Independent Assignment : Geography in the News

Geography in the News Challenge! Firstly, produce an annotated map of the World showing a range of current geographical news stories. Secondly, choose one story and write an ‘in-depth’ report about it.

Success Criteria You must summarise six recent news stories that are geographical in content and show them correctly on a World map. You should write an in-depth explanation of one of these stories. You could investigate the story further and evaluate how we in Britain are affected by this event.

Presentation Your map must be annotated with six text boxes to briefly summarise each geographical story (2-3 sentences). Your in-depth report (piece of writing) is about just ONE of these events. The in-depth report must explain the story and must include accurate details. Use formal language. Make it attractive and easy to read. The in-depth report must be at least two sides of A4 (but this can include pictures). If you do additional research, you must not copy and paste from the internet. You can use a computer if you choose.

‘What is Geography?’ lesson notes. Things to think about: Click on the links below to find helpful hints and tips… How to structure the in-depth report using the ‘Geography in the News’ guide. ‘What is Geography?’ lesson notes. How to summarise Remember you can find the news stories from a range of sources e.g. newspaper / TV/ radio/ magazine / internet.

I am stuck… Helpful websites to find news stories: CBBC Newsround - world news stories The Newspaper for Children – news story headlines. Headliners – more news stories for children. BBC Schools - Geography topics

I am still stuck… Remember to get an outline map of the World from your teacher. Use an atlas to find the countries mentioned in the news stories. Look back at the work done in lesson about ‘What is Geography?’ Use the task sheet given out in the lesson to guide you further (‘Assignment 1b: Global Geography in the News’). Remember, you also could write about how we in Britain may be affected by this event.

Return to previous slide ‘Geography in the News’ guidance Find a news story (newspaper / TV/ radio/ magazine / internet) which is about a geographical issue. Use the following headings to report the issue: Source – where is it from? Time? Date? Channel? Issue – why is this story geographical? Events – what happened? Problems and solutions. Groups of people and opinions – who is involved and what do they think? Personal opinion – what do you think? Include any images of the event that you think are suitable. Return to previous slide

Return to previous slide What is Geography? Geography covers a wide and exciting range of topics. It has been studied for thousands of years. It can be divided into three parts: physical, human and environmental. Physical geography is about the Earth’s natural processes, features and events. For example, mountains, beaches, erosion, weather and earthquakes. Human geography is about how and where we live on the Earth, how we feed, clothe and shelter ourselves and how we earn our living. Environmental geography concerns how we interact with our environment. For example, how we deal with scarce resources, waste and wildlife. Return to previous slide

Return to previous slide Here is an example of a news story that has been summarised. Only the basic, key information is included. In this example: where? What happen? U.S.A California is braced for a massive cleanup after heavy rains triggered mudslides that killed at least nine and destroyed dozens of homes. Return to previous slide