On Children’s Day, 14 November 2013, two small groups of class 6 students at Shriram Matriculation School, Thiruneermalai had a mini-workshop on mapping.
Here is where a GeoVidyaa Geography Centre (GVGC-T) is taking shape in collaboration with Shriram Foundation.
The kids were totally brilliant! We started with a discussion of what maps are, what they show us, what we can use them for, etc. Then, we discussed the three geometric entities used in maps (points, lines, and shapes).
The examples of map features that use each of these geometric entities came in rapid fire speed from the kids! Some of the kids even started giving examples of maps they saw when they had gone to the nearby Vandalur Zoo! They explained what those maps showed.
Observant? Yes! Contextual recall? Yes! Explanation with that recall? You bet! They were all with it!
Then, we reviewed our knowledge of the cardinal directions. Much dancing movement ensued. Then, out came the magnetic compasses. We marked the four cardinal directions on a blank sheet of paper.
Out we went to the grounds. Identified the Thiruneermalai hill to the north of the campus, the road to its south, the path connecting the road to the school gate. Then, we identified and located the security room on the map. After that, they got only verbal instructions on how to place the rest of the campus features on the map.
We turned them loose.
They went to work with such focus! It was a delight to watch them.
The maps were fairly accurate. Some did not get the placements quite right. No matter. We have things in store for them which will help them improve soon.
The maps are going to be displayed in the GVGC from 15 November 2013.
Fun and learning. The best pedagogy … for geography … and indeed any discipline!
(Photo credits: Sri Anand, teacher at SMS.)
One response
The photos complement your writeup of the event. Looks like the children actually ended up learning something new, and a life skill at that; their enthused faces when looking at the Atlas proves that point.
More power to you, and the GVGC-T.