Geography K–10 · Years 1–2
Feature walk: natural, managed and constructed features on a labelled map
Geography (HASS F–6 sub-strand); NSW Geography K–10 (2015) Stage 1 focus area: Features of Places
The idea
Every feature of a local place can be sorted as natural, managed or constructed, and its position can be recorded on a map.
Safety card
Hazards
- traffic on the street route
- sun exposure
Controls
- route on the footpath with adult ratio per school excursion policy
- hats and water
Note
No chemicals or heat are used. The activity is run under the school risk-assessment procedure; RiskAssess (riskassess.com.au) holds templates for school practicals and fieldwork. The NSW Department of Education Chemical Safety in Schools package is not triggered.
What you need
- A3 print of the school and its street from an aerial image (SIX Maps, NSW Spatial Services, or the school's own site plan), one per pair
- Three coloured pencils (green natural, yellow managed, red constructed)
- Clipboard and a 20-item tally sheet
- Trundle wheel (optional) to pace the route length
How to do it
- Walk a set route of about 300 m around the school boundary with the map held so north on the map points north (set with a compass or the sun's position confirmed by an adult).
- At each feature the class stops, names it, and votes: natural (a creek, a rock), managed (a mown oval, a garden bed, a street tree), constructed (a fence, a road).
- Mark a dot of the matching colour on the map at the feature's position and write its name in the legend.
- Back in class count the three colours and make a column graph.
- Discuss the hardest cases (a planted tree is managed; a stormwater drain is constructed) and re-sort them.
What you should see
A labelled map with one coloured dot for each feature the class stopped at, a legend, and a column graph of the three categories. The graph shows which category is most common along this route; managed features (a mown oval, a planted street tree) are the ones most often argued over, which is why the re-sort step is there. It worked if every dot can be pointed to on the ground from the map.
What changes
This activity lists no variables to change, measure and keep the same.
Common misconceptions
Each of these ideas is wrong, and the activity is a chance to test it.
- Anything green is natural.
- A map has to show every detail to be useful.
Curriculum references
The NSW syllabus outcomes and Australian Curriculum v9 codes this activity supports. They are references, not a verified or complete curriculum alignment.
- Geography K–10 Syllabus (2015), NESA; current and taught in 2026, replaced from 2027. The outcome codes are not printed on the NESA landing page for this syllabus, which only links the document, so the url given is the syllabus document itself (geography-k-10-syllabus-2015.docx); the code and its outcome text were read in that document on 23 September 2026.GE1-1GE1-3
- Human Society and its Environment K–6 Syllabus (2024), NESA; implementation from 2027, not yet taught; code read on this page on 22 September 2026HS1-GEO-01
- Australian Curriculum v9AC9HS1K03AC9HS1S02AC9HS1S06
Sources
The pages the author read to write this activity.