation’. Again there is no list of these so what you
cover will depend on the units studied as well as the ability of your students
SO HOW DO YOU TEACH CONCEPTS?
Make a list of the key geographic concepts as outlined in the Teaching and Learning
guidelines and their definitions. You can add some of the other old ‘IGI’s” to this list also if
you wish to expand on this. An example of 20 Key concepts and their definitions is provided
at the end of this help sheet. This is not intended as the ONLY possible examples but is a
good starting point. Adapt this to fit your geography programme.
You can make this into a mix and match game to get students to become familiar with them.
Students can start applying these to any geographic situation. If you watch a film ask what
concepts they could identify (like the old work of fiction), put up a photograph and get them
to identify a concept, talk about a current issue and ask what concepts are covered. It is
important that students use these concepts as often as possible so they get use to the language,
and so they can apply the concepts to any situation or environment
Get students use to identifying the concepts used in any unit of study by keeping a glossary.
You can also unpack these further by looking at the relationships between them. Give
students some main concepts like ‘Development’ and get them to come up with a mind map
of the other concepts that fall out of this ‘big idea’.
When writing paragraph answers in geography get the students to highlight the geographic
concepts they have included. This can be the result in you giving them one (as often occurs in
formative assessment) or using broader concepts you have covered in class. By highlighting
these it ensures they are using that terminology that is required for the higher grades.
WHERE TO GO FOR MORE CLARIFICATION
 Teaching and Learning guidelines:
http://seniorsecondary.tki.org.nz/Social-sciences/Geography/Key-concepts

Textbook: Our World: Geography Concepts and Case Studies for New Zealand
Students, 1st Edition. Martin Newton. Published by Nelson Cengage.
Facilitator name, Month, year [version ie. Draft v3]
3
20 Examples of concepts:
ENVIRONMENTS
Regions with particular characteristics in common
PERSPECTIVES
Ways of looking at the world
PROCESS
A sequence of actions that shape and change
environments
An arrangement of features either on the earth (spatial) or
over time (temporal).
Elements of an environment affecting each other and
linked together.
Any alteration to the natural or cultural environment
PATTERN
INTERACTION
CHANGE
LOCATION
How societies behave to meet their own needs without
preventing future generations from meeting theirs.
Where something is found on the earth’s surface
DISTANCE
How far away one geographic feature is from another
PLACE
A spot on the earth’s surface
GLOBALISATION
CULTURE
The process of making something worldwide in scope or
application
A common way of life shared by a group of people
ACCESSIBILITY
The ease of movement of people or ideas
SYSTEM
A set of features linked together to form a whole
KAITIAKITANGA
Caring for the Environment in a sustainable way
MANAAKITANGA
HEKENGA
Hospitality shown to visitors to make them feel welcome
Movement of Maori in response to their needs
TAONGA
A natural or cultural resource found in an environment
TINO
RANGATIRATANGA
IWI
People’s responsibilities to manage land and other
resources
A tribe with particular geographic boundaries
SUSTAINABILITY
Jane Evans
Northland/Auckland/Central North Geography facilitator
Margaret Leamy
Lower North Island/South Island Geography facilitator
Facilitator name, Month, year [version ie. Draft v3]
4