Preparing for work in the environment

What geography is in my local area?

Before suitable learning activities can be planned for use in the local environment the teacher must decide the extent of the area and the potential it has to offer for the study of geographical features and processes. As outlined in an earlier section of these guidelines (p. 9), the extent of the local area should expand as the child grows older. In the early years much geographical work will be completed in the school and its immediate surroundings but by the time children are in fifth and sixth classes, local studies will embrace the geography of the county or of a large urban area. This progressive expansion of the extent of the area under study reflects the growth of the child's sense of place and his/her familiarity with a widening range of geographical concepts. It may also be used to ensure that progression and continuity are maintained in local studies within the school. Every area will have some potential for geographical investigation. In rural environments a greater range of natural features may be more accessible but in the areas surrounding schools in both urban and rural settings the results of human activity and human interaction with the environment will be evident in a number of features and processes. The exploration of this relationship between people and their environment should be central to geographical work in the primary school.

Exemplar 4 includes a wide range of questions which may be used to identify and examine the possibilities which the locality offers for geographical study. Conducting an audit of the environment using these questions would be a veryworthwhile whole-staff exercise. It would involve both curriculum planning and the identification of the resources necessary to support it. As the areas covered by the audit are discussed certain key features of the area will emerge as particularly suitable for study and a selection of these may then be used to form the units of work for the geography programme at each of the levels within the school.

EXEMPLAR 4 - Conducting an environmental audit

Organising fieldwork

Learning in the environment is an exciting and pleasurable activity for children and successful fieldwork can be a deeply rewarding experience for the teacher. While working with children in the environment can raise a number of organisational and safety issues, good preparation and planning, together with well-structured purposeful activities and adequate supervision can help to ensure successful fieldwork which will enrich children's geographical understanding immensely.

Knowing the environment

A thorough familiarity on the part of the teacher with the places to be visited and explored is essential. A great deal of very valuable fieldwork may be completed around the school and its grounds and these will be readily accessible to the teacher. However, visits to other sites will also be necessary. Making a number of visits to the area, perhaps in the company of another teacher or a person with local knowledge can provide vital information for the planning of safe and educationally sound activities. The features to which children's attention might be directed can be identified as well as areas which might be much in demand but best avoided.

Identifying hazards

Preliminary visits should also be used to identify dangerous locations and potential sources of danger, all of which should be carefully noted. A wide range of hazards may be encountered. Streets with narrow pavements, roads that carry exceptionally heavy traffic and dangerous crossing points are obvious but rural environments may be equally hazardous. Farmyards, areas near water, cliffs or high ground, and natural environments in which poisonous plants or dangerous animals may be found all pose risks for both children and adults. The significance and nature of these risks will of course vary with the age, experience and mobility of individuals and the class as a whole. Further useful advice on safety issues and the management of outdoor activities may be found in Tony Thomas and Stuart May, Fieldwork in Action 3: Managing Outof- Classroom Activities (Geographical Association, Sheffield, 1994).

Consulting within the school

Teachers should consult the principal (and if necessary the board of management) whenever it is proposed to engage in activities in the environment. The school's policy on out-of-classroom activities should be consulted and provision made for insurance, transport and other requirements. Advice may also be included in the school's safety statement. Further advice may be sought from other teachers who may have completed similar work.

Choosing the activities in which pupils will engage

A clear sense of the purpose of the fieldwork is a major contributory factor in ensuring safe and worthwhile activity in the environment. This sense of purpose will be reflected in the wellfocused nature of the tasks that children will be required to complete. Work will often be more satisfactory if it concentrates on a limited number of themes, processes or features.

As the sections on the following pages illustrate, fieldwork can incorporate a range of activities and investigations. The selection of appropriate tasks will depend on a number of factors, including the nature of the environment, the theme or focus of the investigation, and the ability, age and experience of the children. Often children's work will entail a number of tasks to be completed at a few specific locations in the environment. Arranging the contents of the children's work cards, directives or booklets so that these locations are clearly delineated will aid in the supervision of pupils in the same way as a series of 'stops' can form a history trail. (The section entitled Using the environment in the Teacher Guidelines for History will provide further information on this point.)

Consideration should be given to whether all pupils will complete all tasks or whether each group will be allotted a number of different activities, all of which can contribute to an overall study. Generally the former pattern, in which all groups engage in similar work, is best used with younger children and those who have limited experience of working in the environment.

Care should be taken to ensure that the tasks required of pupils do not expose them to danger. For example, observation activities should be carried out from places of safety. It is important too that plant, soil and rock specimens should not be collected except where absolutely necessary and then only under the direct supervision of an adult. When designing investigative activities teachers will find useful safety advice in the Teacher Guidelines for Science accompanying the primary science curriculum and in Safety in School Science (An Roinn Oideachais, Dublin, 1996).

Preparing the pupils

The success of the activities and the safety of the pupils will be enhanced by adequate preparatory work in the classroom prior to undertaking any visit. This work should introduce pupils to some of the features they will investigate and to the concepts and/or skills which they will be using in the fieldwork. Some of the skills to be used, such as drawing, map work or the taking of measurements, might be practised in the classroom and school grounds in advance of work in the wider area.

Working in the environment can provide the context for the development of important attitudes. These can include the children's willingness to obey the instructions of teachers and other adult helpers, the respect they demonstrate for the privacy of others (for example in avoiding excessive noise), the care they show for the environments that they visit and the respect and courtesy they evince towards other pupils and the people they encounter on the trip. Discussing these behaviours and attitudes in advance, together with the need for safety arrangements and rules, will be an important aspect of good fieldwork.

Informing parents

Parents should be given advance notification of any proposed out-ofschool activities. Teachers may require information from parents on any relevant medical and dietary details concerning pupils (for example allergies, medical conditions, restrictions on medical treatment, etc.) and contact telephone numbers in case of emergencies. This information should be retained by the teacher in overall charge of the class.

Organising what to bring: check-lists for teachers and pupils

The check-lists overleaf may seem daunting but they are designed to be a practical summary of the equipment that might prove useful during out-ofclassroom activities. Some of the items will be used with older pupils only and on all-day visits rather than during short periods in the immediate environs of the school.

Ensuring adequate supervision

Ensuring the adequate supervision of children as they are working in the environment is of vital importance. Given the nature of the observations and investigations which are involved in geographical fieldwork, there will be a frequent need for children to engage in small-group work when exploring the environment. Consequently, a number of adults will often be needed to accompany each class.

Many schools invite parents to aid with the supervision of pupils during fieldwork. If this approach is adopted, the procedures outlined in the school's policy for adult helpers should be strictly followed. Parents who help in this way should be briefed thoroughly on the location to be used and the nature of the activities which the children will undertake. They should be made aware of any hazards that could be encountered and the procedures to be adopted in the event of accidents and emergencies. Parents and other helpers must also be clear about the names (and perhaps ages) of the children for whom they are assuming responsibility (the wearing of some type of common badge by pupils and adults can help in identification) and they should be familiar with the pupil behaviour which teachers find acceptable. 'Reporting back' locations and times should be clearly understood by all teachers and helpers.

The teacher who is in overall charge of the class should have a written record of the names of pupils in each group and their leaders and should know the location of each group and the activity in which they should be engaged at all times.

If children are working in the environment for an extended period, time for snacks, breaks and the use of toilets will need to be included in the programme of work. Supervision at these times is particularly important as accidents may happen more easily when a learning activity has been completed or when pupils and adults are more relaxed.

Implementing follow-up work

A programme of work based on the information gained and observations made by the pupils during their outdoor investigations is essential if the full learning potential of this work is to be realised. This work can involve recording, analysing and interpreting the information collected and presenting the findings using a range of media. Information technology can play a very useful role in analysing and presenting data as can the drawing of maps and graphs and the construction of models.

Discussing and comparing the findings of various groups and perhaps comparing them with information collected by groups in earlier years can enrich the process further. For example, traffic counts made by various groups might vary according to the time of the observation while data collected in previous years might show a generally lower or higher volume of traffic. Findings such as these may lead to new questions and can encourage further research and investigation.

Evaluating the learning experience

An analysis of the children's approach to exploring and investigating the environment will reveal much about their understanding of concepts, their mastery of skills and the attitudes they have developed. Much information about the children's learning will be furnished by the follow-up work completed in the classroom but children's interactions and activities in the environment will also be very revealing.

The organisation and management of the activity, its suitability for the age and ability of the group and the extent to which objectives were achieved should also be examined and noted so that the lessons learned may be incorporated into the planning of future investigations in the environment.