RMetS Heatwaves Scheme

The Royal Meteorological Society has been working with the Young People's Trust for the Environment on a new 4 lesson scheme of work about Heatwaves. This is timely given the first amber alert which has been announced for the southern half of the UK this coming weekend and into next week.

Heatwaves are now being graded on a four point scale. This is part of the Heat Health Alert Service.

Details are here.

All of the materials are available to download from the RMetS website

This package of lesson plans consists of 4 lessons:

Lesson 1: What are heatwaves?
Lesson 2: Why are heatwaves dangerous?
Lesson 3: How can schools prepare for a heatwave?
Lesson 4: What is your school like during a heatwave and how could it be improved?

By the end, students should be able to show which places in the school are most affected by extreme heat, understand what measures could be put in place to reduce the impact of extreme heat and be able to present their learning and research.

The lessons have been designed to support learners in Key Stage 2 (or equivalent) with understanding more about heatwaves, the reasons why we are likely to face more of them in the future and some steps that schools can take to protect young people during these events. 

The lessons can be adapted to suit other age groups by modifying the information given in the linked notes.

A new Fenland blog

I belong to a few Fenland Facebook groups.

A new Fenland blog written by Richard Poynder was mentioned.

You can read it on the link here.

Sheringham Storms 2013

Dylan is in Year 5, but I am looking forward to seeing his geographical skills develop as he moves up through the school. Here's a video he made, which was shared on the school's social media feeds today. Top work Dylan!

Dylan - Year 5 - 2013 Sheringham Storm News Report from King's Ely on Vimeo.

Better World Detectives

Tui is the travel company formerly known as Thomson. 
They have made available a suite of resources for KS2 pupils, which involves 6 fully resourced lessons. There is an accent on sustainability, which connects with the company's approach of promoting sustainable tourism.

An e-mail is required to download the resource pack, which runs to almost 300Mb as it includes a range of assets including videos and teacher resources to print off. These are fun, and well packaged materials, with nods to social media use, and themes which will be familiar to many young people. The lessons introduce students to a fictional island first, before exploring plastic in the oceans, coral reefs, and the impact of tourism on local communities and people.

Say hello to the Better World Detectives, and you may find a use for some of these resources within your KS2 curriculum.

One for KS1-2 Geographers at King's Ely

Go Jetters are new on CBBC: a new animated series, and the geography advisors on the show are my former colleagues Paula Owens and John Lyon. The Go Jetters have global adventures.

Check them out on iPlayer, or play the Global Glitch game.

Geography Club ideas

It's the time of year when clubs are setting up and recruiting eager young students who want to develop their Geographical awareness, and have fun.

This year, I'm running a lunchtime club called Geography Explorers, and also using some of the ideas with a group of Year 6 students.
We are making some geography globes and other craft projects.
I have this book, which looks like offering some really useful ideas, and a car boot now filled with practical stuff to assemble into something geographical...

One for the early years at King's Ely

Really useful post and resource for those teaching Primary Geography.
A new set of characters called the Go Jetters who teach young people about key geographical ideas.

Geography helps children to make sense of their world. Very young children are naturally curious, and they love to actively explore the world around them, noticing all kinds of detail. That’s why they need to develop geographical vocabulary like the names of places, people and things, and the words needed to describe and locate them.

It helps to think of children as little geographers – they each have their own world of private geographies  - the places they name for themselves with meanings that only they understand: the dens where they hide out with their friends, special meeting places in the school playground. Whether they’re playing in the back garden, or splashing through a muddy puddle on the way to school, children are intrepid explorers making new (to them) discoveries about the world every single day. 

Check them out...

Meet Kyan, Xuli, Foz and Lars; four adventure-seeking superhero Go Jetters who live high above the clouds, and love to explore new places all around planet Earth.

Mentored by a disco-loving unicorn named Ubercorn, the Go Jetters accept any mission and tackle challenges head on through problem-solving, teamwork and amazing inventions.