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Read ‘Look through Windows’ by Jeannie Baker with the class. There are several versions available online: https://www.princeofwales.enfield.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Window.pdf
Below are some questions to ask and explore around the theme of changing environments:
- What can we see out of the window? What is changing?
- Which changes are good and which are bad – would everyone see it that way? Imagine you were the cat on the windowsill, how would they see it?
- At one point there are more houses and people – what else has to be built to help the people live here?
- Which image was your favourite – why?
- Which image would you like to live in – why?
- What can we see out of our windows? Which is our favourite view?
- What might we see out of a top floor window if the school was a sky scrapper?
- What changes can we notice in the school grounds?
Climate change and sustainability
The main challenge to studying change over time is that it takes time. However, this is a good opportunity to highlight that even though we know that the climate is changing, it is not easy to observe.
Below are some activities that will allow pupils to observe change over time:
- Taking weekly pictures of a tree in the grounds.
- Set a scavenger hunt and include some seasonal items such as leaves and flowers and after completion discuss whether it would be possible to do the hunt in winter. Also include something old and something new and discuss how new items are often added/removed to and from a location.
- Planting sunflower seeds or other flowers and vegetables in a garden area and observing their progress.
- Listening to sounds and observing that these are constantly changing second by second. These could be recorded using a decibel meter (these are freely available as phone apps) or mapped.
- Standing in one place with a view of a busy location and noticing that the world is in constant motion and small changes are constantly happening within one place. What would you see if you stood in the same place at different times of the day?
- Plan and make small scale changes to the school grounds to make them more wildlife friendly – https://www.educationnaturepark.org.uk/
You might like to ask pupils the following questions:
- Can we see changes that are happening to our environment?
- Are there some changes that are good or bad?
- Which changes are natural and which are made by humans?
The Geographical Association (GA) has worked closely with the Field Studies Council (FSC) to develop these resources.
