Landscapes surround us constantly—through the classroom window, in travel photos, in cityscapes and nature reserves. Yet what do your students see when they look at the world around them?
We tend to think of landscapes as something static—a view, a background, a setting. But what if we considered them instead as living texts? As emotional, historical, and political spaces that shape the way we experience the world?
A landscape is not just a backdrop to our lives—it influences how we perceive history, how we build identity, and how we relate to nature and each other. It is never neutral—it carries emotion, memory, ownership—and often, conflict.
In this lesson, we offer a quiz, articles, a video, and a glossary. These teaching resources are designed to help you confidently introduce the topic of landscape in your history, geography, or civic education lessons. They provide engaging and ready-to-use materials that make it easy to explore landscapes from multiple perspectives – visual, cultural, and social – with your students.
