Hammersmith & Fulham Urban Studies Centre

Secondary Education Programme

GEOGRAPHY

Investigating Environmental Quality
damaged street furniture Using photographs, maps, field sketches and other fieldwork techniques, students perform an environmental quality assessment in central Hammersmith. The development of the area in the past, the current environment and a variety of future scenarios are researched and debated.
Links to Geography Unit 1

Fulham Reach: changing urban land-use over time
Fulham Reach provides an excellent case study of an area of change; pre-industrial market gardens, riverside wharves and factories in the 18th and 19th centuries, post-industrial decline and then waterfront redevelopment. Students use direct observation, maps, field sketching and photographs to investigate the processes which have shaped this area.
Links to Geography Unit 3

Fieldwork and Investigation Skills
We can advise on fieldwork projects and provide guidance on investigation design, sampling techniques and methods and data reliability to students undertaking GCSE or A Level coursework in the local area.

HISTORY

Victorian Industrialisation in Hammersmith
An introduction uses maps and photographs to trace the changes which occurred in Hammersmith during the 18th and 19th Centuries. This is followed by a trail which visits important local sites and highlights features of the period.
Links to History Unit 11

SCIENCE

Rocks in the Urban Environment
Different rock types are introduced in a practical session and grouped in terms of texture and appearance. Weathering processes and their effects are also considered. A trail of Hammersmith Centre identifies the different rocks used in the built environment, their use is considered with relation to their key characteristics and any evidence of weathering processes is noted.
Links to Science 8g

Habitat investigation
A visit to the river foreshore to observe and describe the conditions in a local habitat. Through river dipping students are given a chance to record and identify invertebrate life and environmental conditions in the river. They also consider feeding relationships, adaptations, invertebrate classifications and the limiting factors which are important in this habitat.
Links to Science 8d

CITIZENSHIP

Developing the School Grounds
The current use and needs of the school are identified through mapping, environmental quality assessment and group discussion and other techniques. A proposal for the development of the grounds is developed and an action plan formulated.
Links to Citizenship Unit 18

Active Citizenship: creating a smarter borough
Recycling bins This session is linked to the Council's Smarter Borough Initiative. A local area survey identifies the positive and negative aspects of the local environment, and the concept of a Smarter Borough is discussed. This enables the students to identify their individual responsibilities with relation to local environmental quality and behaviours which will improve it.
This session complements a resource developed by the Urban Studies Centre.