planning - Teaching On Ice

S: Survival

An enrichment activity for Key Stage 3 students, by John Senior

Summary: The essentials of physical and social survival

Whether we are packing for a day out, a holiday, a safari expedition or an adventure, we need to carefully consider what we need take with us, to avoid having a disappointing day or disaster when in a remote area.

Abraham Maslow developed a theory which looked at human activities being directed by what he termed a 'hierarchy of need'. Maslow's theory has been highly influential in many areas of human activity particularly in management applications.

His theory concerns our basic needs that must be satisfied if we are to survive and prosper, live and learn. There are two main categories in his theory, the needs we can call physiological and the needs we can address as security. The Physiological Needs include things essential to our survival such as the need for water, air, food, and sleep. The security needs are those needs that contribute to our actual or perceived need for safety and feelings of security.

Some questions for your pupils to consider and discuss

Imagine that everything we take for granted has stopped being available (clean drinking water for example), imagine that there is only food for a few days; you have no shelter and that yesterday the first snow of the winter fell. Imagine that you and your friends are feeling very tense and nervous; unless matters are carefully handled there could be trouble and arguments ahead.

For you and your group to survive this difficult situation until things are easier, what 12 items would be essential to have with you?

When you have narrowed down the essentials, what five things would you suggest that an Antarctic explorer would need to take with them as an emergency stand by for a visit to that hostile place if things get tough?

Going further

For more information about Maslow visit either or both of the following web sites:

Theories of personality: hierarchy of needs

Psychology: Maslow's hierarchy

National Curricululm KS3: Citizenship: Pupils should be taught to: use their imagination to consider other people's experiences and be able to think about, express and explain views that are not their own negotiate, decide and take part responsibly in both school and community-based activities [and] reflect on the process of participating.

 Learning and Teaching Scotland: The journey to excellence.

P: Planning and packing

A huge amount of planning has gone into this expedition to Antarctica.  Glance back at a few of Phil's posts over the past six months to get a glimpse of the careful thought and hard work involved:

• Fundraising
• Choosing and packing equipment
• Rescue training

Geography activity: Planning (Key Stages 1 and 2)

Aim: To investigate what it is like to mount an expedition. A minimum of two or three days will be necessary to develop this activity.

Activity: The pupils will learn how to design, develop and execute an expedition.

Exploration of new or rarely explored frontiers often requires remarkable courage, determination and endurance. Expeditions also require planning – as they are often a matter of life or death!

Tell the pupils that they are going to explore an unknown place and experience the excitement of an expedition. Expeditions are part of our daily lives. most likely, our expeditions are more routine than travelling to Antarctica, but regardless of their simplicity, daily expeditions help us discover 'new' information. Download the attachments below to prepare and deliver this activity.

Enrichment activity: Planning a long trip (Key Stage 3)

This activity asks students to plan a six-month trip for astronauts.

A recent comment on the blog asked whether we had considered the impact of our expedition on our Carbon Footprint. The short answer is 'yes', the long answer is much trickier and can be seen by clicking here. Essentially, are we damaging the environment by trying to educate people about the damage they are doing? Another 'tricky' issue is that of cover. Will the education of my students suffer because I'm trying to improve their education?

A number of plans have been put in place to safeguard my students:

• I haven't been given any exam classes (Y11 and Y13) this year.
• I'm on unpaid leave so that the school can fund a long term supply teacher to take on my classes. This provides continuity for the children and ensures that they aren't taught 'cover lessons'.
• The supply teacher position was interviewed for.
• My Y10 and Y12 classes are not going to be taken by the cover teacher, they are going to be taken by full time Geography teachers within the department.
• Full time Geography teachers will also occasionally swap with the long term supply teacher to ensure students are being taught to the correct standard.
• My tutor group are not being taken on by the supply teacher, they are being looked after by an experienced (and brilliant) member of staff.
• I've tried to leave comprehensive handover notes and class lists for the supply teacher, my HOD, the cover tutor and anyone else who would listen!

Me going away for half a term certainly isn't ideal, but if all the plans in place happen, I feel the benefits to the many will far outweigh the upheaval for a few. Indeed some of the few see my trip as a real opportunity for them; one comment in my good luck card read as follows:

"Dear Mr Avery, thank you for all the lovely chocolate this year, please remember to bring us back some from your trip."

Carbon footprints, student welfare, half a term away from my classes ... is my trip South a self-indulgent holiday, or is it an educational expedition designed to inspire young people? I'm convinced of the latter, but I realise I'm biased; what do you think? What other questions do I need to answer to convince you the former is not the case?