Why do we learn geography?
Geography is fascinating because it encompasses everything around us, all the people, places, processes, and life that shapes our planet. If you are fascinated by the world then you will be fascinated by Geography. Children deserve to study Geography because it helps them understand the complexities of the world and appreciate the diversity of cultures that exist globally. Geography benefits students in later life because it helps students become analytical in their nature, enabling them to question the world and why it is how it is. It will help them form opinions on the most important issues of our time (E.g., climate change, ecosystem destruction and resource management). It also helps them in many jobs- Academics, researchers, jobs in the outdoors, construction, working for the council, civil service, town planners, surveyors and many more.
Head of Department
Mr D Oldridge-Turner
Our approach
Cultural capital is essential in any curriculum and studying Geography at EGA this is of fundamental importance. As Bourdieu sees it, he identified three sources of cultural capital: Objective, embodied and institutionalised. Geography at EGA supports students’ cultural capital within the objective realm through academic articles, field trips, up to date real world figures, scenarios, and decision-making exercises. We read and study many Geographical texts, images and scenarios which will help them understand the complexities of the world. For example, as well as modern and up to date AQA support textbooks, we use articles and videos from National Geographic, New scientist and study the many case studies within the AQA Geography specification. Within the embodied area of Bourdieu’s cultural capital Geography at EGA involves language (specific lexis and key vocabulary) and preferences we have made toward selecting specific case studies (e.g., UK Physical Geography and landscapes including coasts and rivers of which many of our students have never been, this is also involved in our field trips to the River Thames and King’s Cross in north London to see regeneration occurring. Also, we have chosen to study urbanisation in Nigeria as our Newly Emerging Economy and Lagos as the key urban city within the NEE as well as London for our HIC city. These have all been selected with our students at the centre of decision making. Other case studies include Jamaica, Durdle door and the Holderness coastline. The institutionalised element of Bourdieu’s examined idea of cultural capital is obtained through our curriculum through students achieving their actual AQA Geography GCSE qualification, improving their education credentials, and enabling them to get a better job and career.
The curriculum does reflect the diversity of our student body as explained above we partake in Field trips both Physical and human to King’s Cross in London and Chiswick on the Thames. Case studies include global locations as well as the UK, such as Nigeria in Africa, Somalia, South America (the Amazon River), Asia, Thailand, Caribbean (Jamaica) which certainly reflects our diverse student body.
By the end of KS3 we want students to have a broad knowledge of UK and Global Geography exploring both human and Physical Geography and the interaction between them. Key skills are developed which will help students transition seamlessly to GCSE. Those students that leave the subject here will still have a very broad knowledge of Geography to take with them into later life.
Knowledge-rich
The key-knowledge that we want students to know is essentially all the content in the GCSE AQA Geography course with each topic having been covered in enough depth. From the physical element of the course these include Physical hazards (tectonics- earthquakes (Chile and Nepal) and volcanoes, weather hazards (Typhoon Haiyan) and climate change). The living World includes global ecosystems with reference to Tropical rainforests (Amazon), and Hot deserts (The Thar). The Human element of the course involves the topics of Urbanisation (London, England, and Lagos in Nigeria), The economic world and Resource management. Within this program of study there are many decision-making exercises helping to develop understanding for paper 3 (DME) along with Geographical skills (map reading etc) being central to our teaching of Geography at EGA.
Some of the fascinating examples are seen through the different case studies which is seen as relevant to our student’s demographic. For example, in the South American case study on the Amazon Rainforest in Living world. Urbanisation and Economic world case study on Nigeria and Lagos as the NEE City. Jamaica as a case study for tourism in Economic world. The key knowledge develops their cultural capital through the use of these different case studies. They will read/ learn and complete tasks on places that some of their family, friends and relatives may have visited or lived. We have cultural relance through our use of up to day case studies and materials, for example through the study of climate change. The knowledge we have chosen will enhance their lives as it will help them achieve a GCSE and better jobs as well as giving them a well-rounded view of the world around us.
Vocabulary-rich
It is of utmost importance to be explicit about what vocabulary we teach because if students do not understand the vocabulary, they will not understand the content. It is very important for literacy to be a key part of the geography curriculum at EGA, and this is achieved through specific key words lists for each topic, specifically referenced in each lesson along with a range of tasks consistently revisiting key terms to make it stick. It is particularly important in our context of high deprivation as students’ literacy levels on average are low so explaining the key vocabulary and explicitly identifying and teaching it is very important as many will not have seen it before. Our strategy is a key word list for each topic and SOW a vocabulary / key words slide in each lesson, tasks such as matching tasks for key words, highlighting them when reading key texts and clear guidance of how and where to use them in demonstrate tasks through scaffolding and sentence starters. We have chosen our key words that all students must master through help from the AQA Geography specification. They are delivered in a particular order to support learning in later units. Academic texts and articles are used throughout all SOWs, and it builds across the years and gets progressively more challenging the older the students get. We return to specific writers and texts to develop thinking and complexity of understanding. For example, we return to topics from KS3 in KS4- e.g., Physical landscapes- coasts and rivers- year 8 and 10, Economics- yr 7 and 10, urbanisation yr 8 and 9. They are then looked at in more depth later in the course.
Mastery
Mastery in Geography at EGA is crucial to developing expertise in the subject. Every 3/4 lessons there is a consolidation lesson where students have a quiz / diagnostics / AFL to see what students do and don’t know helping to bridge their knowledge gaps with student refection, reteach or independent learning tasks based on the areas they did not know. We have low stakes quizzes every lesson in either the do now or exit ticket. The majority of ‘do nows’ are now a low stakes recap quiz. Also exit tickets are quite often a low stakes quiz as well as some homework and mastery lessons. ‘Do nows’ are planned to ensure students recall prior knowledge as they are mostly recap from the lesson before – 4/5 questions completed in 5-7 mins followed by a self-assessment slide to be completed by students in red pen. We interleave key knowledge across units later in the year/key stage. In KS3 in the short-term content is revisited after 3-4 lessons in the mastery lesson, then during revision before the summative assessment in that topic (5-6 weeks), then at the end of the year in their summer exam (up to 11 months). This is then revisited in KS4 during full school assessments as part of revision. We also use online platform software including Show My Homework and Seneca learning to aid AFL and diagnostics quizzes weekly to improve student outcomes.
Progression Planning
Our curriculum is sequenced so that key concepts are returned to. This has been carefully thought out through the progression of our KS3 topics and curriculum which feeds into KS4 for the AQA GCSE Geography course. E.g., map skills in year 7 is the first topic as elements of this are used throughout all other topics and years. Learning is building upon ideas previously introduced, for example, topics are revisited in KS4 that have already been looked at in KS3 but in greater depth. For example, map skills in year 7 is the first topic as elements of this are used throughout all other years. This is needed and returned to throughout the curriculum as these skills are then needed to for example locate London on a map of England. Also, urbanisation is in the summer term of year 7 and revisited in year 9 for the GCSE in more depth. Tectonics, again studied in year 7 and then returned to in greater depth in year 9. Coasts and rivers are also topics our students tend to find difficult and are studied in year 8 and again in year 10. Geography is by nature an interdisciplinary subject and therefore natural overlaps are seen with a variety of subjects, particularly Science and Maths.
Enrichment
We provide enrichment through our field trips (KS3- Natural History Museum, The Crystal) and KS4- Human and physical field trips to support the GCSE curriculum). We are also planning to introduce visits to the RGS next year for all year groups to help students to develop a love of Geography. Duke of Edinburgh trips also helps student develop their map reading and locational skills as they navigate their way to different checkpoints.
Year 7
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
|---|---|
|
Geography and Me - How to become a great geographer - Why are maps important? - What is the physical geography of the British Isles? - What is the human Geography of the UK? - Have people always lived in the UK? - Personal Geography Fieldwork |
Our Planet - What is planet Earth? - What is underneath the Earth’s surface? - Why do we need the atmosphere? - Why is water so important on Earth? - What makes a country a country? - Why has the global population changed? - Where do people live in the world? - Is everywhere wealthy? |
| Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
|---|---|
|
Resources and Trade - Identify the types of raw materials found on the earth’s surface - Understand how products are made and why they are transported around the world - Understand what services are and why they are important - Explore how OS maps can tell us about different settlements and their infrastructure - The rise and fall of factories in the UK and Sheffield’s steel industry - The UK and Europe’s connection to trade and resources |
Crazy Cities - Exploration into where people live across the world - Understanding what OS Maps can tell us about urban areas - Explore the changing pattern of cities around the world and the distribution of global population - Example of Delhi as a mega-city and why so many people migrate there, whilst also understanding why life might be difficult for some people - Understanding how Delhi can become more sustainable |
| Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
|---|---|
|
Investigating the Weather - Learning to read the different weather symbols and the different components of weather - Using equipment to collect accurate weather data for Evelyn Grace Academy - Investigate how human activity is causing rapid temperature rise, with a focus on fossil fuels - Describe a climate graph of the UK to understand the average weather and rainfall - Explain the physical processes that cause rain and understand the different types - Extreme weather events in the UK with a focus on Storm Dennis and 2019 Heatwave |
Controversial Coasts - Understand how coastal features on OS maps - Explain how erosion and destructive waves cause cliffs to collapse - Explain how stacks are formed using the example of Old Harry and his wife - Understand why villages are being lost on the Holderness coast and use longshore drift to explain the uneven pattern of beaches - Explain why protecting the Holderness coast is controversial by exploring different views |
| Homework |
|---|
| SMHW knowledge quizzes |
| To stretch myself... |
|---|
| I could read the news on bbc.co.uk/news or bbc.co.uk/read National Geographic or the New Scientist, watch BBC bitesize videos / national geographic website. |
All Year 7 subjects Next Year 7 Subject - Religious Education
Year 8
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
|---|---|
|
Endless Energies - The importance of energy - Why is the world using more energy? - Renewable and non-renewable energy - Distribution of global energy - Why we rely on fossil fuels - Conflict over fossil fuels between Russia and Ukraine |
Food and Famine - What happens when there is not enough food? - Global food distribution - Physical factors causing food scarcity - Human factors causing food scarcity - Assessing the significance of human and physical factors - Strategies to increase food supply - The challenges of large-scale farming - Future of the world’s food |
| Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
|---|---|
|
River Rivals - What is a river? - How a river changes from source to mouth - Landforms found along the course of a river - Importance of rivers to the natural environment and people - Challenges facing rivers - Why is Ethiopia building a dam? - How GERD will impact the Nile - Accuracy of the Bradshaw model |
Climate Change - What is meant by climate and the major climate zones? - How climate has changed over time - Natural greenhouse effect - Human activity and climate change - Evidence for climate change and the uneven impacts of climate change around the world - How climate change is likely to disproportionately affect poorer nations - Managing climate change |
| Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
|---|---|
|
Polar Environments - Physical characteristic of polar regions and their importance - Dispersed solar energy and why this creates cold regions - Adaptations of plants and animals - Physical and human characteristics of the Russian Arctic - Importance and characteristics of the Yamal Peninsula Investigation into the death of reindeer and the impact on the Nenets |
The Middle East - Location of the Middle East and changing country borders - Physical and Human Geography of the Middle East - Arid Climate of the Middle East - Wealth and resources in the Middle East - Middle East - a cultural treasure chest - Conflict in the Middle East e.g., Syrian Civil War |
| Homework |
|---|
| SMHW knowledge quizzes |
| To stretch myself... |
|---|
| I could read the news on bbc.co.uk/news or bbc.co.uk/read National Geographic or the New Scientist, watch BBC bitesize videos / national geographic website. |
All Year 8 subjects Next Year 8 Subject - Religious Education
Year 9
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
|---|---|
|
Cold Environments - What are cold environments and where are they found - Why are the poles cold? - Animal and plant adaptations in cold environments - Problems of melting permafrost - Opportunities and challenges in cold environments such as Svalbard - Digging for oil in Artic regions and how different stakeholders feel about it |
Oceans and Governance - What are marine ecosystems? - What are coral reefs and why are they important? - Why are coral reefs under threat? - What has the Great Pacific Garbage Patch formed? - Who controls the Oceans? - Why are there foreign fishing boats in Somali waters? |
| Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
|---|---|
|
Resources and Trade - What is meant by ‘economy’ and ‘global economy’ - How has China’s economy changed over time? - How has the UK’s economy changed over time? - What is globalisation and how does it happen? - What are TNCs and why are they so powerful? - Where are the benefits and challenges of globalisation? |
Development Disparities - What does development look like? - How is development measured? - What patterns and trends are revealed by development data? - What are the causes of development disparity? - Does India’s physical geography help or hinder its development? - Does India’s human geography help or hinder its development? - Which development strategies exist? |
| Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
|---|---|
|
Glacial Landforms and Processes The common Ark Curriculum is still being developed |
Independent Project The common Ark Curriculum is still being developed |
| Homework |
|---|
| SMHW knowledge quizzes |
| To stretch myself... |
|---|
| I could read the news on bbc.co.uk/news or bbc.co.uk/read National Geographic or the New Scientist, watch BBC bitesize videos / national geographic website. |
All Year 9 subjects Next Year 9 Subject - Religious Education
Year 10
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
|---|---|
|
Resource Management - Food deficit and surplus. Global distribution of deficit and surplus, causes of food insecurity. - Impacts of food insecurity. Famine, undernutrition, soil erosion, rising food prices, social unrest. - Strategies to increase food supply. Strategies to increase food supply. - Increasing food supply a large-scale agricultural project: Example: Almeria, Spain– evaluating the social, economic, and environmental impacts. - Sustainable food production – how local food sourcing, organic produce, permaculture, sustainable food supply and urban farming sustainable increase food supply. - Sustainable food production Example: Kinshasa – DRC |
Urban Issues and Challenges - Urbanisation – what is urbanisation, natural increase, rural-urban migration, push and pull factors and how urbanisation in LICs/ NEEs is occurring at faster rates than HICs - Mega-cities – How growth of Megacities compares between HICs and LICs/NEEs. - Case Study: NEE: The national and international importance of Mumbai and location. - Identifying the opportunities and challenges of over-population and raid urban growth in Mumbai. - Social, Economic, and environmental challenges and opportunities in Mumbai Squatter settlements (Dharavi)– challenges of rapid urban growth - Urban Planning- evaluating the costs and benefits of urban planning in Mumbai. - UK Urban landscape – Identifying urban areas of the UK and describing the population density. - Case study HIC: London- Importance of London - nationally and internationally and its location. - London population – Cultural mix and recreation in London – evaluating the impacts of national and international migration in London. - Employment and economic opportunities in London. Urban and housing inequalities in London- causes and characteristics of inequality. - Brown and greenfield sites – Air and Waste Pollution in London – challenges and how to sustainably manage waste and air pollution in London. - Urban regeneration – evaluating the costs and benefits of urban regeneration in East Village. - Sustainable transport: Integrated Transport System, TFL in London. Bristol. - Sustainable Urban Planning: East Village - How urban planning can be sustainable. |
| Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
|---|---|
|
Coasts - UK physical Landscapes. Fluvial processes: Weathering, mass movement, erosion. - The formation of erosional landforms: Headlands and bays, Caves/arch/stack/stump, Wave-cut platforms - The process of Longshore drift and different types of transportation - Depositional landforms. The formation of beaches, sand dunes, spits, and bars. - Coastal management. The role of hard and soft engineering coastal management - Example: Coastal management case study of Lyme Regis, costs, and benefits of the strategies |
Rivers - The Long River profile and cross profiles of a river. - Erosion. Transportation. Erosional landforms: explaining the formation of interlocking spurs, waterfalls, and gorges. Landforms of erosion and deposition: Meanders and Oxbow lakes - Landforms of deposition: levées, flood plains and estuaries. - Example: River valley in the UK- Tees River flooding and hydrographs - Hard and soft engineering Example: Flood management scheme: Somerset – evaluating the cost and benefits of the schemes on a case study in the UK |
| Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
|---|---|
|
The Living World - TRF - What is an ecosystem, abiotic and biotic factors? How do ecosystems operate? Food chains, food webs and the roles of decomposers, producers, and consumers. An example of a small scale UK ecosystem. - Factors affecting ecosystems – how humans impact ecosystems. What and where are the world biomes? Global distribution of large-scale ecosystems and their characteristics. - Characteristics of rainforests. Global distribution, climate, and layers of the rainforest. Adaptions in a rainforest. How plants and animals adapt to the climate of the tropical rainforest. - Case study: Malaysia- Causes of deforestation in Malaysia. Logging, cattle ranching, mining, and agriculture. Effects of deforestation. Economic, social, and environmental costs and benefits. - Sustainable solutions to deforestation. Ecotourism, selective logging, debt reduction, agreements. |
The Living World – Hot Desert - Characteristics of the hot desert. Global distribution, climate. Case Study: Thar Desert - Desert opportunities and challenges in the hot desert. Economic opportunities and challenges of use of large-scale solar panels, mining, and agriculture in hot deserts. - Causes of desertification. How over-grazing, cultivation, over population and climate change cause the degradation of land on marginal areas next to hot deserts. - Solutions to desertification. Afforestation and adaption of agricultural practices. |
| Homework |
|---|
| SMHW knowledge quizzes |
| To stretch myself... |
|---|
| I could read the news on bbc.co.uk/news or bbc.co.uk/read National Geographic or the New Scientist, watch BBC bitesize videos / national geographic website. |
All Year 10 subjects Next Year 10 Subject - Religious Education
Year 11
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
|---|---|
|
UK Physical Landscapes: Coasts - UK physical Landscapes. Low land and high land areas of the UK, coastal and river features. - Waves. Characteristics of constructive and destructive waves. - Weathering. Processes of mechanical, chemical, and biological weathering. - Mass movement. How cliffs collapse through rotational slump, landslides, and rock fall. - Erosion. How hydraulic action, abrasion, attrition, and solution affect the coastline. - Erosional landforms. Formation of headlands, bays, headland erosion and wave cut platforms. - Example of UK coastline: Dorset. The process of Longshore drift - Depositional landforms. The formation of beaches, sand dunes, spits, and bars. - Coastal management. The role of hard and soft engineering coastal management - Example: Coastal management case study of Lyme Regis, costs, and benefits of the strategies. |
UK Physical Landscapes: Rivers - The Long River profile and cross profiles of a river. - Erosion. Transportation. Erosional landforms: explaining the formation of interlocking spurs, waterfalls, and gorges. Landforms of erosion and deposition: Meanders and Oxbow lakes - Landforms of deposition: levées, flood plains and estuaries. - Example: River valley in the UK- Tees River flooding and hydrographs - Hard and soft engineering Example: Flood management scheme: Somerset – evaluating the cost and benefits of the schemes on a case study in the UK |
| Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
|---|---|
|
Paper 3: Skills Geographical Skills.4/6 figure grid references, scale, contour lines, coastal features, O.S maps Unseen fieldwork – primary and secondary data collection, risk assessments |
Paper 3: PRE-RELEASE Revision of ALL content |
| Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
|---|---|
| Revision of ALL content | EXAMS |
| Homework |
|---|
| SMHW knowledge quizzes |
| To stretch myself... |
|---|
| I could read the news on bbc.co.uk/news or bbc.co.uk/read National Geographic or the New Scientist, watch BBC bitesize videos / national geographic website. |
All Year 11 subjects Next Year 11 Subject - Religious Education