This chapter seeks to address the theme of The Power of Geographical Thinking by investigating the concept of powerful knowledge, and how it can be used to identify geographical knowledge and thinking that could be considered powerful. The debate about powerful knowledge within geography education is advanced in two ways: first, by creating a typology of powerful geographical knowledge and second, by illustrating each type with examples that may make the concept clearer to geography educators. Five types of powerful knowledge in geography are identified. The strength of the argument developed here is in part tested by conducting a review of some of the criticisms of the concept of powerful knowledge advanced by geography educators.
Relational thinking is a necessary skill for building students’ individual capabilities and a core concept in geography education. Geographical relational thinking refers to being able to give interrelated, causal explanations for geographical phenomena such as regional change. The aim of this study was to gain more insight into differences in relational thinking between small groups of students working together on an assignment to explain a regional event which was framed as a geographical mystery. This insight could help teachers to advance students’ geographical relational thinking skills. Two geographical mysteries were examined with data from 69 small groups in Dutch upper secondary education. The two mysteries resulted in differences in the level of relational thinking, which were partly explained by small-groups’ on-task behaviour. Many student groups showed a low level of geographical relational thinking. Findings point to the need to incorporate exercises into geography lessons which require the use of thinking and reasoning with interrelated causal relationships.
Blunt trauma abdomen rarely leads to gastrointestinal injury in children and isolated gastric rupture is even rarer presentation. We are reporting a case of isolated gastric rupture after fall from height in a three year old male child.