What’s it all about?

Geography Awareness Week is an annual event organised by the Geographical Association (GA). This year’s theme is “Investigating Geography” and a range of activities have been running throughout this week in schools across the UK.

Assembly ideas

The GA has used some of the main headings from the 2008 UK Interdependence Day report to generate activities around the theme. One that could be used for primary and secondary pupils looks at the trade flow of commodities.

Bring in a selection of different cartons, boxes and labels belonging to items that you use on a particular day and pass them round the room. Ask pupils to investigate their origins or where the products have been put together. Then ask them about the clothes they put on for school each day; the furniture they sit on; the TV and computer equipment they use; the car or bus they travel to school in; or the items in their pencil case.

Having produced your list of countries, try to locate them on a world map and label it with the name or type of goods produced there, and draw a line from that country to the UK. You have now produced a “desire line map” showing the movement around the world of goods that affect your daily life.

You can download an Eckert IV equal area map projection (an ellipse shaped map of the world) from the GA’s website at: www.geography.org.ukresourcesmappingourglobelinksfurtherreading.

Help, I’ve got no time to prepare

There are quizzes available to download from http:worldwise.geography.org.uklocalquiz.

Where do I get more information?

A Word document with colourful pictures and plenty of ideas for primary and secondary assemblies can be downloaded from http:worldwise.geography.org.ukgeographyawarenessweek.