our world in a particular way. Geography is much more than just knowing where

people and places are located on a map. Take the Olympics for example: We might investigate

the location of participating countries and research their notable characteristics.

But unless we consider the stories of these people and places we won't gain a deep understanding

of what life is like in these countries and their place in the world.

We need to question: Why do some countries have just a few competitors? Why do some excel

at particular sports while others do not? Geography allows us to see the interconnections

between people and places and use that understanding to inform our decisions for the future.

So what is geography for? What drives geographers to be inquisitive about our world?

Is it a desire to locate the amazing places of the world or is it this and more?

As well as taking an interest in the world, thinking geographically develops an understanding

that people and places don't exist in isolation but are interconnected.

In geography these interconnections are explored and considered in spatial terms. Geography

uses a range of modern technological tools to identify and explore the spaces of the

world. Geographers are not only interested in where

places are and their interconnections but also exploring the meaning of a place to people

and its importance to their identity. When we look at the Australian Curriculum

for geography we see that there are two interwoven strands: Geographical knowledge & understandings

and Geographical inquiry and skills. Students view and analyse the world through

the lens of the 7 geographical concepts: place, space, interconnection, sustainability,environment, scale, and change

To develop geographical thinking both the

content strands and the concepts need to be considered.

So with this in mind let's think about a student in a South Australian school -- let's call

her Karra. How might Karra's teacher interweave the 2

strands of Geography so that Karra thinks geographically?

We want Karra to know where places are on a map, to explore the nature of places, to

understand why places are where they are, to analyse the impact places have on people

and people have on places. When Karra hears that the sand dunes adjacent

to her school have been identified by the transport department as a future park-and-ride

location, we want her teacher to engage Karra to think geographically and empower her to

influence the future of her world. As well as mapping the location we want Karra

to use this proposed change as an opportunity to develop her own response using her geographical

knowledge, skills and thinking. We want Karra to collect, represent and analyse

data through the eyes of a geographer to develop her views on all possible options and actions

for the future of these sand dunes. We want Karra to develop her capacity to be

an active and informed citizen in her community and beyond by thinking geographically.

By interweaving the key geographical concepts with the two strands we can see that geographical

thinking is so much more than places on a map.