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In a world where global warming ruins lives; deforestation ruins landscapes; discrimination blocks people from being treated as actual people, Geography is a powerful subject in spreading awareness on this. It is a gateway into understanding the world around us and why it is the way it is. Only a handful of subjects can actually do that. At Westminster Academy, Geography pioneers this, with many lessons teaching students on global issues around the world.
Let me tell you how.
The Geography curriculum is meticulously planned so that every two terms, you learn about a new continent. In Year 7, you spend the first two terms learning about Europe. We learn about the many troubles of Europe, like the troubles of living on European coastlines in countries such as the Netherlands, which will be almost entirely underwater by 2030. We also learn about volcanoes in Iceland and their possible dangers such as Fagradalsfjall (pictured), Eyjafjallajökull, Snæfellsjökull, Herðubreið, Ódáðahraun and Theistareykjarbunga – no, I did not bash my head on the keyboard, yes, those are real names, I challenge you to pronounce them :)
For the next two terms, you learn about Oceania (or Australasia if you call it that). We learn about the challenges of the Australian Outback, and for the people living there and of the discrimination of the native and indigenous populations. We delve deeper into the Australian Aboriginals community and the Torres Strait Islander people (both of their flags pictured), and how they may face challenges. We also discover about the Maori of New Zealand and their world-famous Haka dance. Finally, we also learn about the beautiful Great Barrier Reef and surrounding coral reefs of Oceania, and how pollution poses a threat to them.
In the final two terms of Year 7, we learn of South America. Straight away, within the first couple of lessons, we were taught about the climates of the continent and the Amazon rainforest (pictured). If you didn’t know, the Amazon is currently experiencing a large amount of deforestation, which is bad for the environment since trees absorb a lot of carbon dioxide (CO2). It’s also bad for the tribes living there, such as the Awa (which we learn about). We also learn about the uneven development of Brazil, and the troubles of gang violence and slums in Rio de Janeiro.
Moving on to Year 8, the first two terms were spent on learning about Africa. We break down stereotypes of Africa in the first few lessons, debunking myths such as “Africa is a country”; “The whole place is a dessert” and “Everyone is poor there” (in case you couldn’t tell, none of that is true). However, we do learn about the troubles that Africa faces, such as drought and youthful populations, and how they deal with that. During this topic, we also learn about the Maasai (pictured), San and the Amazigh (also spelt Imazighen), each living in the game reserves of Kenya and Tanzania; southern Africa and the Maghreb, respectively. We learn of how they live their lives, and about their culture and languages. We also touched on the horrors of colonialism and how before that, much of Africa was extremely rich, such as Mansa Musa of the Mali Empire. We finally learn about how African nations are affected by climate change, but how they also succeed in mitigating it and being sustainable. This also connects with what we learn about in History, as we study African Empires.
Finally, at the time of writing this, we are learning about North America. So far, we have learnt about the various climates of the continent and how glaciers in Greenland (pictured), Nunavut, Northern Territories, Yukon and Alaska face a threat to the planet as it warms, causing glacial retreat and rising sea levels.
As I have mentioned at the start, Geography helps us understand why the world is the way it is, in both the good and bad ways, and how we can fix it. This is what is great about Geography. This is one of the many reasons why I chose to be a prefect in this subject, and why it is my favourite.
Without Geography, we would have no idea of any of this.
That’s all for now.
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