School Workshop: AQA Geography Fieldwork

This workshop enables students to:

• apply knowledge and understanding to interpret, analyse and evaluate information and issues related to geographical enquiry
• select, adapt and use a variety of skills and techniques to investigate questions and issues and communicate findings in relation to geographical enquiry

(Note: this matches the requirement of the AQA GCSE Geography specification)

More specifically, your students will:

• identify the key question and hypothesis
• locate and justify the investigation site and identify risks
• discuss the variety and appropriateness of data collection methods and sampling techniques
• collect primary data using data loggers in the tropical Rainforest Biome
• use secondary data from the University of Exeter’s research in French Guiana
• discuss and then present the data in a variety of appropriate data presentation methods
• analyse data using comparisons between primary and secondary data to draw a conclusion
• evaluate the investigation

We've designed the workshop to help teachers cover the following subject areas:

GSCE Geography

The AQA specification states…

Students need to undertake two geographical enquiries, each of which must include the use of primary data, collected as part of a fieldwork exercise.

Fieldwork must take place outside the classroom and school grounds on at least two occasions. The two enquiries must be carried out in contrasting environments and show an understanding of both physical and human geography. In at least one of the enquiries students are expected to show an understanding about the interaction between physical and human geography.

This workshop enables teachers to fulfil the requirements of one fieldwork day and through the nature of the question, will allow the interaction between physical and human geography to be investigated.

There is also a clear link between the subject content and geographical enquiries, most notably the Tropical Rainforest unit (3.1.2.2) in Section B: The Living World (3.1.2).

The workshop focuses on the students creating a fieldwork booklet which has been designed using syllabus specifications and exam questions. This will enable them to prepare for the part of the Paper 3 exam based on the students’ individual enquiry work. 

This takes place in a workshop room inside our purpose built education centre, as well as the Rainforest Biome.

The workshop costs £8.25 per pupil with a minimum charge of £165 per group (includes VAT). Maximum group size is 35. The cost includes:

• a facilitated workshop with our Education Team
• free access to the Eden site for the day
• all equipment needed for the workshop
• free teaching resources enabling your class to prepare for the workshop and to follow up on the activity
• a personal welcome from the Education Team at the entrance
• a base for your bags in our purpose-built education centre, The Core
• a space to eat your own lunch 

The price includes free entry for accompanying adult helpers, whose participation is essential to the success of the day (please note our suggested adult/pupil ratios are as follows: Early Years Foundation Stage, 1:3; Key Stage 1, 1:6; Key Stage 2 and 3, 1:10; Key Stage 4, 1:15; Key Stage 5, 1:20). You’re welcome to bring more helpers if you’d like. Additional helpers are charged at our group booking rate. 

We also offer a free preparatory visit to Eden for teachers wanting to plan their school trip, which should be booked in advance.

Find out the steps we’ve taken to ensure that all participants on Eden Project school visits are safe, with our health and safety guidelines.