Geography Curriculum Intent

In Geography, our intent is to promote a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with pupils for the rest of their lives and encourage them to travel beyond their own doorstep and respect other people and their cultures. Geography is, by nature, an investigative subject, which encourages pupils to enthusiastically explore and question the world around them. The curriculum promotes their interest and understanding of diverse places, people, resources and both natural and human environments together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes. As pupils progress, their growing knowledge and understanding of the world and their development of geographical skills should help them become global citizens who can critically evaluate geographical issues and ideas and live more sustainably in a complex and ever-changing world.

Key Stage 3

The KS3 Geography curriculum is based on developing pupils’ locational knowledge and place knowledge of the world’s major countries and regions and their physical and human features, developing pupils’ understanding of processes and interactions in physical geography and human geography and developing pupils’ geographical skills and use of fieldwork. The geographical concepts of place, space, systems and processes, cause and effect, change, planning and decision making, inequality, interdependence and sustainability are incorporated into the curriculum and are assessed to allow pupils to build upon their conceptual understanding as they move up the school.

Key Stage 4

Pupils opting for GCSE Geography will be studying the Eduqas A specification. The course uses an enquiry approach to the study of geographical information, issues and concepts that should enable pupils to develop the ability to think ‘like a geographer’. The course offers pupils the opportunity to travel the world from their classroom, exploring case studies in the UK, higher income countries (HICs), newly industrialised countries (NICs) and lower income countries (LICs). Fieldwork is an essential aspect of the course and pupils have the opportunity to conduct two geographical fieldwork investigations outside of school which will help pupils develop and apply their understanding of geographical concepts learned in the classroom. The course also helps pupils develop a wide range of geographical skills and applies functional skills (such as literacy, numeracy and ICT) into real-life contexts and contemporary situations and issues.

Year 7

(Modules, Topics)

Autumn

Welcome to Geography / Geographical Skills

  • What do you already know about Geography?
  • What are the three main types of Geography?
  • What is my new school like? (fieldwork)
  • What does the area where I live look like?
  • What does Manoa Island look like?
  • How do we use four figure grid references to locate places on a map?
  • How do we measure distances on a map?
  • How do we use six figure grid references to locate places on a map?
  • How do we show height on a map?
  • Where is Crazy Kevin?
  • How can we use Google Earth to explore the world?
  • How do we use an atlas to find out about the world?
  • How do we use latitude and longitude to locate places on Earth?
  • What do photographs tell us about the world?
  • Geographical Skills Test and Review

Spring

Rocks, weathering and soils / Population and Resources

  • How do we use our planet as a natural resource?
  • Why are rocks important?
  • What are the three main types of rock?
  • How does weathering affect rocks?
  • How are landscapes affected by rock type?
  • Why is soil important?
  • Rocks, Weathering and Soils Test and Review
  • Where do we all live?
  • How and why has the world’s population changed?
  • What are the main issues related to population growth?
  • What are the main issues related to population decline?
  • What are the main issues related to population?
  • How does our food affect the environment?
  • How does plastic affect the planet?
  • What can we do about plastic pollution?
  • Where should a new wind farm be built in South Tyneside?
  • Population and Resources Test and Review

Summer

Rivers and flooding

  • Why are rivers important?
  • How do rivers change from source to mouth?
  • What do rivers do?
  • What landforms are created by rivers?
  • How do we conduct a river fieldwork enquiry?
  • What are the causes and effects of flooding?
  • How can we reduce the risk of flooding?

Africa and the Horn of Africa

  • What is Africa’s human geography like?
  • What is Africa’s physical geography like?
  • What are Africa’s biomes like?
  • What is Africa like today?
  • How does physical geography and climate affect life in the Horn of Africa?
  • Why are most coffee farmers in Ethiopia poor?
  • What is life as a nomad in the Horn of Africa like?
  • What opportunities and challenges do salt miners in Ethiopia face?
  • Why do some people in Somalia become pirates?
  • How is Djibouti’s location helping the country to develop?
  • Africa/Horn of Africa Test and Review

Year 8

(Modules, Topics)

Autumn

Weather and climate

  • How does weather affect people’s lives?
  • How do we get clouds and rain?
  • What is high pressure weather like?
  • What is low pressure weather like?
  • How did the Beast from the East affect people’s lives?
  • How do we present information about climate?
  • How does climate vary around the world?
  • What factors affect climate?
  • How can we investigate our school’s microclimate?
  • What have we found out about our school’s microclimate?
  • Weather and Climate Test and Review

Ice

  • What was the UK like during the last ice age?
  • What are glaciers and where are they found?
  • How do glaciers change landscapes?
  • What landforms are shaped by ice?
  • What can OS maps tell us about ice?
  • Why are glaciers important?
  • Who killed Otzi?
  • What is Antarctica like and why is it important?
  • How can tourism in Antarctica be sustainable?
  • Ice Test and Review

Spring

Climate change

  • How has the Earth’s climate been changing?
  • Why has the Earth’s climate been changing?
  • What are the consequences of climate change on our planet?
  • What are the consequences of climate change for the UK?
  • What can we do about climate change?
  • Are Extinction Rebellion & Insulate Britain heroes or villains?
  • Climate Change Test and Review

Coasts

  • What do we use coasts for?
  • How do waves shape the coastline?
  • What landforms are created by coastal erosion?
  • Coasts Exam Question and Mapwork
  • What landforms are created by coastal deposition?
  • Why did the Holbeck Hall Hotel fall into the sea?
  • How and why has the Holderness coast changed?
  • Should Mappleton be protected from coastal erosion?
  • What is going to happen to the Maldives?

Summer

Asia, the Middle East and Russia

  • What is Asia’s human geography like?
  • What is Asia’s physical geography like?
  • What are Asia’s biomes like?
  • What is Asia like today?
  • What is the Middle East’s human and physical geography like?
  • How are people spread around the Middle East?
  • What do countries in the Arabian Peninsula have in common?
  • Why has Dubai grown so rapidly?
  • How can cities be more sustainable?
  • To what extent is Qatar a suitable place to host the World Cup?
  • Why is there conflict in the Middle East?
  • Asia and Middle East Test and Review
  • What is Russia’s human and physical geography like?
  • Why do most people live in European Russia?
  • Is Siberia a blessing or a curse for Russia?
  • Russia Test and Review

Year 9

(Modules, Topics)

Autumn

Development

  • How are people’s lives different?
  • What is development?
  • Unequal World Assessment
  • How did the development gap grow?
  • Why is Malawi so poor?
  • Why do people migrate from one country to another?
  • What are the effects of migration in the UK?
  • How can the development gap be reduced?
  • How can gender equality increase development?
  • What are Sustainable Development Goals?
  • Development Test and Review

An increasingly urban world

  • How and why has Hebburn grown?
  • How are patterns of urbanisation changing?
  • Why is Rio growing so quickly?
  • What is life like for many people moving to Rio?
  • How can life in Rio’s favelas be improved?
  • How has urbanisation affected Rio’s environment?
  • An Increasingly Urban World Test and Review

Spring

Earning a living

  • What jobs do people do?
  • How have people’s jobs in the UK changed?
  • How have people’s jobs in Hebburn changed?
  • How is the world becoming more interconnected?
  • Where have the UK’s factory jobs gone?
  • Why did Munna become homeless?
  • Why did Nissan locate in Sunderland?
  • Earning a Living Test and Review

China

  • What do photographs tell us about China?
  • What is China’s human and physical geography like?
  • How has China become so powerful?
  • Was China’s One Child Policy a success or a failure?
  • What is life in rural China like?
  • Why is Chongqing growing so quickly?
  • How has China’s rapid economic growth affected the environment?
  • Why are China’s dams so controversial?
  • China Test and Review

Summer

Tectonic Landscapes and Hazards (Eduqas GCSE Geography A)

  • What is happening beneath our feet?
  • What is happening at plate boundaries?
  • What large-scale features are found at plate boundaries?
  • What are the main features of volcanic landscapes?
  • Why are some communities more vulnerable to tectonic hazards than others?
  • Which volcanic hazards are the most dangerous?
  • What were the causes and effects of the Mount Merapi eruption?
  • How might the risks associated with volcanic eruptions be reduced?
  • How would you deal with a volcanic eruption?
  • What were the causes and effects of the Nepal earthquake?
  • How might the risks associated with earthquakes be reduced?
  • Christchurch Earthquake GCSE Questions
  • How were the Japan and Solomon Islands tsunami different?
  • Tectonic Landscapes and Hazards Test and Review

KS3 Geographical Skills

Year 7

Using globes, maps and atlases (e.g. identifying and locating places in the UK and around the world and using latitude and longitude to locate places on Earth)

Developing map skills (using map symbols, scale, direction, distances, four and six figure grid references, spot heights and contour lines, producing a mental map of the area where they live and using information from a text to produce a map of a particular place)

Interpreting OS maps (e.g. identifying and describing different types of rock landscape, investigating flooding along the River Thames, selecting suitable locations for a river fieldwork enquiry and deciding where to build a new wind farm in South Tyneside)

Interpreting thematic maps (e.g. identifying and locating different types of rock in different parts of the UK and sparsely and densely populated areas of the world, investigating Africa’s human and physical geography and investigating how physical geography and climate affect life in the Horn of Africa)

Using GIS to view, analyse and interpret places and data (e.g. using Google Earth to identify and locate the world’s main physical and human features and measuring food miles from different countries to the UK)

Interpreting photographs (e.g. investigating different places that people live in, different types of rock and weathering, differences in population density around the world and flooding along the River Thames, selecting suitable locations for a river fieldwork enquiry and annotating a photograph to describe and explain river processes)

Using graphs (e.g. investigating changes in population around the world and flooding along the River Thames and drawing graphs to show differences in environmental quality and changes along a river)

Using maths skills (e.g. adding and subtracting, calculating mode and mean and calculating river velocity)

Using fieldwork to collect, analyse and draw conclusions from geographical data (e.g. investigating environmental quality for different locations around the school grounds and investigating how the width, depth and velocity of the River Don in Jarrow changes as it flows downstream)

Year 8

Using globes, maps and atlases (e.g. identifying and locating places in the UK and around the world and using latitude and longitude to locate places on Earth)

Developing map skills (using map symbols, scale, direction, distances, four and six figure grid references, spot heights and contour lines)

Interpreting OS maps (e.g. identifying and locating glacial landforms and coastal landforms and investigating what a glaciated landscape looks like)

Interpreting thematic maps (e.g. identifying and locating coastal places in the UK and different climate zones around the world, describing temperature and rainfall patterns across Europe, interpreting a weather map, investigating what the UK was like during the last ice age and how climate change will affect places in the UK and around the world, investigating what Asia, the Middle East and Russia’s human and physical geography, climate zones and biomes are like, investigating differences in wealth between different countries in Asia and producing a choropleth map to show differences in population density in the Middle East)

Using GIS to view, analyse and interpret places and data (e.g. using Google Earth to identify, locate and describe different physical and human features in Siberia and investigating how and why the Holderness coast has changed and how the Holderness coast is being managed)

Interpreting photographs (e.g. comparing different types of weather, investigating glaciers and glacial landforms and annotating an aerial photograph to show the effects of coastal management at Mappleton)

Using graphs (e.g. describing different climate zones around the world and changes in global temperature, drawing and interpreting a climate graph, investigating differences in wealth between different countries in Asia and investigate to what extent Qatar is a suitable place to host the World Cup)

Using maths skills (e.g. adding and subtracting and calculating range, mean and population density)

Using fieldwork to collect, analyse and draw conclusions from geographical data (e.g. investigating our school’s microclimate)

Year 9

Using globes, maps and atlases (e.g. identifying and locating places in the UK and around the world and using latitude and longitude to locate earthquakes and volcanoes)

Developing map skills (using map symbols, scale, direction, distances, four and six figure grid references, spot heights and contour lines)

Interpreting OS maps (e.g. investigating how and why Hebburn has grown and the location of Nissan’s car plant in Sunderland)

Interpreting thematic maps (e.g. identifying and locating developed countries (HICs) and developing countries (LICs and NICs), describing the distribution of earthquakes and volcanoes, producing a volcanic hazard map of Montserrat, investigating how urbanisation varies around the world and how the number and location of megacities is changing, investigating how the world is becoming more interconnected, investigating what China’s human and physical geography is like, why some parts of China are more/less crowded than others and why China’s plans for new dams are so controversial)

Using GIS to view, analyse and interpret places and data (e.g. investigating changing patterns of urbanisation)

Interpreting photographs (e.g. investigating what China is like and comparing tectonic landscapes and hazards)

Using graphs (e.g. drawing and interpreting a scatter graph showing the relationship between GDP per person and life expectancy, producing pie charts to show how people’s jobs in Hebburn have changed, drawing and interpreting graphs showing the frequency of tectonic hazards, using data to investigate vulnerability to tectonic hazards and interpreting population pyramids and proportional symbols)

Using maths skills (e.g. adding and subtracting, calculating averages and frequency, calculating percentages and area and ranking data)

Using fieldwork to collect, analyse and draw conclusions from geographical data (e.g. investigating whether Hebburn New Town is a good place for shopping)

Eduqas A GCSE Geography (2023 Examination)

(Modules, Topics)

Year 10 Autumn

Component 1 Theme 1

Distinctive landscapes

Landform processes and change (Rivers)

Drainage basins

Year 10 Spring

Component 1 Theme 2

Urban-rural continuum

Population and urban change

Global cities

Year 10 Summer

Component 1 Theme 4

Tectonic processes and landforms

Vulnerability and hazard reduction

Component 3

Fieldwork

Year 11 Autumn

Component 1 Theme 1

Landform processes and change (Coasts)

Component 2 Theme 5

Climate change

Extreme weather

UK weather and climate

Ecosystems and people

Year 11 Spring

Component 2 Theme 6

Global inequalities

Water resources/management

Regional economic development

Component 2 Theme 7

Social development

Component 3

Fieldwork

Year 11 Summer

Revision for Components 1-3

Eduqas A GCSE Geography (2024 Examination and beyond)

(Modules, Topics)

Year 10 Autumn

Component 1 Theme 3

Tectonic processes and landforms

Vulnerability and

hazard reduction

(Continued from Year 9)

Component 1 Theme 1

Distinctive landscapes

Landform processes and change (Rivers)

Drainage basins

Year 10 Spring

Component 1 Theme 2

Urban-rural continuum

Population and urban change

Global cities

Year 10 Summer

Component 1 Theme 1

Landform processes and change (Coasts)

Component 3

Fieldwork

Year 11 Autumn

Component 2 Theme 5

Climate change

Extreme weather

UK weather and climate

Ecosystems and people

Component 2 Theme 7

Social development

Year 11 Spring

Component 2 Theme 6

Global inequalities

Water resources/management

Regional economic development

Component 3

Fieldwork

Year 11 Summer

Revision for Components 1-3

Exam Specification

Assessments

Key Stage 3

Pupils will be assessed formally as part of the school assessment windows (in class and/or the main hall).

Year 7 – Autumn Term (Assessment Cycle 1)

My New School Fieldwork; Map Skills Test; Photo Description Task

Year 7 – Spring Term (Assessment Cycle 2)

Rosie the Rock Extended Writing; Population Extended Writing; Rocks, Weathering & Soils and Population & Resources Exam

Year 7 – Summer Term (Assessment Cycle 3)

Coffee Farming in Ethiopia Extended Writing; River Earn Photo Annotation; Africa/Horn of Africa and Rivers & Flooding Exam

Year 8 – Autumn Term (Assessment Cycle 1)

Asia Exam Question; Qatar World Cup Assessment; Asia, Middle East and Russia Exam

Year 8 – Spring Term (Assessment Cycle 2)

Climate Graph Task; Lake District Map Work; Weather & Climate Test and Ice Exam

Year 8 – Summer Term (Assessment Cycle 3)

Climate Change Campaign Poster; Coasts Exam Question and Map Work; Climate Change and Coasts Exam

Year 9 – Autumn Term (Assessment Cycle 1)

Unequal World Assessment; Migration Assessment; Development and An Increasingly Urban World Exam

Year 9 – Spring Term (Assessment Cycle 2)

Bangladesh Clothing Factory Mystery; China’s One Child Policy Extended Writing; Earning a Living and China Exam

Year 9 – Summer Term (Assessment Cycle 3)

Tectonic Processes and Landforms Assessment; Volcanic Hazards Exam Question; Tectonic Hazards and Landscapes Exam

Pupils will also receive homework on a regular basis. This will consolidate and extend learning done in class and encourage pupils to develop their geographical skills.

Key Stage 4

Pupils will be assessed formally as part of the school assessment windows (in class and/or the main hall). Assessments will be set using exam-style questions and past papers.

Eduqas A Cohort (2023)

Year 11: Fieldwork Exam Questions; Coastal Landforms Exam Questions; Assessment Cycle 1 Mock Exam; Ecosystems Exam Questions [1]; Ecosystems Exam Questions [2];

Global Inequalities and Water Exam Questions; Regional Economic Development Exam Question; Assessment Cycle 2 Mock Exam

Eduqas A Cohort (2024)

Year 10: Tectonics Test; Distinctive Landscapes Exam Question; Rivers Exam Questions/Map Work; Assessment Cycle 1 Exam; Rural-Urban Continuum Exam Questions; Population and Urban Change Exam Questions; Bhendi Bazaar Exam Question; Assessment Cycle 2 Exam; Coastal Landforms Exam Questions; Norfolk Coast Exam Question; Assessment Cycle 3 Exam; Fieldwork Exam Questions

Year 11: To be confirmed

There has never been a more important time to use geographical knowledge and skills to pursue a career. None of the changes and challenges facing the UK and the world in the 21st century, including climate change, energy security, migration, urbanisation and globalisation, can be properly understood, let alone tackled, without geography.

Geography provides a broad training and education for students who wish to enter a range of careers as diverse as administration, business, media, natural and social sciences, cartography, tourism and planning.

Examples of jobs held by Geographers include:

Climatologist
Coastal Zone Manager
Community Development Officer
Conservation Officer
Delivery Manager
Earth Scientist
Environmental Manager
Geographic Information Specialist
Geologist
Map, Air Photo & Satellite Image Interpreter
Market Researcher
Tour Guide
Traffic Manager
Travel Agent
Urban/City Planner
Water Resource Manager

The list is almost endless as Geographers offer a wide range of transferable skills that are highly valued by employers in today’s ever-changing world. Geographers are particularly skilled at reading and understanding maps, graphs, charts, identifying spatial patterns and processes, using maths and computers to analyse geographical information, undertaking scientific research and engaging in decision-making and problem solving.