Geography Southwest Newsbites June 2022
The June 2022 Geography Southwest Newsbites brings you details of events, new resources and recent news items as end of the school year approaches.
Geography Southwest was launched in June 2020 in the middle of the pandemic. As this academic year draws to a close and the summer holidays beckon, we celebrate our second anniversary. Geography Southwest has grown steadily with your support to become a recognised and indeed, 'prize winning' resource hub supporting students and teachers across all sectors in the SW and beyond. Our social media platforms have become vibrant exchange mechanisms. We are looking forward to our first Teachers' Conference on Tuesday 28 June with an impressive range of speakers and workshops https://uwe.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2hnrpG0yo1FBcjk
In recent months we have been very pleased to forge sponsorship and professional partnerships with a wide variety of organisations both in the UK and abroad. We have been delighted to work with RHUL, the Westcountry Rivers Trust and the Lower Otter Restoration Project in the production of new educational resources. Further new teaching materials will be launched in 2022-2023.
We are seeking to expand the Geography Southwest team and would be delighted to hear from anyone who would like to be involved with the future development of the website. We are seeking writers and editors, geographers interested in website design, and those with a keen interest in promoting geography through social media and IT. We are particularly keen to develop the potential of StoryMaps as interactive portals for students to access information. If you would be interested in being involved do make contact via gswinfo@geographysouthwest.co.uk or direct to Simon Ross at rosstrout@aol.com. We'd love to hear from you.
Enjoy the summer break! The next Newsbites will be published in September at the start of the school year together with a Guest Blog and new website articles ready for when you return to the classroom!
Geography events:
The first SW Geography Teachers’ Conference is on Tuesday 28 June 2022, a partnership event involving Geography Southwest, the University of the West of England (UWE) and the RGS-IBG. The venue for this free conference is the Department of Geography, University of the West of England, and the day starts at 10.00 and finishes at 1615. Teacher entry is free, but places are limited, and early registration is recommended. Details of the draft programme and how to book can be found on this link:
https://uwe.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2hnrpG0yo1FBcjk
Study tour/inspection visit to Morocco
Discover Ltd, experts in school travel to Morocco, are pleased to offer teachers an opportunity to explore the country over a long weekend in November 2022 or May 2023. You will have a chance to visit the bustling, atmospheric city of Marrakech, take a trek in the High Atlas mountains and experience a hot desert. All aspects of the trip once in Morocco will be free (accommodation, transport and food) . . . you just need to pay for the flights. Places are limited and will be offered on a first come, first served basis. For more information, click the link to download a pdf flyer. https://www.geographysouthwest.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/MOROCCO-FIELD-STUDY-VISIT-INSPECTION-TOUR_GSW-1.pdf
Connecting the Culm Project Summer Forum
The Connecting the Culm project summer forum events will be an in-person event at Coldharbour Mill, Uffculme, on Thursday 14 July from 7-9pm. Come and join the team for an evening of talks, discussion and celebration. (with cheese, wine and local cider too!). The evening is free but please book a ticket here to guarantee your place. Dr Antony Firth will talk about his research on the River Culm, exploring how its history can help us plan for its future. There will be an exhibition of Richard Carman's landscapes and team members will be available to talk about their areas of work, from farm advice, community art, community engagement and citizen science to balsam-bashing and the Blueprint for the future.
The Royal Geographical Society (RGS) programme events for teachers can be found on their website including Royal Geographical Society - Representative history and geography curricula at GCSE and A Level: embedding equality, diversity and inclusion (rgs.org) on Thursday 16 June in London. This is a joint event between the Society and the Historical Association is aimed at both history and geography teachers, focusing on curriculum content and the work that is being done to ensure the teaching of both subjects at examination level is more inclusive and representative.
Other RGS events in June and July include:
Fieldwork essentials for early career teachers, in-person, London, 20 June, 10.00am-4.00pm, from £120
GIS for fieldwork and the NEA: 16 June – online, 7 July – in-person, London
ArcGIS for secondary geography teachers:
9 June – online, 14 June – in-person, London, 13 July – at Edge Hill University, Ormskirk
Exploring Shackleton’s Antarctica, online, 22 June, 4.00pm-5.00pm, free
Subject knowledge for Key Stage Two geography, online, 15 June, 2.00pm-4.30pm, from £60
Geography and history - together stronger, but separate…?, online, 8 July, 2.00pm-5.00pm, from £70
Bristol Natural History Consortium Festival of Nature:
The 2022 BHNC Festival of Nature is being held from 10-18 June around the city of Bristol with over 80 events taking place including walks, talks, family activities and workshops. Festival of Nature | The Natural History Consortium | 5th-12th June 2021 (bnhc.org.uk) The programme includes several workshops and talks on themes of interest to primary and secondary geography teachers. Many events are free.
ESRI UK webinar on GIS and resources for teachers and students
ESRI UK are running a Webinar – Mon 6 June 2022, 4 pm to walk teachers through new resources and provide advice and topic on how to encourage students to find themselves through Geography and GIS. Register HERE
ESRI UK has a short film demonstrating how GIS brings geography to life and showng the variety of job roles available which can be shared with students, parents/carers and careers advisors. FILM
The CareerswithGIS web resource features real-life GIS professionals working in a diverse set of roles and organisations telling their individual study and career stories.
Geography Resources:
The Royal Geographical Society (RGS) Subject Knowledge Programme now has six published units. Royal Geographical Society - Geography resources for teachers (rgs.org)
The titles of the current units are Global Systems, Global Governance, Changing Places (Urban and Rural), Water and Carbon, Landscapes, coasts, drylands and rivers, and Fieldwork and GIS.
These online resources have been developed by the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), with support from the DfE. They are specially aimed at trainee/early career geography teachers. www.rgs.org/skp
Dartmoor National Park resources:
Dartmoor National Park provide an extensive range of resources suitable for teachers at all key stages and their students. A series of topic based factsheets and information summaries support a wide selection of geographical, ecological and historical topics. Alongside those specific to Dartmoor are resources about the development, importance and management of National Parks across the country.
https://www.dartmoor.gov.uk/learning/basic-factsheets
https://www.dartmoor.gov.uk/learning/advanced-study
The lesson plan resources provides a useful introduction on how to create lessons about Dartmoor with topic based practical examples and descriptions of resources https://www.dartmoor.gov.uk/learning/teachers-educators/plan-a-lesson
https://www.nationalparks.uk/teaching-resources/
These dropbox resources cover many topics: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/pbos4j77tu9gj5f/AAA0x2lER3fKrwKoP9jp6ibYa?dl=0
Enquiry 6 covers Dartmoor and Mires and Bogs https://www.dropbox.com/sh/pbos4j77tu9gj5f/AADqZNH-pYq8p4KKK2pIAvpba/Enquiry%206%20%20-%20What%20is%20a%20mire%20and%20why%20are%20those%20found%20across%20Dartmoor%20National%20Park%20so%20important%3F?dl=0&subfolder_nav_tracking=1
The Dartmoor National Park YouTube channel contains many videos both short and long covering many topics relevant to the geography classroom https://www.youtube.com/c/DartmoorNationalPark/videos
Hydrology and tree restoration resource:
Teachers looking at hydrology at A level will find the latest research from Wageningen Unversity and Research useful for teaching the hydrological impacts of tree restoration globally. The press release and summary can be found here;
The full article can be read here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-022-00935-0
Lost rain forests of Britain campaign and call to action
Lost Rainforests of Britain campaign is seeking help from citizens in mapping the locations of temperate rain forests sites. More information about this exciting and relevant campaign including how to help can be found here: https://lostrainforestsofbritain.org/2022/05/16/lost-rainforests-of-britain-campaign-calls-on-public-to-map-britains-temperate-rainforest/
The campaign is producing maps which will be useful to teachers and students studying biogeography and ecosystems. crowdsourced map of potential British rainforest sites
Geography News
Bathampton Meadows becomes first National Trust “green corridor”
The Bathampton Meadows is the first of 20 green corridors to be confirmed in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The 5 km green corridor connects the world heritage city of Bath with its surrounding countryside. It has been made possible by the recent acquisition of farmland alongside the River Avon and a transfer of land from from Bath and North East Somerset Council. A programme of community engagement will develop the future of the Meadows in partnership with local people and organisations. Bathampton Meadows | National Trust
New “super National Nature Reserve created in Somerset
A new “super” National Nature Reserve has been created in Somerset this May. The 15000 acre NNR will help protect rare wildlife. It will link the Ham Wall nature reserve near Glastonbury and its population of Otters and Water Voles with the Steart Marshes, an area of national importance for waterfowl and home of the once extinct Bittern and the rare marsh harrier. The valley of the River Parrott links the two areas and farmers will be encouraged to work the land in sustainable ways that benefit nature and the environment.
Plymouth National Marine Park Event
A National Marine Park open weekend was held at the National Marine Aquarium, Plymouth in April to launch a year of public activities for Plymouth Sound National Marine Park. Plymouth Sound is the UK’s first National Marine Park (NMP) and the National Marine Parks Horizons Project has received £9.5 million of funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Heritage Horizon Awards for its programme this year. The park aims to improve access to Plymouth’s natural and maritime heritage, increase the links between communities and the natural environment and boost the blue economy. It also aims to raise engagement with sustainability and ocean protection and improve the health and wellbeing of the local community.
At the Open Weekend event the University of Plymouth geographers showcased some of their work in a joint exhibition with the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG). They discussed with visitors the importance of looking after our oceans and how marine science can help us achieve that, and used a virtual diving experience to showcase some of the environmental work being undertaken at Plymouth University.
Plymouth gets ready to make a splash with National Marine Park | PLYMOUTH.GOV.UK