Where is this place?

Sample Activities for

Primary
Schools

Geography: Where is this place?
an activity from Speaking for Ourselves, Listening to Others(Leeds Development Education Centre, 1996)

Aim
to expore how people perceive
different places

Time required:
30 minutes

These stimulating and flexible resources promote the skills and attitudes to value diversity in society and the environment in which we live.

Using active learning approaches to encourage teamwork and to raise self-esteem, these resources ain to help pupils understand the increasing links between their own lives and those of other people around the world.

This sample sheet has been designed to introduce you to the type of resources available from DEDU. A complete list of the resources for primary teaching is available from the DEDU website - GO!

Background
The purpose of this activity is for pupils to recognise that young people who live in other countries may have limited and partial images of England.

What you need
Photocopies of the 'Where is this place?' lists, enough for either A,B,C or D for
each group.
For Activity B, prepared A B C D envelopes with statements written on individual
slips of paper.

What you do
Students should initially work in pairs, then in four small groups, followed by a whole class discussion.

Activity A
1. Provide each pair with one of the lists (either A,B,C or D). Tell the class that these lists were made by young people to describe a particular country. (Do not reveal which country it is). Invite each group to identify which country the young people were thinking of.
2. After one minute record the answers on the large chart. Discuss with the pupils the clues that they used to make their decisions.
3. Tell the pupils that these lists were about the same country. Which country do they think it is and why? Tell the pupils that the country is England.

Activity B
1. Divide the class into four groups and give each of them an envelope containing responses from lists A,B,C or D.
2. Ask pupils to consider each statement separately and to sort them into two piles: one pile containing statements which present an accurate picture of England; and one pile of statements which they think does not describe England. Are there differences of opinion between members of the group?
3. Invite each group to report back to the class about their lists and the decisions they made. Invite whole class discussion.
4. Ask the pupils to decide whether each list was made by African or European young people, by girls and/or boys and to give the reasons for their answers.
5. Ask pupils to guess what information the overseas young people may have used to get their image of England. For example, the image of policemen in red and black uniforms (in list C) may have come from a photograph of guards outside Buckingham Palace. This is a popular image for tourists postcards.
6. If they were brainstorming England, or their own locality, which words or phrases would they use? Are they similar to the ones offered by the young people from Kenya and Greece?

Answers:
List A was compiled by girls who live in Kenya (African list)
List B was compiled by boys who live in Greece (European list)
List C was compiled by boys who live in Kenya (African list)
List D was compiled by girls who live in Greece (European list)

Where is this place? (Lists for the Where is this Place? activity)
List A They eat frogs and snakes There are no pickpockets They have flower gardens They keep dogs in their houses There are no black people There are no street children There are many houses People use cars to go places Parents like dogs more than their own children It is very cold All their homes have a TV and a telephone Guns come from there People have a lot of money Children respect their parents There are no poor people They have plenty of water which is not bought	List B There are big forests There are factories that make steel They have good relations with our country They have fog There are a lot of museums It has a large population There are coal mines They have large roads There are lots of industries They have beautiful coins They speak an easy language to learn It is a nice country There are big churches They have very tall mountains There are many rivers They have lots of universities and schools
List C Their roads are on top of each other It is a rich country Their policemen wear red and black uniforms Most of the people are white There are many buildings It is an island They have oil industries They live in flats They have parks for children There are many factories There are lots of churches and hospitals People do their shopping in big supermarkets	List D It is a beautiful place There are lots of old things The people are friendly They have a nice climate There are many towns They have a palace People who live there travel in big buses There are many schools and lots of houses in the towns There are many shops It has a large population and the people speak a beautiful language There are many universities
Get a global perspective with resources from DEDU

Links to the curriculum

The resources available from DEDU contribute to some of the curriculum requirements for the range of subjects represented in these sample activities.

For example, pupils should be taught:

- to think about the lives of people living in other places and times, and people with different cultures and customs

- to explore how the media present information

- to reflect on spiritual, moral, social and cultural issues

(from the framework for personal, social and health education and citizenship)

- to recognise how places…….are independent

- to recognise how people can improve the environment or damage it

- to recognise how and why people may seek to manage environments sustainably

(from the Geography programme of study)

from the National Curriculum
- Key Stages 1 and 2 (2000)