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Introductory techniques
Walk through the school grounds and identify the different ‘zones’ or ‘areas’ that can be found – playground, flower beds, planters, car park, forest school, climbing frame, equipment store, buildings, multi-use games area etc.
Mapping technique
Using a simple base map of the school – these can be downloaded from GIS Software for Mapping and Spatial Analytics | Esri or Digimap For Schools (if your school has an account or free trial) – pupils create a key for the different zones (or land uses) using a variety of symbols or colours.
Compare the different uses and discuss which there is the most / least of and which the children would like more or less of. This could easily be adapted to map the different surfaces or materials found in the school grounds.
Then, give pupils a selection of sticks or a biodegradable substance such as flour, to lay a trail around the school grounds for another group to follow. Once they have shared their routes with one or two other groups they can decide on the ‘best’ route and mark this on their map of the zones found around school.
This route can be used to inform a tour enabling a visitor to experience each of the ‘zones’ around the school grounds.
Questions to explore
- What are the different areas of the school and how can we represent them on a map?
- How can different land uses be represented on a map?
- What makes a good route?
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The Geographical Association (GA) has worked closely with the Field Studies Council (FSC) to develop these resources.
