Using LEGO® in Geography lessons.

Why use  LEGO®?  It's fun!  It's tactile, it stimulates creativity, it allows visualisation of designs, it's flexible, it appeals to all (specifically boys, who are statistically underachieving) and can be re-used again and again and again and again....

Just mentioning a link between LEGO® and Geography lessons is often enough to get teachers thinking creatively, but here are some examples of just some of the ways you can use these little bricks in your lessons.

1. Make a flag
Useful aid to get students using an atlas or the internet in a research-based capacity.  Perhaps get students to make the flag from  LEGO®, write down some key facts about the country (or mini-paragraph linking your topic to the relevant country) and photograph their writing next to their flag.

2. Grouping / categorising
Get some chunky bricks, some stickers (address labels cut to size may be useful here) and go for it!  Maybe you will do locational Geography such as matching countries to their capitals.  You could use it for fun case study revision with KS4 - 5 by getting them to match case study title with other essential information such as year, cause, effect, location....
You can get students to photograph their correct answers to help with their revision.

3. Create a landscape
 LEGO® bricks can be moved.  Landscapes move.  This may take a bit more time to set up but could be a valuable way of getting students to demonstrate their understanding.  
An example could be showing the formation of a gorge caused by waterfall erosion.  You can get students to create it, photograph each stage, print it as a storyboard and explain each step.  
Otherwise there is soil, rock, water tables, volcanoes, earthquake simulation...

4. Designing
Perhaps an eco-friendly house, flood defences along a river or coast, an ecolodge, a small yet efficient house within a favela....

5.  And more!
I'm currently planning how to paint a world map on to a large  LEGO® board so I can use it flexibly within lessons.  Imagine giving everyone a brick and asking them to place it on the country that is the furthest place they've ever travelled.  The taller the country's tower, the more students have been to that place.  Imagine the conversations that could stimulate.  Imagine the other ideas that are possible here.

I'd love to hear from you if you have used  LEGO® in your lessons.  What did you do?  How did the students react?  What were the pros and cons?  Would you do it again?

Lose yourself with GeoGuessr

I love GeoGuessr!

It's more than just a game, it's a chance to explore the world.  You could find yourself in a bustling city, on a deserted road or, as I once found myself, underwater!  The challenge is to work out where in the world you are using your powers of observation, keen wit, general knowledge and a dash of common sense.  All skills that make a good Geographer!

How does it work?

Go to the GeoGuessr website https://www.geoguessr.com/ and choose a game.  The original game is there on the first page and a 'single player' game is the best way to get started.  You can create an account (which keeps track of scores and allows to challenge friends) or play as a guest.  

You then get dropped into a Google StreetView image in a random location anywhere on Earth.  You can move around, look around and explore to work out where you are but without usual helpful StreetView features such as road names!

You then place a pin on a map to show where you think you are and get awarded points based on how far away you were from your location.

The obsession begins

The usual way of finding out where you are is to stroll or drive (whatever your imagination decides!) until you come across a road sign and you can work from there.  Fortunately it's not always that straightforward.  Us Geographers like a challenge.  In previous games I have played I have worked out my location by:

• reading road signs 
• looking up the address of a museum I was outside
• recognising a famous castle I could see in the distance
• Using Google Translate to decipher graffiti on the side of a bus stop!

Sometimes no matter how hard you search there is nothing that obviously gives away your location, so you kind of just have to pick a country and hope for the best.  Try to make an educated guess though.  You can get climate clues by looking at vegetation, location clues by looking at the geology or country clues by looking at architecture and wealth.

Taking it further

You can now limit GeoGuessr by city or country using official maps.  This is useful if you are interested in, teaching or studying a particular place.  Or you can play challenges based on 'pro maps' created by users, such as 'European football stadiums', or 'places with volcanoes'.  

The possibilities are as endless as the Earth.