Introductory techniques

The main activity here is a ‘race’ across the settlement in which your school is situated or a nearby city. The example below is modelled on an activity day run by ICS London travelling from London Docklands back to their school near Paddington, but you can obviously adjust this depending on your settlement and the time that you have available. As part of the introduction to the session, pupils could spend some time in their teams to plan their strategy and route.

Climate change and sustainability

The objective of this activity is for pupils to work in teams to plan and complete a sustainable journey across the settlement. They will visit specific landmarks, complete transport challenges, and make smart decisions to reduce emissions, save money, and demonstrate teamwork. They will need a specific start and end point (the end point is likely to be the school) and clear timings.

Set out the mission for the pupils. They should:

• visit at least 5 of 7 official checkpoints
• use at least 4 different transport modes
• spend no more than £12 per person
• track their route, time, cost, and emissions
• complete bonus objectives for extra points
• return to school by 2:30pm sharp.

You can adjust any of the above depending on the time available and settlement used.

Highlight several official checkpoints that pupils need to visit. For the London example:

• Buckingham Palace
• Tower Bridge
• London Transport Museum
• King’s Cross Station
• Paddington Station (Brunel Statue)
• London Eye
• St Paul’s Cathedral

At each checkpoint, take a team photo, record your arrival time, and reflect on the sustainability of the transport you used.

Bonus objectives (optional)

• ride the UberBoat +10 pts
• ride the IFS Cable Car (Greenwich) +10 pts
• photo with Paddington Bear statue +5 pts
• photo of 3 different e-bike brands +5 pts
• photos of the overground train +10 pts
• photos of a double-decker bus +10 pts
• photos of a single-level bus +10 pts
• photos of a tube station and a train +10 pts
• photo of a tram +10 pts
• photo at an old tram point (ask teacher) +10 pts
• photo of zero-emissions zone sign +5 pts
• photo at Platform 9 ¾ +10 pts.

Use at least four transport types. For London, these could be:

• walking
• public bus (TfL)
• underground Tube
• overground train
• Docklands Light Railway (DLR)
• UberBoat
• cable car

The number and modes of transport can be adjusted according to the settlement.

Budgeting:

• each student can spend no more than £12 on transport
• track and record all spending
• unspent money = bonus points!

The budget can be adjusted according to the cost of transport. In this example, the pupils contributed the £12 for the activity day.

• take clear team photos at each checkpoint and bonus task
• log: arrival time, transport used, and sustainability rating
• submit all photos to your team Google folder by 2:45pm.

Scoring:

• Checkpoints: 10 points each
• Bonus tasks: 5–10 points each
• Transport diversity: 2 points per mode
• Emissions score: up to 20 points
• Budget savings: +/– 1 point per £ saved/overspent
• Reflection quality: up to 10 points
• Teamwork: up to 10 points
• Late penalty: -1 point per minute after 2:30pm.

Back to Climate change and sustainability menu

The Geographical Association (GA) has worked closely with the Field Studies Council (FSC) to develop these resources.