geography critical thinking questions

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Questions that unlock thinking in Geography

Some simple question stems to encourage deeper thinking.

Explanation – Why might that be the case? How would we know that? Who might be responsible for…?

Hypothetical – What might happen if…? What would be the possible benefits/impact of …? Who might benefit if…?

Evidence – How do you know that? What evidence is there to support this view?

Clarification – Can you put that another way? Can you give me an example? Can you explain that term? Describe/explain that in a Tweet.

Linking and extending – How does this link to what we have studied previously? Can you add to what X just said? How does this idea support/challenge what we explored earlier in the lesson? If you were going to investigate this further what would you do? Why? Why? Why? Why?

Summary and synthesis – What remains unknown at this point? What else do we need to know or do to understand this better? Apply your understanding of x (e.g. coastal management) to this location you have never seen before – what is happening and why? What conclusions can you draw from x? Can you summarise the information by using a black marker to remove the information that is not important?

Metacognition – What was the most difficult part of that task? How would you do it differently next time? How could you approach this question?

If you’ve got one to add please post in the comments below!

Anthony Bennett

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What are the five steps for thinking like a geographer?

Step 1: Ask

Approaching a problem geographically involves framing the question from a location-based perspective. By asking geographic questions, geographers can gather information and gain a deeper understanding of the spatial aspects of the issue at hand.

Step 2: Acquire

To think like a geographer, it is crucial to acquire relevant geographic resources. This includes gathering data, maps, satellite imagery, and other sources of spatial information that can provide insights into the problem being examined.

Step 3: Examine

The third step in thinking like a geographer is to carefully examine the acquired geographic information. This involves analyzing the data, identifying patterns, and recognizing relationships between different spatial elements.

Step 4: Analyze

In the fourth step, geographers analyze the examined geographic information to draw meaningful conclusions. They use their analytical skills to interpret the data and identify key trends, patterns, and connections that can help explain the problem or phenomenon being studied.

Step 5: Act

The final step in thinking like a geographer is to take informed action based on the analysis conducted. Geographers use their knowledge and understanding of the geographic context to make informed decisions and implement effective solutions to address the problem or make positive changes.

What are the 5 steps for thinking like a geographer?

The five steps for thinking like a geographer are: asking geographic questions, acquiring geographic resources, examining geographic information, analyzing geographic data, and taking informed action.

What are 5 skills needed for thinking like a geographer?

The skills needed for thinking like a geographer include analytical skills, computer skills, critical-thinking skills, presentation skills, and communication skills (oral and written).

What are the 5 parts of the geographic inquiry?

The five parts of the geographic inquiry are acquiring geographical information, identifying an issue or problem, developing geographical questions, collecting primary and secondary geographical data, and recording the gathered information.

What are the 5 themes of geography critical thinking questions?

The five themes of geography critical thinking questions are: the relationship between movement and human-environment interaction, the connection between region and place, and the ways different geographic themes interact with or influence each other.

What are the 5 key concepts of geography?

The five key concepts of geography are location, place, relationships within a place, movement, and region. Each concept helps geographers understand and analyze different aspects of the Earth’s physical and human environments.

What are geographic thinking skills?

Geographic thinking skills involve exploring spatial orders, patterns, and associations to investigate environmental and societal issues. These skills enable geographers to analyze and understand geographical information and make informed decisions.

What are the 4 concepts of geographic thinking?

The four concepts of geographic thinking are spatial significance, patterns and trends, interrelationships, and geographic perspective. These concepts form the foundation for thinking critically about geographic information and understanding the complexities of the Earth’s physical and human processes.

What are the 7 concepts of geo?

The seven concepts of geography are place, space, environment, interconnection, scale, sustainability, and change. These concepts help geographers analyze and interpret the relationships between humans and their physical environment.

How do I study like a geographer?

To study like a geographer, you can start with a master overview of the Earth, begin with local studies and work your way outwards, follow your curiosity, use world events and news headlines to guide your study, visualize information using maps and images, and use flashcards to drill yourself on key facts.

What six things do geographers consider?

Geographers consider the physical and human aspects of the Earth, including its environment, climate, landforms, population, culture, and economic activities. They also study the relationships and interactions between these different elements.

What kind of thinking do geographers use?

Geographers use spatial thinking, which involves understanding the relationships and patterns between different locations on the Earth’s surface. They use this thinking to analyze and interpret geographic information and solve spatial problems.

What are the steps to geographic thinking?

The steps to geographic thinking are asking geographic questions, acquiring geographic resources, exploring and examining geographic data, analyzing the gathered information, and taking action based on geographic knowledge.

What are the steps to critical thinking in geography?

The steps to critical thinking in geography involve examining evidence, considering alternative solutions, distinguishing fact from opinion, and reaching informed conclusions. Geographers also analyze the relationships between different geographic factors and perspectives.

What are 3 things geographers study?

Geographers study the physical environment of the Earth, including its landforms, climate, and natural resources. They also study the human aspects of the Earth, such as population distribution, culture, and economic activities. Additionally, geographers examine the relationships between the physical and human factors.

What are the five 5 main themes of geography?

The five main themes of geography are location, place, human-environment interaction, movement, and region. These themes help geographers organize and analyze information about the Earth’s physical and human characteristics.

What are the 4 types of geography?

The four types of geography are human geography, physical geography, regional geography, and integrated geography (also known as environmental geography). Each type focuses on different aspects of the Earth’s environment and the interactions between humans and their surroundings.

What are key geographic concepts that can help you think like a geographer?

Key geographic concepts that can help you think like a geographer include location, place, scale, space, pattern, nature and society, networks, flows, regionalization, and globalization. By understanding and applying these concepts, geographers can analyze and interpret the world around them from a spatial perspective.

How do geographers use spatial thinking?

Geographers use spatial thinking by analyzing and interpreting the relationships between different locations and the patterns that exist on the Earth’s surface. They observe and study the spatial distribution of phenomena and use maps, imagery, and spatial data to understand the spatial dimensions of various phenomena and processes.

What is a key concept of geographic thought?

A key concept of geographic thought is the understanding of how humans interact with their environment and how the environment influences human activities. This concept recognizes the reciprocal relationship between humans and their surroundings and helps geographers analyze the complexities of human-environment interactions.

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Thinking through geography

‘Teaching strategies that make students think through appropriately challenging problems or issues, and solving or resolving these challenges involves mental effort. This is ‘cognitive conflict’.’

Adam Nicholls, 2006

Topics on this page:

What is ‘thinking through geography’? | The research behind ‘thinking through geography’ | Managing thinking activities in geography | Why is the debriefing so important in thinking activities? | Using thinking skills activities | Thinking through geography activities in geography | Reading

What is ‘thinking through geography’?

Thinking through geography  arrived on the geography scene in the 1990s, developed by a team of classroom teachers in North East England who were working with David Leat at Newcastle University. These teachers wanted to make geography lessons more interesting and to make geography activities more challenging.

The students engaged with the activities enthusiastically; it made them think and they began to ask more questions. More teachers took on the ideas and they became enthusiastic too; they realised that debriefing following the ‘thinking’ activity was the most important part of the teaching if the activities were going to make students better learners.

Thinking strategies in geography became widely adopted across the UK and have become embedded in the geography curriculum of most schools, although their origins in David Leat’s project are not always credited. More recently ‘thinking through geography’ has been rekindled by ideas of critical thinking (see  Critical thinking ).

• See Figure 4:  The dynamic process of learning in  Rawlings Smith (2017) which shows how geographical thinking is at the centre of the process.

The research behind ‘thinking through geography’

David Leat (1988) acknowledges that:

‘many of these strategies started life with no theoretical basis at all but were developed to make lessons more interesting…… over time, as we have thought and read more, ….. we have learned not only why they work, but also how to make better use of their potential for promoting learning.’

When the activities were developed in the 1990s, teachers tended to give any thought about the theoretical underpinning for teaching strategies a wide berth. Today it is different and new teachers are explicitly expected to explore this. 

Looking back to the approach adopted by Leat’s project in the 1990s, it is interesting to note that, having established that these thinking activities worked when they were used in the classroom, the teachers researched to find out why.

This pragmatic approach led  Thinking through geography  to build on its initial success and develop further strategies that were more deeply rooted in research findings. In particular the project built on the findings of the  Cognitive Acceleration through Science Education  (CASE) programme developed at King’s College, London to improve students’ abilities to reason and think.

David Leat worked hard through the 1990s, and beyond, to convince geography teachers it was important to understand the theoretical principles that underpinned the use of thinking strategies in geography because ‘ the key to the really effective deployment of this approach lies in understanding and being able to use this theory’  (Leat, 1998, p 157).

David Leat’s text is very readable and informative and shows how his work became firmly rooted in research. It is much more that a book about activities to get students thinking about geography. 

In his text he explains how an understanding of  constructivism  and  cognition  are important to the effective use of thinking strategies in the classroom. He explains the role that  schema  play and why a recognition of  cognitive conflict  is important.

He tells teachers not to fear  metacognition  but to embrace it and explains the importance of  scaffolding  and  talk , drawing on the research of Vygotsky and the ‘National Oracy Project’ respectively. He also looks to research in the discussion of pedagogy such as managing  groupwork  and the use of  big concepts .

The  thinking through geography  project also contributed the ways in which geography teachers used debriefing to develop metacognition, and how the teachers themselves reflected on their lessons. 

The first-hand teacher’s reflections in Nichols and Kinninment (2001) are informative about the different activities, but they also provide good role models for you to emulate.

• See  Why ‘Thinking through Geography’ is important?  and read how theory and research underpins different geography thinking activities in these key readings.

Key Reading

• Leat, D. (1998)  Thinking through geography . Cambridge: Chris Kington Publishing.
• Nichols, A. and Kinninment, D (2001)  More Thinking through geography , Chris Kington Publishing.

Arrange to observe a lesson in which one of the thinking skills strategies is being used to promote thinking through geography. During the observation record:

• What strategies, tasks and questions are used in the introduction to establish what the students already know and understand about the topic?
• What existing knowledge, concepts and technical vocabulary are identified?
• What activity provides the ‘cognitive conflict’ in the lesson? What planning and preparation was necessary for this? How was the activity introduced?
• What strategies are used by different groups of students to carry out the activity or solve the problems posed?
• What interventions does the teacher make? Does the teacher allow time for the students to solve problems themselves first? What scaffolding is used?
• What strategies/questions does the teacher use in the debrief to help the students review their thinking and learning (metacognition) and to apply what they have learnt to other geographical contexts?

Managing thinking activities in geography

The following guidance and sequence is recommended for using  Thinking through geography  activities. For further advice on using the strategies, see the key texts above.

• Preparation : The thinking activity must match the learning objectives for the lesson and resources should be adapted your students and geography theme, as necessary. Think about  where  in the lesson you will use the activity; what do you want students to  learn  through using the activity?
• Launching : This term was used by David Leat – an analogy with a boat. What explanation will you give? Will instructions be verbal, displayed on the board/screen or on resource sheet?
• Managing the activity :  What steps are needed to organise the activity. A main reason for using thinking activities is to develop the students as learners, so you must provide just enough support to encourage them to engage and learn, but not so much that they use you as a crutch and learn nothing. Consider how, and when, you will intervene to bring about learning. (Leat notes that if a class are using the activity for the first time, you may need to persuade them to accept the different demands it makes. Some students can feel threatened with unfamiliar activities.)
• Debriefing :  This is when students should reflect on their learning and is the hardest part to get right but is the most crucial. Leave enough time for it and know what questions you will ask. Think about how you will respond to what students say. See  Debriefing in geography .
• Follow up :  Set the students some follow-up work to consolidate their learning, often this can be some form of extended writing.

Why is the debriefing so important in thinking activities?

The debriefing of thinking activities should give students plenty of time to reflect on  what  they have learnt – and also  how  they have learned it. 

The rationale behind debriefing, as explained by David Leat, is that by understanding their own thinking ( metacognition ) students can apply what they have learned to other situations. 

He also talks about  bridging , where students transfer ideas and reasoning to other geographical concepts. You can see how to use a thinking strategy without a debrief would miss the point!

Using thinking skills activities

It is best to begin with a simple thinking skills activity. Try a  card sorting activity   such as  Odd one out  or  Most likely to , which can be used in most contexts. 

Living graphs   is another excellent activity and can be adapted for a range of topics with a little imagination as the references on the living geography page show! Or try  Reading photographs .

Then move on to use a more ambitious strategy, such as  Maps from Memory  or a  Mystery .

• Identify an appropriate topic and class and discuss your plans with your mentor.
• Consider the organisational aspects of the lesson as well as the geographical content carefully. Focus on the debriefing and plan this part of your lesson carefully. Refer to  Debriefing in geography .
• Ask your geography mentor to observe your lesson and possibly co-teach it with you.
• After the lesson, write a detailed evaluation of the thinking activity and the debriefing. Evaluate how effective the approach is, paying particularly attention to the learning of different groups of students and what you learned from it. Discuss this with your geography mentor.

Thinking through Geography activities in geography

The following references will provide you with good insights into how different teachers have used thinking activities. Bustin (2017) pp 142-3 includes a useful summary of some of the most frequently used thinking activities. 

Ward (2004) considers maps from memory, mysteries and concept mapping. Holbrey and Parkhurst (2020) review a trainee teacher’s use of two thinking activities in their teaching.

Since many of the thinking activities have been subsumed into more recent  critical thinking  initiatives, you will find further examples referenced in  Critical thinking .

• Bustin, R. (2017) ‘Teaching a good geography lesson’, in Jones, M. (ed) (2017)  The Handbook of Secondary Geography . Sheffield: Geographical Association. Chapter 11.
• Holbrey, C. and Parkhurst, L. (2020) ‘ Can engaging teaching survive the knowledge revolution?,  Teaching Geography , Summer.
• Leat, D. and Nichols, A. (1999)  Mysteries make you think , Sheffield: Geographical Association (Theory into Practice series).
• Mawdsley, G. (2019) ‘Critical thinking for achievement CPD’,  Teaching Geography , Autumn.
• Nichols, A. (2006) ‘ Thinking Skills and the role of debriefing ’ in Balderstone, D. (ed)  Secondary Geography Handbook . Sheffield: Geographical Association.
• Rawlings Smith, E. (2017) ‘Post-16 geography’  in Jones, M. (ed)  The Handbook of Secondary Geography . Sheffield: Geographical Association. Chapter 19.
• Thomas, S. and McGahan, H. (1997) ‘Geography – it makes you think’,  Teaching Geography,  July.
• Ward, R. (2004) ‘Mind friendly learning in geography’,  Teaching Geography,  October.

Also available from the ITE section

Critical thinking

Creativity in geography lessons

Decision making, problem solving and mysteries

Argument in geography

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