A valuable programme offering tips and advice on the planning and running of fieldtrips. In a lesson on invaders, settlers and settlements, teacher Deborah Lord takes her Year 4 class on a geography field trip to the hill behind their school from which there is a clear view of the Somerset Levels. From here the children can see various villages and how they are connected. Deborah sets the class various challenges. They must note the details of the landscape as they journey up the hill and fill out worksheets and a sketch map once they have reached the top, based on their observations.The programme shows how the pupils are able to extend their knowledge of place and environment by studying their own locality. Their geographical vocabulary as well as their fieldwork techniques are extended by looking at features of both human and physical geography. Watching this field trip are two geography experts, who comment on the organisation and content of the lesson. A useful programme offering teachers advice on how to incorporate and build on geographical enquiry and skills in the classroom by using evidence collected on a field trip. A Year 4 class follow-up their geography local area field trip in the classroom. This work reinforces their knowledge and understanding of place and locality by covering the theme of how settlements differ and change.The class is divided into groups. One group looks at different scaled maps, one focuses on digital photographs of the view and another is elaborating their field sketches by working in pairs, comparing and contrasting what they had recorded on the trip. Two geography experts assess the organisation and content of the lesson.
