Geography Southwest Newsbites – February 2022
Welcome to the February 2022 Geography SouthWest Newsbites, featuring a selection of recent geography resources, events and news.
Geography Southwest welcomes our latest website sponsor, Insight & Perspective (I&P)
I&P are an independent publisher in the South West who publish resources for Geography, Fieldwork, Environmental Science, and Primary Science. Geography — Insight & Perspective (insightandperspective.co.uk) Their resources include practical guides to GCSE fieldwork and engaging texts and podcasts. Geography SouthWest looks forward to working with I&P. If you would like to find more about sponsorship, do contact us at gswinfo@geographysouthwest.co.uk.
Geography events:
Somerset Wildlife Trust is looking for volunteers to join its Frog & Toad Spawn count. This is a county wide citizen science event which is part of the Great Somerset Wildlife Count
The count is taking place from January 1st to March 31st when frogs and toads typically spawn. Their spawning is an indication of where good quality water bodies such as ponds are to be found, and the quality of surrounding habitats. Frogs and toads (and all amphibians actually) are considered "indicator species” as they absorb water directly through their skin, and are especially vulnerable to water pollutants. Visit Frog & Toad Count | Somerset Wildlife Trust for more details.
Geography resources:
Mining and Knowledge Booster videos:
Time for Geography have several new videos available online. The short video featuring Professor Iain Stewart Mining’s Role in Energy Transition (timeforgeography.co.uk) is a recent addition which shows the importance of mining in sourcing the minerals for electric vehicles. Other videos on resource management from Time for Geography can be found here Resource management (timeforgeography.co.uk)
Time for Geography’s recent short Knowledge Booster videos are very relevant for use in GCSE and A level lessons. Teachers will find The size of volcanic eruptions (timeforgeography.co.uk) paricularly relevant to support work on recent volcanoes in the Atlantic and Pacific. Three other new videos are The Long-Term Carbon Cycle (timeforgeography.co.uk), Natural causes of Quaternary climate change (timeforgeography.co.uk), and Temperate deciduous woodlands: Biotic and abiotic components (timeforgeography.co.uk)
Coastal erosion:
Dunwich - The search for Britain's Atlantis is a comprehensive set of interactive resources about the lost city of Dunwich, on East Anglia’s rapidly eroding coastline, developed by David Sear of Southampton University. Using photographs, maps, video and data, students can explore what happened to the mediaeval city and seaport, making use of offshore surveys and marine archaeology which have revealed the real extent of what has been lost to coastal erosion.
River data: The Shoothhill Gaugemap https://www.gaugemap.co.uk/ is an award winning interactive map featuring river flow, groundwater levels and camera data from across the British Isles. The resource includes real-time data, flood alerts and camera feeds. It is very useful for teachers students studying rivers, floods and their response to rainfall events.
Natural Flood Management: The Wye and Usk Foundation has some interesting information and videos on Natural Flood management appropriate for both GCSE and A level. The main site is https://www.wyeuskfoundation.org/ and the Natural Flood management page is at https://www.wyeuskfoundation.org/natural-flood-management-videos. It features two short videos based on Herefordshire focussing on the role of trees and on flood attenuation.
Green Planet posters and programmes.
You can order a poster and view other resources to accompany the BBC Green Planet series from the Open University website: (https://connect.open.ac.uk/greenplanet).
The first Green Planet programme on Tropical Rain Forests (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0013cl7) provides a good overview for GCSE students of the concepts of 'interdependence' and 'biodiversity'.
Climate change resources and links
New articles have been added to the Climate Change page of the geographysouthwest website, with the support of the Met Office and the Royal Meteorological Society. They can be viewed at https://www.geographysouthwest.co.uk/climate-change/climate-change-articles/. For additional relevant resources you can go to MetLink - Royal Meteorological Society IPCC 2021 Resources
Enjoy a virtual Glacial fieldtrip with your students
Des McDougall at the University of Worcester has developed fifteen virtual fieldtrips. They enable students and teachers to explore glaciers and glaciated landscapes in Switzerland, California and the English Lake District. These exciting resources can be accessed from the geographysouthwest website at https://www.geographysouthwest.co.uk/secondary/16-plus-articles/vr-glaciers-and-glaciated-landscapes/
Recent news:
Wildlife corridor in Bath: A new National Trust initiative was announced in January 2022 to develop a wildlife corridor in Bath to improve access to nature. This will be the first of twenty to be setup in England. More details can be found at https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jan/28/bath-green-corridor-will-be-first-of-20-to-improve-access-to-nature and https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-60156039. This project may be of interest to local teachers seeking a topic for NEAs.
Each month we feature topical news items, events, presentations and courses, with links to websites where you can find more information. Do let us know if you have any items to feature in March Newsbites by email to gswinfo@geographysouthwest.co.uk