KEY STAGE 4 – YEARS 10-11
Introduction
Geography is the study of people and their environment in different parts of the world. It is at the centre of many of the major issues affecting the world today.
How are we going to feed the world’s rapidly expanding population? How will global climate change affect our lives? What is happening to the overcrowded mega-cities of the world? How will we ensure enough clean water for our future? How does tourism affect the places people visit? How can people respond to natural hazards such as flooding, earthquakes and hurricanes? These are the kinds of questions that students will explore if they choose to study IGCSE Geography.
As well as requiring the understanding of many important global issues the study of Geography involves the use of many transferable skills. These include understanding and drawing a wide variety of graphs and diagrams, effective use of ICT, carrying out an investigation in the local area and being able to interpret different types of maps. Students will develop a broad range of other skills, from data presentations skills to interpretation and analysis skills through the exploration of topical news and articles. As a summary, Geography provides students with many transferable skills in demand by employers: communication skills (presentation, writing, debating), teamwork, problem solving and IT skills.
Employers and universities see geography as a robust academic subject rich in skills, knowledge and understanding. As a subject linking the arts and the sciences it is highly flexible in terms of what you can combine it with, both at IGCSE and A Level. Geography gives us the understanding and skills to make sense of the world around us and is an invaluable tool for further study and the workplace.
1.Aims
In Key Stage 4, students in Montessori La Florida and British Montessori Mataespesa / Fresnos will be prepared for the International General Certificate of Education exam of the University of Cambridge Examinations Board (IGCSE), Syllabus number 0460.
The aims are therefore the same as those specified by the exam board and are summarised as follows: -
1. To develop a sense of place and an understanding of relative location on a local, regional and global scale;
2. To develop an awareness of the characteristics, distribution and processes affecting contrasting physical and human environments;
3. To develop an understanding of the ways in which people interact with each other and with their environment;
4. To develop an awareness of the contrasting opportunities and constraints presented by different environments;
5. To develop an appreciation of and concern for the environment;
6. To develop an appreciation of the earth including its people, places, landscapes, natural processes and phenomena.
2. Syllabus outline
The Y10 and Y11 students are prepared for IGCSE Geography, syllabus 0460 (2020-2022). The following is a link where the syllabuses can be found.
http://www.cambridgeinternational.org/programmes-and-qualifications/cambridge-igcse-geography-0460/
YEAR 10 (Physical Geography)
1. Plate Tectonics, Earthquakes, volcanoes, fold mountains, rift valleys, natural hazards and human response.
2. Weathering and mass movement
3. Fluvial processes and associated landforms, flooding, river pollution, water resources – uses, competition and conflict
4. Marine processes and associated landforms, coastal flooding, coastal pollution, and coastal management
5. The collection of meteorological data and factors affecting climate
6. Tropical rainforests – climate and vegetation, plantation farming, small-scale subsistence agriculture, deforestation and global warming
7. Deserts – climate and vegetation
YEAR 11 (Human Geography)
1. World population distribution and density. World population growth, the concepts of overpopulation and carrying capacity. The demographic transition and variations in world population growth. Pro- and anti-natalist policies. Population structure, population pyramids. Population migration – causes and consequences
2. Settlement site, situation, pattern, morphology, function and growth. Settlement hierarchies and spheres of influence – shopping patterns. Urbanisation and associated problems. Urban land use models and comparisons between MEDCs and LEDCs. Inner cities and their redevelopment, ribbon development, dormitory suburbs/villages, green belts. Rural-urban migration in the LEDCs and shanty towns
3. Employment structure
4. Farming – changes in commercial and cash-crop farming
5. Energy – significance of different energy sources, acid rain, the siting of power stations
6. Industrial systems - motor vehicle assembly, high technology industries
7. Leisure & tourism
8. Revision
3. Time allocation
Students will have 4 x 50 minute (La Florida) or 3 x 55 minutes (Fresnos-Mataespesa) periods of Geography and some homework per week.
4. Resources
Each student will have a copy of The New Wider World (Third Edition) by David Waugh. Each student will have access to the Oxford Practical Atlas.
The textbook and atlas are supplemented by many teacher-prepared resources and by past examination questions.
5. Assessment
No assessment will be made of the students’ notes but assessment will be based on IGCSE style questions and the grades awarded will be equivalent to those that would have been obtained by the student under examination conditions bearing in mind the stage in the course.
There is a test at the end of each unit (see syllabus) and formal examinations in June of Year 10 and in January of Year 11. These are marked according to IGCSE standards. The grade awarded in the report is a guide as to how well the student is progressing towards the final exam. A, B and C are pass grades. D and below are fail grades.
All students will enter for Paper 1, Paper 2 and Paper 4 (Alternative to Coursework).
