New Housing Developments

Name of Teachers

Andy Berry and Rob Richmond

Key Stage

Key Stage 4, Year 10

Focus

Through fieldwork and a written report, the students were supported in thinking geographically about new housing developments. They were encouraged to consider the kinds of environments that they would realistically like to live and work in.

Summary

This sequence of learning enables the students to explore the complexity of urban environments. By using both Burnley and Cambridge as place studies, students explore both the similarities and differences between two areas that initially seem distant (in both real and relative terms) and on first sight disconnected, though through further investigation some of the interconnections between the two places are revealed.

Concepts and Big Ideas

• Place
• Space
• Scale
• Interdependence
• Sustainable Communities
• Reasoning with Maps
• Geographical Imaginations
• Geographical Communication

Places

South Cambridgeshire
Cambourne, Northstowe, Trumpington
East Lancashire
Burnley and Nelson

Focus

Through this unit students are able to discuss the UK housing market in he context of Burnley and Cambridge in particular. They are also encouraged to take a close look at their own housing environments. The students are also given the opportunity to think about new developments in and around Cambridge, particularly Cambourne, Northstowe, Trumpington and the Cambridge Airport site. The students are then asked to think about what kinds of environments that they would realistically like to live and work in.

Adapting this scheme for you own school

This sequence of learning could be adapted to your own context to develop an investigation into local settlement.

Files to download

• Scheme of Work
• Lesson 1 Detail
• Lesson 1 Context
• Lesson 2 Card Sort
• Student Work 1
• Student Work 2

Evaluation

This scheme was evaluated by the teachers who created and taught it.

This project provided very good preparation for GCSE coursework. Indeed we may use it as an alternative piece of coursework in subsequent years.

Our work helped us to consider housing market issues by raising awareness of:

• House types
• The relative cost of housing
• Issues relating to paying for houses
• Strategies for making housing more affordable