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News - Geography and Geographical Education
The latest news on developments in geography, geographical education and related areas. Past news pages can be accessed via the table below. If you would like your news item featured on this page please contact Anne Greaves.
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It is with great sadness we report the sudden and unexpected death of Northumbria University lecturer Dr Duncan Fuller on Friday 3 October. His boundless enthusiasm and passionate commitment to everything he was involved in was coupled with a desire to enthuse and involve others, most particularly local schools and community groups. His involvement with the work of the Geographical Association included lectures at Annual Conference, articles for Teaching Geography, and not least his MyWalks piece for the BBC Today Programme in 2007.
Duncan recently won prestigious ESRC funding to run a series of seminars on Engaging Geography. This will of course go ahead in his honour. You can find out more on the Engaging Geography website where a page has been set up to gather tributes to Duncan.
He will be greatly missed by all in the geographical community and beyond. Our thoughts are with his wife Ingrid, his three children and all his family.
(07.10.08)
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The BBC are looking for nine people with a passion and an understanding of the natural world to take part in a new natural history series called To The Ends Of The Earth. In particular, they are looking for those who would love to explore, document and communicate the natural world and pursue an interest in Wildlife Filmmaking. Those selected will be given the opportunity to spend ten weeks in some of the most remote corners of the world as they face a number of training challenges with a view to winning a year's contract with the world famous BBC Natural History Unit to work on future productions. Anybody interested in applying should email the BBC for an application form and more information.
Applications will be accepted until Wednesday 26 November. Applicants must be over 18 and be UK residents.
(09.10.08)
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Once again the GA has teamed up with the BBC to help your KS3 students bring geography to the screen. My World in 60 Seconds is a film project to create an alternative guide to our world, a guide that is created by you. We want to re-present the world as people know it, so we're looking for young people to make short films that are thought provoking, insightful and engaging. Further information, entry form and posters are available on the My World in 60 Seconds page.
(06.10.08)
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Paul Weeden, secretary of the GA's Assessment & Examinations Working Group, has prepared summaries of GCSE, AS and A-Level examination results for 2008. Visit the Secondary and Post-16 front pages respectively to view the documents.
(01.10.08)
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The BBC News School Report and the GA have teamed up to create a unique opportunity for geography teachers and their KS3 students - the chance to create an online news report, podcast or video news clip which will be linked nationally to the BBC News School Report website with the chance to have it broadcast live on local/national radio or tv on 26 March 2009. Full details and teacher resource packs are available from the BBC News School Report website. You can find out about the GA's involvement in this leaflet.
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Sign up today and showcase what you and your KS3 geography students can do!
A Ning (social networking website) has been set up to offer teachers taking part in the project the chance to ask questions and to provide advice and support for each other.
If you have any questions about taking part, please don't hesitate to get in touch. I will provide as much support as I can to help geography departments take part.
David Rayner
Email: david.rayner@blueyonder.co.uk
GA Geography Consultant liaising with the BBC News School Report team
(01.10.08)
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The GA is launching a lively new online social network for PGCE students and early career teachers. This site is designed to help you share advice and ideas and provide a network of support as you settle into the classroom. This fantastic facility is available to GA and joint GA/RGS-IBG members, another great reason to join! To gain access to the social network (otherwise known as a 'Ning'), email Alan Parkinson with your membership number.
Download: Ning User Guide (PDF, 613k)
Website: NQT Geographers (Login required)
(24.09.08)
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The Naturalists is a five-part series of radio essays on BBC Radio 3 and will be delivered by two geographers, Professor David Matless and Dr Hayden Lorimer. The series considers the figure of the naturalist in national life and in local landscapes through a series of biographical studies. Tracing naturalists' lives and ideas, the five narratives also explore human and animal geographies as they emerge in the wetland, woodland and mountain range, underfoot and overhead, at home and abroad.
The Naturalists will be broadcast every night on BBC Radio 3 at 11:00pm from Monday 6 to Friday 10 October. Each essay can be listened to again for seven days after broadcast using the BBC iPlayer.
(24.09.08)
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Geography and Story Competition. As part of the National Year of Reading, we've teamed up with Random House and Walker Books to offer prizes for the best stories in three age categories. We'd like students aged 5-16 to write a story about somewhere important to them - it can be fact or fiction, set at any time in the past, present or future. We'll be looking for creative and exciting stories which bring places to life and bonus points will be awarded for including photographs or drawings.
Free GA memberships are now up for grabs!
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Further information about the challenge, prizes and how to enter is available to download below:
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The deadline for entries has been extended to Monday 3 November 2008 so get your students writing now!
(23.09.08)
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Calling all budding environmentalists! The international Volvo Adventure Competition 2009, run in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme, is now open for entries. To enter, you need to form a team of two to five members aged 13 to 16 years and perform an environmental project in your local community. If your project is selected, your team will be invited on an all expenses paid trip to the grand final in Göteborg, Sweden. For younger environmentalists, aged between 10 and 12 years, there is also the opportunity to take part in Bob the Bunny's cartoon competition.
Closing date for submissions is Saturday January 31 2009 at 12pm.
Visit the Volvo Adventure website to get started.
(18.09.08)
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The Think Food and Farming project builds upon the successes of the Year of Food and Farming, which involved over 2700 organisations and over one million children across the country. Many new resources have been produced during the Year and it is hoped that this interest in engaging young people will continue now that Farming and Countryside Education (FACE) has taken on the custodianship of the project.
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Farmers, food producers and many other organisations will be able to add to the existing list of events, activities and resources that support teaching, both inside and outside the classroom. Visit the Think Food and Farming website for more information.
(17.09.08)
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Do you use sponsored educational materials in class? The Times Educational Supplement is putting together a feature on the use of sponsored materials, from material on global warming produced by oil companies to materials on personal finance produced by banks. They would like to hear from teachers about why they use them, what the potential problems are, and what safeguards are in place to provide a balanced message. If you are able to help, please email Nick Morrison at the TES or call on 0203 194 3257.
(17.09.08)
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The Fuchs Foundation are currently looking for science and geography teachers to take part in an expedition to the Antarctic. The four sucessful applicants will each undertake a science project in the Antarctic which they will subsequently write up as teaching materials for publication on the web.
The deadline for applications is 11 January 2009. The expedition will take place at the end of 2010. Visit our Funding and Awards area for more details.
(17.09.08)
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Learning & Leading: Gap Experience Scholarships from the RGS-IBG. The Learning & Leading project is providing 18 gap year scholarships for young people who, through challenging circumstances or lack of opportunity, would not normally benefit from such experiences. Go the Funding and Awards area for more details.
(12.09.08)
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The Box is an ambitious and unique year-long project from BBC News to tell the story of international trade and globalisation by tracking a standard shipping container as it makes its way around the world. The BBC have bolted a GPS transmitter on to The Box so that you can follow its progress all year round as it criss-crosses the globe. The Box will hopefully reach the US, Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa and when it does BBC correspondents will be there to report on who's producing goods and who's consuming them.
To keep track of this global jounry visit The Box website.
(09.09.08)
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Teachers TV is looking for people to participate in the Great School Movies online survey, which will be made into a Teachers TV Top Ten programme to be shown in December. They want teachers, students and anyone interested in education to vote for their favourite movie set in a school. Plus, everyone who votes will be entered into a prize draw to win cinema tickets or DVDs.
The survey closes on 17 October 2008. Vote online now at Teachers TV.
(08.09.08)
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It's that time of year again - the popular Ordnance Survey Free Maps for 11-Year-Olds scheme is now up and running for 2008. If you haven't already received your invitation letter, which contains the unique username and password for your school, you will do so shortly.
Once again students also have the chance to win a day with the Time Team - forms for the competition will be sent out with the ordered maps.
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The closing date for all orders is 30 November 2008 and the offer is open only to schools with Year 7 students, (Primary 7 in Scotland).
Visit the Free Maps for 11-Year-Olds website for further information.
(04.09.08)
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Are you interested in learning more about the latest creative techniques in digital media? Want to take photos and videos with your mobile phone and take it to the next level? Fusing Frames is a project for young people in Derby and Nottingham which involves mapping the local neighbourhood using creative digital media techniques. Organised by Trampoline, the project will work with young people from Derby and Nottingham aged 13-19 who want to explore their own neighbourhood, the streets and places that are important to them.
Participants will be guided by creative media professionals and will learn about digital photography, video, GPS and animation. The aim is to create an interactive website showing your ideas and your favourite places in your city. We will provide the framework for you to explore your own creativity.
If you are based in Derby and are interested in getting involved, get in touch at filmcity@btinternet.com.
(03.09.08)
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Pictures of the Punjab is a series of free workshops for Key Stage 2/3 students from the Royal Geographical Society with IBG. These creative writing and drama workshops explore the history, geography and culture of the Punjab and will be held at the Society on 3, 5, 7, 17, 19, 24, 26, 28 November and 1, 3 December 2008. The workshops accompany a new exhibition and will introduce students to India/Pakistan and the Punjab through activities based on the Society's archive collections of maps, artefacts and photographs. Further information and details of availability can be obtained by contacting the education officer on 0207 591 3057 or by visiting the Unlocking the Archives website.
(03.09.08)
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The Royal Geographical Society with IBG offer a number of CPD courses and workshops that may be of interest to GA members. These include:
- Free Google Earth training for geography teachers
- Educational visits co-ordinator training
- LEA Overseas Expeditions & Fieldwork course
- GIS made easy
- GCSE CPD Day
- Free Key Stage 3 History CPD - Pictures of the Punjab
For more information see the RGS-IBG website.
(01.09.08)
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