Key Stage 3

Geography has been a National Curriculum subject in Years 7, 8 and 9 since 1991. The Department aims to provide a thorough introduction to the subject, enabling students to appreciate the diversity and value of Geography in today's society.

Year 7 Course Outline

Within Year 7, students will develop an understanding of the key concepts within Geography and be able, on reaching the end of the year, start to demonstrate clear Geographical skills in many areas.

Pupils in Year 7 study the following...

Connections

As a short introduction to Geography, students examine how they are connected to different places around the world. Through this, a wide variety of geographical skills are learnt, such as atlas skills, sketch maps, and annotated sketch diagrams. Students? knowledge of places both within the UK and around the world is also improved, giving them a basic grounding on which to build throughout Key Stage 3.

What Would it be Like to Live in the Antartic

This unit of work provides students with an exciting introduction to Geography, engaging them in the subject as they learn about the harsh Antarctic environment. Students study the location of Antarctica, and examine the different types of plants and animals that can survive in the harsh climate. They learn about the type of work scientists undertake within Antarctica, party through a talk by a member of the British Antarctic Survey in assembly. Finally, students undertake an enquiry aimed at understanding how Antarctic is being threatened by tourism, oil exploration and global warming.

Rivers: Is the River Ganges a River of Life or Death?

Students further develop their independent geographical enquiry skills through this unit of work. This topic gives students understanding of the processes within the hydrological cycle, before focusing on the causes and effects of river flooding on a global scale. This culminates in the enquiry sequence, ?Is the Ganges a river of life or death?? in which students examine how the River Ganges both gives and takes away life.

Geography of Sport

Sport is a global business ? how does sport connect us to the world? Who are the winners and who are the losers? This wide-ranging topic is an introduction to Globalisation, world trade, location decision-making and environmental impacts.

Settlement

Students learn about how and where different settlements can be located, and then go on to undertake a series of enquiries on topics such as transport and leisure provision within the county. During this topic, students will receive a free ordnance survey map of the local area, which will be used to further their map skills throughout the topic. This unit of work further develops pupils? enquiry skills, including question-setting, fieldwork, presentation and data analysis.

Weather

UK weather patterns; elements of the weather and their measurement; depressions and anticyclones; climatic fieldwork investigation; weather hazards in the UK and the rest of the world.

Text Books Used:

• Geog.1 (Open University Press)
• Key Geography Foundations (Nelson Thornes)

Year 8 and 9 Course Outline

The Department aims to provide a stimulating introduction to the world, and the issues that people face as they attempt to live in and work with limited resources, natural disasters, inequality and other problems. Students develop an understanding of Geography, but also become equipped to ask good questions, structure investigations, analyse problems and make management decisions.

Pupils in Year 8 study the following topics...

Coasts: Will the East Coast be flooded like 1953 again?

Students learn about how the sea shapes our island, and how different processes occur in different parts of the UK. They find out what makes cliffs and beaches, and undertake an enquiry into whether or not our attempts to control erosion are always successful. This unit incorporates a field trip to Walton-on-the-Naze, where we investigate whether the town is worth saving from erosion.

Tourism in Europe

(map work, management, climate etc)

Development: What is life like in Kenya

Students examine why some people in the world are very rich, whilst others are very poor. We investigate why countries like Kenya cannot develop like Britain, and find out what it would be like to live in a squatter settlement next to an expensive hotel. As part of this work, we recognise the work of organisations like ?Fair Trade?, and take part in Fair Trade Week.

Killer Ice

This unit introduces the students to how glaciers and ice affect people and the landscape. We start by examining how glaciers and ice sheets shape the landscape, both in the past and present days. Students learn how to recognize glacial features both through photographs and on OS maps, and explain how they were originally formed. Finally, the unit looks at human interactions with snow and ice, examining the dangers of avalanches, and the use of glacial environments and mountains for tourism.

Global Issues and the Edendale School Link

We return to the global theme, with issues like: ?Why do banana growers get paid so little?? ?Why do people fight over water?? and ?How does the war on terror affect us??. This topic fits in with the visit of pupils to Edendale School, South Africa, during which time we undertake significant work on the AIDs epidemic that they are facing.

Violent Earth: Plate Tectonics

This scheme of work aims to provide students with a thorough understanding of how, why and where volcanoes and earthquakes are formed, and how humans have been affected by them. Students focus on case studies in Japan and the USA, investigating how much damage and devastation can be caused by movements of the earth. They learn about how humans are trying to limit damage by earthquakes and volcanoes, and evaluate how successful this can be.

The Geography of Crime

This unit explores the patterns of criminal activity at different scales, concentrating on the local area. It analyses why people commit crime, and looks at which areas are most likely to have high crime rates. Students study the distribution of different crimes in the wards of Cambridge, and map the distribution of crime across the school. Finally, students examine international crime, learning about the drugs trade and the international flow of drugs, money and crime.

Japan: Land of Contrasts and Conflict

Students study this fascinating land: its physical geography, its struggle for space, and its development from defeat in the 2nd World War. Pupils investigate how Japan has become such a successful nation and how it leads with high-technology yet retains a strong sense of tradition and honour.

Some students are now lucky enough to become involved in our school link with Hokadate Chubu Senior High School, a specialist language school in Hakodate City, Hokkaido. This involves exchange of emails and letters between students, with the aim of improving our awareness of both the Geography and culture of Japan.

Ecosystems: I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!

Students learn about different ecosystems around the world, such as tropical rainforests, hot deserts and cold tundra. They ask whether or not people should people be allowed to destroy the Amazon Rainforest, and learn what it is like to live in tropical rainforests? Finally, they investigate key techniques for surviving in these extreme environments.

Text Books Used:

• Geog.2 (Open University Press)
• Key Geography Connections (Nelson Thornes)
• Key Geography Interactions (Nelson Thornes)
• Key Geography Places (Nelson Thornes)

Teaching Group Organisation

Pupils are taught in mixed ability Tutor Groups.

Assessment

In Years 7, 8 and 9, pupil's work is assessed throughout the year. Work completed both in class and at home may be graded, and each piece of marked work is awarded a grade for effort. Assessment of pupils? work is through a wide range of types of assessment, from debates and display presentations to essays and written projects. These cover knowledge of places, understanding of issues, and a full spectrum of geographical skills such as enquiry, mapwork and decision-making.

All students undertake a series of Key Assessed Tasks throughout the year. These are larger, more important pieces of work, on completion of which students are given a National Curriculum Level. Students are given significant amounts of detail explaining how they should complete these tasks, and all assignments are given a ?levels information sheet?. This explains, in detail, what content and skills are required to achieve each level, and should be referred to whenever undertaking a Key Assessed Task.

Homework

In Years 7, 8 and 9 Homework is set every week, with some larger pieces being set over 2 weeks. An example of the effort marking system is in the front of every pupil?s exercise book.

GCSE

Course Outline

The course gives an opportunity to study in detail many geographical issues which are happening locally and globally. Geographical skills are taught and practised throughout the course. The core syllabus, which constitutes 75% of the course, revolves around four themes:

People and their Physical Environment

• Plates
• Coasts
• Rivers

People and Places to Live

• Density and structure of population
• Population change
• Size, location and interaction of settlements
• Urban land-use zoning
• Settlement growth and decay
• Planning policies

People and their Needs

• Quality of Life
• Agricultural Systems
• Industry
• Water
• Energy

People and the Environment

• Resource and Development
• Global pollution
• Conservation
• Environmental management

Pupils study these topics using a wide variety of case-study examples from the local region, Britain and the rest of the World.

Students are advised to buy their own copy of the course textbook: New Wider World (Second Edition): David Waugh (Nelson Thornes: ISBN 0-17-434309?4).

Teaching Group Organisation

All GCSE classes in Geography are mixed-ability classes.

Assessment

Examination Board: OCR Syllabus A 1586

Geography is taught to option groups in Years 10 and 11. It is expected that all pupils will be entered for the GCSE examination.

The examination comprises a coursework element of 25% and two written papers of 75%. Candidates will be entered for one of two levels described below:

• Paper level - 1 is targeted at pupils who are expected to achieve grades C to G.
• Paper level - 2 is targeted at pupils who are expected to achieve grades A* to D.

The fieldwork element of the syllabus constitutes 25% of the final grade. Pupils are expected to complete two projects, one of which is based on data collected on the Swanage fieldwork trip. Marks for coursework are for four categories: data collection, data presentation, analysis of findings and conclusions.

Fieldwork

All students are expected to attend the residential field course in Swanage at the beginning of Year 11.

Homework

Homework is set regularly and covers a range of coursework requirements including project work, reading, noting, preparation of presentations, finishing notes, writing examination questions and research.