A' Level Geography at

Belper School

Geography.pdf

Preparing for A Level Geography

At Belper School we follow the OCR A Level. You will have three examined units and one NEA (Non-Examined Assessment) i.e. an independent geographical investigation.

The three examined units in the OCR A Level Geography are:

Unit 1 - Physical Systems
Unit 2 - Human Interactions
Unit 3 - Geographical Debates

We have put the following together for you for you to start doing some reading round the topics we will be covering across the two years. For each topic, we have given a brief overview and then some starting points, with examples of reading and video links for you to follow up.

If you want a particular starting point, in the September of Year 12 we start with Coastal Systems and Changing Places, Making Spaces.

If you have any questions whilst exploring the following please do not hesitate to contact us.

UNIT 1 - PHYSICAL SYSTEMS

At Belper School, we cover the following two topics for Unit 1.

Topic 1 - Coastal Landscapes

In this unit you will explore how earth surface processes, shape coastal landscapes with the aid of transfers of energy and movements of material. The unit explores inter-relationships in the coastal system, how they change over time and issues associated in managing them.

Starting points…

Video: Here is a link to several brief introductory videos that we will refer back to throughout the course:

timeforgeography.co.uk/videos_list/coasts/

Reading: Introductory Reading (Coasts)

Topic 2 - Earth’s Life Support Systems - Water and the Carbon Cycle

Water and carbon are fundamental to supporting life on earth and are hence regarded as ‘earth’s life support systems. Water and carbon are cycled in both open and closed systems between the land, oceans and the atmosphere. The processes in the water and carbon cycles are inter-related. Human activity is increasingly threatening and altering water and carbon cycles for example through deforestation, ocean acidification, desertification etc. It is important that we look at global and national solutions to protect these.

Starting points…

Reading: Water and Carbon Cycling (Royal Geographical Society) – this is an excellent starting point / content overview for the water and carbon work that we will be looking athttps://www.rgs.org/CMSPages/GetFile.aspx?nodeguid=6dc9f1c1-f92d-4c04-9f85-9985844a6a79&lang=en-GB
Reading: Introduction to the Carbon Cyclehttps://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/ecology/biogeochemical-cycles/a/the-carbon-cycle
Reading: Introduction to the Water Cyclehttps://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/ecology/biogeochemical-cycles/a/the-water-cycle

UNIT 2 – HUMAN INTERACTIONS

At Belper School, we follow the OCR A Level specification and we cover the following topics for Unit 2.

Changing Places, Making Spaces

This unit explores the relationships and connections between people, the economy and society and their contributing to placemaking (i.e. creating places). The unit explores the meanings and representations attached to places and how place making takes place at a variety of scales. It explores places from a local to global level.

Starting points…

Interactive: Changing Spaces, Making Places – a good story map introduction – work your way through https://focusschoolwilto.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?appid=f10c512164d0498d8f3bcfad8ae61d39
Reading: Changing Spaces- Making Places – a good starting point readhttps://pmt.physicsandmathstutor.com/download/Geography/A-level/Notes/OCR/Changing-Spaces-Making-Places/Set-A/Notes%20on%20Changing%20Places,%20Making%20Places%20-%20OCR%20Geography%20A-level.pdf

Global Connections

The focus of the global connection’s topics is exploring global processes and flows and their impact on people places and institutions. This will help you start to understand how the world around you is shaped, its complexities and the issues that arise. It is broken up into (i) Global Systems and (ii) Global Governance. We will cover one of the optional topics under each heading.

Global Systems: Global Migration (Option B)

At Belper School we follow the Global Migration option for the Global Systems part of the Global Connections Topic. You will explore contemporary patterns of migration and understand why it has become increasingly complex. You will also be exploring the issues associated with unequal flows of global migration.

Starting points…

Reading: Introduction to Migration short notes)https://www.tutor2u.net/geography/reference/introduction-to-migration
Reading: Global Migration – a good starting point readhttps://pmt.physicsandmathstutor.com/download/Geography/A-level/Notes/OCR/Global-Migration/Set-A/Notes%20on%20Global%20Migration%20-%20Geography%20A-level.pdf
Video: Escape to Europe: The migrant’s story – BBC Newsnight https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZqdUBpHmhM
Video: The truth about immigration in the UK 2014 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHplEJgevqM
Video: Immigration: Is Britain Getting Full? https://www.channel4.com/programmes/jon-snow-explains/on-demand/61877-004
Video: Between Borders – America’s migrant crisis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxF0t-SMEXA
Video: Fleeing Climate Change – The real environmental disaster (forced migration due to climate change) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl4Uv9_7KJE

Global Governance: Powers and Borders

At Belper School, we follow the Powers and Borders for the Global Governance part of the Global Connections Topic. You will explore what is meant by sovereignty and territorial integrity? What are the contemporary challenges to sovereign state authority? The role of global governance in conflict and how effective is global governance of sovereignty of territorial integrity?

Starting points…

UNIT 3 – GEOGRAPHICAL DEBATES

The third unit of the A Level explores some of the most pertinent and dynamic issues that our planet faces. The focus is to give you an opportunity to explore in detail two topic areas in which you gain an understanding of the interactions between people and the environment. There are a number of key concepts which underpin the topics, including inequality, mitigation and adaptation, sustainability, risk, resilience and threshold. By exploring the literature and scientific understanding you will gain your own ideas and opinions to enable you to develop your own arguments with regards to the key issues in these topic areas

Topic 3.1 – Climate Change

“Climate Change is considered by many to be the planet’s greatest threat” (OCR). This is one of the topics we study at St Ivo for Unit 3 – Geographical Debates. We will explore the earth’s variations in climate from the geographical past through to the present day. We will also look at the ways in which natural and human factors have influenced these changes. We will consider and explore the debates that exist around the issue as well as looking at examples of how the impacts of climate change are already being felt. We will also consider a range of potential mitigation and adaptation strategies as we face the uncertainty of the earth’s ability to cope and explore whether an international response to the issue can ever work.

Starting points…

Video: Climate Change the Facts – David Attenboroughhttps://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m00049b1/climate-change-the-facts
Video: Panorama – Climate Change: What can we do?https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0009drg/panorama-climate-change-what-can-we-do
Video: The Disarming case to act right now climate change – Greta Thunberg (TED TALK)https://www.ted.com/talks/greta_thunberg_the_disarming_case_to_act_right_now_on_climate_change
Reading: Climate Change – The Guardian have an excellent section on Climate Change which is frequently updated with articles and is well worth dipping intohttps://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-change
Reading: Climate Change – The Conversation – a wealth of articles – frequently updated – highly recommended! https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/climate-change-27

Topic 3.5 Hazardous Earth

At Belper School, we follow the Hazardous Earth option as part of Unit 3. We explore how our understanding has evolved with regards to the seismic and volcanic activity that we experience through the movement of the earth’s tectonic plates. We look at how these tectonic processes have shaped our world and created new landforms, helping to support life on earth. We also explore the potential impact of the hazards associated with earthquakes and volcanoes and how as technology has developed we have improved our ability to predict and mitigate, whilst considering reasons for the variation in risks associated with hazards both spatially and over time. We will be looking at the concepts of risk and resilience and how these can be managed at various levels and to various degrees of success.

Starting points…

Video: Power of the Planet (Volcanoes) https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5af4kg - a great introduction to the work we will be doing on volcanoes.
Reading: Plate Tectonics (The Geological Society) – this will be a good step up from your GCSE work to A Level and is definitely worth reading / working through https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/Plate-Tectonics
USGS Natural Hazards – FAQ https://www.usgs.gov/faq/natural-hazards – some excellent reading here in bitesize chunks – well worth exploring

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