Autumn Term
Introduction to GCSE
- Reality Check Geography – Big question 1 – what factors impact hazard risk
- Is mitigation the best form of defence?
- Is Adaptation the best strategy against risk?
- Big question 2 – How many of us live in extreme poverty – income levels
- What do we mean by quality of life?
- What is inequality?
- Big question 3 – Sustainability – Are ecosystems becoming exstinct?
- Energy
- Do our choices have an impact?
- Assessment
Skills
- Atlas: Latitude and Longitude
- Maps: Continents vs Countries, Oceans vs Seas
- Maps: Types of maps
- OS Maps: Scale, distance and direction
- OS Maps: grid reference systems
- OS Maps: contours and gradients
- OS Maps: major relief features and cross-sections
- OSMaps: identify human features on maps
- Sketch maps and photographs
- Graphs: typesand uses for certain data
- Graphs: select and construct line charts, bar charts, pie charts, pictograms, histograms with equal class intervals, divided bar, scattergraphs, and population pyramids
- Graphs: complete horopleth, isoline, dot maps, desire lines, proportional symbols and flow lines
- Statistical: median, mean, range, quartiles and inter-quartile range, mode and modal class
- Statistical: calculate percentage increase or decrease and understand the use of percentiles
- Statistical: trendsand predictions
Spring Term
Natural Hazards
- Plate tectonic theory: distribution of platesand
- Plate tectonic theory: physical processes and features at constructive, destructive and conservative plate margins
- Primary and secondary effects of a tectonic hazard
- Immediate and long-term responses to a tectonic hazard.
- Use named examples to show how the effects and responses to a tectonic hazard vary between two areas of contrasting levels of wealth
- Reasons why people continue to live in areas at risk from a tectonic hazard.
- How monitoring, prediction, protection and planning can reduce the risks from a tectonic hazard.
- General atmospheric circulation model: pressure belts and surface winds.
- Global distribution of tropical storms (hurricanes, cyclones, typhoons).
- An understanding of the relationship between tropical storms and general atmospheric circulation.
- Causes of tropical storms and the sequence of their formation and development.
- The structure and features of a tropical storm.
- How climate change might affect the distribution, frequency and intensity of tropical storms.
- Primary and secondary effects of tropical storms.
- Immediate and long-term responses to tropical storms.
- Use a named example of a tropical storm to show its effects and responses.
- How monitoring, prediction, protection and planning can reduce the effects of tropical storms
- An overview of types of weather hazard experienced in the UK.
- Evidence that weather is becoming more extreme in the UK.
- Evidence for climate change from the beginning of the Quaternary period to the present day.
- Possible causes of climate change: natural factors – orbital changes, volcanic activity and solar output; human factors – use of fossil fuels, agriculture and deforestation.
- Overview of the effects of climate change on people and the environment.
- Managing climate change: mitigation – alternative energy production, carbon capture, planting trees, international agreements; adaptation – change in agricultural systems, managing water supply, reducing risk from rising sea levels.
Summer Term
The Living World
- An example of a small scale UK ecosystem to illustrate the concept of interrelationships within a natural system, an understanding of producers, consumers, decomposers, food chain, food web and nutrient cycling.
- The balance between components. The impact on the ecosystem of changing one component.
- An overview of the distribution and characteristics of large scale natural global ecosystems.
- The physical characteristics of a tropical rainforest.
- The interdependence of climate, water, soils, plants, animals and people.
- How plants and animals adapt to the physical conditions.
- Issues related to biodiversity.
- Changing rates of deforestation.
- A case study of a tropical rainforest to illustrate: causes of deforestation – subsistence and commercial farming, logging, road building, mineral extraction, energy development, settlement, population growth; impacts of deforestation –economic development, soil erosion, contribution to climate change.
- Value of tropical rainforests to people and the environment.
- Strategies used to manage the rainforest sustainably – selective logging and replanting, conservation and education, ecotourism and international agreements about the use of tropical hardwoods, debt reduction.
- The physical characteristics of a cold environment.
- The interdependence of climate, permafrost, soils, plants, animals and people.
- How plants and animals adapt to the physical conditions.
- Issues related to biodiversity.
- A case study of a cold environment to illustrate: development opportunities in cold environments: mineral extraction, energy, fishing and tourism; challenges of developing cold environments: extreme temperature, inaccessibility, provision of buildings and infrastructure.
- The value of cold environments as wilderness areas and why these fragile environments should be protected.
- Strategies used to balance the needs of economic development and conservation in cold environments – use of technology, role of governments, international agreements and conservation groups.