HOW TO MAKE A READING OF LANDSCAPE

The idea is to conceive an activity by making several disciplines intercede : (in that case the subjects which intervened were : biology-ecology: history-geography; artistic plans.)

This multidisciplinary approach gets organized around a topic : here the chosen topic : "life and habits of a small village of fishers from Bretagne". The interest of this approach is to enable pupils to have a broader vision of discreet topic.All the aspects, all the complexity of a situation, are taken into account.

At first, a reading of the landscape is planned, first sensory, then rational.( An activity organised by the teacher of biology- ecology).

In second time, it is a question of knowing the history of the place(told by the teacher of history or as here, by a dealer specialized in the history of the place which made us visit the place by showing us the modern use of the place : because in the village, places were transformed into shelters for hickers and others in workshops for artists).

In third time, an artistic production is attended, using all this acquired knowledge (artistic plan).

This production is suggested to assess the understanding of what was made in the first two periods (the reading of the landscape, the knowledge of the historical aspect) and the pupils connected the landscape and the fishers'life of the village.

The aim is also to check if the pupils are able to use that knowledge into another language(realization of a comic strip or simply one part, here one asked for it to accomplish the first picture of a comic strip on this fishers'village).

But it is possible also to ask the pupils to realize a brochure making the promotion of the local area or to make an artistic photograph reflecting the atmosphere of the place or a to make a lifelike portrait or a play.....

example : "Territory of Ménéham on April 22nd 2009"

When we work on the reading of a landscape, we first have a sensitive oncoming : (we show that all of us have a different view).

Then we have a rational oncoming by watching the different components. These observations led to questions which we tried to answer.

HOW TO PRACTICE

I) I notice what guides my perception : sensitive approach

Game of the blindfolded eyes

2 persons : one has his eyes blindfolded and while the other describes him the landscape he can see. then the blindfold is taken away and the pupil can realize how distant was the picture he had from the reality.

It highlights the different views on the same territory and the relativity of descriptions notably through the adjectives mentioned (big, ugly, frightening, splendid) or the most favourite elements (the flora, habitats....) This game shows us the subjective aspect of a landscape.

Another sensitive or sensory approach : I use my 5 senses to get to know the landscape:

The sight : what is the predominant colour in my opinion?

(In ménéham, answers were very various and very amazing really showing some subjectivity : the guides thought that everybody would have sad "blue" in comparaison to the ubiquitous sea) and the colours mentionned were "black"(presence of huge granite blocks covered with very datk seaweeds), "yellow"(presence of sand, "green"(presence of the grass on the dunes where the reading of landscape was made.

Hear : what do I hear ?

In ménéham, they heard the wind(always very present on this coast) and the marine birds.

Smell : What can I smell ?

In Ménéham, they smelt the sea, "of some iodine"seaweeds.

Touch : what do I feel on the skin?

In Ménéham , they smelt the cool(cold) wind

II) I spot and I locate

For that I use a map.

I spot the place of observation(name of the said place, the village...)

I orientate the map, and I turn using the four cardinal points and using as a point of reference the village or the close city

III) I represent and I classify : rational approach

a) The natural data

Relief and under soil

I put a name on the main elements of the relief (mountain, valley, hil....)

Here we can see what we call"granitic chaos". They took place 100 000 years ago......; Then the sea and the wind have eroded these stones and have transformed them in sand. The sand has been carried by the wind and has formed the dunes.

Waters

I established a list of different noticed forms(sea, lake, rivers, ponds, marsh, reservoir..)

The sea is here the most important thing in this landscape. The human activities depend of it.

Natural vegetation

I point out the place and the importance in the landscape of the different vegetations.

Here the ground is especially sand. This ground is not good for the agriculture and farming : only sand and more the sand do not keep water. The only plants we can see are adapted to this poor environment and are not useful to feed humans people.But these plants grow especially on sand and for some of them are rare and now protected.

So people here were very poor and have to fish to feed themselves. That's we can see here : some small boats and a hold (a way to accede to the beach)

Those poor people also fished seaweeds: they sold them to chemical engineering(industries)because they extraded iodine and soda from the seaweeds by burning them.They also used seaweeds to fertilize their fields.

Fauna

I search presence or signs of activity of wild animals(and of domestic animals)

As we could see, the animals also are especially sea birds

b) The humanized elements

Constructed areas

I rank the buildings according to their age, location, function(agrarian building, shed house, facilities..), the organization(insulated, unsystematic...)

In Ménéham they could notice : a lighthouse(essential for the navigation very dangerous around), houses constructed near the sea : what since was forbidden to protect dunes and coastal region, the old fishers'village which will be visited after midday.

Conclusion

I write a conclusion or I define the organization of the landscape. I asses the importance of human influence (the anthropisation).

I try to wonder about links between the different areas. (Example ; link between the sea and the inhabitants of the village who fish and harvest seaweeds)

Normally when the pupils notice and represent the landscape, they are led to ask questions and they have to try to answer it by inquiries and by personal researches. Some of these answers were given the day of reading with the partners : they are pointed out in italics.