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Subject Leader: Mrs N Williams

Key Stage 4

GCSE Geography A (2016) KS4 (Years 9-11)

Exam Board: AQA

Course Overview

This course consists of three externally examined papers:

Component 1: Living with the physical environment (35% of the qualification)
Content overview:

• The challenge of natural hazards
• The living world
• Physical landscapes in the UK
• Geographical skills

Component 2: Challenges in the human environment (35% of the qualification)
Content overview:

• Urban issues and challenges
• The changing economic world
• The challenge of resource management
• Geographical skills

Component 3: Geographical applications. (30% of the qualification)
Content overview:

• Issue Evaluation
• Fieldwork
• Geographical skills

The aims and objectives of this qualification are to enable students to build on their Key Stage 3 knowledge and skills to:

• Develop and extend their knowledge of locations, places, environments and processes, through different scales, including global, regional and local and of social, economic, environmental, political and cultural contexts (know geographical material).
• Gain understanding of the interactions between people and environments, change in places and processes over space and time, and the interrelationship between geographical phenomena at different scales and in different contexts (think like a geographer).
• Develop and extend their competence in a range of skills including those used in fieldwork, in using maps and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and in researching secondary evidence, including digital sources, and develop their competence in applying sound enquiry and investigative approaches to questions and hypotheses (study like a geographer).
• Apply geographical knowledge, understanding, skills and approaches appropriately and creatively to real world contexts, including fieldwork, contemporary situations and issues, and develop well-evidenced arguments drawing on their geographical knowledge and understanding (applying geography).

Assessment: 80% examination, 20% coursework

Curriculum Content

Year 7

Term 1 - Geographical Skills
Term 2 - Exploring the UK
Term 3 - Weather amd Climate
Term 4 - Africa - a continent of contrasts
Term 5 - Ecosystems
Term 6 - Ecosystems / Crime
 

Year 8

Term 1 - Development - Rich World, Poor World
Term 2 - Our World
Term 3 - Hazards
Term 4 - UK Landscapes
Term 5 - World Cities
Term 6 - Megacities

Year 9

Term 1 -Urban Issues and Challenges (part 1)
Term 2 -Changing Economic World (part 1)
Term 3 -Natural Hazards (part 1)
Term 4 -Living World (part 1)
Term 5 -Physical Landscapes (part 1)
Term 6 -Resource Management (part 1)

Year 10

Term 1 -Urban Issues and Challenges (part 2)
Term 2 -Changing Economic World (part 2)
Term 3 -Natural Hazards (part 2)
Term 4 -Living World (part 2)
Term 5 -Physical Landscapes (part 2)
Term 6 -Resource Management (part 2)

Year 11

Term 1 -Hot Deserts / Field experience
Term 2 -Urban Change in the UK
Term 3 -Urban Sustainability
Term 4 -Preparation for Issue evaluation - pre-release/revision on paper 1 units - hazards, ecosystems, climate change, rivers and coasts.
Term 5 -Preparation for Geographical Skills /revision on paper 2 units - urban issues and challenges, economic changes in the UK, resource management and food management.
Term 6 -Revision and exam focus on paper 3 issue evaluation and fieldwork.

Useful Website Links

Pearsons - Relevant for GCSE
AQA - Relevant for GCSE
BBC Bitesize - BBC Bitesize for GCSE
 

Suggested Revision Guides and Books

CGP GCSE AQA Geography (for the grade 9-1 course)
Revise AQA GCSE (9-1) Geography revision guide and workbook (Pearson)
 

Out of School Learning (OSL) and Extra-Curricular Activities

• Thursday in the Geography area – GCSE.