Geography
What will students learn?
Year 7
Autumn Term
Introducing Geography
Students will question the meaning of geography and the skills they will need to be a good Geographer.
Our Dangerous World
Students will explore tectonic hazards, how people are affected by and respond to them. They will develop an understanding of the physical processes that create tectonic hazards and their global distribution.
Spring Term
Local Area Enquiry
Students will organise and sequence an investigation around the question “Is Charter Avenue a better place to live than Ley Street.”
Who’s Got the Power?
Explores how energy is generated and the interconnections that are created between humans and their environment. The gain an understanding of sustainable development and environmental change.
Summer Term
Continuation of Who’s got the Power?
Renewable Energy Debate
Students will learn and build on their skills of geographical debate focusing on a local area conflict.
Year 8
Autumn Term
Population Change
Students will learn about how population growth varies around the world and the reasons for this. The will study countries at different stages of development and see how population change can both help and harm a country. The China One Child Policy will be studied as an example of how countries limit growth. Migration and the issues of an Ageing Population will also be studied.
Development
Students will look at what development is and how countries can become more developed. They will understand how it is measured and explain reasons why some countries develop much faster than others. They will study trade and the role it plays in helping a country to become wealthier. Finally they will look at sustainable development and question how countries should develop.
Spring Term
Africa
Carrying on from the previous topic here students will start to look at specific issues relating to different parts of Africa. They develop a strong sense of place and begin to see that Africa is a varied, rapidly changing and contrasting continent.
Impossible Places
Students will carry out geographical enquiry into the more extreme and remote parts of the planet. They will undertake project-based learning to develop an understanding of the formation of these environments and how people adapt and utilise these surroundings.
Summer Term
Rivers
Students will develop their understanding of physical processes within a river and be able to explain the varied features of a fluvial environment. They will understand the causes and impacts of flooding on countries at different stages of development and consider how to manage flood events. In the summer term students will carry out fieldwork on the River Roding in Epping. They will collect, present and analyse data to answer their hypotheses regarding river processes.
Year 9
Autumn Term
Waterworld
Students learn how rivers shape our land, the threat of coastal erosion and ways to prevent it and an enquiry project into oceans.
Development
Students learn how a country’s development can be measured, obstacles that prevent countries from developing and question “how” and “if” countries should develop sustainably.
Spring Term
Weather and Climate
Students learn about the factors that affect our climate, how deserts form and discuss the issue of Global Warming. They also carry out an enquiry based project on microclimates and learn about the impacts of hurricanes.
Summer Term
Globalisation
Students learn about the different ways in which countries are interdependent. They also carry out enquiries into different global companies and question the impacts of living in a globalised society.
How will they be assessed?
Year 7
Autumn Term: Montserrat Volcano Investigation
Spring Term: Local Area Enquiry Exploring Energy in China
Summer Term: Renewable Energy Debate End of Year 7 examination.
Formative assessment in lessons takes place through self and peer assessment and regular target setting. All assessments have success criteria to help students achieve their very best.
Year 8
Topic 1: Population Change China One-child Policy essay
Population Theory classwork
Topic 2: Development Progress in Development Map Task
Sustainable Development Assessment
Topic 3: Africa Obstacles to Development Essay
End of Topic Test
Topic 4: Impossible Places Group presentation on specific environment
Topic 5 and 6: Rivers Test on river processes
Fieldwork enquiry on River Roding
Year 9
Autumn Term
Unit1: Waterworld
- An extended piece of writing on Coastal Erosion
- End of unit test paper
Unit 2: Development
- Development Indicators Report
- Development End of Unit Test
Spring Term
Unit 3: Weather and Climate
- Microclimate Investigation
- An extended piece of writing on Hurricane Katrina
- End of Year Assessment. This will consist of short questions based on the topics learnt during the year
Summer Term
Unit 4: Globalisation:
- Globalisation of Football project
- Nike Enquiry Project
All the above students have success criteria to help students achieve their very best
Home Learning
Year 7
Homelearning will be set on a half termly basis by a group of subjects; Geography, Drama, Media and ICT. Projects will focus on the skill of enquiry through story telling. This may involve activities such as:
• Interviewing
• Researching
• Group collaboration
• Journal Writing
• Collective presentations
Year 8
Homelearning will be set on a half termly basis by a group of subjects; Geography, Drama, Media and ICT. Projects will focus on the skill of ‘empathy’. This may involve activities such as:
• Interviewing
• Researching
• Group collaboration
• Journal Writing
• Collective presentations
Year 9
In year 9 students can expect to complete a range of home learning tasks such as revising for end of unit tests, drawing and annotating diagrams explaining their opinions on geographical topics and researching different topics. Example: Students are expected to draw and annotate a diagram of a house to show how it has adapted to different types of climate. The annotations should fully explain why the house has adapted in this way.
How can parents support their child?
Year 7
Finding out information from the internet, newspapers and reference books. Giving your child access to an up-to-date atlas. Helping your child check his/her work. Using Google Earth. Help them create a ‘geography glossary’ of keywords that have been introduced in lessons. Good websites include:
http://www.bbcbitesize.co.uk/geography
http://www.georesources.co.uk/
Year 8
Finding out information from the internet, newspapers and reference books. Giving your child access to an up-to-date atlas. Helping your child check his/her work. Using Google Earth. Help them create a ‘geography glossary’ of keywords that have been introduced in lessons. Good websites include:
http://www.bbcbitesize.co.uk/geography
http://www.georesources.co.uk/
Year 9
Parents can help their child by spending time helping them to think of examples to help support their ideas/opinions, reading through research and creating a glossary of “keywords” and definitions. Through going through the homework activity with their child and helping them to think of, for example, different examples to support the point of view they are making. www.bbc.co.uk is suitable for students researching geographical events going on in the world.
