Observation

In real life

Why might observation be useful in these real-life situations:

a submission of funding for land conservation
fence maintenance on a farm
managing endangered animals such as the pygmy possums?

Tools used to record observations are field sketches and digital cameras.

Creating a field sketch

A field sketch is quick to draw and used to record the main geographical features of your fieldwork site. It provides a summary of the area you are studying. You don’t have to be an artist but you do have to keep work neat and tidy so you can interpret it later.

Visit the BBC website to see what field sketches look like.

How to create a field sketch.

Line drawing of Malaysian Vegetable Garden.

Field sketches show simplified information in relation to a fieldwork site.

Taking digital photographs

Digital photographs are incredibly useful for fieldwork. Photos can record the exact location and accurately represent the scale and colour of the fieldwork sites.

There are different types of photographs:

ground level: most photos are taken by people at ground level
oblique aerial: taken at an angle from low flying aircraft
vertical aerial: taken looking directly down from an aircraft

How to use a digital camera.

Quiz question

What would a photo of the earth look like at night?