Term 1: Climate Change: What is the future for our planet?
In this unit, we will explore the controversial issue of climate change. We will ask many questions to help us to better understand what is happening to our planet. What is it and does it matter? If it does, is there anything we can do? What is our own carbon footprint? How can we reduce the impact of global warming?
Students are provided with the opportunity to explore the answers to these important questions as well as identifying the groups of people most at risk and considering some strategies for dealing with these.
The unit assessment will be in the form of a multiple-choice questions and short answers. Part of the assessment will be focused an image or graph.
Focus on the following: The world's poorest people are most at risk from the impacts of climate change. How far do you agree? Marked out of 25.
Deforestation
The removal of trees or vegetation from an area to access the land or resources.
Greenhouse Effect
The trapping of the sun's warmth in a planet's lower atmosphere, due to the greater transparency of the atmosphere to visible radiation from the sun than to infrared radiation emitted from the planet's surface.
Greenhouse Gases
A gas that contributes to the greenhouse effect by absorbing infrared radiation. Carbon dioxide and chlorofluorocarbons are examples of greenhouse gases.
Carbon Dioxide
A colourless, odourless gas produced by burning carbon and organic compounds and by respiration. It is naturally present in air (about 0.03 per cent) and is absorbed by plants in photosynthesis.
Methane
A colourless, odourless, flammable gas that is the simplest hydrocarbon. It is the major constituent of natural gas and is released during the decomposition of plant or other organic compounds, as in marshes and coal mines.
Nitrous Oxide
A colourless gas produced through intensive farming and the use of fertilisers.
Drought
A prolonged period of abnormally low rainfall, leading to a shortage of water.
Flooding
Cover or submerge with water; usually caused by high levels of rainfall.
Local Actions, Global Effects
A small action such as switching on a light, releases greenhouse gases which affects many people globally.
Fossil Fuels
A natural fuel such as coal or gas, formed in the geological past from the remains of living organisms.
Develop the individual:
Learning to work with each other in a supportive manner.
Create a supportive community:
Working with others effectively and appreciating each other's opinions and differences. Engaging in debates related to global news stories within the media.
Term 2: Urbanisation
Urbanisation has changed the way the UK looks. Looking back to the Industrial Revolution we will be tracking the changes of some of the greatest cities in the UK - with a focus on the development of Manchester.
Why have people moved from rural villages to towns and cities? We will be assessing the advantages and disadvantages of living in an urban area. We will also be looking at some of the big challenges facing the ever-growing cities. Can we make urban living more sustainable and environmentally friendly?
This unit assessment focuses on the knowledge taught. It will also include the completion of a graph as well as annotating or interpreting photographs.
Regeneration
To bring new and more vigorous life to (an area, industry, institution, etc.); revive, especially in economic terms.
Rural Area
An area of countryside, people live on farms or in small villages.
Urban Area
A built up area, people live in towns or cities.
Urbanisation
The movement of people to towns and cities, increasing their size due to rural - urban migration.
Push Factor
Something that encourages people to leave an area, such as lack of available jobs.
Pull Factor
Something that encourages people to move to an area, such as a good availability of jobs.
Slums
An overcrowded area of poorly built housing on the edge of large cities in developing countries.
Urban Decline
The deterioration of the inner city cause by lack of investment and maintenance.
Sustainability
Something that can be carried out into the future without harming people's quality of life, the economy or the environment.
Self-help
Schemes which provide local people with skills and materials so they can improve their own homes and quality of life.
Develop the individual:
Exploring personal beliefs and opinions about the challenges posed when cities grow, particularly related to the idea of inequality.
Create a supportive community:
Open discussions in a supportive environment, as well as working together as a groups to draw conclusions and evaluate different ideas.
Term 3: Changing Coasts
In this unit, we will learn how and why our coastline is changing and why it looks so different in different parts of the UK. Through case studies, we will become experts at explaining coastal erosion and learning to empathise with the different interest groups faced with a rapidly retreating coastline.
The unit assessment will be in the form of multiple-choice questions and short answers focusing on knowledge and a longer answer focused on the issue of coastal management. There will also be a question based around an OS Map Extract. Marked out of 25.
Deposition
Water (river, glacier or waves) lays down or drops the sediment or material that it is carrying such as sand, mud, and small stones or sticks. This often happens in areas of low energy, because the water is flowing slowly.
Erosion
The wearing away, in this case by water and rocks constantly breaking down the surrounding rock or soil.
Longshore Drift
Longshore drift consists of the transportation of sediments (clay, silt, sand and shingle) along a coast at an angle to the shoreline, which is dependent on prevailing wind direction, swash and backwash.
Tides
The rise and fall of the sea level, mostly due to the gravitational pull of the Moon.
Transport
The movement of sediment by the waves.
Wavecut Platform
A landform of erosion found between the high and low water mark.
Headland
Land that juts out into the sea.
Stack
A lone pillar or rock that has been left after the headland has been eroded.
Stump
The remnants of a collapsed stack.
Spit
A landform of deposition, a stretch of land that sticks out into the sea.
Develop the individual:
An appreciation of different coastal environments, as well as the threat that coastal erosion poses to different communities.
Create a supportive community:
An understanding of the management of coastal communities and why some areas are left unprotected as a result of government decisions. This helps to foster empathy for affected communities.
Term 4: An unequal world
In this unit, we will focus on inequality on a local and global scale. Looking at health, food and energy inequality. Case studies will be used to understand how these inequalities affect people and their lives, as well as what can be done to resolve the issues leading to inequality.
Vegetation
The collective term for plants.
Ecosystem
A biological community made up of living organisms and their environment.
Biome
A large ecosystem, such as the Tropical Rainforest
Decomposer
An organism, often a bacterium or fungus, that feeds on and breaks down dead plant or animal matter, making organic nutrients available to the ecosystem.
Nutrient
A substance that provides nourishment, needed for life and growth.
Rainforest
A biome made of lush vegetation, with many different species of plants and animals.
Arctic Tundra
A cold biome where the ground is frozen; only the surface thaws in the Summer allowing small plants to grow.
Deciduous Forest
A biome where the trees lose their leaves in the Winter, such as in the UK.
Desert
A hot and dry biome with very little rain all year, very few plants and animals survive here.
Biodiversity
The range of plant and animal species.
Desertification
When fertile land becomes like a desert due to overuse or drought.
Degradation
the decline of an area due to activities such as deforestation.
Develop the individual:
Create a supportive community:
This unit will allow pupils to appreciate the impacts that the products they enjoy have on the environment as well as the people involved in their production.
Term 5: Focus on China
As the country with the biggest population in the world, we will be investigating the growth of China.
How is the country able to provide enough resources for its people? What have been the challenges that the government have had to overcome?
Why is renewable energy so very important to the Southwest Region of China?
Part of this unit will be a student-led independent enquiry, with a range of questions to investigate to choose from.
An end of year synoptic exam, covering elements from all topics including Coasts. This will be a mixture of questions including multiple-choice, definitions, short 2-4 mark GCSE style questions and longer answers one of which with a focus on Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar.
Republic
A country that does not have a King, Queen or Emperor.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
The total amount of money made by a country in a year by its population, measured in US Dollars ($).
Poverty
The state of being extremely poor.
Exporter
A country which sells goods or services to other countries.
Megalopolis
A very large urban area made of a chain of built-up areas.
Hukou System
In China you have rural or urban hukou status, depending on where you were born. If your hukou is rural, you don't have full rights in the city.
Endangered
When so few species exist that it is in danger of extinction, for example snow leopards.
Plateau
A high area of land that is flat, often found in mountain ranges,
Nomads
A member of a people that travels from place to place to find land fro grazing animals. No permanent home.
Permafrost
Permafrost is found beneath much of Siberia in eastern Russia. Permafrost is frozen ground that remains at or below 0°C for two or more years.
Develop the individual:
This unit will help to develop an appreciation of China and its range of cultural influences.
Create a supportive community:
Understanding of different global cultures and ways of life.
Term 6: Weather and Climate
In this unit, we will be getting to grips with the weather!
Have you ever wondered why it rains and where all the rainwater goes?
Why, when the weather here is great, is it often great for five or more days in a row?
Why does the Caribbean have a much nicer climate than ours? These are some of the questions our Year 8's will find answers to in this unit. Students will carry out their own micro-climate enquiry, and analyse the data from our very own “weather station”.
An end of year synoptic exam, covering elements from all topics studied. This will be a mixture of questions including multiple-choice, definitions, short 2-4 mark GCSE style questions, decision making exercises and longer answers, one of which with a focus on Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar.
Temperature
How hot of cold it is, in Degrees Celsius.
Precipitation
The movement of water from the atmosphere to the ground often as rain.
Air Pressure
The force pressing down on us due to the weight of the atmosphere.
Wind Speed
The speed at which the air moves, measures in mph.
Wind Direction
Where the wind blows from.
High Pressure
A condition of the atmosphere in which the pressure is above average (e.g. in an anticyclone).
Low Pressure
A condition of the atmosphere in which the pressure is below average (e.g. in a depression).
Visibility
The distance one can see as determined by light and weather conditions.
Warm Front
The boundary of an advancing mass of warm air, in particular the leading edge of the warm sector of a low-pressure system.
Cold Front
The boundary of an advancing mass of cold air, in particular the trailing edge of the warm sector of a low-pressure system.
Develop the individual:
This helps the individual to appreciate the impact of large scale weather events occurring here in the UK and abroad.
Create a supportive community:
Empathising with people affected by large scale weather events, both here in UK and abroad.