After a decade of near fossilisation, key stage 3 geography is once more starting to innovate and experiment. This change is reflected in the new textbooks produced to incorporate the KS3 strategy and Qualifications and Curriculum Authority schemes of work. Some of the textbooks are themselves catalysts for innovation.

So there is no longer an excuse for spending three lessons describing a steel plant when students could be learning about the geography of crime, teleworking and immigration to the UK. There are fewer signs of change in textbook physical geography, but new case studies, such as limestone landscapes in central America, should fire teachers bored with the same old examples.

It’s also encouraging to see that many textbooks have responded to changes in teaching and learning. There are still some low-level comprehension tasks around, but many books include thinking skills, extended writing and suggestions for discussion. The best books have a clear structure and rationale, providing activities which build up over a unit, giving pupils a sense of purpose and a chance to review at the end.

Although most have made a valiant attempt, progression over a series is harder for writers to ensure, as many schools mix and match units from different books. This means that responsibility for ensuring progress rests with the individual department, as it should, but the planning materials in the teacher’s guides do provide support.

Progression from KS2 to 3 is a real problem, and few books face this. However, some series provide opportunities for establishing existing knowledge, particularly through the use of concept maps, which is a move forward. There has also been some careful thinking about differentiation, with a number of different strategies in use, including extension and graded activities and parallel books, so there’s likely to be a solution to suit your class and preferences.

Jacqueline Billing and five of her Year 7 pupils from Parkside Community College, Cambridge, helped me with this review. We asked the following questions:

Content

Is it intriguing, innovative and engaging? Does it relate to (but not necessarily follow exactly) new ideas in the QCA schemes of work? Is it clearly presented and suitable for the target audience? Is the teacher supported in planning for progression?

Learning strategies

Do student activities follow good practice in teaching and learning? Are they varied and purposeful? Do they employ suitable differentiation strategies?

Design

Does the design encourage students to engage with the subject? Are there graphical and textualsignposts to help them find their way around?

Teacher support materials Do student materials encourage learning and provide the right level of challenge? Is the teacher suitably supported in planning for effective learning?

TITLE

HEINEMANN. Geography Matters series. Books 1-3, Higher and Foundation. Teacher’s Resource Packs. Price: Student book pound;8.75; Teacher’s Resource Pack pound;46.99; CD-Rom pack pound;66.99. Tel: 01865 888080.

CONTENT

Designed to follow closely the QCA schemes of work, so includes more innovative topics such as sport, crime and fashion. Extended case studies include the limestone landscapes in the Yorkshire Dales and the 1999 earthquake in Turkey. Plenty of interesting resources, for instance, poems, photos, maps integrated throughout text. Main place-based case studies are England, Brazil, France with ChinaJapan comparison.

LEARNING STRATEGIES

Higher and foundation books are designed to be used together, so page numbers tie up and resources are identical. Some text and activities are differentiated, but this could have been taken further. Activities are engaging and reflect the KS3 strategy, for example mind maps, the development compass rose and writing frames. There are activities for reflection and synthesis at the end of each enquiry.

DESIGN

Colourful without being overpowering. Page structures vary - some double page spreads, some extended sections. Icons signpost numeracy, literacy and ICT activities. Amount of text increases from book 1-3. Popular with students.

TEACHER SUPPORT

Substantial packs including plenty of varied activities. Lots of card sorting - for example mysteries and classification exercises. Useful materials to support the Passport to the World unit. Helpful notes on planning and teaching, self-assessment and target-setting sheets. CD-Roms will be available this autumn.

VERDICT

Highly recommended if you like the parallel book approach - lively and engaging geography following the QCA schemes of work. The best teacher’s resource packs

TITLE

HODDER amp; STOUGHTON. Investigating Geography series. Book A (B and C in press). Price: pound;8.99. Tel: 01235 827720.

CONTENT

Imaginative and innovative. Refreshing to see some new case studies, for instance, limestone landscapes in central America. Interesting maps, for example, world internet connectivity. Students were fascinated by the striking before and after photos in “How does hair provide a living?” No extended place study in Book 1, but Book 2 will include an interesting twist on Brazil - lots on images and representation.

LEARNING STRATEGIES

Lively and active enquiry learning. Mixture of short and extended activities, including mind maps, living graphs and diamond ranking. The students and teacher liked the way that longer activities have two or three differentiated levels, allowing pupils to choose or be guided to appropriately pitched work. Review at end of each chapter, giving opportunities for self assessment, including an element of metacognition.

DESIGN

Lively with good use of photos, maps and diagrams. Response to the rather insistent colour scheme was divided - some students felt it was engaging, others felt it was too bright, but all thought the books would be easy to use.

TEACHER SUPPORT

To be published later this autumn.

VERDICT

Highly recommended. Probably the most innovative geography. Interesting and varied differentiated activities, but you might need sunglasses.

TITLE

JOHN MURRAY. Earthworks series. Books 1-3, Earthworks Plus. Teacher’s Resource Books and CD-Rom. Price: Student book pound;9.50, Teacher Resource books pound;37.50, CD-Rom pound;60+VAT. Tel: 020 7493 4361.

CONTENT

Interesting and fairly demanding, for example a detailed discussion of fronts in Book 1. Includes topics linking with the QCA schemes of work, such as fashion. Some familiar case studies, but also new ones, such as racism in Australia. Intriguing ideas, such as the sinking of the Titanic providing a theme in the global warming section of Earthworks Plus, (??some mistake?) and links to popular culture. Extended place studies on France, India, South Africa and China.

LEARNING STRATEGIES

Lively enquiry learning. Mixture of short activities and longer assignments in each unit, including games, role plays and fieldwork activities. Earthworks Plus explicitly addresses the QCA schemes of work and the Literacy Strategy, including an innovative computer menu framework for different text types.

DESIGN

Clear structure to each unit - introduction, geographical ideas, investigations and a final topical issue. Most sub-sections are 2-4 pages long. Pupils liked the maps and photos, but thought the page design could be slightly livelier. Amount of text increases through the series to help with progression.

TEACHER SUPPORT

One CD-Rom covers books 1-3, with materials presented through the Acrobat viewer. Notes give a clear explanation of the book’s underlying rationale and learning strategies. Each chapter has a selection of fairly standard worksheets.

VERDICT

Recommended. Not jazzy, but good in-depth geography. Extensions on its own would be an effective update to an existing set of texts.

TITLE

LONGMAN

Think Through Geography series. Books 1-3. Teacher’s Resource Books. Price: Student book pound;8.75, Teacher’s Resource Book pound;43. Tel: 0800 579579.

CONTENT

A mixture of standard case studies, such as the Dorset coast, with less usual ones, such as the Yosemite National Park. The enquiry structure gives a strong framework for progression and mapskills are integrated throughout. Not explicitly designed to support the QCA schemes of work, but provides a strong course, especially for more able students. Main place studies are France, Kenya, Italy and Brazil.

LEARNING STRATEGIES

A mixture of short activities and longer tasks which all build up the enquiry, giving a strong sense of purpose. Activities include designing a game, giving a presentation and SWOT analysis. Extensions and homeworks can be found throughout the text. Many topics have lists of websites, but the teacher would need to provide support materials for their use.

DESIGN

The 6-8 page units allow in-depth explanations. Fairly small photos, compared with some of the other books, supplemented with lots of pictures. Quiet background design, which students thought could be more interesting.

TEACHER SUPPORT

Helpful explanation of the books’ rationale and guidance on progression. Photocopiable assessments, glossaries, writing frames and straightforward worksheets, some pitched to support less able students.

VERDICT

Recommended, especially for departments wanting an in-depth, enquiry-based course with strong medium term planning built in.

TITLE

NELSON THORNES. Living Geography series. Books 1-3. Homework and Assessment Books 1-3. Price: Student book pound;8.75, Homework and Assessment book pound;25.75. Tel: 01242 267100.

CONTENT

A fairly traditional series in terms of content and case studies, though with some occasional pleasant surprises, such as the use of old maps, and case studies on ecological footprints and coral reefs. Parts of the physical geography includes material some schools reserve for GCSE, for example a detailed look at hydrographs. There’s a separate mapskills unit, then a few OS maps in each book. Book 3 includes extended studies on the US and South Africa.

LEARNING STRATEGIES

Fairly standard questions and a small number of extension tasks on each topic, plus nine assessments across the series. Assessments are clear, and a few are quite innovative, for instance, planning a marina. Some interesting photos, but teachers would need to devise their own activities to get the most out of these. ICT receives occasional mentions, but there are few activities which use current ideas on literacy or thinking skills.

DESIGN

Plenty of text and photos on each double-page spread. Amount of text increases, and point size decreases, through the series. Colour scheme is quiet - each chapter is colour-coded and question boxes retain the same colour throughout. Each page includes links to related sections in the text. Easy to navigate. Students thought it was sound, but slightly dull.

TEACHER SUPPORT

Homework amp; Assessment books detail national curriculum coverage and key skills, but not KS3 strategy. Useful background information for photos. A series of standard worksheets, answers for activities and levels. Mark schemes for assessments provided.

VERDICT

Traditional text with sound, detailed content. Will need some work on the teacher’s part if it is to be used as part of a vibrant and engaging course.

NELSON THORNES. Key Geography series (new editions). New Foundations, New Connections, New Interactions. Teacher’s Resource Guides with CD-Roms. Price: Student book pound;9, Teacher Resource Guide with CD-Rom pound;65. Tel: 01242 267100.

CONTENT

Much the same as the previous series, though there are some updates and additions such as the use of computers in geography, the Gujarat 2001 earthquake and a new section on the UK. Other place studies are Kenya, Japan and Italy. An excellent selection of ruralurban images isn’t fully exploited, but would be a useful resource. The separate mapskills section is largely untouched, but there are a few more OS maps elsewhere in the books.

LEARNING STRATEGIES

The enquiries added in the previous update have been moved to follow each unit. These are well structured, but not always related to real places. Other activities are short and may not be sufficiently challenging for more able students. KS3 strategy techniques have had little impact on the books. Students felt the series was well pitched for Year 7, but wouldn’t be hard enough later on.

DESIGN

The colourful double-page spread format is continued, with 2-4 pages for each enquiry. Students thought the design was clear and easy to use. The changes mean it would be hard to combine the new edition with older ones.

TEACHER SUPPORT

The resource guides have been completely rewritten. New photocopiable sheets include some really interesting accounts of people’s lives, which would provide opportunities for teachers to design extended reading activities. There are also glossaries, self assessments and some thinking skills activities. The material is also provided on CD-Rom to allow editing.

VERDICT

Definitely an improvement on the older series, but still has some way to go to match the innovation and strategies in some other books.

TITLE

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS. Geog.123 series. Books 1-3. Teacher’s Books and CD-Roms. Price: Student book pound;9, Teacher’s book pound;30, CD-Rom pound;40+VAT. Tel: 01536 741727.

CONTENT

Lively and engaging. Designed to match the QCA schemes of work, so includes sections on sport, crime and fashion. The students liked Walter, a teenage boy who pops up throughout the series, providing touches of humour. Some familiar case studies, for instance, the Holderness coast, but also some new ones, such as internet shopping. Book 1 is UK-based, the other two books focus on Brazil, Ghana and France. Book 3 has particularly useful material on fair trade.

LEARNING STRATEGIES

The books include little straight explanatory text, instead focusing on high quality resources and extended activities (students liked the way these are called “Your turn”). Most activities are short and structured, with some using strategies such as the development compass rose and Venn diagrams.

DESIGN

Each double page spread includes lively photos, often with information callouts, which appealed to the students and encouraged them to read further. Each book includes a few appropriate maps at the back, avoiding the need to get out atlases for quick references. The Ghana map was particularly detailed and helpful.

TEACHER SUPPORT

The teacher support book provides answers to activities, which would be useful for non-specialist staff, further suggestions for classwork and homework, and a range of graded worksheets. These do include some thinking skills strategies, but are not as lively as the material in the books. The CD-Rom adds more activities, skills sheets, exam-style assessments and base maps.

VERDICT

Recommended. Engaging, pupil-friendly books went down very well with the students and would be a good choice for a mixed ability group.