Merry Christmas!

Dear students and parents (7A, 7B, 8A, 8B, 9A Los Fresnos and 7, 8, 9 and 10 La Florida),

As your teacher of geography, I want to thank you for your support and understanding from home during this challenging first term. It has been a very intense first term in many meanings and we have been working hard all.

Let me take this opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas and the best for 2022.

Best regards

Mr. Legaz


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Estimados alumnos y padres de  (7A, 7B, 8A, 8B, 9A Los Fresnos y 7, 8, 9 and 10 La Florida):

Como vuestro profesor de "geography", quiero dar las gracias a todos vosotros por el apoyo y la ayuda desde casa en estos meses tan complicados. Como todos sabéis, ha sido otro primer trimestre muy intenso, en muchos sentidos y creo que todos hemos sabido estar a la altura de las difíciles circunstancias. Aprovecho esta oportunidad para enviar los mejores deseos para esta Navidad y para esperemos un mejor 2022. ¡Felices Fiestas!

Atentamente,

Mr. Legaz

Geography in key stage 4 (Year 10 & 11)

 Dear parents and students of year 9,

I have received some requests about information a little bit more in detail about Geography in year 10 and 11. So, I have decided to make a brief summary of the important information to pay attention about this subject and posted on here. 

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KEY STAGE 4 – YEARS 10-11 

 
1.Aims 
In Key Stage 4, students in Montessori School 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 and distribution of a selection of contrasting physical and human environments; 
3. To develop an understanding of some of the processes affecting the development of such environments; 
4. To develop an understanding of the spatial effects of the ways in which people interact with each other and with their environments; 
5. To develop an understanding of different communities and cultures throughout the world and an awareness of the contrasting opportunities and constraints presented by different environments.

 
2. Syllabus outline 
All students will follow the same teaching syllabus, based on the exam syllabus.

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 3 or 4 x 50 minute 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 (ISBN 0 19 831836 7). 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 will be tests at the end of most teaching units and formal examinations in June of Year 10 and in January of Year 11. All students will enter for Paper 1, Paper 2 and Paper 4 (Alternative to Coursework).