Key Terminology

• • • • • Perspective

        • Reality

        • Map

Define the key terms above by using the 'Useful Links' below on the hand out you will be given. 

Useful Links

• • • • • Cambridge Dictionary Definition - Perspective 

        • Dictionary.com Definition - Reality 

        • Axis Maps  Definition - Map 

Activity Sheet

Activity One - Drawing on personal knowledge

Thank you Matt Podbury at www.geographypods.com for this lesson.

We all view places and the events that occur within them differently. Our lens on the world is impacted by our experiences which includes what we have learnt in school, from our families and the media (TV, films, books, etc). To see how we view the world we are going to put you in small teams of between two and three people and we would like you to draw a quick map of the world. No maps, atlases or devices will be used for this. This is to be done from your teams knowledge. 

Stage One - Draw

• Collect the A3 paper resource that can be seen below.

• Using a pencil, draw a 'quick' map of the world. You will have no more than 10 minutes to do this and we aren't looking for an amazing piece of art work. Think about shapes. 

Stage Two - Label

• A label is when you add one or two words to an image or in this case a map. This will be done on the map you have drawn and specifically the place that you are highlighting from the points below. 

• Now add the following onto your map. 

  • 1. Two countries

    2. Two cities

    3. Two physical geography features (mountains, rivers, deserts, rainforests, etc.)

    4. Two cultural aspects your team would like to highlight - this could be anything to do with art, music, religion, festivals, etc. 

    5. Two things that relate to human history, for example, important people in history, key events, etc. 

Useful Resource

Activity Two - Pair

Your team is now going to be buddied up with another team to share with each other what you have drawn and added to your map. You will be writing down the similarities and differences in the table provided on the worksheet. It is absolutely fine to have drawn the world map with different accuracies as this is all to do with how we personally view the world. 

Activity Three - Share

You have now had time to discuss your individual team's map with another group. We are now going to share your findings with the larger group. The following questions will be used to help to structure the discussion.

Stage One - Discuss

1. What did your teams find challenging about the activity and why?

2. What were some of the similarities in your maps?

3. What were some of the differences in your maps?

4. Why do you think you draw the maps as you did?

5. What do you think influenced you to add the specific labels as you did?

6. Where do we go from here to truly view the whole world?

Stage Two - Write

On your personal worksheet write down how our experiences can influence our perceptions of place. Also add how you can broaden your knowledge of the world.

Activity Four - Watch

So now we have discussed our different perspectives on how we view the world and what influences us we are now going to look at the basic difficulties of how to draw an 'accurate' map of the world. 

• Watch the Youtube clip below about 'Why all world maps are wrong'.

• On your worksheet write down three facts on why our maps are drawn wrong. 

Activity Five

We are now going to look at what you have learnt throughout this lesson and what you hope to learn about in I&S when you join us for your Secondary education.

• • 1. Collect a copy of a hand.

    2. In three of the fingers write down three things that you have learnt today.

    3. In one of the fingers write down one thing that you have enjoyed.

    4. In the final finger or thumb write down one thing that you would like to learn about over the next five years.

Useful Resource