Geography

Key Stage 3

Students begin their KS3 journey study by understanding what Geography is. We explore a range of maps to understand the make up of the UK, Europe and the continents followed by Mastering our Map Skills. KS3, students will develop a key understanding on the interrelation between human and physical processes and the changes they make on the planet. Our students develop skills that will allow them to move successfully into Geography GCSE as well as support them in other subjects. The KS3 curriculum explores both continent and country-based topics such as Adventure across Africa, Russia and the Frozen North alongside broader based topics like Impossible Place, Our Global World, Restless Earth and Blood, Sweat and Tears. We study how countries have developed, their level of wealth and consider how people live and work in some of the remotest corners of the globe and the extreme environment that surround them. We consider traditional indigenous communities and the effects of our changing world on them. As well as looking at conflicts in Sierra Leone. We make decisions on building ecolodges to be sustainable as well as creating hazard proof buildings in areas of different levels of wealth.

Our more physical geography topics include Raging Rivers and Where the Land Meets the Sea. These give us an insight into the processes that shape our land and oceans. Students consider the threats that humans pose to our oceans through plastics pollution and the causes and impacts of rising sea levels. We look at adaptations of land-based animals and how they can survive and thrive in difficult environments. Throughout the course students will develop a wider range of skills such as interpreting maps, latitude and longitude as well as the ability to analyse data. We will apply our knowledge to a wider range of question stems and command words to allow us to develop and continue our study at KS4.

Key Stage 4

Students study AQA GCSE Geography. The course is split into three sections with three exams; Living with the Physical Environment, Challenges in the Human Environment, and Geographical Applications. In the Physical Environment, students study both tectonic and atmospheric hazards. thinking about the causes and impact of tropical storms, earthquakes and volcanoes. They study a variety of case studies including Typhoon Haiyan and two earthquakes one in a LIC and a contrasting one in a HIC.  Natural Hazards also includes our changing climate the natural and human causes of climate change, how we are mitigating and adapting globally to the changing climate.  Students consider how the UK is also affected by extreme weather systems and how we cope with these.

Students study the Living World through different global biomes such as temperate deciduous forests, rainforests and deserts. How we manage these environments sustainably and the opportunities and challenges they provide.  The final physical environment topic explores the UK physical landscape such as relief of the land, river systems and coastal zones. Students will study landforms created by both erosion and deposition and the hard and soft engineering that can be created to protect vulnerable areas.

Challenges in the Human Environment explores three key topics our Changing Economic World, Urban Issues and Challenges and Resource Management.

Changing Economic World is the study of wealth in different countries, how countries have become more developed, and the gaps between the rich and the poor, we look at the growth of India, as well as the post-industrial economy in the UK. Our Urban Issues and Challenges topic links well to Changing Economic World, as we look at the development of slum settlements in India, and the opportunities and challenges they can provide. We then contrast this with the UK as well as the regeneration of the Olympic Park in London. Finally, Resource Management covers both, energy, food and water. We then focus on the water element of the topic, including water distribution, water transfer schemes and sustainable water.

Towards the end of the GCSE course, students will study a UK based issue, they will analyse the sources of information in depth prior to their final exam and ultimately decide in the exam whether it should go ahead or not. The course involves two elements of fieldwork, where they collect data in both a physical environment such as measuring the width, depth and velocity of a river and the human environment by looking at regeneration in Coventry City Centre.  Both of which they then present the data using a range of graphs and methods and analyse whether their findings prove or disprove their hypothesis.