GCSE Geography

OVERVIEW

This course develops a student's understanding of how places and landscapes are formed; how people and environments interact; what consequences arise from our everyday decisions; and what a diverse range of cultures and societies exist and interconnect. It also introduces students to distinctive investigative tools such as maps, fieldwork and the use of powerful digital communication technologies.

Examination board: AQA
Course title: GCSE Geography
Three written examinations
Papers are untiered

THE DETAILS

At the beginning of the course in Year 10, students will explore a wide range of concepts focusing on developing skills needed for the GCSE. The introduction to the course will have a distinct focus on decision making exercises, a key skill still needed within the GCSE. After completing this introductory study, the students will follow the GCSE specification which is broken down into three units:

Living with the Physical Environment

The main focus of this unit is physical geography. Students will first explore Natural Hazards with a comprehensive overview of both tectonic and climatic hazards. Students will move on to exploring the rivers and coastlines of the UK and finish with an in-depth study of rainforests and deserts of the world.

Challenges in the Human Environment

Within this unit, students discover urban issues and challenges exploring cities in both HICs and LICs. Studies move on to exploring the changing economic world and looking at the development of a country within Africa. This unit finishes with the challenge of resource management, focusing on energy security across the globe.

Geographical Application

This unit focuses on the examination of students' human and physical fieldwork and development of their decision-making skills. In March of Year 11, a pre-released booklet is issued centred on one of the topics from paper 1 and 2. Students take an in-depth study of the content of this pre-released material and are asked to make a decision.