Teaching Urban models

Some tips from Val Vannet:
At the heart of urban models there is the concept that zones within the city have recognisably different characteristics which differentiate them one from the other.

What about giving a photograph of an urban landscape to every pupil in your class? It would depend how many you've got but supposing it's around 25, you'd prepare 5 photos of, say, five different zones and give them each one. Their task is to organise themselves into groups representing the different urban zones. It will require a fair bit of movement, a lot of looking at other people's photos and probably a lot of discussion. At AS level, when they should be bringing some knowledge of urban geography with them, I wouldn't make this too easy. A photo representing inner city redevelopment, for example, should be deliberately ambiguous. Other photos might make pupils think about land use in a historical context e.g. in which urban zones would you not expect to find a crematorium?

Once the groups have got themselves 'sorted', you could get them to check a code on the back of their photo. Who is in the wrong group? What reasons can they put forward for being there. Why did the others in that group accept them?

Could you finish by getting each group to make a display using their photos, highlighting the features of their urban zone?