Geography

What do students learn in Geography in Key Stage 4?

Geography provides young people with the chance to learn both about their planet and more importantly the role they will have in Earth’s future.  Throughout the course we focus on the changing nature of our relationship with our home and the increasingly interconnected life of every single person on the planet.

Unit 1 – Living with the physical environment

The challenge of natural hazards – the causes, effects and management of geographical hazards.

  • Earthquakes
  • Hurricanes
  • Extreme weather events in the UK
  • Climate change

The living world – the characteristics and sustainable management of ecosystems.

  • Tropical rainforests focussing on the rainforests of Malaysia in South East Asia.
  • Hot deserts focusing on the Thar desert in India and Pakistan

Physical landscapes in the UK – rivers and coastal environments.

  • Physical landforms
  • Coastal defence
  • Flooding and flood defence
  • Includes fieldwork on rivers

     

        Unit 1 – Deforestation in Malaysia

 

Unit 2 – Challenges in the human environment

Urban issues and challenges environments – changing characteristics of urban areas in the UK and around the world.

  • Focusing on one UK city such as Birmingham or Bristol
  • Focusing on one overseas city such as Rio de Janeiro or São Paulo in Brazil

The changing economic world – economic development in the UK and around the world.

  • Focusing on a Newly Emerging Economy, Nigeria.
  • Focusing on the UK’s changing economy and global role. 

The challenge of resource management – energy resources.

  • Global resource distribution of energy, food and water.
  • UK energy, food and water provision.
  • In depth focus global energy provision

Unit 3:  Geographical applications

  •   Issue evaluation – based on pre -released resource booklet of information on a topical issue such as the HS2 (High Speed Railway development in the UK), which we analyse for several weeks in class prior to the unit 3 exam. 
  •   Two fieldwork investigations linked to learning in units 1 and 2 and decided by the department.  These investigations are not submitted as course work but they are examined in the unit 3 exam.

Development of skills is integral to GCSE  geography.  Throughout the course students will develop their ability to identify, interpret, analyse, evaluate and synthesise information from a range of sources including  photographs, satellite images, data, graphs, maps and newspaper extracts. The cartographic skills, data presentation and mathematical skills are all transferable skills beneficial to many careers. 

How will students learn in this course?

Geography offers a unique combination of skills, from the interpretation and analysis of data, maps and photos to evaluating arguments, problem solving and decision-making.  Alongside building their geographical knowledge students will develop these transferable skills both in the classroom and whilst carrying out fieldwork investigations.  The fieldwork investigations happen through day trips so cost is kept to a minimum allowing access for all students.

 

How are students assessed in this course?

During the course we assess students both within each module and by end of module tests. Students also sit whole school PPE’S (Practice Public Examinations also known as mocks or trial exams). 

Final examinations all taken in the summer of year 11 

Unit 1 – Living with the physical environment

 90 minute exam        35 % of the GCSE

Unit 2 – Challenges in the human environment

90 minute exam        35 % of the GCSE

Unit 3:  Geographical applications

75 minute exam              30% of the GCSE

 

What is the learning sequence?

Year 10 Year 11
Autumn Term 1 The challenge of natural hazards – the causes, effects and management of geographical hazards Urban issues and challenges environments – changing characteristics of urban areas in the UK and around the world.
Autumn term 2 The challenge of natural hazards – the causes, effects and management of geographical hazards Urban issues and challenges environments – changing characteristics of urban areas in the UK and around the world. 

Fieldwork investigation on cities – day trip

Spring Term 1 The living world – the characteristics and sustainable management of ecosystems. The changing economic world – economic development in the UK and around the world.
Spring Term 2 Physical landscapes in the UK – rivers and coastal environments – coasts  The changing economic world – economic development in the UK and around the world.

Issue evaluation preparation for paper 3

Summer Term 1 Physical landscapes in the UK – rivers and coastal environments – rivers.

Fieldwork investigation on rivers – day trip 

RevisionExams
Summer Term 2 The challenge of resource management – energy resources. Exams

 

What qualification is gained from which exam board?

GCSE in Geography

 

Link to exam board specification

AQA GCSE Geography

 

How is it graded? 

Graded 1-9, with 9 being the highest grade

 

What further education and or careers can this qualification lead to? 

These transferable skills offer a variety of employment opportunities for geographers: advertising,  meteorology, marketing, law, architecture, conservation, archaeology, business, leisure & tourism management, civil  engineering, environmental health and of course the rapidly growing field of sustainability which increasingly is part of all our lives.  The transferable skills developed in geography will be of particular use in a world where many of the careers today’s GCSE students will have do not yet exist in our ever changing world.

Students do of course have the opportunity to continue geography at A Level and subsequently university be it taking Geography or one of the many other degrees linked to the subject, such as sustainability for example, which is offered at 34 Universities.Â