Welcome to the Geography Department

Department Staff

Mrs K Reid	Subject Leader: Geography
Mr P Henricksen	KS4 Coordinator
Miss J Houlihan	KS3 Coordinator

Geography Curriculum Intent

Geography is the subject which opens the door to our dynamic world and prepares students for the role of global citizens in the 21st century.  Geography puts the understanding of social and physical processes within the context of place in recognising the differences in culture, political systems, economics, landscapes and environments across the world and explaining the links between them. Geography includes the key concepts of place, space and scale, interdependence, physical and human processes, environmental interaction and sustainability and cultural understanding.  It covers the following skills:  map skills, graphicacy skills, quantitative and qualitative evidence, enquiring and forming an argument and fieldwork.  As Michael Palin, past president of the RGS stated, ‘Geography illuminates the past, explains the present and prepares us for the future.  What could be more important than that?’

KS3 Aims

At KS3 students will:

• develop contextual knowledge of the location of globally significant places – both terrestrial and marine – including their defining physical and human characteristics and how these provide a geographical context for understanding the actions of processes.
• understand the processes that give rise to key physical and human geographical features of the world, how these are interdependent and how they bring about spatial variation and change over time.
• be competent in the geographical skills needed to:
  • collect, analyse and communicate with a range of data gathered through experiences of fieldwork that deepens their understanding of geographical processes.
  • interpret a range of sources of geographical information, including maps, diagrams, globes, aerial photographs and Geographical Information Systems (GIS).
  • communicate geographical information in a variety of ways, including through maps, numerical and quantitative skills and writing at length.

 

	Term 1		Term 2		Term 3
	Concepts	Skills	Concepts	Skills	Concepts	Skills
Y7	Our local area and the UK   Place   Environmental Interaction	Map – o/s 4 and 6 fig grid references   Enquiry – a planning development	Africa – place, focus Kenya   Human processes   Environmental interaction   Cultural understanding	Maps – choropleth   Graphical skills – bar and line graphs   Quantitative data – development indicators	Rivers   Physical processes   Environmental interaction and sustainability	Maps
Y8	Asia – focus China   Physical and human processes   Interdependence   Environmental interaction	Maps   Graphicacy skills   Quantitative data – development indicators	Coasts   Physical processes   Environmental interaction and sustainability	Maps   Enquiry skills	Urban areas   Human processes   Environmental interaction   Place	Maps   Graphicacy skills – scatter graphs
Y9	Tectonics   Physical processes   Interdependence   Cultural understanding	Maps   Graphicacy – cross sections, numeracy	Russia   Physical and human processes   Place   Environmental interaction and sustainability	Maps   Enquiry skill   Qualitative data	World weather and climate change   Physical processes   Environmental interaction Place and space	Map skills – location of hurricanes   Numeracy – measuring severity

 

KS4 Aims

At KS4 students will:

• develop and extend their knowledge of locations, places, environments and processes, and of different scales including global; and of social, political and cultural contexts (know geographical material)
• gain understanding of the interactions between people and environments, change in places and processes over space and time, and the inter-relationship between geographical phenomena at different scales and in different contexts (think like a geographer)
• develop and extend their competence in a range of skills including those used in fieldwork, in using maps and GIS and in researching secondary evidence, including digital sources; and develop their competence in applying sound enquiry and investigative approaches to questions and hypotheses (study like a geographer)
• apply geographical knowledge, understanding, skills and approaches appropriately and creatively to real world contexts, including fieldwork, and to contemporary situations and issues; and develop well-evidenced arguments drawing on their geographical knowledge and understanding (applying geography).

 

Assessment – AQA GCSE Geography 8035

 

Paper 1: Living with the Physical Environment

 

What’s assessed

3.1.1 The challenge of natural hazards

3.1.2 The living world

3.1.3 Physical landscapes in the UK

3.4 Geographical skills

How it’s assessed

• Written exam: 1 hour 30 minutes
• 88 marks (including 3 marks for spelling, punctuation, grammar and specialist terminology (SPaG))
• 35% of GCSE

Questions

• Section A: answer all questions (33 marks)
• Section B: answer all questions (25 marks)
• Section C: answer any two questions from questions 3, 4 and 5 (30 marks)
• Question types: multiple-choice, short answer, levels of response, extended prose

 

Paper 2: Challenges in the Human Environment

 

What’s assessed

3.2.1 Urban issues and challenges

3.2.2 The changing economic world

3.2.3 The challenge of resource management

3.4 Geographical skills

How it’s assessed

• Written exam: 1 hour 30 minutes
• 88 marks (including 3 marks for SPaG)
• 35% of GCSE

Questions

• Section A: answer all questions (33 marks)
• Section B: answer all questions (30 marks)
• Section C: answer question 3 and one from questions 4, 5 or 6 (25 marks)
• Question types: multiple-choice, short answer, levels of response, extended prose

 

Paper 3: Geographical Applications

 

What’s assessed

3.3.1 Issue evaluation

3.3.2 Fieldwork

3.4 Geographical skills

How it’s assessed

• Written exam: 1 hour 15 minutes
• 76 marks (including 6 marks for SPaG)
• 30% of GCSE
• Pre-release resources booklet made available 12 weeks before Paper 3 exam

Questions

• Section A: answer all questions (37 marks)
• Section B: answer all questions (39 marks)
• Question types: multiple-choice, short answer, levels of response, extended prose

 

KS5 Aims

At KS5 students will:

• develop their knowledge of locations, places, processes and environments, at all geographical scales from local to global across the specification as a whole
• develop an in-depth understanding of the selected core and non-core processes in physical and human geography at a range of temporal and spatial scales, and of the concepts which illuminate their significance in a range of locational contexts
• recognise and be able to analyse the complexity of people–environment interactions at all geographical scales, and appreciate how these underpin understanding of some of the key issues facing the world today
• develop their understanding of, and ability to apply, the concepts of place, space, scale and environment, that underpin both the national curriculum and GCSE, including developing a more nuanced understanding of these concepts
• gain understanding of specialised concepts relevant to the core and non-core content. These must include the concepts of causality, systems, equilibrium, feedback, inequality, representation, identity, globalisation, interdependence, mitigation and adaptation, sustainability, risk, resilience and thresholds
• improve their understanding of the ways in which values, attitudes and circumstances have an impact on the relationships between people, place and environment, and develop the knowledge and ability to engage, as citizens, with the questions and issues arising
• become confident and competent in selecting, using and evaluating a range of quantitative and qualitative skills and approaches, (including observing, collecting and analysing geo-located data) and applying them as an integral part of their studies
• understand the fundamental role of fieldwork as a tool to understand and generate new knowledge about the real world, and become skilled at planning, undertaking and evaluating fieldwork in appropriate situations
• apply geographical knowledge, understanding, skills and approaches in a rigorous way to a range of geographical questions and issues, including those identified in fieldwork, recognising both the contributions and limitations of geography
• develop as critical and reflective learners, able to articulate opinions, suggest relevant new ideas and provide evidenced argument in a range of situations.

 

Assessment – AQA A-Level Geography 7037

 

Component 1: Physical Geography

 

What’s assessed

Section A: Water and carbon cycles

Section B: Coastal systems and landscapes

Section C: Hazards

How it’s assessed

• Written exam: 2 hours 30 minutes
• 120 marks
• 40% of A-level

Questions

• Section A: answer all questions (36 marks)
• Section B: answer question 3 (36 marks)
• Section C: answer question 5 (48 marks)
• Question types: short answer, levels of response and extended prose

 

Component 2: Human Geography

 

What’s assessed

Section A: Global systems and global governance

Section B: Changing places

Section C: Population and the environment

How it’s assessed

• Written exam: 2 hours 30 minutes
• 120 marks
• 40% of A-level

Questions

• Section A: answer all questions (36 marks)
• Section B: answer all questions (36 marks)
• Section C: answer either question 4 (48 marks)
• Question types: short answer, levels of response, extended prose

 

Component 3: Geography Fieldwork Investigation

 

What’s assessed

Students complete an individual investigation which must include data collected in the field. The individual investigation must be based on a question or issue defined and developed by the student relating to any part of the specification content.

How it’s assessed

• 3,000–4,000 words
• 60 marks
• 20% of A-level
• marked by teachers
• moderated by AQA