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Curriculum

Geography

Key Stage 3 

The Key Stage 3 geography curriculum has been designed in house to bring the most contemporary and engaging geography themes to our students. Each lesson starts with a key question that will be explored, investigated and answered. Students will develop their locational knowledge, analytical skills and decision making as they look at a range of environments and cultures. Students will be encouraged to build geographical and numeracy skills as we study both human and physical geography within each topic.


Year 7 

In Year 7 students have 2 one-hour lessons a week. Each term is designed to give students the opportunity to build on the KS2 national curriculum requirements. The first term focuses on the physical geography of the UK. Students will explore the beautiful coastlines, National Parks and highland areas which make our area so unique. Studies then move on to human geography looking at the importance of farming, growing cities and our changing population. The final term sees Year 7 transported to the Middle East to look at contrasting places and climates.


Year 8 

In Year 8, each term looks at a different continent. Starting with Africa, the themes of resources, international development and urbanisation are some of the topics that will be studied. As the last wilderness on Earth, Antarctica is a fascinating location for the second term. Should Antarctica be exploited as a resource or conserved as a wilderness? Finally, we move to the Americas. Students will have the chance to study rivers and natural hazards within this unit. We unfortunately cannot take students on fieldwork to the Mississippi, but we can get our feet wet in a local stream and put some of the theory into practice. River fieldwork is also carried out in the local area.


Year 9 

Year 9 continues to develop students’ insight into other countries and cultures. Starting with Russia, students will look at climate, biomes and energy resources. They will also have the chance to take part in a microclimate enquiry as part of our fieldwork programme. In the second term, students will assess the development of both India and China into economic superpowers. Finally, the year is completed with a look at plate tectonics and the hazards associated with plate movement.


Enrichment 

Fieldwork is viewed by the department as an essential part of the geography course. Therefore, fieldwork is integrated into the curriculum for every year group. KS3 fieldwork uses the local environment whilst KS4 have the opportunity to travel into the National Park. 

The department is also heavily involved in the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme helping us to share our passion for the outdoors environment. 

We also regularly enter competitions run by the Royal Geographical Association.


Useful links: 


GCSE Geography 

The development of sophisticated geographical skills is a key component of the GCSE course. The specification content is framed by geographical enquiry questions that encourage an investigative approach to each of the key ideas. As part of this enquiry process, students are encouraged to use integrated geographical skills, including appropriate mathematics and statistics, in order to explore geographical questions and issues. This provides an engaging real-world focus – students are encouraged to make geographical decisions by applying their knowledge, understanding and skills to real-life 21st-century people and environment issues.


At GCSE students study 3 components: 

Component 1 examines global geographical issues. Students will study units looking at hazards including plate tectonics, tropical storms and climate change. Development is examined through looking at the reasons for global inequalities. In this unit, students will have the chance to conduct an in-depth study into how one emerging country is developing and the consequences for people, environment and the country’s relationship with the wider world. Finally, challenges of an urbanising world, exploring the causes and consequences of rapid urbanisation across the globe. Students will have the opportunity to study Mumbai as an example of a world megacity. 

Component 2 examines how the UK’s physical and human landscape is evolving. In the physical geography sections students will explore geology, coasts and rivers. The human aspect looks at how social, economic and political factors are shaping the UK. London is studied as a case study of a dynamic UK city. 

Component 3 is a skills focused paper and students are asked to make well informed geographical decisions on three key areas. Firstly, people and the biosphere. This section examines why ecosystems and the biosphere (earth’s living layer) are important for human well-being. Forests are examined as an example of a biome under threat and finally global energy resources are evaluated.


GCSE Geography Specification:

https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/edexcel-gcses/geography-b-2016.html


Enrichment 

Fieldwork is viewed by the department as an essential part of the geography course. Therefore, fieldwork is integrated into the curriculum for every year group. As part of the KS4 fieldwork students have the opportunity to travel into the National Park. Year 12 visit coastal environments and Year 13 enjoy a residential field trip to the Lake District. 

In school, the department offers study+ sessions after school to GSCE students to support their learning. We also regularly enter competitions run by the Royal Geographical Association.


Useful links: 


A Level Geography

Geography A level is designed to challenge student perceptions and to encourage them to develop investigative and critical thinking skills. The units taught in Year 12 include changing places, coasts and hazards. 

  • Hazards - This topic focuses on the lithosphere and the atmosphere, which intermittently but regularly present natural hazards to human populations, often in dramatic and sometimes catastrophic fashion. 
  • Coasts -This section of our specification focuses on coastal zones, which are dynamic environments in which landscapes develop by the interaction of winds, waves, currents and terrestrial and marine sediments. The operation and outcomes of fundamental geomorphological processes and their association with distinctive landscapes. 
  • Changing places - Designed to explore the relationships between key aspects of physical geography and population numbers, population health and well-being, levels of economic development and the role and impact of the natural environment. 

In the second year of the course, students will study population and environment, globalisation and water and carbon units.  

  • Water and carbon - Focuses on the major stores of water and carbon at or near the Earth’s surface and the dynamic cyclical relationships associated with them. These are major elements in the natural environment and understanding them is fundamental to many aspects of physical geography 
  • Globalisation and global system - Looks at the economic, political and social changes associated with technological and other driving forces which have been a key feature of global economy and society in recent decades.  
  • Population and the environment - Designed to explore the relationships between key aspects of physical geography and population numbers, population health and well-being, levels of economic development and the role and impact of the natural environment 

A Level Geography Specification:  

https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/geography/as-and-a-level/geography-7037


Enrichment

Fieldwork is viewed by the department as an essential part of the geography course. Therefore, fieldwork is integrated into the curriculum for every year group. Year 12 visit coastal environments and Year 13 enjoy a residential field trip to the Lake District. 

We also regularly enter competitions run by the Royal Geographical Association. 


Useful links: 

Coast and Vale Learning Trust

About Coast and Vale Learning Trust

The Coast and Vale Learning Trust in Scarborough aims to improve education in the locality through establishing coherent and collaborative practice across schools and other educational institutions in the area.

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