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Features of places: our classroom

Stage 1
Geography: Year 1 and Year 2
Topic: 
Our Classroom – Spaces in classrooms can be used for different activities

Features of places: our classroom

Students explore activities occurring in places and how the spaces within places can be used for different purposes.
Key inquiry question #1: 
What are the features of and activities that happen in places?
Key inquiry question #2: 
How can spaces within a place be used for different purposes?

Content

How places are organised

Students:

  • investigate activities that occur within places, for example: (ACHGK007, ACHGK008)
  • discussion of why and how the spaces within places can be rearranged for different purposes eg. street fair, school hall
  • examination of why various activities in an area are located where they are eg. school, shops         

Background Notes for Teachers

The focus of this sequence of activities is on activities in places and how a space can be organised. Students will be familiar with their classroom and so they can then arrange it differently. This provides a good introduction to the concept of activities and spaces within a place. The inquiry can be expanded to include other spaces within the school such as the playground and where buildings, benches, and other objects are arranged within the school. The inquiry leads to students identifying their favourite activities within the classroom and communicating this through simple large-scale mapping.

Student Activities

Activity 1

Classrooms

Students rearrange the classroom to a different configuration. They discuss what is different and what is still the same.

 

Number of set tasks: 1

Activity 2

Classrooms and people

Students  explore other classrooms throughout the school and take photos and discuss the geographical differences.

Number of set tasks: 1

Activity 3

Our classroom

Students, as a group, map their classroom and then label activities they can do in each space. Discuss what activities they could do/not do if it was arranged differently.

Number of set tasks: 1

Activity 4

My dream classroom

Students rearrange the classroom based on desired purpose and activities and draw a map of their dream classroom.

Number of set tasks: 1

NSW Syllabus for the Australian Curriculum Geography K–6

Outcomes

A student:

GE1-1 describes features of places and the connections people have with places

GE1-2 identifies ways in which people interact with and care for places

GE1-3 communicates geographical information and uses geographical tools for inquiry

Geographical Inquiry Skills

Acquiring geographical information

  • pose geographical questions (ACHGS007, ACHGS013)
  • collect and record geographical data and information, for example, by observing, by interviewing, or using visual representations (ACHGS008, ACHGS014)

Processing geographical information

  • represent data by constructing tables, graphs or maps (ACHGS009, ACHGS015)
  • draw conclusions based on the interpretation of geographical information sorted into categories (ACHGS010, ACHGS016)

Communicating geographical information

  • present findings in a range of communication forms (ACHGS011, ACHGS017)
  • reflect on their learning and suggest responses to their findings (ACHGS012, ACHGS018)

Geographical Concepts

  • Place: the significance of places and what they are like eg location and features of local places and other places in the world.
  • Space: the significance of location and spatial distribution, and ways people organise and manage the spaces that we live in.For example, where activities are located and how spaces can be manipulated and altered

LAC

Learning aacross the curriculum

  • Critical and creative thinking
  • Work and enterprise

Resources

Picture books

I am Too Absolutely Small for School by Lauren Child

My Map Book by Sara Fanelli

Me on the Map by John Sweeney and Annette Cable

Imagine by Alison Lester

The Way to the Zoo by John Birmingham