There are many opportunities for asking pupils to carry out observations and investigations by themselves: the data and information can be brought back to school and help to form a wider picture of the local area.

Sometimes it is difficult to organise a whole class going out together for a variety of reasons which could include, timetables, finance, clashes with other activities or lack of staff available to support out of classroom activities.

Working solo can also include those who are home schooled and may be working independently or in a small group. The following ideas can help to stimulate enquiry and observations in such situations.

Close to home

Many pupils often take their own area very much for granted and tend not notice their surroundings in any detail.

What is their street/road like? What is good about their road? What are some of the issues?

What is the view from their window?

How accessible is their house/road to amenities such as transport links, shops and green spaces? ‘

These worked examples on the NFF site offer extended activities:

• What geography can I see from here?
• 12 wonders of your area?
• How did the street get its name?
• Investigating traffic issues in your area?

These investigations all provide opportunities for observation, annotated sketches, data collection and reflections which can be brought together to add to a map in school which then provides a broader set of information than might be achieved with one visit to a single location.

Contrasting locations

The same sort of enquiries and investigations can be carried out at different locations often within a short distance of each other. Remember one side of a town can be quite different from the other. Identification of the similarities and differences can then lead onto a deeper consideration of why these are like they are.

Shopping areas such as high street and shopping malls

These can provide a rich area to study but it is important to remember that many malls are privately owned and so stopping people who are shopping there to answer questions is not to be recommended. Shopping malls usually have management offices and one of the admin staff may well be happy to answer questions. Other aspects worth investigation:

• Which type of shops are most prevalent? Which are missing?
• How many stores are closed / unused?
• What type of facilities are available for customers? (toilets/seating area/parking etc)
• Is your town a clone town? (A clone town is a town where the high street or main shopping areas are dominated by chain stores, rather than individual shops so it becomes indistinguishable from other towns)
• What sort of personal services are available? (barbers/post office/hairdressers/dry cleaning etc)
• Does it have a pedestrian area? If not, would it benefit from one? What advantages/disadvantages would that bring?

Working solo can be an informative way of conducting observations without creating much attention and one person can often ask questions or take pictures whereas a whole group might find it more difficult. Questions about the area can be posed to neighbours or relatives to gain a perspective from people who use it.

The benefit of such fieldwork lies in the follow up work which might not only include reflection on the findings, but research about the topic or questions to the local council/environment officer about some of the issues raised.

Many of the activities on the NFF pages can be adapted for individual or small group work.

This collection of Fieldwork activities were created by Paula Richardson and the Fieldwork and Outdoor Learning Special Interest Group (FOLSIG) for the National Festival of Fieldwork, the GA invites everyone to take part during the summer term.