Teachers Notes:
Riverside Explorer CD-ROM: produced by the Environment Agency
The Riverside Explorer CD is a resource that
was distributed free to schools during 2000 by the Environment Agency. The resource
was designed to support the National Curriculum objectives for Science and Geography
from Years 5-9. Selected materials may be used with older pupils. This resource
may be used to compliment the content on the SWGfL River project.
The CD is organised in modules, which are graded for each key stage and a brief
outline is provided in the table below.
| Module |
Main Content |
SWGfl Links |
| River Habitats |
Actual river data in the form of maps, photographs and
diagrams from over 4,500 river sites in the UK |
|
| How rivers shape the land |
Journey along a river. What happens in a river basin. How
water gets into rivers. How rivers shape the land |
River Processes
River Valley Development |
| River Wildlife |
The river habitats of selected plants and river animals
are described. Interactive wildlife/habitat activity |
|
| Practise a river survey |
Interactive observation and recording simulation to aid
fieldwork |
River Fieldwork
River Data |
| Riverside glossary |
The specialist vocabulary is described and illustrated |
River Processes |
| Case Studies |
Individual case studies (printed version only) relating
to river management and conservation based on the Environment Agency River
Habitat Survey |
Overflowing Rivers |
For further information about the availability of the Riverside
Explorer CD contact your local Environment Agency Office.
Links to QCA Geography Scheme of work
The resources in the SWGfL River Project support the teaching of three QCA
Geography Units relating to the physical geography of rivers.
QCA Units may be downloaded in Word format and adapted to individual needs.
For details of the QCA Schemes of Work visit: http://www.standards.dfee.gov.uk/schemes
| QCA Geography Unit |
SWGfL Link |
KS2
Unit 14: Investigating Rivers
This is a 'long' unit. In it, children learn, through fieldwork and research,
about rivers and the effects they have on the landscape.
The unit focuses on:
- the components of the water cycle
- how rivers erode, transport and deposit materials to produce particular
landscape features
- the characteristics of a river system in another part of the world
|
- River Processes
- River Valley Development
- River Facts
- River Links
|
KS3
Unit 4: Flood disaster - how do people cope?
This unit focuses on flood hazards. Pupils consider the effects of flooding
and how people deal with them. They compare the impact of flooding in a
UK location with the impact of a similar flood in Bangladesh. They then
broaden their study to look at how people respond to other natural disasters,
such as earthquakes, forest fires and hurricanes. |
- River Processes
- Overflowing Rivers
- River Links
|
KS3
Unit 7: Rivers - a fieldwork approach
In this short unit pupils carry out fieldwork to investigate a section of
a river and its valley and the changes that take place downstream. They
use a variety of equipment to measure and record their findings. At the
end of the unit pupils produce a piece of continuous writing explaining
the processes that cause the downstream changes and reflect on how they
could have improved their fieldwork. |
- River Processes
- River Valley Development
- River Fieldwork
- River Data
|
|
