Geography

Year 7

Autumn Term: Map Skills
Through studying the local area, we aim to develop our students’ range of map skills, including 4 and 6 figure grid references, distance, direction and height.
Map detective exercises and a local area project all help the students to demonstrate their ability to apply the skills they have learnt.

Spring Term: Coasts
We study our dynamic coast through the study of wave types, beaches and the processes of erosion, transportation and deposition.
We encourage students to develop their ideas on how best to manage the coastline and the implications of rising sea levels.

Summer Term: China
We study China as an example of an emerging superpower, including an investigation of the human and physical geography of the country.

Year 8

Autumn Term: Biomes
We study different biomes around the world, focusing particularly on The Mediterranean and Desert Biomes.
During the unit, students are asked to make their own ‘Biome in a Box’ and to learn about plant and animal adaptations.
We also examine the importance of sustainable development when studying fragile ecosystems such as tundra and tropical rainforest.

Spring Term: Plate Tectonics
During this term, we study Earthquakes and Volcanoes and examine the impact of natural hazards on human activity.
We use up to date case studies to bring these hazards to life, including a real time simulation of the eruption of Montserrat.
Students investigate the importance of planning, preparation and prediction in contrasting LIC’s and HIC’s around the world.

Summer Term: Rivers
This unit looks at how rivers change as they move downstream, and students study channel characteristics. 
We also examine natural and human causes of flooding and evaluate the best attempts to mitigate the impacts of floods.

Year 9

Autumn term: Population
We examine world population dynamics in this unit, investigating reasons for growth and the impact of migration.
We look at how crowded countries can try to manage their population and focus on megacities as a way of introducing the issues associated with urban living.
We study how populations change over time and the issues faced by youthful and ageing population structures.

Spring Term: Russia
We study the physical, human and political geography of Russia over time. 
One focus is the impact of human activity on the environment, with students completing a decision making exercise on the ‘Aral Sea Disaster’ and investigating Chernobyl, often taking advantage of their Call of Duty experiences in Pripyat!

Summer Term: Glaciation

We look at ice in the UK in particular, the impact it has had on our landscape and how human activity has been influenced by its effects.