Key Stage 2 geography · Geographical skills and fieldwork

KS2 geography fieldwork: observing and measuring

Fieldwork means learning geography outdoors by looking, counting, measuring and recording, rather than only reading about it. In Key Stage 2, children use fieldwork to observe, measure and record the human and physical features of their local area, using methods such as tallies, surveys, sketches and digital tools. It gives them real evidence to work with and strengthens their sense of place.

Fieldwork: observe and measure, explained

Good fieldwork begins with a question, not an outing. Children might ask, “Is our high street busier in the morning or the afternoon?”, “How much of our school grounds is covered by hard surfaces?” or “Which part of the playground is warmest?” The question decides what to look for and how to collect it. Teachers help children turn a general idea into something that can be tested with evidence, and they often ask them to predict an answer first so there is something to check.

Next comes the choice of method. Human geography fieldwork often uses counts and surveys: tallying the traffic or the number of people passing a point, recording what each building is used for, asking passers-by short questions, or scoring the quality of the environment on a simple scale. Physical geography fieldwork uses measurements: temperature, rainfall, wind direction, the width or depth of a stream where a teacher has judged it to be safe, or the type of soil. Children learn to use simple equipment such as rulers, trundle wheels, thermometers, rain gauges and compasses, and digital tools such as cameras, tablets and data loggers.

Accuracy and fairness matter. A fair test means collecting the data in the same way each time: the same length of time, the same place, the same equipment and, where possible, more than one reading. Children learn to record results as they go, in a table or tally chart prepared beforehand, rather than relying on memory. They are taught to work in groups with clear jobs, to follow the teacher’s instructions and to stay safe when working outside the classroom, and schools carry out their own risk assessments and permissions.

Observation is a skill, too. Children make field sketches, take photographs and note what they see, hear and smell, and then they ask what the evidence could mean. The statutory wording also says that pupils should develop their use of geographical knowledge, understanding and skills to enhance their locational and place knowledge, so fieldwork is where a local place becomes familiar and can be compared with places they have met in books and maps. The same objective ends with presenting the results, using sketch maps, plans, graphs and digital technologies, which children usually do back in the classroom.

Words your child will hear

Fieldwork: Collecting information about a place by going there and observing, measuring and recording.
Enquiry question: The question a piece of fieldwork is designed to answer.
Data: The facts and measurements collected, such as counts, temperatures or survey answers.
Tally chart: A way of counting by making a mark for each item, with every fifth mark crossing the other four.
Survey: A set of questions or observations used to collect information from many people or places.
Field sketch: A quick labelled drawing of a place made on site.
Fair test: Collecting data in the same way each time so the results can be compared.

What the National Curriculum says

The programme of study for Key Stage 2 says:

Pupils should be taught to use fieldwork to observe, measure record and present the human and physical features in the local area using a range of methods, including sketch maps, plans and graphs, and digital technologies
Pupils should develop their use of geographical knowledge, understanding and skills to enhance their locational and place knowledge.

Objectives from the National Curriculum in England, © Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Try it: planning a traffic count

A class wants to find out when the road outside school is busiest. They plan a traffic count from a safe place inside the school gate with an adult. How should they do it, and what might the results show?

Write the enquiry question and a prediction: “Is the road busiest at the start of the school day, at lunchtime or at home time?” The class predicts home time because many parents collect children by car.
Choose the method. They will count vehicles for 10 minutes at three times: 8.45 am, 12.30 pm and 3.30 pm. They keep the same spot, the same length of time and the same counters, so the test is fair.
Prepare a recording sheet with three columns, one for each time, and rows for cars, vans and lorries, buses and bicycles. Each child is given a job: counting, recording and timing.
Collect the data using tallies. In this example, they count 34 vehicles at 8.45 am, 21 at 12.30 pm and 47 at 3.30 pm.
Work out the total and look for a pattern. 34 + 21 + 47 = 102 vehicles in 30 minutes of counting. Compare the three times and check the prediction.

The road was busiest at 3.30 pm, with 47 vehicles in 10 minutes, compared with 34 at 8.45 am and 21 at 12.30 pm. This agrees with the prediction. A good answer adds that one day’s count is only a small sample, so the class might repeat it on other days.

Common mistakes and how to help

Thinking fieldwork is just a trip out

A visit outside feels like a day off, so children may not see the purpose. Without a question, they gather lots of things with no direction.

What helps: Start with a question and a prediction at home or in class. Ask afterwards “Did you find what you expected?” and “What would you do differently next time?”

One reading is enough

A single measurement can be affected by the time of day, the weather or a mistake. Children think that the first number they get is the answer.

What helps: Talk about taking the measurement more than once or in more than one place, and about why the numbers might differ.

Counting differently each time

Children change the time, the place or what they count without noticing, so the results cannot be compared fairly.

What helps: Write the plan down before you begin: where, when, how long and what counts. Stick to it and check at the end.

Believing that opinions and measurements are the same kind of evidence

A survey answer such as “this park is nice” feels like a fact when it is a view. Children may not separate what they can measure from what people feel.

What helps: Sort findings into things you counted or measured and things people said. Both are useful, but they answer different questions.

How to help at home

Weather watching. Put a straight-sided plastic tub outside, away from trees and buildings, and measure the depth of rainwater each day with a ruler, emptying it afterwards. Add a thermometer in the shade and keep a simple table for a week.
Count from a safe spot. Choose a window or a garden step with a clear view, never the roadside, and count the vehicles or people passing for 10 minutes at different times of day. Compare the tallies.
Local land-use survey. On a walk with an adult, record each building on one street: house, shop, school, office or empty. Count how many of each kind and say what the pattern suggests about the area.
Sketch a view. Draw a labelled sketch of the garden, the park or a street from the same spot, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Note the human features and the physical features, and what has changed.

Builds on

Key Stage 1: World maps, atlases and globes
Key Stage 1: Compass directions and routes
Key Stage 1: Aerial photographs and landmarks
Key Stage 1: Simple maps, symbols and keys
Key Stage 1: Fieldwork in the school grounds

Leads on to

Key Stage 3: Globes, maps and atlases
Key Stage 3: OS maps: grid references, scale and contours
Key Stage 3: Thematic maps and satellite images
Key Stage 3: Geographical Information Systems (GIS)
Key Stage 3: Fieldwork in contrasting locations