Cultural Geography Blog

Pokemon Go has been receiving a LOT of media attention. This is now being described as a cultural phenomenon , and I will be blogging about the geographical aspects of the app here and over on LivingGeography. Let me know if you have any articles that you come across relating to the use of the app. We already have plenty written about the way that young people are spending time outside, but are they taking notice of where they are going? Are they looking at the nature around them, or just the screen and their pokedex? This article describes the idea that young people perhaps know more species of Pokemon than they know species of native plants and animals... You can also download the Phylo(mon) Card Game.

National Parks Week is the National Parks family's annual celebration of everything that is unique and wonderful about Britain's breathing spaces. It runs from Monday 25 to Sunday 31 July 2016. The theme for National Parks Week 2016 is adventure . With diverse landscapes, activities and events there's an adventure waiting at whatever scale suits you!  One way to ensure that adventures take place is to get hold of a copy of Mission:Explore National Parks. Available from all National Park shops for £5 or 500p.... I'm off to the Norfolk Broads later in the week for my National Park adventure...

After two years and thousands of hours of effort, the 'A' level textbook for the new AQA specification has now gone to print. It will be published by Cambridge University Press. This is great news, as it means that the book will now be out several weeks before other similar books, and also ahead of the end of the summer break, so teachers will be able to have access to it in the crucial few weeks before the start of the new academic year. I was the series editor for the book, and also the associated materials. You can see the names of the author team on the cover image below - a great team, helped by a large team from CUP. You can find out more about the book (and order your copies) here.

According to a survey carried out recently… How many do you agree with? 1. Family trips to the beach 2. Watching Top of the Pops 3. Hop scotch 4. Hide and seek 5. Fish and chips 6. Pic n Mix sweets 7. Collecting shells on the beach 8. Ice cream van music 9. Sports days 10. Playground games (British bulldog etc.) 11. Watching children’s’ TV 12. Kiss chase 13. Recording the music charts on a Sunday 14. Paddling in the sea 15. Pencil cases 16. Climbing trees 17. Collecting toys/ cards/ collectibles etc. 18. Going to Woolworths to buy records 19. Dinner ladies 20. Fighting with my siblings 21. Ice creams from the ice cream van 22. School dinners 23. Egg and spoon race 24. Going ‘back to school’ shopping at the end of summer holidays 25. Playing outside until it was dark 26. Visiting cousins 27. Reading magazines 28. Fishing for tad poles in a pond 29. Sleepovers with friends 30. Your teeth falling o...

Out to the Norfolk coast today to visit Cley16 : an annual art exhibition which takes place in the church in Cley and other nearby locations. These included a piece by Brian Korteling which is shown below, and which I really liked. It represents the view as taken from 3 different perspectives, and breaks up the lines nicely...

Thanks for visiting and reading. Here's to a cultural summer ahead.... will be sharing some of my highlights here... Don't forget to check out my GeoLibrary project, which is coming towards its conclusion, with 365 books and other media all with a geographical theme.

I've worked with Helen from Mission:Explore for years now, on all of our books and other materials, and also worked with her on the INTEL DISTANCE project (you can search on the blog to find out more about that, and other projects with a whole range of partners and clients. Helen's latest work is taking her into 'making', and the use of Arduino boards and ICT, alongside laser cut or 3D printed objects. She has just launched her first kit, which is on the DO IT KITS website , as an individual kit, or as a class set. I had a chance to play with one of the kits at the GeoVation space, and they are very nicely put together and provide a range of curriculum materials. Here's the description from the website. Test your reaction time and learn about neurons, synapses, ethics, human experimentation, computer and human sensing systems, and working scientifically.   Time to React comes with over three hours of lesson plans for GCSE Biology, with related acti...

I was sad to hear of the death of Gordon Murray earlier this week, and it triggered some nostalgia, and led me to hunt out my DVD box set of the three series that I remember watching in the late 1960s.... Camberwick Green Trumpton Chigley which Murray created. They were based on an idea of nostalgic 'middle England', and featured a range of characters including the famous fire crew, Windy Miller, and the workers of a biscuit factory. There was the classic voice of Brian Cant, and some excellent music. The music, which brings back so many memories of my childhood is featured below... BBC Front Row featured some memories from Phill Jupitus. Scope for a resource on the Geography of Trumptonshire, which might also include reference to Radiohead's video for 'Burn the Witch'.