Geography Laboratory
Discover Earth anew through a hands-on experience, by connecting natural science with social science
Geography is not just about reading textbooks and memorising facts, it is a fascinating subject that requires hands-on experience to truly understand its complexities. Most of the time, the students are introduced to geography as a part of social studies, which does not always do justice to the subject’s scientific roots. They might be shown pictures and diagrams, but without the chance to observe and experience these phenomena firsthand, the learning remains incomplete. As a result, often concepts of physical geography, such as rocks, soil, and water cycles are incompletely comprehended by students.
Geography as a separate subject is usually introduced to children in middle schools in India. But it is usually not treated as a lab-based subject in schools. In the school curriculum, it is mostly a part of social studies, and therefore a lab space for geography is rarely considered a priority.
In our Geography lab, students can feel the texture of different soils, observe their colours, and understand the variations that make up our planet’s surface.
The teaching-learning space remains incomplete when the teaching happens with factual information only, without any experiential learning. For example, students are introduced to rocks and their variations through definitions and pictures, not with real rocks. They are introduced to soil and its variety without giving them a real feeling of that variety.
Similarly, maps are often shown as exhibits hanging on the walls or through a globe. Students rarely get exposure to making a map or globe of their own. After knowing the physical features, by the time the students get introduced to human-environment interaction through the concepts like resource utilisation, agriculture, industry, etc., they lose interest in such aspects as most concepts remain unclear to them to a great extent.
Geography is not just about maps and globes – it is about the natural and social processes that shape our world. Geography is all around us, from the land where we stand and the rocks beneath our feet to the weather patterns around us to the clouds in the sky. The challenge lies in the nature of the discipline itself, which combines physical and social sciences.
A geographer, with academic training, knows that geography is treated as a ‘laboratory-based subject’ in colleges and universities. Without a laboratory (henceforth referred to as lab) space, it is difficult to teach many concepts of the subject. The Geography lab at Azim Premji University offers a unique and engaging learning experience for students, connecting natural science with social science and promoting sustainability.
Geography is not just about maps and globes – it is about the natural and social processes that shape our world.
The lab is accessible to all our students at Azim Premji University. It contains self-learning material in the form of a poster that gives an overview of the discipline and the school curriculum in India.
MA Education students specialising in Social Studies can use the lab to understand the concepts in a better manner and to make their own teaching-learning materials for the future.
Teachers attending the ‘Geography for Life’ workshop can also learn about the lab’s utility.
We can make the lab available to local schools upon request.
During my field practice, to an extent, I was able to answer the questions of the grade VI students. Having seen a geography lab for the first time and the models and components it has, helped contextualise the content for myself and for the children I engaged with.