Geography

Term 1 and term 2:

Introduction to the UK

The topic introduces students to the geography of the UK, an essential foundation for the study of geography at both KS3 and KS4. Using maps and photos, students are introduced to the nations of the UK and to some of the sites and attractions that make the UK special. Next, students take a tour of the UK from Land’s End to John o’Groats to find out more about the UK’s regions. Moving on, atlas maps are used to help students understand the place of the UK within Europe and the wider world.

A sense of place is important for geography at KS3. Students use a variety of skills to explore the geography of the local environment to encourage curiosity and understand the importance of the local environment to the people who live there. In the ‘Skills focus’, the use of Ordnance Survey (OS) maps introduces students to basic interpretive maps skills through engaging practical activities.

Enquiry Question:

What are the key characteristics of the UK?

 

Term 3 and term 4:

Physical landscapes in the UK

The topic introduces students to the physical geography of the UK. Initially, the concept of ‘landscape’ is explored, starting with the familiar before considering aspects of landscape change. A case study of the Lake District helps students consider the importance of landscape in shaping people’s lives. Then, students learn about the basic geology of the UK. Through studying the rock cycle, students learn about the fundamental landscape processes of weathering, erosion, transportation and deposition. Subsequent areas of focus include landscapes associated with rivers, coasts and mountains.Photos and OS map extracts are used to study the key processes and major landforms associated with each physical environment. In the ‘Skills focus’, students interpret an atlas map showing the relief of the UK. 

Enquiry Question:

How is the UK shaped by physical processes?

 

Term 5:

The people of the UK

This topic introduces students to the demography of the UK. Students learn about the UK’s diverse population and how this has changed over time. Students consider how the UK’s population is measured by the census and the issues associated with the UK’s ageing population. Students learn about international migration to the UK and internal migration within the UK. There will be a focus on a city of choice to allow students to investigate its growth, opportunities and characteristics. Then, students explore the characteristics of rural areas in the UK. Additionally, students learn about how the UK works, covering different employment sectors and how different jobs in the UK have changed over time, through a decline in manufacturing and an increase in tourism. In the ‘Skills focus’, students interpret population pyramids.

Enquiry Question:

What makes the UK diverse?

 

Term 6:

Challenges and opportunities in the UK

This topic is about the challenges the UK faces with regard to poverty, water supply, waste, air pollution and energy. Each challenge is considered in turn, with opportunities to meet the challenges discussed, initially, a focus on poverty in the UK and how it can be reduced before moving on to water supplies in the UK and how water security can be guaranteed. Students then explore the challenges of household waste and in the UK, and opportunities to reduce, reuse and recycle. Finally, students focus on the energy supply and what can be done to provide energy security within the UK. The ‘Skills focus’ is on the importance of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and how GIS is used by the police to tackle crime.  

Enquiry Question:

How will the UK respond to  the increasing demand for resources?

Term 1 and term 2:

Our physical world

This topic introduces students to the physical world, plate tectonics and global weather and climate. Students use a variety of skills-based activities to study the world’s mountain ranges, rivers and oceans. The theory of plate tectonics is introduced by exploring the world beneath the oceans, with a focus on some of the world’s most impressive landforms including the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the Mariana Trench. Students then investigate the causes and consequences of earthquakes, plus a named tsunami event. This is followed by a study of volcanoes, studying their physical characteristics, distribution and eruptions, using photos and maps to study a recent named eruption. Students consider aspects of the world’s weather and climate, including recent extreme weather events, patterns of global climate and the Asian monsoon. The ‘Skills focus’ encourages students to use a variety of resources to track and study the effects of a tropical storm. 

Enquiry Question:

Is our planet becoming a more dangerous place to live?

 

Term 3 and term 4:

Our unequal world

This topic is about global inequality and different levels of development between countries. Students are introduced to the concept of unequal development and how different levels of development can be measured. They explore the reasons why there is global inequality and why people might migrate to escape inequality and find a better quality of life. Students then learn about how food security is important for development and the impacts of under- and over-nutrition. Students consider why people’s health varies around the world and compare the healthcare in Japan and India. Finally students explore unfair trade and how Fairtrade products attempt to solve these issues. The ‘Skills focus’ is on using scatter graphs to show patterns between wealth and other indicators.

Enquiry Question:

What is happening to the development divide?

 

Term 5 and term 6:

Global issues

This topic focuses on topical global issues. Initially, the issue of plastics in the oceans is explored, to include the causes and costs of plastic pollution and options for the future. Students then study the controversial issue of climate change, with a focus on recent global warming. They learn about the ‘greenhouse effect’ and how this is being enhanced by human activity. A focus on Bangladesh explores the effects and responses to climate change. Linked to this, the growth of international tourism is considered highlighting sustainable strategies in Jordan. Next, students are introduced to the concept of wilderness, the importance of wilderness areas, threats to their survival and sustainable strategies to conserve them for future generations. Students go on to study the geography of conflict zones, focusing on the ongoing conflict in the Ukraine. In the ‘Skills focus’, students explore the geography of Antarctica. They investigate the characteristics of the world’s largest wilderness area using a range of resources including satellite photos and atlas maps. Students may have the opportunity to conduct an independent project associated with one, or multiple, issues: SOS Planet Earth - how can I make a difference?

Enquiry Questions:

• How are all people and places impacted by climate change?
• Is our planet beyond saving?

The final year, the Key Stage 3 curriculum begins with an introduction to our physical world - locating the continents, oceans, seas and major rivers. This leads on to the exhilarating study of tectonic activity - volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis and extreme weather events follow, when students will identify global patterns of weather events and the reasons behind these. Students also investigate the ‘unequal world’ - patterns of development, reasons for inequality and possible solutions. The final topic is our living world, with fascinating studies of small-scale (local) ecosystems and large scale (global) ecosystems. This includes  detailed coverage of both land and water-based biomes. 

Throughout their Key Stage 3 geography studies, students will develop a range of geographical skills, including cartographic, graphical, numerical and statistical skills, plus the interpretation of photographs, maps and satellite imagery. This will equip them with the necessary skills for the GCSE course, where they will be developed further .

Term 1 and term 2:

Weather and climate

This topic introduces students to the weather and climate of the UK to include the different aspects of weather and climate: temperature, precipitation and wind, weather forecasting and how it affects our lives. Students explore the factors affecting the weather, particularly the role of the North Atlantic Drift and the prevailing wind. They are introduced to the different air masses responsible for the UK’s changeable weather. Next, students learn about the water cycle and the formation of rainfall. There is also a focus on urban microclimates, considering the role of buildings and land use on weather at the local scale. There are case studies of extreme weather events in the UK, to include flooding and drought. The ‘Skills focus’ uses atlas maps to study climate patterns of the UK, with opportunities for students to to develop key geographical skills involving mapping, drawing graphs and analysing statistics. 

Enquiry Question:

Why is the weather so changeable in the UK?

 

Term 3 and term 4:

Our living world

This topic introduces students to the living world, which is a compulsory topic at KS4. Students focus on bamboo, as one of the world’s most versatile plants, its distribution and many uses. They next explore the concept of ‘from field to plate’ using products such as cereal and porridge. Practical skills-based activities introduce food sourcing and food miles. Ecosystems, food chains and food webs are studied in the context of a temperate deciduous forest, which links to the distribution and characteristics of global biomes. Then, there is a focus on the Mediterranean biome,and the adaptations of both the plants and animals that live there. Students then explore coral reefs and their extraordinary biodiversity and ecological importance. The ‘Skills focus’ involves a study of the Russian biomes through practical skills-based activities using atlas maps and satellite images. 

Enquiry Question:

To what extent are ecosystems impacted by climate?

 

Term 5:

A focus on Africa

This topic provides an in-depth study of the continent of Africa, with a focus on Nigeria. Initially, students are provided with an overview of Africa’s diversity - its landscapes, biomes and people (culture, language and location). Students learn about Africa’s natural resources, and how these haven’t ensured economic development for the whole continent. They move on to consider African populations, briefly covering their history and what they are like today. It addresses the differences between Africa’s urban and rural areas and the future of Africa’s youthful population. Students explore the Sahara desert  - its physical and human geography - and learn about the process of desertification. Nigeria is then the focus - a Newly Emerging Economy (NEE). Its physical features and biomes, as well as its population, are studied. Students learn about the country’s challenges and opportunities. The ‘Skills focus’ is based on Mount Kilimanjaro and how it changes with altitude. Students will learn the skills to draw a cross-section of the mountain. 

Enquiry Question:

How diverse is the continent?

 

Term 6:

World cities

In this topic, students focus on the concept of urbanisation, to include why it happens. This pattern of rural - urban migration is illustrated with reasons specific to China. Students learn about megacities and their characteristic features, investigating the opportunities and challenges of living in Jakarta, Indonesia. Students then focus on the issue of housing the poor in cities, with a focus on squatter settlements in India. This leads into the concept of sustainable urban living. The ‘Skills focus’ is based on drawing and interpreting choropleth maps and proportional symbol maps.

Enquiry Question:

How can urban areas be sustainable long-term?

Students are required to develop and demonstrate a range of geographical skills, including cartographic, graphical, numerical and statistical skills, throughout their study of the specification. Skills will be assessed in all three written exams. Students will be expected to use qualitative and quantitative data from both primary and secondary sources to obtain, illustrate, communicate, interpret, analyse and evaluate geographical information. Students should demonstrate the ability to identify questions and sequences of enquiry, write descriptively, analytically and critically, communicate their ideas effectively, develop an extended written argument and draw well-evidenced and informed conclusions about geographical questions and issues.

 

Why study this course?

The AQA specification enables a variety of teaching and learning approaches. This exciting and relevant course studies geography in a balanced framework of physical and human themes and investigates the link between them. Students will travel the world from their classroom, exploring case studies in the United Kingdom (UK), higher income countries (HICs), newly emerging economies (NEEs) and lower income countries (LICs). Topics of study include climate change, poverty, deprivation, global shifts in economic power and the challenge of sustainable resource use. Students are also encouraged to understand their role in society, by considering different viewpoints, values and attitudes.

 

What does this course lead on to?

Upon completion of this two year course, students will have the skills and experience to progress onto A-level and beyond.

 

Term 1 into term 2: 

Paper 1 Section A: The challenge of natural hazards 

This unit is concerned with the dynamic nature of physical processes and systems, and human interaction with them in a variety of places and at a range of scales. Students will develop an understanding of the tectonic, geomorphological, biological and meteorological processes and features in different environments, and the need for management strategies governed by sustainability and consideration of the direct and indirect effects of human interaction with the Earth and the atmosphere.

Enquiry Question:

What are the causes and consequences of natural hazards on the natural and built environments?

 

Term 2 into term 3:

Paper 1 Section B: The living world 

Students study Ecosystems, Tropical rainforests and Hot deserts. Initially, students will recognise that ecosystems exist at a range of scales and involve the interaction between biotic and abiotic components. Students will learn that tropical rainforest ecosystems have a range of distinctive characteristics but that deforestation has both economic and environmental impacts on the ecosystem and therefore tropical rainforests need to be managed to be sustainable. Students will then learn that hot desert ecosystems have a range of distinctive characteristics and that development of hot desert environments creates both opportunities and challenges, with areas on the fringe of hot deserts at risk of desertification.

Enquiry Question:

What are the key characteristics, and the impact of development, on named biomes?

 

Term 4 into term 5:

Paper 1 Section C: Physical landscapes in the UK

Students study UK physical landscapes, Coastal landscapes in the UK and River landscapes in the UK. They will recognise that the UK has a range of diverse landscapes. Students will learn that the coast is shaped by a number of physical processes with distinctive coastal landforms created due to these as well as the result of rock type and structure. Therefore, different management strategies are used to protect coastlines from the effects of physical processes. Regarding river landscapes, students will learn that the shape of river valleys changes as rivers flow downstream and that distinctive fluvial landforms result from different physical processes. Also, different management strategies can be used to protect river landscapes from the effects of flooding.

Enquiry Question: 

What are the processes shaping the landscape, and how do these influence people’s lives?

 

Term 6 

Paper 2 Section A: Urban issues and challenges

This topic introduces students to urban population change and the challenges of sustainable development, and focuses on global patterns of urban change, urban growth in Rio de Janeiro (an NEE), urban change in London, and urban sustainability. Students will look at human processes and systems, how they change, both spatially and temporally. They will study these theses in a range of places, at a variety of scales and include places in various states of development. 

Enquiry Question:

Which issues are generated by an increasingly urban world?

 

 

Students are required to develop and demonstrate a range of geographical skills, including cartographic, graphical, numerical and statistical skills, throughout their study of the specification. Skills will be assessed in all three written exams. Students will be expected to use qualitative and quantitative data from both primary and secondary sources to obtain, illustrate, communicate, interpret, analyse and evaluate geographical information. Students should demonstrate the ability to identify questions and sequences of enquiry, write descriptively, analytically and critically, communicate their ideas effectively, develop an extended written argument and draw well-evidenced and informed conclusions about geographical questions and issues.

 

Why study this course?

The AQA specification enables a variety of teaching and learning approaches. This exciting and relevant course studies geography in a balanced framework of physical and human themes and investigates the link between them. Students will travel the world from their classroom, exploring case studies in the United Kingdom (UK), higher income countries (HICs), newly emerging economies (NEEs) and lower income countries (LICs). Topics of study include climate change, poverty, deprivation, global shifts in economic power and the challenge of sustainable resource use. Students are also encouraged to understand their role in society, by considering different viewpoints, values and attitudes.

 

What does this course lead on to?

Upon completion of this two year course, students will have the skills and experience to progress onto A-level and beyond.

 

Term 1: 

Paper 2 Section A: Urban issues and challenges

This topic introduces students to urban population change and the challenges of sustainable development, and focuses on global patterns of urban change, urban growth in Rio de Janeiro (an NEE), urban change in London, and urban sustainability. Students will look at human processes and systems, how they change, both spatially and temporally. They will study these theses in a range of places, at a variety of scales and include places in various states of development. 

Enquiry Question: 

Which issues are generated by an increasingly urban world?

 

Term 2 into term 3: 

Paper 2 Section B: The changing economic world 

This topic introduces students to the global development gap, rapid economic development in an LIC or NEE, and the changing UK economy. Students will look at human processes and systems, plus how they change both spatially and temporally. They will study these themes in a range of places, at a variety of scales and include places in various states of development. 

Enquiry Question:

Is the wealth gap between rich and poor people widening on a national scale as well as globally? 

 

Term 3 into term 4: 

Paper 2 Section C: The challenge of resource management

This topic introduces students to resource management, specifically managing food, water, and energy resources. Students will look at human processes and systems plus how they change both spatially and temporally. They will study these themes in a range of places, at a variety of scales and include places in various states of development. 

Enquiry Question:

How does management affect quality of life for present and future generations?

 

Term 5: 

Paper 3 Section B fieldwork: Fieldwork skills alongside field trips for data collection 

Coastal landscapes - Reculver

Urban change - London

Paper 3

Section A: DME work post pre-release 

Material release date TBC

Enquiry Questions:

• How can I demonstrate skills, knowledge and understanding by looking at a particular issue(s) taken from the course using secondary sources?
• How can I apply knowledge and understanding to interpret, analyse and evaluate information and issues related to geographical enquiry?
• How can I select, adapt and use a variety of skills and techniques to investigate questions and issues, then communicate findings in relation to geographical enquiry?

 

 

Students will learn through the use of maps, GIS, data analysis, interpretation of photos, videos, and podcasts. There will be opportunities to attend lectures and study days. Students will be encouraged to frame their own questions using higher level thinking skills and demonstrate a grasp of complex issues through report and essay writing. Fieldwork will be an essential part of the A Level course.

 

Why study this course?

A Level geography offers a selection of topics to include those not covered at GCSE level. It will allow students to go into greater depth in some key elements previously studied. It covers both the physical and human environments and the complex interaction of processes that shape our world. It will also show the applied side of the subject - how human intervention affects the environment and how people adapt and mitigate the effects of processes on their environment.

 

What does this course lead on to?

Geography is highly valued by universities as an A Level choice, and combines well with both arts and science subjects. It can be a facilitating subject - that is a subject most likely to be required or preferred for entry to degree courses. Choosing facilitating subjects will keep more options at the university-level; geography opens doors to other degrees such as business and administrative studies, law, engineering and technology, and the other social physical sciences.

 

Terms 1-3: 

Component 1: Water and carbon cycles

Water and carbon cycles

This section focuses on the major stores of water and carbon at or near the Earth’s surface and the dynamic cyclical relationships associated with them. These are major elements in the natural environment and understanding them is fundamental to many aspects of physical geography.

Water and carbon cycles as natural systems

Systems in physical geography: systems concepts and their application to the water and carbon cycles inputs – outputs, energy, stores/components, flows/transfers, positive/negative feedback, dynamic equilibrium.

The water cycle

Global distribution and size of major stores of water – lithosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere and atmosphere. Processes driving change in the magnitude of these stores over time and space, including flows and transfers: evaporation, condensation, cloud formation, causes of precipitation and cryospheric processes at hill slope, drainage basin and global scales with reference to varying timescales involved. Drainage basins as open systems – inputs and outputs, to include precipitation, evapotranspiration and runoff; stores and flows, to include interception, surface, soil water, groundwater and channel storage; stemflow, infiltration overland flow, and channel flow. Concept of water balance. Runoff variation and the flood hydrograph. Changes in the water cycle over time to include natural variation including storm events, seasonal changes and human impact including farming practices, land use change and water abstraction.

The carbon cycle

Global distribution, and size of major stores of carbon – lithosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, biosphere, atmosphere. Factors driving change in the magnitude of these stores over time and space, including flows and transfers at plant, sere and continental scales. Photosynthesis, respiration, decomposition, combustion, carbon sequestration in oceans and sediments, weathering. Changes in the carbon cycle over time, to include natural variation (including wildfires, volcanic activity) and human impact (including hydrocarbon fuel extraction and burning, farming practices, deforestation, land use changes). The carbon budget and the impact of the carbon cycle upon land, ocean and atmosphere, including global climate.

Water, carbon, climate and life on Earth

The key role of the carbon and water stores and cycles in supporting life on Earth with particular reference to climate. The relationship between the water cycle and carbon cycle in the atmosphere. The role of feedbacks within and between cycles and their link to climate change and implications for life on Earth. Human interventions in the carbon cycle designed to influence carbon transfers and mitigate the impacts of climate change.

Enquiry Questions:

How vital, and at risk, are the earth’s water and carbon systems?

Component 2: Global systems and global governance

This section focuses on globalisation – the economic, political and social changes associated with technological and other driving forces which have been a key feature of global economy and society in recent decades. Increased interdependence and transformed relationships between peoples, states and environments have prompted more or less successful attempts at a global level to manage and govern some aspects of human affairs. 

Globalisation

Dimensions of globalisation: flows of capital, labour, products, services and information; global marketing; patterns of production, distribution and consumption. Factors in globalisation: the development of technologies, systems and relationships, including financial, transport, security, communications,  management and information systems and trade agreements.

Global systems

Form and nature of economic, political, social and environmental interdependence in the contemporary world. Issues associated with interdependence including how:

• unequal flows of people, money, ideas and technology within global systems can sometimes act to promote stability, growth and development but can also cause inequalities, conflicts and injustices for people and places

• unequal power relations enable some states to drive global systems to their own advantage and to directly influence geopolitical events, while others are only able to respond or resist in a more constrained way.

International trade and access to markets

Global features and trends in the volume and pattern of international trade and investment associated with globalisation. Trading relationships and patterns between large, highly developed economies such as the United States, the European Union, emerging major economies such as China and India and smaller, less developed economies such as those in sub-Saharan Africa, southern Asia and Latin America. Differential access to markets associated with levels of economic development and trading agreements and its impacts on economic and societal well-being. The nature and role of transnational corporations (TNCs), including their spatial organisation, production, linkages, trading and marketing patterns, with a detailed reference to a specified TNC and its impacts on those countries in which it operates. Analysis and assessment of the geographical consequences of global systems to specifically consider how international trade and variable access to markets underly and impacts on students' and other people's lives across the globe.

Global governance

The emergence and developing role of norms, laws and institutions in regulating and reproducing global systems. Issues associated with attempts at global governance, including how:

• agencies, including the UN in the post-1945 era, can work to promote growth and stability but may also exacerbate inequalities and injustices

• interactions between the local, regional, national, international and global scales are fundamental to understanding global governance.

The 'global commons'

The concept of the ‘global commons’. The rights of all to the benefits of the global commons. Acknowledgement that the rights of all people to sustainable development must also acknowledge the need to protect the global commons.

Antarctica as a global common

An outline of the contemporary geography, including climate, of Antarctica (including the Southern Ocean as far north as the Antarctic Convergence) to demonstrate its role as a global common and illustrate its vulnerability to global economic pressures and environmental change. Threats to Antarctica arising from:

• climate change

• fishing and whaling

• the search for mineral resources

• tourism and scientific research.

Critical appraisal of the developing governance of Antarctica. International government organisations to include United Nations (UN) agencies such as United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Whaling Commission. The Antarctic Treaty (1959), the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (1991); IWC Whaling Moratorium (1982) – their purpose, scope and systems for inspection and enforcement. The role of NGOs in monitoring threats and enhancing protection of Antarctica. Analysis and assessment of the geographical consequences of global governance for citizens and places in Antarctica and elsewhere to specifically consider how global governance underlies and impacts on students’ and other people's lives across the globe.

Globalisation critique

The impacts of globalisation to consider the benefits of growth, development, integration, stability against the costs in terms of inequalities, injustice, conflict and environmental impact.

Enquiry Questions:

Is Globalisation something that we should be worried about?

 

Term 4-6: 

Component 1: Coastal systems

This section focuses on coastal zones, which are dynamic environments in which landscapes develop by the interaction of winds, waves, currents and terrestrial and marine sediments. 

Coasts as natural systems

Systems in physical geography: systems concepts and their application to the development of coastal landscapes – inputs, outputs, energy, stores/components, flows/transfers, positive/negative feedback, dynamic equilibrium. The concepts of landform and landscape and how related landforms combine to form characteristic landscapes.

Systems and processes

Sources of energy in coastal environments: winds, waves (constructive and destructive), currents and tides. Low energy and high energy coasts. Sediment sources, cells and budgets. Geomorphological processes: weathering, mass movement, erosion, transportation and deposition. Distinctively coastal processes: marine: erosion – hydraulic action, wave quarrying, corrasion/abrasion, cavitation, solution, attrition; transportation: traction, suspension (longshore/littoral drift) and deposition; sub-aerial weathering, mass movement and runoff.

Coastal landscape development

Origin and development of landforms and landscapes of coastal erosion: cliffs and wave cut platforms, cliff profile features including caves, arches and stacks; factors and processes in their development. Origin and development of landforms and landscapes of coastal deposition. Beaches, simple and compound spits, tombolos, offshore bars, barrier beaches and islands and sand dunes; factors and processes in their development. Estuarine mudflat/saltmarsh environments and associated landscapes; factors and processes in their development. Eustatic, isostatic and tectonic sea level change: major changes in sea level in the last 10,000 years. Coastlines of emergence and submergence. Origin and development of associated landforms: raised beaches, marine platforms; rias, fjords, Dalmatian coasts. Recent and predicted climatic change and potential impact on coasts. The relationship between process, time, landforms and landscapes in coastal settings.

Coastal management

Human intervention in coastal landscapes. Traditional approaches to coastal flood and erosion

risk: hard and soft engineering. Sustainable approaches to coastal flood risk and coastal erosion

management: shoreline management/integrated coastal zone management.

Enquiry Question:

Can differing coastal landscapes be controlled and protected better in the future?

 

Component 2: Contemporary urban environments 

Contemporary urban environments

This section focuses on processes of urban growth and change, which present significant environmental and social challenges for human populations. It examines these processes and challenges and the issues associated with them, in particular the potential for environmental sustainability and social cohesion. 

Urbanisation

Urbanisation and its importance in human affairs. Global patterns of urbanisation since 1945.  Urbanisation, suburbanisation, counter-urbanisation, urban resurgence. The emergence of megacities and world cities and their role in global and regional economies. Economic, social, technological, political and demographic processes associated with urbanisation and urban growth. Urban change: deindustrialisation, decentralisation, rise of service economy. Urban policy and regeneration in Britain since 1979.

Urban forms

Contemporary characteristics of mega/world cities. Urban characteristics in contrasting settings. Physical and human factors in urban forms. Spatial patterns of land use, economic inequality, social segregation and cultural diversity in contrasting urban areas, and the factors that influence them. New urban landscapes: town centre mixed developments, cultural and heritage quarters, fortress developments, gentrified areas, edge cities. The concept of the postmodern western city. 

Social and economic issues associated with urbanisation

Issues associated with economic inequality, social segregation and cultural diversity in contrasting urban areas. Strategies to manage these issues. The impact of urban forms and processes on local climate and weather. Urban temperatures: the urban heat island effect. Precipitation: frequency and intensity. Fogs and thunderstorms in urban environments. Wind: the effects of urban structures and layout on wind speed, direction and frequency. Air quality: particulate and photo-chemical pollution. Pollution reduction policies.

Urban drainage

Urban precipitation, surfaces and catchment characteristics; impacts on drainage basin storage areas; urban water cycle: water movement through urban catchments as measured by hydrographs. Issues associated with catchment management in urban areas. The development of sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS). River restoration and conservation in damaged urban catchments.

Urban waste and its disposal

Urban physical waste generation: sources of waste - industrial and commercial activity, personal consumption. Relation of waste components and waste streams to economic characteristics, lifestyles and attitudes. The environmental impacts of alternative approaches to waste disposal: unregulated, recycling, recovery, incineration, burial, submergence and trade. Comparison of incineration and landfill approaches to waste disposal in relation to a specified urban area.

Other contemporary urban environmental issues

Environmental problems in contrasting urban areas: atmospheric pollution, water pollution and dereliction.

Strategies to manage these environmental problems. 

Sustainable urban development

Impact of urban areas on local and global environments. Ecological footprint of major urban areas. Dimensions of sustainability: natural, physical, social and economic. Nature and features of sustainable cities. Concept of liveability. Contemporary opportunities and challenges in developing more sustainable cities. Strategies for developing more sustainable cities.

Enquiry Question:

Will the unprecedented move from a rural to urban society potentially be the end of humanity?

 

Terms 1-2:

Component 3: Geography fieldwork investigation

Students are required to undertake an independent investigation. This must incorporate a

significant element of fieldwork. The fieldwork undertaken as part of the individual investigation may be based on either human or physical aspects of geography, or a combination of both. The independent investigation must:

• be based on a research question or issue defined and developed by the student individually to address aims, questions and/or hypotheses relating to any part of the specification content 

• involve research of relevant literature sources and an understanding of the theoretical or comparative context for a research question/hypothesis

• incorporate the observation and recording of field data and/or evidence from field investigations that is of good quality and relevant to the topic under investigation

• involve justification of the practical approaches adopted in the field including frequency/timing of observation, sampling and data collection approaches

• draw on the student's own research, including their own field data and/or secondary data, and their experience of field methodologies of the investigation of core human and physical processes

• demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the techniques appropriate for analysing field data and information and for representing results, and show ability to select suitable quantitative or qualitative approaches and to apply them

• demonstrate the ability to interrogate and critically examine field data in order to comment on its accuracy and/or the extent to which it is representative, and use the experience to extend geographical understanding

• require the student to independently contextualise, analyse and summarise findings and data, and to draw conclusions, by applying existing knowledge, theory and concepts to order and understand field observations and identify their relation to the wider context

• involve the writing up of field results clearly, logically and coherently using a range of presentation methods and extended writing

• demonstrate the ability to answer a specific geographical question drawing effectively on evidence and theory to make a well-argued case

• require evaluation and reflection on the investigation including showing an understanding of the ethical dimensions of field research.

 

Terms 3-5:

Component 1: Hazards

Hazards

This section focuses on the lithosphere and the atmosphere, which intermittently but regularly present natural hazards to human populations, often in dramatic and sometimes catastrophic fashion. By exploring the origin and nature of these hazards and the various ways in which people respond to them, students are able to engage with many dimensions of the relationships between people and the environments they occupy. 

The concept of hazard in a geographical context

Nature, forms and potential impacts of natural hazards (geophysical, atmospheric and hydrological). Hazard perception and its economic and cultural determinants. Characteristic human responses – fatalism, prediction, adjustment/adaptation, mitigation, management, risk sharing – and their relationship to hazard incidence, intensity, magnitude, distribution and level of development. The Park model of human response to hazards. The Hazard Management Cycle.

Plate tectonics

Earth structure and internal energy sources. Plate tectonic theory of crustal evolution: tectonic plates; plate movement; gravitational sliding; ridge push, slab pull; convection currents and seafloor spreading. Destructive, constructive and conservative plate margins. Characteristic processes: seismicity and vulcanicity. Associated landforms: young fold mountains, rift valleys, ocean ridges, deep sea trenches and island arcs, volcanoes. Magma plumes and their relationship to plate movement.

Volcanic hazards

The nature of vulcanicity and its relation to plate tectonics: forms of volcanic hazard: nuées ardentes, lava flows, mudflows, pyroclastic and ash fallout, gases/acid rain, tephra. Spatial distribution, magnitude, frequency, regularity and predictability of hazard events. Impacts: primary/secondary, environmental, social, economic, political. Short and long-term responses: risk management designed to reduce the impacts of the hazard through preparedness, mitigation, prevention and adaptation. Impacts and human responses as evidenced by a recent volcanic event.

Seismic hazards

The nature of seismicity and its relation to plate tectonics: forms of seismic hazard: earthquakes, shockwaves, tsunamis, liquefaction, landslides. Spatial distribution, randomness, magnitude, frequency, regularity, predictability of hazard events. Impacts: primary/secondary; environmental, social, economic, political. Short and long-term responses; risk management designed to reduce the impacts of the hazard through preparedness, mitigation, prevention and adaptation. Impacts and human responses as evidenced by a recent seismic event.

Storm hazards

The nature of tropical storms and their underlying causes. Forms of storm hazard: high winds, storm surges, coastal flooding, river flooding and landslides. Spatial distribution, magnitude, frequency, regularity, predictability of hazard events. Impacts: primary/secondary, environmental, social, economic, political. Short and long-term responses: risk management designed to reduce the impacts of the hazard through preparedness, mitigation, prevention and adaptation. Impacts and human responses as evidenced by two recent tropical storms in contrasting areas of the world.

Fires in nature

Nature of wildfires. Conditions favouring intense wildfires: vegetation type, fuel characteristics, climate and recent weather and fire behaviour. Causes of fires: natural and human agency. Impacts: primary/secondary, environmental, social, economic, political. Short and long-term responses; risk management designed to reduce the impacts of the hazard through preparedness, mitigation, prevention and adaptation. Impact and human responses as evidenced by a recent wildfire event.

Enquiry Questions: 

As the world becomes increasingly populated, will we ever be in a position to greatly reduce the effects of natural hazards?

 

Component 2: Changing places

Changing places

This section focuses on people's engagement with places, their experience of them and the qualities they ascribe to them, all of which are of fundamental importance in their lives. Students acknowledge this importance and engage with how places are known and experienced, how their character is appreciated, the factors and processes which impact upon places and how they change and develop over time. 

The nature and importance of places

The concept of place and the importance of place in human life and experience. Insider and outsider perspectives on place. Categories of place:

• near places and far places

• experienced places and media places.

Factors contributing to the character of places:

• Endogenous: location, topography, physical geography, land use, built environment and infrastructure, demographic and economic characteristics.

• Exogenous: relationships with other places.

Changing places – relationships, connections, meaning and representation 

• the ways in which both relationships and connections plus meaning and representation, affect continuity and change in the nature of places and our understanding of place 

• the ways in which lives are affected by continuity and change in the nature of places and our understanding of place.

Relationships and connections

The impact of relationships and connections on people and place with a particular focus on either changing demographic and cultural characteristics or economic change and social inequalities.

• How the demographic, socio-economic and cultural characteristics of places are shaped by shifting flows of people, resources, money and investment, and ideas at all scales from local to global.

• The characteristics and impacts of external forces operating at different scales from local to global, including either government policies or the decisions of transnational corporations or the impacts of international or global institutions.

• How past and present connections, within and beyond localities, shape places and embed them in the regional, national, international and global scales.

Meaning and representation

The importance of the meanings and representations attached to places by people with a particular focus on people's lived experience of place in the past and at present.

• How humans perceive, engage with and form attachments to places and how they present and represent the world to others, including the way in which everyday place meanings are bound up with different identities, perspectives and experiences.

• How external agencies, including government, corporate bodies and community or local groups make attempts to influence or create specific place-meanings and thereby shape the actions and behaviours of individuals, groups, businesses and institutions.

• How places may be represented in a variety of different forms such as advertising copy, tourist agency material, local art exhibitions in diverse media that often give contrasting images to that presented formally or statistically such as cartography and census data.

• How both past and present processes of development can be seen to influence the social and economic characteristics of places and so be implicit in present meanings.

Enquiry Questions:

As the world becomes increasingly globalised is there a danger that our living environments will suffer from the problem of placelessness?