Jeff Ridges

Why is Jeff Ridges annoyed that his water bill has gone up again?

The mystery ‘Why is Jeff Ridges (from Phoenix) annoyed that his water bill has gone up again’ is in a unit of work on population and is used as an example of the causes and effects of migration. Before undertaking the mystery students are encouraged to rise to the challenge of this demanding task and reminded of the importance of co-operative group work. There are 2 videos on this. I recommend just watching Oases in the Desert 2 as a follow up to the mystery.

Background work - students locate Phoenix using an atlas. Students will also find it useful to know a little about its climate. Students may locate Cleveland, Ohio, where Jeff originates from. Some data on population change on a state by state basis is also useful. Students will benefit by appreciating the relative small population change in the NE and the large growth in the SW.

Prior to undertaking the mystery students are introduced to the ‘Why Tree’ concept of writing an ‘explanation genre’ answer (see Improving Essay Writing Skills, Rider, R and Roberts, R. Teaching Geography, Vol. 20 No 1, January 2001). Students are made aware that they will have to provide a detailed response to the mystery question and that the ‘Why Tree’ concept may help to provide the detail that may sometimes be missing from their work. In constructing their answer to the mystery students are consistently asked to explain ‘why’.

In a debrief, which may take place at the beginning of the next lesson, students are invited to explain how they did the task. Students may be prompted to justify their groupings and to consider the thinking skills they used. A simplified thinking skill checklist can be used to stimulate discussion and learning.

Download the mystery cards as a Word file here, print them off, cut them up and let the pupils sort them into those which are relevant triggers and those which are background information and less significant to the mystery.

This page last updated 17 December 2003