Geography at key stage 3    (Year 8)

• Introduce the topic with a brainstorming activity, asking pupils in groups what sorts of questions would need to be asked to find out about changes in shopping patterns over the past 20-30 years. Groups can pool responses and discuss the best selection of wording to elicit the information they seek. Pupils identify three success criteria for their questionnaire, from which a list is drawn up to evaluate the activity when completed.
• Ask pupils to identify the age groups (parent/grandparent) they will need to interview and to do this for homework, recording their results on a database or wall chart. In groups, they can ask questions about the data to evaluate the extent to which the questionnaire worked and to identify how it could have been improved, eg separation of convenience goods from comparison goods.
• Help pupils to compile a class summary and identify the main changes that have taken place and suggest reasons why they have occurred (human processes). Pupils can select their own preferred way to make notes, for extended writing later.
• Organise a visit to the nearest shopping parade to note types of shops and services, any evidence of a change of function and to investigate people's shopping habits. Ask pupils to present and analyse results and consider reasons for patterns identified, including reasons for any change in function and its effects.
• Choose a town that has a range of different types of shopping centres, including an out-of-town development or retail warehouse. Discuss these with pupils and ask them to map the locations and add notes about their advantages and disadvantages. Ask pupils to consider two of these from different people's viewpoints, eg young, elderly, without a car, mother with young children, and to tabulate their findings.

• Use pupils' understanding of convenience and comparison goods to develop the concepts of settlement function and how to place settlements in a rank order (hierarchy). What can we buy where, and why? Rank local centres for shopping purposes. Then ask pupils to write a paragraph to identify the main centres and explain why some are more important than others.
• Take the largest shopping centre in the area and discuss with pupils how they might try to identify the extent of its importance/influence. A generalised map can be drawn based on a number of agreed indicators. Reasons for its extent and shape will need to be considered.

• Discuss with pupils whether things are getting better in the shopping world. Consider with them the concept of change/progress as development and discuss the possibilities of internet shopping, referring to well-known examples, eg books, large supermarket chains.
• In groups, using school computers or individually at home using personal computers, pupils could research one particular internet shopping facility, finding out what it offers and how it works. They should discuss the impact this might have on the use of transport and what types of people will use the facility.
• In class help pupils to pool findings and ask them to draw up a list of the likely effects of internet shopping on local shops, city-centre shops and out-of-town superstores. Which are most likely to resist the internet threat and why?
• Help pupils to plan a piece of extended writing entitled 'How and why has shopping changed in Britain over the last 30 years? How is it likely to change in the future?' Weaker writers may need structured support to help them group sentences into paragraphs which have a clear focus, and in linking ideas and paragraphs into continuous text.