Channel 4 Geography

Channel 4 in the UK uses lots of good geography, it just doesn't realise it and tell its audience. The only exception to this is within the Learning section of the website when the channel gives help for revision etc. What Give Geography its Place wants is for Geography to be thought about from the very beginning so that programmes are produced and promoted with Geography at the heart of them. Once more, when programmes are made that have a distinctive geographical angle, aspect or nature they should be linked through common themes to one and another.

In a recent audit for Channel 4 of the channel's website by GGiP a number of microsites and programmes came up. This is not an entire list, but does give a feel for where Geography sits on the channel. It prooves that Channel 4 has an audience of people who are very interested in geographcial issues and events. GGiP's concern is that the audience may not be aware that they are exploring geography because (with the exception of Nick Middleton) Geographers are not used (or worse still, Geographers fail to call themselves Geographers).

Each weblink below is backed up by a star system (strength of link to the UK Geography curriclum... the greater the number of stars the stronger the link), a suggestion of key stage link within the English Geography Curriculum and a number of questions that place where the microsite or programme sits within Geography.

Hazards and Disasters

http://www.channel4.com/news/microsites/T/tsunami/index.html ***** KS 3/4/5
What were the causes and effects of the tsunami? How and why were some people and places affected more than others? How prepared were different places for the tsunami and where had the best response? Which countries gave the best response to the tsunami and why? Where is most vulnerable in the future? How did human and physical geographies influence the effects of the tsunami? How am I connected to the tsunami? What should people and places do to prepare for future tsunamis?

http://www.channel4.com/science/microsites/F/force_of_nature/ *** KS 3/4/5
What combination of physical / environmental factors can lead to extreme risk? How can understanding the physical environment help people mitigate and survive risky places? What causes extreme weather and natural disasters and how do you survive them? What equipment is needed to survive the forces of nature? How can geographers research the causes and effects of the forces of nature?

http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/G/great_san_francisco_earthquake/ ***** KS 3/4/5
What are the causes and effects of Earthquake hazards? What can be learnt from the Great San Francisco earthquake? How might San Francisco be affected by tectonics in the future? Why are some places affected more than others by earthquakes?

http://www.channel4.com/science/microsites/S/science/nature/krakatoa.html ***** KS 3/4/5
Why is Karakatoa where it is? What were the causes and effects of the Krakatoa eruption? Why were the effects of the eruption so severe? How did people respond to the eruption and what should they have done? What are the physical effects of volcanic eruptions and in what order do they happen? What evidence is there for past volcanic eruptions? Why are some people more affected than others by volcanic eruptions? Could this happen again and what could be done to prepare for future hazards?


http://www.channel4.com/science/microsites/B/birdflu_equinox/ ***
What role does Geography have in the spread of disease? How might globalisation and cheaper travel influence the spread of disease? How well prepared are different people and places to cope with the spread of disease and why? Who is the most vulnerable and why? What is the relationship between the physical world and human environments in the spread of disease?


Physical Environments

http://www.channel4.com/science/microsites/A/alive/index.html *** KS 3
How do people interact with the physical environment? How have humans and other life forms adapted to survive on the plant? What can they do to survive in extreme environments?

http://www.channel4.com/science/microsites/M/mars/facts.html * KS 3
How does the Geography of Mars compare to that of Earth? How might space be used by humans in the future?

http://www.channel4.com/science/microsites/P/planetstorm/index.html * KS 3
How can weather and climate be studied on planets other than Earth? How does weather and climate affect life, geology, landforms and other geographies? What are the causes of different weather? How does weather and climate vary on other planets compared to Earth?

http://www.channel4.com/news/weather/ ** KS 3/4

http://www.channel4.com/life/microsites/S/surviving_extremes/ *** KS 3/4
What makes some environments so extreme? How have people adapted to survive in different extremes? How do these different extremes influence people’s way of life? How do extreme climates influence other parts of the physical environment such as animals, plants and the landscape of those places? How would I survive if I were in one of the extremes?


Environmental Change

http://www.channel4.com/science/microsites/G/global_warming/ *** KS 3/4/5
For students to explore their role in Global Warming. What’s it got to do with them, how does it affect people elsewhere in the world and what can they do about it?

http://www.channel4.com/more4/documentaries/doc-feature.jsp?id=73 * KS 4/5
How does the physical environment influence economic and social development? How can resources be exploited sustainably?

http://www.channel4.com/news/dispatches/themes/environment_theme_landing.html ***
Are we running out of space for our rubbish in the UK? What are the possible solutions?

http://www.channel4.com/science/microsites/E/environment/index.html ***** KS 3/4/5
What is sustainable development? What might happen if humans continue to use the environment as they are at the moment?

http://www.channel4.com/learning/microsites/P/planet/ ***** KS 3/4/5
What’s my relationship with my/our planet? How do I affect people and environments positively or negatively? What can I do to improve or worsen my relationship with the environment? What are other people doing to other environments and people?

http://www.channel4.com/science/microsites/T/terra2050/ **** KS 3/4/5
How is what we are doing now affecting our possible futures? How might our human and physical environments change and why? What can be done to promote the best possible futures and reduce the risk of the worst futures? Which places will experience the greatest environmental problems and what will they do? What can we do within our places to prepare for the future? How prepared is my place for the future? What do I think will happen in the future?

Development and Inequality

http://www.channel4.com/science/microsites/M/makepovertyhistory/ ***** KS 3/4/5
What are the causes and effects of poverty? What can be done to reduce poverty? How am I connected to poverty in the UK and elsewhere in the world? What role can technology play in reducing poverty? Where are the worlds poor and what are the reasons for this spatial distribution? How can development be made sustainable? How does what happens in ‘my place’ influence what happens in ‘their place’?

http://www.channel4.com/science/microsites/T/terra2050/ **** KS 3/4/5
How is what we are doing now affecting our possible futures? How might our human and physical environments change and why? What can be done to promote the best possible futures and reduce the risk of the worst futures? Which places will experience the greatest environmental problems and what will they do? What can we do within our places to prepare for the future? How prepared is my place for the future? What do I think will happen in the future?

http://www.channel4.com/learning/microsites/P/planet/ ***** KS 3/4/5
What’s my relationship with my/our planet? How do I affect people and environments positively or negatively? What can I do to improve or worsen my relationship with the environment? What are other people doing to other environments and people?

Conflict

http://www.channel4.com/news/dispatches/themes/war_on_terror_theme_landing.html ** KS3
What is the relationship between ‘place’ and terror? Why are some places effected, the source of or the reason for terror more than others? How can a conflict elsewhere in the world affect me in the UK? What role does place have in the formation of identities of terror?

http://www.channel4.com/life/microsites/N/newworldwar/index.html ** KS3
http://www.channel4.com/culture/microsites/D/dont_panic/ ** KS3
What are the causes of the New World War? Why are some places affected more than others and which are most vulnerable? How are these different places connected to one and another? How well equipped am I / the government in dealing with attacks? How is what happens in my places linked to beliefs in other places? Why was London bombed and now somewhere else in the UK?


Place

http://www.channel4.com/news/microsites/U/unreportedworld2006/ ***** KS 3/4/5
Nearly all episodes have a distinctive link to geography. On the media side this could be to question why some places go ‘unreported’. The most recent episode on migration to the USA from Central America is about migration, inequality, quality of life and standards of living, identity, how places are connected, perceptions and realities of places, conflict and many more..

http://www.channel4.com/life/microsites/A/afghanistan/ **
http://www.channel4.com/more4/event/I/iraq.html **
For students to use as a place study to understand the causes of poverty, conflict, commonality and difference.

http://www.channel4.com/news/dispatches/themes/repressive_regimes_theme_landing.html *** KS 3/4/5
What are the effects of repressive regimes? How do repressive regimes affect neighbouring nations?

http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/E/extremearchaeology/prog.html ***
How can geographical skills be used to find evidence of past peoples and places?

http://www.channel4.com/more4/documentaries/doc-feature.jsp?id=95 *** KS 4/5
Why have Ghettos formed in the UK? How does division of the UK’s population influence the identity of communities? What are the positive and negative effects of where people live? How does proximity influence people’s perceptions of others? How can town planning be used to challenge the formation of ghettos.

http://www.channel4.com/culture/microsites/S/selfportraituk/ *** KS 3
How does place influence identity? How does identity influence place? How can identity of peoples and places cause inequality, conflict, connections….

Exploration

http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/H/history/n-s/silkroute.html ***
How has physical geography and industry shaped links between places? How has physical geography influenced the direction of trade routes and the development of settlements on them? How has trade influenced the culture of people on them? How have past geographies influenced those of the preset?

http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/E/ends/shackleton_intro.html **** KS 3
What is the purpose of exploration and why is it important? How do you become an explorer? How do you plan for exploration? What did Shackleton discover about the geography of Antarctica? How did the physical geography influence their expedition? What is Antarctica and what is it like? How has Antarctica and the people who study it changed since Shackleton visited?


So...

Channel 4, don't let all these interconnected issues and places remain seperate. Use Geography to link them so that we can have a better understanding of them as the people, places, spaces and environments that link them together. Take a look at the wikipedia Geography Portal, why not put somthing like that within a Relation Browser?