Loki the Norse god of mischief has been through the outdoor space overnight and made a mess! (Teachers to make a ‘mess’ of the space and cordon off with red and white style ‘police’ tape for start of day).

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Explore how it feels to be unable to use space and ask pupils the following questions:

• What actions can be taken?
• What should Loki have done when he had finished using the space?
• Why is it important to tidy up after using a space?
• Who is responsible for caring for a place?
• How can we help each other care for somewhere?

Technique to assess human impact and ethics

Before the space can be used, a record needs to be made of the disruption caused. In role as police officers, pupils explore the cordoned off space and rank the areas within the space for the amount of mess or disruption out of 5 (1 = little mess; 5 = very messy). Their findings could be recorded on a simple map.

Pupils then take responsibility for a small area of the space and tidy it up so, working together, the whole area is back to normal. Ask pupils the following questions:

• How quickly were you able to tidy up your small space?
• What would have happened if you hadn’t tidied up your small space?
• Why was it important that we all worked together to make the space tidy?

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