Welcome  to  GeoWorld  Susan  Bliss  and  Lorraine  Chaffer  

 

“For 21st century students, Geography provides essential knowledge and understanding of the interaction between natural and human features from a variety of perspectives, enabling them to become responsible global citizens for a just and sustainable world.”

Dr Susan Bliss, GeoWorld NSW Series Editor

Welcome  to  GeoWorld  The  GeoWorld  NSW  series  is  designed  to  engage  students  in  exciting,  dynamic  and  contemporary  geography  of  their  own  locality,  Australia,  and  other  countries  and  places  in  the  world.  We  aim  to  develop  students’  curiosity  and  respect  for  places,  environments,  people  and  cultures  by  providing  informative  and  engaging  visual  content.  These  books  were  written  by  a  team  of  12  experienced  teachers,  well-­‐known  textbook  writers,  and  university  lecturers.    

We  have  aimed  to  provide  essential  geographical  knowledge  and  understanding  about  the  world  over  time  (past,  present  and  future  trends),  at  a  variety  of  scales  (personal,  local,  national,  regional  and  global).  Importantly,  we  have  integrated  geographical  skills  (maps,  graphs,  tables,  statistics,  photographs,  satellite  imagery  and  geographical  information  systems)  and  use  an  inquiry  approach  to  equip  students  to  analyse  and  evaluate  data  and  information  from  a  variety  of  perspectives.  The  aim  is  to  develop  students  who  are  critical  and  creative  users  of  geographical  inquiry  methods  and  skills.  As  such,  they  will  be  informed,  responsible  and  active  citizens  who  can  contribute  to  shaping  an  environmentally,  socially  and  economically  sustainable  future  world.      

More  than  just  textbooks    We  believe  the  GeoWorld  student  resource  books  will  stimulate  interest,  provide  answers,  motivate  deeper  questioning  and  inquiry,  and  develop  skills  in  using  geographical  tools.    A  fully  integrated  approach    The  skills  needed  to  interpret  and  analyse  the  geographical  tools  (maps,  graphs,  tables  &  statistics,  visual  representations  and  spatial  technologies)  used  by  geographers  are  best  taught  in  context.  The  

 

GeoWorld  NSW  series  provides  students  with  everything  they  need  in  one  place,  contextualised  for  better  engagement  and  understanding.        

• Tools  not  unique  to  geography  such  as  diagrams,  statistical  tables  and  graphs,  are  explained  in  the  skills  summary  at  the  end  of  each  book.  

• The  world  map  in  each  book  provides  an  easy  reference  point  to  locate  countries  and  places  shown  in  maps  and  case  studies.  

• Explanations  and  protocols  for  interpreting  tools  principally  used  in  geography  such  as  topographic  maps,  climate  graphs  and  synoptic  charts  and  are  integrated  throughout  chapters  and  summarised  at  the  end  of  each  book.  These  include:  

o types  of  maps  o topographic  maps    o map  projections  o climate  graphs  o synoptic  charts  o field  sketches  and  line  drawing  o population  profiles  o cartoons  about  geographical  issues  o infographics  o spatial  technologies  o types  of  photographs  o conceptual  diagrams.  

 

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 Inquiry-­‐based  learning  We  have  focused  on  inquiry  based  learning  to  develop  students’  understanding  of  interacting  natural  and  human  features  and  their  management  depending  on  whether  their  world  view  is  earth-­‐centred  or  human-­‐centred.  Each  chapter  opener  provides  a  thought-­‐provoking  quote  on  the  topic,  and  key  inquiry  questions  highlight  a  framework  for  developing  geographically  literate  students.  

 Examples  of  the  Geographical  inquiry  process  are  integrated  throughout  GeoWorld  NSW,  particularly  the  use  of  fieldwork  and  spatial  technologies  to  acquire  geographical  information.  The  texts  provide:  

 

• fieldwork  guidelines  and  strategies  adaptable  to  studies  of  any  environments,  issue  or  topic  

• geographical  inquiry  activities  for  specific  topics.    ICT  skills  and  tools  used  throughout  the  books  enhance  the  geographical  inquiry  processes  of  acquiring  and  presenting  geographical  information.  These  include:  

• spatial  technologies  • interactive  tools  such  those  used  to  produce  scatter  graphs,  spider  graphs  and  choropleth  

maps.    

 

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 Supporting  differentiation  Some  books  are  in  stages;  ours  are  in  levels.  We  believe  that  our  books  provide  a  depth  of  content  that  is  simply  not  possible  in  books  covering  an  entire  stage.  Levelled  books  allow  us  to  integrate  skills,  tools  and  fieldwork  in  context  rather  than  present  them  separately.  Levelled  books  also  acknowledge  student  progress  made  year  by  year,  and  enable  teachers  to  flexibly  support  different  abilities  and  rates  of  progression.      There  are  many  other  benefits  to  our  approach:  

• We  facilitate  students’  desire  to  learn  about  lots  of  other  places  • We  provide  plenty  of  local  and  global  examples  to  contextualise  learning  • We  support  academic  rigour,  but  also  provide  the  opportunity  to  differentiate  content  with  

easier  and  harder  sections  to  choose  from  • The  books  offer  students  a  choice  about  what  they  study  based  on  what  interests  them,  

promoting  engagement.  Gone  are  the  days  when  every  student  studied  the  same  content.  They  want  choice  and  the  flexibility  to  engage  with  content  that  interests  them.  

• The  books  offer  the  potential  to  organise  collaborative  learning  in  small  groups  where  each  group  can  study  different  material  related  to  a  topic.  The  supporting  teaching  program  provides  templates  to  encourage  collaborative  group  work  

• We  provide  a  wealth  of  examples  that  can  form  the  basis  for  deeper  inquiry  by  students,  sowing  the  seeds  of  interest  that  cannot  be  done  in  books  with  restricted  content.  

 

 A  student-­‐centred  approach  GeoWorld  integrates  a  student-­‐centred  approach  in  which  they  plan  a  geographical  inquiry.  Students  are  asked  to  collect,  record,  evaluate  and  analyse  information  and  present  findings  using  a  range  of  communication  methods  such  as  digital  technologies.  Finally,  they  are  encouraged  to  reflect  on  their  findings  and  propose  responses  or  actions  from  what  they  have  learned.  As  part  of  the  geographical  inquiry,  both  actual  and  virtual  fieldwork  is  proposed  throughout  the  book,  enabling  students  to  map  spatial  distributions  and  interpret  data  indicating  change  over  time.  Flipped  classroom,  project  based  learning  and  authentic  assessment  for  learning  activities  are  student  centred  pedagogies  that  can  tap  into  a  variety  of  contemporary  geographical  issues  raised  in  each  unit.      

Explicit  development  of  tools  and  skills  Throughout  each  book  there  is  extensive  use  of  different  types  of  photographs,  maps,  diagrams,  tables  and  statistics,  graphs  and  inquiry  skills  for  students  to  acquire,  interpret,  analyse  and  communicate  geographical  information.  With  explanations  integrated  throughout  the  books  and  a  skills  summary  at  the  end  of  each  book,  there  is  no  need  for  separate  skills  books  or  an  atlas  to  access  a  political  world  map.    

The  integration  of  tools  and  skills  explanations  and  

protocols  throughout  

GeoWorld  NSW  7-­‐10    Types  of  maps  

Map  projections  

Topographic  maps    

Climate  graphs  

Synoptic  charts  

Photographs  

Infographics  

Field  sketches  /  line  drawings  

Population  proGiles  

Cartoons  

Conceptual  diagrams  

 Spatial  technologies  

 ICT  tools  

 Fieldwork  

 Geographical  inquiry  

Skills  summary  &  world  map