Geography

Welcome to the Geography Department

The Geography department aims to create Geographers, not just students who study Geography.

KS3

In Key Stage 3 the Geography department aims to enthuse students in the subject and the main human and physical processes that are shaping and re shaping our world. The curriculum aims to provide students with transferrable and cross curricula inquiry, data presentation and analytical skills, while providing students with the base for further learning in KS4 and KS5.

Year 7 Overview

Term	Unit of Work	Summary
1	What is Geography	An introduction into where places are both human and physical
1	Introduction to Interpreting Geographical Data	An introduction into the different graphical techniques that can be used to plot geographical data
2	Map Skills	Using an OS map: grid references, scale, keys and route planning
2	World Cities	What are world cities, where are they located in the world and how and why are the size of cities changing in different parts of the world
3	Weather	An introduction into weather and climate and the weather systems that shape the UK climate
3	Ecosystems	How do global climates affect the distribution of ecosystems? How do biotic and non-biotic ecosystems interact within the ecosystem

Year 8 Overview

Term	Unit of Work	Summary
1	Tourism	What is tourism, how is the industry changing and what different types of tourism exist in different parts of the world
1 and 2	Rivers and Coasts	What are the key processes that change these physical environments, such as erosion, weathering, transportation and deposition? What landforms occur as a result of these processes How do humans manage these environments
2	Population	How are populations changing in MEDC, LEDC and NIC world? How do governments manage populations and why?
3	Water Works	How is water manged globally, regionally and in individual countries? Could conflicts start over access to water?
3	Global Fashion Industry	An investigation into the global fashion industry. How has the location of fashion manufacturing changed over time and what are the impacts of this.

Year 9 Overview

Term	Unit of Work	Summary
1	Hazards, plate tectonics, volcanoes and earthquakes	What is the physical Geography that creates these hazards? What impact do they have on people? How can these events be managed?
2	Development	How can countries be classified and what indicators are used to classify these countries? How successful are Millennium Development Goals in addressing imbalances? What other strategies are used to increase development and how effective are they?
3	Geography of Crime	What is crime and what are the different types of crimes? Investigating vulnerabilities to crime in Blackfen School.
3	Geography of Terrorism	What terrorist groups are located around the world? What impact do they have on us

KS4

The subject is a popular option choice at KS4. In year 10 and 11 we currently offer the AQA GCSE syllabus, grade 9-1. Like many other GCSEs the course is linear with three external exams at the end of Year 11. Paper 1 and 2 are worth 35% each, with paper 3 worth 30%. As part of the course there is compulsory fieldwork to: Darenth valley and Bexleyheath town centre/Hastings Coastline and regeneration in Hastings.

Term	Unit of Work	Summary
1	Ecosystems and Tropical rainforests	Where are biomes located? Why does the rainforest have distinctive characteristics? What are the causes and effects of deforestation?
1	Natural hazards and tectonics	What are natural disasters? What are the causes and effects of volcanic and seismic hazards How do the effect and responses vary between countries of different levels of development?
2	Hot deserts	What are the distinctive characteristics of hot deserts? What challenges and opportunities do hot deserts present? Which areas are at risk of desertification?
2	UK physical environments and rivers	Where are the UK’s major lowland/upland and river systems? How do rivers change from source to mouth? How do river features form? How are rivers managed to prevent flooding?
3	Rivers fieldwork Resource management	How does the Darenth river change from source to mouth Why are resources unevenly spread across the globe? What is the link between resource supply and consumption?
3	Water resources	Why is there likely to be conflict over the supply of water? Which strategies are used to increase water supply?
4	Economic World	Why are countries at differing levels of economic development? Which strategies are successful in reducing the development gap? What are the social, cultural, environmental and economic consequences are rapidly developing countries?
4	Coasts	Which processes shape the coastline? Why does the coast have distinctive landforms? Which strategies are used to protect the coast from physical processes?
5	Urban issues	Why are more and more people living in urban areas? How are cities growing in rapidly developing countries? What are the social, cultural, environmental and economic consequences are rapidly developing cities?
5	Urban fieldwork Weather hazards	Bexleyheath town centre What is the global weather pattern? Why do tropical storms develop? What are the effects of tropical storms? Why does the UK experience weather hazards?
6	Climate change	What are the human and physical causes of climate change? How can the effects be mitigated?
6	Issue evaluation	Pre-release booklet from the exam board