Welcome to the Countryside Investigators

Geographical enquiry and skills

2. In developing geographical skills, pupils should be taught:

• d) To use secondary sources of information, including aerial photographs (for example stories, information texts, the Internet, satellite images, photographs, videos)
• f) To use ICT to help in geographical investigations (for example, creating a data file to analyse fieldwork data]

Knowledge and understanding of places

3. Pupils should be taught:

• a) To identify and describe what places are like (e.g. in terms of weather, jobs]
• d) To explain why places are like they are (e.g. in terms of weather conditions, local resources, historical development)
• e) To identify how and why places change (e.g. through the closure of shops or the building of new houses, through conservation projects) and how they may change in the future (e.g. through an increase in traffic or an influx of tourists)
• f) To describe and explain how and why places are similar to and different from other places in the same country and elsewhere in the world (for example, comparing a village with a part of a city in the same country)

Knowledge and understanding of patterns and processes

4. Pupils should be taught to:

• a) Recognise and explain patterns made by individual physical and human features in the environment
• b) Recognise some physical and human processes (e.g. river erosion, a factory closure) and explain how these can cause changes in places and environments

Knowledge and understanding of environmental change and sustainable development

5. Pupils should be taught to:

• a) Recognise how people can improve the environment (e.g. by reclaiming derelict land) or damage it (e.g. by polluting a river), and how decisions about places and environments affect the future quality of people's lives
• b) Recognise how and why people may seek to manage environments sustainably, and to identify opportunities for their own involvement (e.g. taking part in a local conservation project)

Breadth of study

6. During the key stage, pupils should be taught the knowledge, skills and understanding through the study of two localities and three themes:

Localities

• a) A locality in the United Kingdom

Themes

• c) Water and its effects on landscapes and people, including the physical features of rivers (e.g. flood plain) or coasts (e.g. beach), and the processes of erosion and deposition that affect them
• d) How settlements differ and change, including why they differ in size and character (e.g. commuter village, seaside town) and any issue arising from changes in land use (e.g. the building of new housing or a leisure complex)
• e) An environmental issue, caused by change in an environment (e.g. increasing traffic congestion, hedgerow loss, drought) and attempts to manage the environment sustainably (e.g. by improving public transport, creating a new nature reserve, reducing water usage)

Developing confidence and responsibility and making the most of their abilities

1. Pupils should be taught:

• a) To talk and write about their opinions, and explain their views, on issues that affect themselves and society
• e) About the range of jobs carried out by people they know, and to understand how they can develop skills to make their own contribution in the future

Preparing to play an active role as citizens

2. Pupils should be taught:

• a) To research, discuss and debate topical issues, problems and events
• e) To reflect on spiritual, moral, social and cultural issues, using imagination to understand other people's experiences
• j) That resources can be allocated in different ways and that these economic choices affect individuals, communities and the sustainability of the environment

Developing good relationships and respecting the differences between people

4. Pupils should be taught:

• b) To think about the lives of people living in other places and times, and people with different values and customs
• f) That differences and similarities between people arise from a number of factors, including cultural, ethnic, racial and religious diversity, gender and disability

Sc2 Life processes and living things

Life processes

1. Pupils should be taught:

• c) To relate life processes to animals and plants found in the local environment

Humans and other animals

2. Pupils should be taught:

• e) How to treat animals with care and sensitivity
• f) That humans and other animals can produce offspring and that these offspring grow into adults

Green plants

3. Pupils should be taught:

• a) To recognise that plants need light and water to grow
• b) To recognise and name the leaf, flower, stem and root of flowering plants
• c) That seeds grow into flowering plants

Living things in their environment

5. Pupils should be taught:

• a) To recognise that plants need light and water to grow
• b) To recognise and name the leaf, flower, stem and root of flowering plants
• c) That seeds grow into flowering plants

Sc3 Materials and their properties

Grouping and classifying materials

1. Pupils should be taught:

• a) To compare everyday materials and objects on the basis of their material properties, including hardness, strength, flexibility and magnetic behaviour, and to relate these properties to everyday uses of the materials

Ma3 Shape, space and measures

Using and applying shape, space and measures

Understanding properties of shape

2. Pupils should be taught to:

• b) Visualise and describe 2-D and 3-D shapes and the way they behave, making more precise use of geometrical language, especially that of triangles, quadrilaterals, and prisms and pyramids of various kinds; recognise when shapes are identical
• c) Make and draw with increasing accuracy 2-D and 3-D shapes and patterns; recognise reflective symmetry in regular polygons; recognise their geometrical features and properties including angles, faces, pairs of parallel lines and symmetry, and use these to classify shapes and solve problems
• d) Visualise 3-D shapes from 2-D drawings

Ma4 Handling data

Using and applying handling data

Problem solving

1. Pupils should be taught:

• a) Select and use handling data skills when solving problems in other areas of the curriculum, in particular science

Processing, representing and interpreting data

2. Pupils should be taught to:

• a) Solve problems involving data
• c) Represent and interpret discrete data using graphs and diagrams, including pictograms, bar charts and line graphs, then interpret a wider range of graphs and diagrams, using ICT where appropriate
• f) Draw conclusions from statistics and graphs and recognise when information is presented in a misleading way; explore doubt and certainty and develop an understanding of probability through classroom situations; discuss events using a vocabulary that includes the words 'equally likely', 'fair', 'unfair', 'certain'

Finding things out

1 Pupils should be taught:

• a) To talk about what information they need and how they can find and use it (e.g. searching the Internet or a CD-ROM, using printed material, asking people)
• b) How to prepare information for development using ICT, including selecting suitable sources, finding information, classifying it and checking it for accuracy (e.g. finding information from books or newspapers, creating a class database, classifying by characteristics and purposes, checking the spelling of names is consistent)
• c) To interpret information, to check it is relevant and reasonable and to think about what might happen if there were any errors or omissions

Developing ideas and making things happen

2. Pupils should be taught:

• a) How to develop and refine ideas by bringing together, organising and reorganising text, tables, images and sound as appropriate (e.g. desktop publishing, multimedia presentations)

Exchanging and sharing information

3. Pupils should be taught:

• a) How to share and exchange information in a variety of forms, including e-mail (e.g. displays, posters, animations, musical compositions)
• b) To be sensitive to the needs of the audience and think carefully about the content and quality when communicating information (e.g. work for presentation to other pupils, writing for parents, publishing on the Internet).

En1 Speaking and listening

Knowledge, skills and understanding

Speaking

1. To speak with confidence in a range of contexts, adapting their speech for a range of purposes and audiences, pupils should be taught to:

• a) Use vocabulary and syntax that enables them to communicate more complex meanings
• b) Gain and maintain the interest and response of different audiences (e.g. by exaggeration, humour, varying pace and using persuasive language to achieve particular effects)
• c) Choose material that is relevant to the topic and to the listeners

Listening

2. To listen, understand and respond appropriately to others, pupils should be taught to:

• a) Identify the gist of an account or key points in a discussion and evaluate what they hear
• b) Ask relevant questions to clarify, extend and follow up ideas
• e) Respond to others appropriately, taking into account what they say

Group discussion and interaction

3. To talk effectively as members of a group, pupils should be taught to:

• a) Make contributions relevant to the topic and take turns in discussion
• b) Vary contributions to suit the activity and purpose, including exploratory and tentative comments where ideas are being collected together, and reasoned, evaluative comments as discussion moves to conclusions or actions

Drama

4. To participate in a wide range of drama activities and to evaluate their own and others' contributions, pupils should be taught to:

• a) Create, adapt and sustain different roles, individually and in groups
• b) Use character, action and narrative to convey story, themes, emotions and ideas in plays they devise and script

En2 Reading

Knowledge, skills and understanding

Reading for information

3. Pupils should be taught to:

• a) Scan texts to find information
• b) Skim for gist and overall impression
• c) Obtain specific information through detailed reading
• d) Draw on different features of texts, including print, sound and image, to obtain meaning
• e) Use organisational features and systems to find texts and information
• f) Distinguish between fact and opinion (e.g. by looking at the purpose of the text, the reliability of information)
• g) Consider an argument critically

Non-fiction and non-literary texts

5. To develop understanding and appreciation of non-fiction and non-literary texts, pupils should be taught to:

• a) Identify the use and effect of specialist vocabulary
• b) Identify words associated with reason, persuasion, argument, explanation, instruction and description
• g) Engage with challenging and demanding subject matter

En3 Writing

Knowledge, skills and understanding

Composition

1. Pupils should be taught to:

• a) Choose form and content to suit a particular purpose (e.g. notes to read or organise thinking, plans for action, poetry for pleasure)
• b) Broaden their vocabulary and use it in inventive ways
• c) Use language and style that are appropriate to the reader
• d) Use and adapt the features of a form of writing, drawing on their reading
• e) Use features of layout, presentation and organisation effectively

Knowledge, skills and understanding

Teaching should ensure that investigating and making includes exploring and developing ideas and evaluating and developing work. Knowledge and understanding should inform this process.

Exploring and developing ideas

Pupils should be taught to:

• 1c) Collect visual and other information (e.g. images, materials) to help them develop their ideas, including using a sketchbook

Investigating and making art, craft and design

2. Pupils should be taught to:

• c) Use a variety of methods and approaches to communicate observations, ideas and feelings, and to design and make images and artefacts

Evaluating and developing work

3. Pupils should be taught to:

• a) Compare ideas, methods and approaches in their own and others' work and say what they think and feel about them

Knowledge and understanding

• 4c) The roles and purposes of artists, craftspeople and designers working in different times and cultures (e.g. Western Europe and the wider world)

Working with tools, equipment, materials and components to make quality products

2. Pupils should be taught to:

• b) Suggest alternative ways of making their product, if first attempts fail
• f) Follow safe procedures for food safety and hygiene

Evaluating processes and products

3. Pupils should be taught to:

• a) Reflect on the progress of their work as they design and make, identifying ways they could improve their products
• b) Carry out appropriate tests before making any improvements

Skills

Locating places, environments and patterns

Pupils should be given opportunities to:

• 1. Identify and locate places and environments using globes, atlases, land maps, e.g. use co-ordinates and four-figure references.
• 3. Use maps, imagery and ICT to find and present locational information, e.g. draw sketch maps using symbols and keys. Interpret maps, and photographs including oblique, aerial and satellite images
• 4. Identify and describe the spatial patterns (distributions) of places and environments and how they are connected, e.g. a line of towns in a valley, the pattern of areas affected by a tsunami.

Understanding places, environments and processes

Pupils should be given opportunities to:

• 1. Identify and describe natural and human features, e.g. weather conditions, types of buildings
• 2. Identify similarities and differences to describe, compare and contrast places and environments
• 3. Describe the causes and consequences of how places and environments change, e.g. by season; from past to present; the need for sustainability.

Investigating

Pupils should be given opportunities to:

• 1. Observe and ask questions about a place, environment or a geographical issue, e.g. Why does it flood? How and why is our village changing?
• 2. Measure, collect and record data through carrying out practical investigations and fieldwork, and using secondary sources, e.g. use instruments to measure rainfall, use GIS, design questionnaires
• 3. Organise and analyse evidence, develop ideas to find answers and draw conclusions, e.g. use a data spreadsheet, compare weather data.

Communicating

Pupils should be given opportunities to:

• 1. Express their own opinions and be aware that people have different points of view about places, environments and geographical issues, e.g. about wind farms, fair trade
• 2. Make decisions about geographical issues by distinguishing between fact and opinion and considering different arguments, e.g. a traffic problem
• 3. Communicate findings in a variety of ways, e.g. using geographical terms, annotated photographs, maps, diagrams, or ICT.

Range

Ask and answer the questions

• Where is this place/environment? What is it like and why? What is happening and why?
• How have people affected this place/environment? How can I and other people look after this environment?

Skills

Communication

Pupils should be given opportunities to:

• 1. Search for, access and select relevant scientific information, from a range of sources, including ICT
• 2. Communicate clearly by speech, writing, drawings, diagrams, charts, tables, bar charts, line graphs, videos, and ICT packages, using relevant scientific vocabulary
• 3. Use standard measures and S.I. units, e.g. kg, s, N, m.

Enquiry

Pupils should be given opportunities to carry out different types of enquiry, e.g. pattern-seeking, exploring, classifying and identifying, making things, fair testing, using and applying models, by:

Planning

Pupils turn ideas suggested to them, and their own ideas, into a form that can be investigated. They outline the planned approach/method recognising, deciding upon and giving some justification for each of the following when appropriate:

• 1. The choice of success criteria
• 2. Predictions using some previous knowledge and understanding
• 3. Where and how to find relevant information and ideas
• 5. The observations or measurements that need to be made

Developing

Pupils follow the planned approach/method, revise it where necessary, and where appropriate:

• 1. Use apparatus and equipment correctly and safely
• 2. Make careful observations and accurate measurements, using digital and ICT equipment at times
• 3. Check observations and measurements by repeating them in order to collect reliable data
• 4. Make comparisons and identify and describe trends or patterns in data and information

Reflecting

Pupils think about what they have done in order to consolidate learning and transfer skills, knowledge and understanding to other contexts by:

• 1. Beginning to evaluate outcomes against success criteria
• 2. Deciding whether the approach/method was successful
• 5. Describing how they have learned and identifying the ways that worked the best
• 6. Linking the learning to similar situations, within and outside school.

Range

Interdependence of organisms

Pupils should use and develop their skills, knowledge and understanding by investigating how animals and plants are independent yet rely on each other for survival.

• 4. Through fieldwork, the plants and animals found in two contrasting local environments, e.g. identification, nutrition, life cycles, place in environment
• 5. The interdependence of living organisms in those two environments and their representation as food chains
• 7. How humans affect the local environment, e.g. litter, water pollution, noise pollution.

The sustainable earth

Pupils should use and develop their skills, knowledge and understanding by comparing the earth with other planets, investigating materials around them and considering the importance of recycling.

• 4. He properties of materials relating to their uses
• 5. How some materials are formed or produced
• 6. A consideration of what waste is and what happens to local waste that can be recycled and that which cannot be recycled.

Skills

Pupils should develop their application and understanding of their mathematical skills using contexts and techniques from across the Range.

1. Solve mathematical problems

Pupils should be given opportunities to:

• Select and use the appropriate mathematics, materials, units of measure and resources to solve problems in a variety of contexts
• Identify, obtain and process information needed to carry out the work
• Use flexible and effective methods of computation and recording

2. Communicate mathematically

Pupils should be given opportunities to:

• Visualise and describe shapes, movements and transformations
• Read information from charts, diagrams, graphs and text
• Use a variety of methods to represent data

Range

Shape, position and movement

Pupils should be given opportunities to:

• Understand and use the properties of shapes
• Make 2-D and 3-D shapes and patterns with increasing accuracy

Handling data

Pupils should be given opportunities to:

• Collect, represent and interpret data
• Collect data for a variety of defined purposes, including those that arise from their own questions, and from a variety of sources
• Use and present data in a variety of ways including tables, pictograms, charts, bar charts, line graphs, diagrams, text and ICT

Skills

Find and analyse information

Pupils should be given opportunities to:

• 1. Discuss the purpose of their tasks, the intended audiences and the resources needed
• 2. Find information from a variety of sources for a defined purpose
• 3. Select suitable information and make simple judgements about sources of information

Create and communicate information

Pupils should be given opportunities to:

• 1. Create and communicate information in the form of text, images and sound, using a range of ICT hardware and software
• 2. Create a range of presentations combining a variety of information and media, e.g. a poster combining text and graphics, a multimedia presentation

Skills

Oracy

Pupils should be given opportunities to:

• 1. Listen and view attentively, responding to a wide range of communication
• 2. Identify key points and follow up ideas through question and comment, developing response to others in order to learn through talk
• 3. Communicate clearly and confidently, expressing opinions, adapting talk to audience and purpose, using appropriate gesture, intonation and register in order to engage the listener
• 4. Develop their awareness of the social conventions of conversation and discussion

Reading

Pupils should be given opportunities to:

• 3. read in different ways for different purposes, including:
  • a) Skimming, scanning and detailed reading
  • b) Using prediction, inference and deduction
  • c) Distinguishing between fact and opinion, bias and objectivity in what they read/view
• 5. Consider what they read/view, responding orally and in writing to the ideas, vocabulary, style, presentation and organisation of image and language, and be able to select evidence to support their views
• 6a. Use a range of appropriate information retrieval strategies including ICT, e.g. the alphabet, indexes and catalogues
• 6b. Retrieve and collate information and ideas from a range of sources including printed, visual, audio, media, ICT and drama in performance

Writing

Pupils should be given opportunities to communicate in writing and to:

• 1. Use the characteristic features of literary and non-literary texts in their own writing, adapting their style to suit the audience and purpose
• 2. Use a range of sentence structures, linking them coherently and developing the ability to use paragraphs effectively
• 3. Use punctuation to clarify meaning including full stop, exclamation and question marks, comma, apostrophe, bullet points, speech marks
• choose and use appropriate vocabulary
• 5. Use the standard forms of English: nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, connectives and verb tenses
• 8. Draft and improve their work, using ICT as appropriate, to:
  • a) Plan
  • b) Draft
  • c) Revise
  • d) Proof-read
  • e) Prepare a final copy

Range

Oracy

Pupils should be given opportunities to:

• 2. Writing for a range of real or imagined audiences
• 3. Writing in a range of forms
• 4. Writing in response to a wide range of stimuli: visual, audio and written

Skills

Oracy

Pupils should be given opportunities to:

• 1. View and listen carefully, extracting the main points
• 2. Respond extensively by:
  • a) Recognising the main points
  • b) Asking questions and offering comments
  • c) Taking and making use of notes based on their enquiries
• 3. Communicate:
  • a) Clearly and confidently
  • b) In a manner that is suitable for the audience and purpose
  • c) Using appropriate gesture and intonation
• 4. develop their awareness of the social conventions of conversation and discussion

Reading

Pupils should be given opportunities to:

• 3. Use different strategies to establish meaning and retrieve information in texts including:
  • a) Skimming
  • b) Scanning
  • c) Detailed reading
  • d) Predicting
  • e) Using context and knowledge about language to understand that which is implicit in a text
• 5. respond intelligently, clearly and appropriately both orally and in writing to the:
  • a) Plot
  • b) Events
  • c) Characters
  • d) Ideas
  • e) Vocabulary
  • f) Style
  • g) Register
  • h) Presentation
  • i) Form
  • l) Offering comments or opinions and using relevant terms
• 6. Look for information by using all kinds of information organising systems, including ICT, e.g. the alphabet, indexes, catalogues

Writing

• 1. Use the characteristics of chosen forms, adapting their style to the audience and purpose
• 2. Link sentences and clauses in an intelligible and coherent manner; use various Welsh constructions and use paragraphs effectively
• 3. Use punctuation to convey appropriate meaning, including:
  • a) Commas
  • b) Full stops
  • c) Question marks
  • d) Quotation marks
  • e) Exclamation marks
  • f) Apostrophes
  • g) Circumflexes
  • h) Bullet points
• 4. Choose and use appropriate vocabulary, develop language that is both refined and robust, and use it to create effects
• 5. Develop accuracy by:
  • a) Using verb forms
  • b) Forming negative sentences
  • c) Using prepositions
  • d) Using mutations
  • e) Using noun gender
  • f) Differentiating between ‘i’, ‘u’ and ‘y’
  • g) Circumflexes
  • h) Avoiding the unnecessary use of English words, phrases and patterns and those of an English nature
• 6. Use a range of strategies which enables them to spell correctly; check spelling by using various methods, including ICT
• 8. Draft and improve their work, using ICT as required to:
  • a) Prepare and plan
  • b) Draft and redraft content and language
  • c) Proof-read
  • d) Prepare a final copy
• 9. Present their work appropriately by:
  • a) Developing legible handwriting in accordance with convention
  • b) Using appropriate presentation and layout, including ICT.

Range

Pupils should be given opportunities to:

• 1. Write for a variety of purposes including:
  • a) To entertain
  • b) To present information
  • c) To express opinions
  • d) To convey feelings and ideas
• 2. Write for a variety of real and imaginary audiences, e.g. oneself, fellow-pupils, younger pupils, teachers, family and friends
• 3. Write in a variety of forms, e.g. stories, poems, scripts, leaflets, posters, advertisements, reports, diaries, notes, electronic texts, portrayals, instructions, questionnaires, reviews, articles, speeches
• 4. Write in response to a variety of audio, visual and audio-visual stimuli, e.g. stories, poems, their interests, activities and experiences in the classroom and elsewhere, television programmes, a statue.

Skills

Understanding

Pupils should be given opportunities to:

• 1. Describe and make comparisons:
  • a) Between their own work and that of others
• 2. Experiment with and examine the methods used by other artists, craftworkers and designers from different:
  • a) Periods
  • b) Places

E.g. consider how work from unfamiliar cultures may influence pattern design for their own textile project

Investigating

Pupils should be given opportunities to:

• 1. Select and record from:
  • a) Sbservation
• 2. Investigate:
  • a) The natural environment using a variety of materials
• 3. Organise:
  • a) Reference materials
  • b) Resources

To develop ideas themes and feelings, e.g. collect information for a design project from the internet, library

Making

Pupils should be given opportunities to:

• 1. Explore, experiment with and apply the elements of the visual, tactile and sensory language of art, craft and design which include:
  • a) Line, e.g. long lines, short lines, wavy lines, heavy lines
  • b) Tone, e.g. light, medium and dark tones
  • c) Colour, e.g. primary and tertiary, matching colours, cold, warm
  • d) Pattern, e.g. natural, made patterns, patterns from other cultures, repetitive patterns
  • e) Shape, e.g. shapes from nature, from the made world, and from their imagination
• 2. Design and make:
  • a) Two-dimensional images

Range

In Art and Design, pupils at Key Stage 2 should develop their understanding and investigating skills in order to enrich and inform their making.

Understanding

Pupils should be stimulated and inspired, where appropriate, by:

• Other artists, craftworkers and designers
• Images and artefacts from a variety of historical and contemporary cultures and contexts.

They should develop, where appropriate, their understanding through:

• Videos
• Digital-based resources
• The Internet
• Other resources

Investigating

Pupils should investigate:

• Natural objects and environments

They should, where appropriate, apply to their own work findings collected from:

• Videos
• Digital-based resources
• The Internet
• Other resources.

Skills

Designing

Pupils should be given opportunities to:

• 1. Use a range of information sources to generate ideas for products
• 3. Develop a simple specification/recipe for their products indicating their intentions and approach
• 4. Demonstrate their creative thinking when considering and recording solutions to problems that arise during their designing and making, e.g. realise that it would be quicker and easier to use ready-made materials, components and ingredients rather than make their own
• 5. Develop and communicate their design ideas in a variety of ways, using ICT and models where appropriate

Making

Pupils should be given opportunities to:

• 1. Work to their specification/recipe to make products
• 3. Measure, mark out, cut, shape, join, weigh and mix a range of materials and ingredients, using appropriate tools/utensils, equipment and techniques
• 6. Discuss their products, and evaluate their work, e.g. explain why and how they made their product and what they think about its function, features, performance, taste

Food

Pupils should be given opportunities to:

• 7. Plan and carry out a broad range of practical food preparation tasks safely and hygienically

Countryside Investigators supports the aims of the Every Child Matters initiative. The Every Child Matters outcomes key is as follows:

• S Be Safe
• H Stay Healthy
• A Enjoy and Achieve
• P Make a Positive contribution
• E Achieve Economic wellbeing

This resource can also help schools which are part of the Government’s Healthy Schools initiative. This promotes a whole-school approach to physical and emotional well-being focused on four core themes:

• Personal, Social & Health Education
• Healthy Eating
• Physical Activity
• Emotional Health & Well-being

Using Countryside Investigators is an effective way to get children interested in the great outdoors, to learn how food is made and to get exercise while
exploring the countryside.

The Countryside Investigators materials also link strongly with the Sustainable Schools programme, with their emphasis on conservation and protection of rural Britain, which will help raise awareness of environmental matters.