Teaching geography using music

Bring harmony to the curriculum with these uplifting lessons from Sing Up, the National Singing Programme …

1. Cross the ocean

Why not start by listening to the song My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean and encourage the children to join in with the chorus. Try to encourage a light singing tone to keep the melody moving and flowing. The lyrics and a range of audio tracks and teaching notes can be found in the Sing Up Song Bank (singup.org/songbank).

Now read one of the Katie Morag books by Mairi Hedderwick to the class and sing My Bonnie again. This time, change the words to
suit the island’s characters and physical features. For example:

Grannie Mainland lies over the ocean…
Oh, bring back my grannie to me!

The ferry comes far from the mainland…
Oh, who will be visiting me?

Next draw a large-scale map of the Isle of Struay and ask the children to point to key locations described in the stories: High Farm, Grannie Island’s home, the Boggy Loch or the Jetty. Encourage children to talk about these places in their own words and praise their use of appropriate geographical terms.

You can also discuss different forms of transport that the islanders use. Many are referred to in the stories and shown in the illustrations (e.g. Neilly Beag’s boat, Grannie Island’s tractor, the postman’s bicycle and the ferry). Ask your class to compare these to modes of transport used in your local area.

2. Go wild

Why not challenge your children to reflect on the plight of endangered species by singing The Conservation Rap and Feeding Time? Both songs are part of the Sing Up School Trip Singalong collection, written for Chester Zoo.

To support the songs, talk with the children about endangered species and ask them to use their ICT research skills to gather data on different animals that are at risk. You can then create a montage board of photos and facts to display in a prominent part of the school. You could also encourage the children to craft paintings, models or drawings of their favourite animal, bird or insect and arrange a conservation gallery to exhibit their work.

3. Conserve water

I Turn On The Tap/I Walk To The Stream is a great song for learning about water conservation. Sing the song with your class and follow up with a discussion about why water is such a vital resource. It may be freely available to us, but for others it is far less accessible and must be carried long distances.

Ask your class why this is the case? Are there ever water shortages in our own country? What causes these? What would it take for this to become a part of everyday life? How can we prevent this from happening?

Carry out an experiment to compare hourly water loss between a tap that is off, a tap that is dripping, and one that is running. Using a timer and a measuring cylinder, ask children to measure the amount of water ‘lost’ in five minutes for the three taps. (Ensure that the running tap is not fully open!) Discuss volume in terms of the capacity of the container, including reference to the units. Ascertain that to find the amount of water in an hour, the measurement must be multiplied by 12. Can children use their data to work out how much water would be lost in a day?

Go online

Lyrics, audio tracks, sheet music and activities for all the songs mentioned within this article can be found in the Songs & Teaching Resources area of the Sing Up website, http://www.singup.org