10 reasons to use Mission:Explore

Here are 10 great reasons for visiting and using the Mission:Explore website.

If you're a teacher...

1. You can login to the site as a teacher and use it for free as a way of introducing students to the concept. Students can also log in individually. You can also get an account for your school, and turn your school into a CHALLENGER.
This requires a small investment in cash, but means that you can work with groups of students to create your own missions which could be useful for marketing the department / school etc.

2. You have the chance to enjoy a range of exciting MISSIONS as part of the school day. There are plenty of activities that you could carry out on the school grounds, or as part of a lesson for many subjects - these are not just for geographers....

3. Some wonderful ideas for homeworks. Instead of providing an identikit activity which you then see 30 copies of, why not set students a selection of tasks from a short list of missions, which will allow students to choose missions which develop their particular SKILLS or allow them to develop and achieve something that formal assessment wouldn't allow them to...

If you're a parent...

4. Do try this at home shows what can happen if you have a little fun with one (or more) of our missions with your kids.

5. Identify some missions that you could try to complete as a family, as a way of exploring your local area. Try to visit a part of your local village or neighbourhood that you have never been to before, take a route you've never been down before, get out the camera and start to take some images. As an example of this, you should use the Geography Awareness Week resources that we wrote for the National Geographic Education website in 2011

6. Allow your children to have a bit of flexibility with the way they spend their time, so that they can go "off the beaten track" and explore. Work through the BASIC TRAINING with them first so that they're prepared for everything... Remember that exploring is not just for the rich, or for grown-ups, and you don't have to catch a plane to do it either. As Michael Palin says on the home page of the new Discovering Britain website...

"some of the world's most varied, spectacular and accessible landscape is only a strong pair of boots away." - or a pair of trainers....


If you're a student

7. Sign Up for the site. Our community offers two different types of experience depending on your age. For those of you over the age of 13, you will be able to
Why not join a TEAM and work your way up the Leaderboard....

8. Have fun with one of our Mission:Explore books.
The missions were written by teachers and other geographers, but the contents of the books were chosen by students from a list of the ones that they liked the best, because they are the best people to choose. You can also visit our SHOP and make sure that you're wearing appropriate M:E branded clothing while you're exploring to keep you safe...

9. Try to earn more REWARDS than your friends.

If you're human...

10. Keep an eye out for Mission:Explore Food, which is coming during 2012. The money to crowd-source the book is coming in steadily and we are hoping to launch it at the Hay Festival later in 2012. (A reminder here that Mission:Explore was a National Trust / Hay Festival Outdoor Book of the Year 2011)

We're currently a featured project on Please Fund Us. Check out the benefits that you will get for supporting us at one of several levels...

Children of all ages have an appetite for thirst for exploration, adventure and challenge. And the world around them, while not without its dangers, is full of wonder, surprise and delight. Yet all too often, we grown-ups let fear and anxiety get the better of us, and get in the way of giving children a taste of freedom. So hats off to the Geography Collective for taking a stand against the cotton wool culture and doing their bit to expand the horizons of childhood. 
Tim Gill, author of 'No Fear: Growing up in a risk averse society'

Comments

Ed Fraser said…
Alan. I am really interested in using the Mission Explore concept at school. Bought my first book the other day and its great.

At school we have a Yr 7 Learning Project, which is a PLTS based subject which runs for a whole day. I am one of several teachers who take a whole class all day, split across their 5 lessons. It is every 2 weeks, and we usually have a Theme for the day (i.e. Democracy etc) and we have 2 targets for them to focus on out of 6 each day (i.e. Independent Enquirer, Creative Learner, Effective Participants etc).

The two senior teachers who run this has asked me to devise a new day with a theme in the summer term, and I would love to base it around the Mission Explore concept.

Not sure where to start though. Ideas I want, which are possible is: taking the class out and about in the local community working to complete missions.

Any thoughts?

Ed
Alan Parkinson said…
Thanks Ed
Will e-mail separately

Several schools have already done things relating to Mission:Explore and the idea of Guerrilla learning...