Geography
Head of Subjects
Miss S Bell
sbell@commonweal.co.uk
Overview
Geography is a subject where you will study the world in which you live in. You will develop an understanding of the physical processes that shape landscapes, how human activity impacts the environment, and how decisions made in one part of the world can affect communities elsewhere. Geography gets you to think synoptically and think about the connections between people, places, and environments. There is so much in the news which can be linked to Geography, such as tectonic activity, deforestation and development issues.
In the geography department we want to instill a sense of awe and wonder about our world and help you to develop the skills you need to explore it.
To be a successful geographer, you need to be able to use subject terminology, be able to interpret and analyse data and use your geographical skills to answer geographical questions. You will learn to develop geographical arguments and how to apply your knowledge about the world to new scenarios.
Tops Tips to do well in Geography
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Learn geographical terminology.
The more specific language you use the more you show geographical understanding. For example, knowing the meaning of climate change, the greenhouse effect, inequality.
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Take full advantage of field trips.
We run field trips for every year group, it makes the ideas you easier to understand and you learn lots of geographical skills, it’s always fun too.
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Take an interest in news, watch TV documentaries and complete wider reading.
Geography is a dynamic (ever changing) subject and sometimes really dramatic. 70% of the news is geography and there are many websites and documentaries that will give you greater knowledge and understanding of the topics that you will be studying. Good websites include National Geographic and The Royal Geographical Society. Documentaries for Physical Geography include series by David Attenborough such as Planet Earth and for Human Geography, series by Simon Reeve such as The Americas or Asia.
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Ask questions and have opinions.
To really understand some concepts takes time and often asking questions to make it clear will help. Having an opinion is a good thing but you must be able to justify it. Where do you stand on the following ‘big issues:’ should we raise taxes to tackle Britain’s ageing population? Should greenfield sites be built on to tackle Britain’s housing shortage? How can we tackle climate change?
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Practice and revision.
There are facts and figures to learn, concepts to understand and then apply to other situations, it is up to you to do this.
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Chains of reasoning
When writing your answers develop detailed answers. Try to explain how one impact can have a knock-on effect or lead to something else.
Here is an example of a chain of reasoning:
People leave rural areas in poorer countries when there is a poor harvest. Poor harvests lead to a lack of food, which leads to malnourishment. Malnourishment is life threatening so people leave for cities to get better access to food.
The Curriculum
Year 7
What is Geography?, Maps and Atlas skills, Biomes, Population and GIS
Year 8
Climate Change and Resources, Development, Weather and Climate and Living in Risky places
Year 9
Tectonics, Globalisation, Coasts and Rivers and flooding
GCSE course is Eduqas A
Will study the following section over the 2 years
- Distinctive landscapes
- Physical process that shape rivers and coasts
- River flooding
- Rural and Urban change
- Coastal management and Vulnerable coastlines
- Development
- Weather and Climate
- Social development
Plus a physical geography field trip and a human geography field trip to meet the requirements for GCSE course
Enrichment and trip possibilities
- Y7 will learn field work skills during a walk in the local area.
- Y8 will undertake fieldwork skills in the school grounds for weather and the environment.
- Y9 have a trip to the River Cole to collect data for their River investigation.
- Y10 and 11 visit Dorset to reinforce coastal understanding and to collect data for field work. There is also a trip to Cabot Circus and Cribbs Causeway shopping centres to reinforce urban understanding and collect data for field work.
