Your students take part in a themed activity of your choosing. These are matched closely to your curriculum.
During the activity, students:
Learn about up to 40 relevant geographers through their profiles, including their CVs
Connect with a diverse range of people using geography in their careers in 30-minute, text-based, online Chats
Deepen their understanding and continue engaging with the geographers by sending follow-up questions
Decide which geographer deserves their vote to win the £500 prize
Review their learning through a facilitated discussion
Booking the activity
Once you’ve signed up, we’ll be in touch with your login details for imageographer.uk. If you have signed up but haven’t received your login information, please contact support@imascientist.org.uk.
To run the activity you’ll first need to choose a theme, then book a time and date for your class’s live Chat with geographers.
Choosing a theme
The I’m a Geographer activity can introduce your students to working geographers. There is a range of activity themes for you to pick from. These are linked to the curriculum.
If you’d like to run the activity with multiple classes, you’ll need to book each theme and Chat individually. You can book multiple Chats throughout the school year.
How to book your Chat
Once you’ve chosen your theme, you’ll need to book a date and time for your class to connect in real-time, online, with geographers.
Log in and go to imageographer.uk/book-activity
Select a theme
Choose your date and time – remember to allow time for your students to login before the Chat starts
Select a Class, or Create a New Class
After clicking ‘Confirm Booking’, you will get a confirmation email with the next steps
Once you’ve booked your Chat, we’ll send out the date and time to a selection of theme-relevant geographers. The geographers will then respond, letting you know whether they’ll be joining your class.
We have designed a lesson plan, based on a 60-minute session.
Guidance for cover teachers
I’m a Geographer has been designed so that other teachers can run the Chat for you. Pass on this cover guidance document to them to help explain how to run the lesson.
Learning about the geographers
Once you’ve chosen a theme for your class’s activity and booked your Chat, your students will be able to view the profiles of all the geographers relevant to that theme.
A geographer’s profile will include pictures, information about them and their work, some interview-style questions and a small section on work history. The profiles will help students see the diversity of people working in geography.
You and your students will be able to view the specific geographers who’ve signed up to attend your class’s Chat by visiting the Dashboard.
Connecting in the Chat
The Chat is where your students get to connect with real geographers online. The Chat lasts for 30 minutes and is text-based; there’s no audio or video.
There are a few things you’ll need to do before your Chat.
IT needs
Arrange for students to have access to IT equipment at the time of the Chat (e.g. book a computer suite, laptops, or tablets). I’m a Geographer works best when students have access to their own device. Make sure that school students are able to log in on your organisations’ devices.
In the live Chat students can ask the geographers any questions they like. Chats can be fast-paced and lively, but remember that there will also be a DBS-checked moderator in the Chat, who is there to make sure everything runs smoothly.
When it’s time for your Chat, you and your students need to:
A moderator will have opened the live Chat for you, 5 minutes before it is due to start. Only students in your class can access your booked Chat. If you have any issues, call us ASAP on 01225 667922.
Following on from a Chat, students can ask more in-depth questions to geographers within their theme, even if that geographer wasn’t present in the Chat. Students will need to log in at imageographer.uk to send a question.
If students add an email address to their account, they get an email alert when their question has been answered.
You’re able to see the questions your students have had answered from your Dashboard. Students can also see the questions their peers have asked. Students, teachers, and geographers can comment on these questions, sparking wider conversations.
Voting
Students can Vote for their favourite geographer. At the end of each term, the geographer with the most Votes will win a £500 prize to spend on further public engagement.
The geographers’ profiles will explain how they would wish to spend the prize money. After seeking out further information through the Chat and in follow-up questions, students can use critical thinking to make an informed voting decision.
They get a new Vote each term.
Student reflection
After the Chat or at the start of a following lesson, encourage your students to participate in the 5-minute reflection activity to facilitate discussion around their experience.
Through this assessment tool, students delve deeper into the learning outcomes they have met.
Multiple interventions
I’m a Geographer is suitable for students aged 10 to 18. Studies show that engaging with an activity over multiple interventions is shown to increase students’ aspirations as well as increase the chance of them meeting multiple outcomes at a deeper level.
Downloads
Transcript
When your Chat closes, you’ll be given the option to download a copy of the transcript. Don’t worry if you close the Chat window – you will also be emailed a link to the transcript at the end of the day.
We’re here to help. If you should have any questions, or need a hand with anything, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at support@imascientist.org.uk or by calling 01225 667922.
