Curriculum Intent
The study of Geography is about more than just memorising places on a map. It's about understanding the complexity of our world
President Barack Obama
“Without geography we can’t explain the world around us. Geography is all around us,” (Dorling and Lee) Geography is quite literally all around us. It not only shines a light on our world today, but it explains its rich past and prepares us for an uncertain future. Geography offers a unique insight like no other into the inner workings of our planet Earth; both the physical and human side. Geographers will leave lessons with a deeper understanding and appreciation of how interconnected our world really is.
There has never been a more important time to learn geography. With new opportunities and challenges constantly arising our dynamic subject adapts to ensure our students are fully aware of issues, both local in their own area and at a global scale. Geography generates excitement, creativity and critical thinking about our world that equips our students to forge their own way forward
Our curriculum is designed to develop student’s geographical thinking so that they can see the world in a uniquely powerful way by
- Exposing students to all aspects of the discipline through a wide range of physical, human and environmental geographical topics
- Expanding horizons of the world through the study of a wide range of places at various scales from local to global, from near to far.
- Developing contextual knowledge of globally significant locations including their defining physical and human characteristics
- Clearly addressing core geographical concepts of Causality, Systems, Inequality, Development, Identity, Globalisation, Interdependence and Sustainability
- Frequent reviews of topics and case studies will take place to keep our curriculum as relevant as possible
- Developing critical thinkers through our decision making exercises
- Imbedding fieldwork and investigative skills increasing independence to geographical enquiry.
- Promote high levels of literacy and oracy through our ‘speak like a geographer’ strategy
Links to useful resources
| People and the Planet | http://www.peopleandplanet.net |
| Multimap | Search for place names and postcodes - download travel directions |
| Streetmap | Zoom in on any UK area by entering a place name, postcode, grid reference or tel code |
| Ordnance Survey | OS map info |
| Expedia.co.uk Maps | Road maps of UK and Europe |
| MSN Maps and Directions | Maps for most US cities + major conurbations around the world |
| Map24 | Another UK map site |
| old-maps.co.uk | http://www.old-maps.co.uk |
| Maps Worldwide | Online shop for all map requirements |
| RAC Travel Services | Route planner/traffic news |
| Environment Agency | Variety of environmental info |
| Geographical - The Magazine | Topical geography items |
| The Geographical Association | Geog Association website |
| CIA - The World Factbook 2002 | World factbook |
| The World Bank Group | World bank website |
| USGS Geologic Information - Deserts | Info about deserts |
| Glacier | Info about glaciers |
| USGS - Earthquakes | Info about earthquakes |
| The Online Guides: Meteorology | Info about meteorology |
| Met Office | Weather/climate info |
| Met Office: Learning | Resources for students, enabling research into specific events eg 1987 hurricane |
| National Hurricane Centre | National Hurricane Center, Miami, Florida |
| WSVN-TV - Miami - The News Station | Info about hurricanes in Florida from local newspaper |
| Funbrain.com | Games, quizzes etc |
| Channel 4 Learning | Channel 4 education programmes |
| Columbus Travel Guides | Factual guide to holiday destinations |
| Leeds Geodemographic Analysis System | Method of extracting census data linked with postcodes |
| Northern Light | Search for news items |
| The Cryosphere | Info about snow, blizzards and avalanches |
| Volcano World | Good source of volcanic case studies |
| US Geological Survey | Variety of geological info |
| Museum of San Fracisco | A case study of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake presented by the Museum of San Francisco |
| Centre for Ecology and Hydrology | Institute of Hydrology - very useful for UK hydrological info - most UK rivers have info included |
| World Flag Database | Database of flags of the world’s countries |
| National Curriculum in Action: Geography | The national curriculum in action |
| Becta | ICT in education |
| US Census Bureau | Population Pyramids |
| Homework High | Revision site |
| Internet Geography | http://www.internetgeography.co.uk |