C O N C E P T : S PA C E
What it is
What is it and why are
geographers interested?
Figure 10
Getting to know the key
concepts: space.
Geographers writing about space:
Sarah Whatmore, Nigel Thrift, David Harvey, Gillian Rose, Doreen Massey
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Experiences to provide
Outcomes for students
If students are to gain understanding of If KS3 students understand this concept
this concept, they will need to be given they are likely to:
these experiences at KS3:
Geographers have always been interested • The opportunity to examine the
in space in the sense of knowing where
growing importance of location in an
things are located on the surface of the
interconnected and globalised world
earth, why they are there, the patterns
(e.g. through studying the spatial
and distributions created, how and why
decision-making of a large global
they are changing, and the implications
firm)
for people.
• The chance to investigate spatial
location, patterns and distributions in
Geographical study in the 1960s and 70s
the local context and the significance/
emphasised the search for order and
impact on the local community (e.g.
the use of theories and models. While
house prices, leisure facilities for
physical geography has continued to
young people, climate change)
use mathematical models to
• Involvement in using maps, atlases,
understand how processes interact in
GIS and/or images to identify, plot
space to create places, research in
and represent features studied
human geography has diversified to
• The opportunity to study topics and
look at space in more fluid and less
issues in both physical and human
formal ways, in particular:
geography in which flows and
• Recognising the processes of
movements are important in
acceptance and alienation that lead
explaining the matter (e.g. movement
to the formation of ‘same spaces’ and
of soils on slopes explaining landform
‘other spaces’ (e.g. feminist
shapes)
geography, post-colonialism)
• The chance to look at the relationship
• Exploring how landscapes and maps
between time, space and society at
function to re-order and represent
different scales (e.g. Harvey’s example
space (e.g. in advertising, military
of the Oxford car industry and
arenas)
workers – local/national impacts and
• Re-examining space and time as both
decisions)
being folded into everyday life,
• The opportunity to talk about time
especially Harvey’s ‘time-space
and space as aspects of economic,
compression’ in which speeding up of
social and cultural life (e.g. tracing
time is a result of economic and
the development of musical genre
cultural change
like soul/jazz/rap in time and space)
• Be able to use terms like location,
distribution, pattern, flows and
networks confidently and
meaningfully in the context of studies
they have undertaken
• Be able to analyse and explain the
location of features and places they
have studied and show
understanding of why and how
location matters
• Be able to express information in
map and visual form either handdrawn or using appropriate ICT
• Show understanding of how people,
places and environments are
influenced by flows of material,
information, goods and people
• Be able to link pattern and process at
different scales (local to global) in
their understanding of the dynamic
nature of both physical and human
geography