Geography
KS3
Welcome to the Geography Department at Cefn Hengoed Community School
DEPARTMENTAL AIMS
1. To engage pupils in an intellectually challenging, relevant and interesting study of the subject.
2. To encourage responsible behaviour through pupils working individually and together.
3. To increase pupils' knowledge and understanding of the world in which they live.
4. To help pupils recognise the relationships between people and their environment.
5. To foster a better understanding of different communities and cultures both within our own society and elsewhere in the world.
6. To enable pupils to make an informed contribution to modern society and the issues that it faces.
7. To develop the key skills of communication, application of number, ICT, thinking and improving own learning.
8. To prepare pupils so that they may succeed to the best of their ability in examinations.
KEY STAGE 3 INTORDUCTION
At Key Stage 3, learners build on the knowledge, understanding and skills that they have already acquired at Key Stage 2. Geography develops and stimulates learners’ interest and fosters a sense of wonder about the variety of places and the complexity of the world. Through a study of Wales, Europe, other countries, different environments and issues in the news, learners extend their locational knowledge and understanding of how processes shape both natural and human landscapes. They carry out investigations, use maps, gather data, and analyse and synthesise information. They apply their knowledge and skills to explain relationships between places and patterns of activity at a range of scales from local to global. Learners are encouraged to make informed judgments about everyday issues and develop and reflect on their own views and opinions. They develop an understanding of why countries are interdependent, how people interact with their environments and the importance of sustainability. They are encouraged to develop a sense of responsibility for the environment and their role as global citizens.
THEMES
Year 7
- Geography Loves Food
- How Can Maps Help Me?
- Geography Loves Sport
- Epic Cymru
- Geography In The News
Year 8
- Breaking Rocks
- Raging Rivers
- Hideous Hazards
- China China
- Happy Holidays
Year 9
- The Problem With People
- Geografilm
- Environmental Enquiry
- Celebraphy
- Terrific Trees
GEOGRAPHICAL SKILLS AT KEY STAGE 3
Locating places, environments and patterns
1. identify and locate places and environments using globes, atlases, and maps, e.g. use co-ordinates and four-figure references
2. follow directions, estimate and calculate distances, e.g. follow map and ground routes, calculate map-to-ground distances
3. use maps, imagery and ICT to find and present locational information, e.g. draw sketch maps using symbols and keys. Interpret maps, and photographs including oblique, aerial and satellite images
4. identify and describe the spatial patterns (distributions) of places and environments and how they are connected, e.g. a line of towns in a valley, the pattern of areas affected by a tsunami.
Understanding places, environments and processes
1. identify and describe natural and human features, e.g. weather conditions, types of buildings
2. identify similarities and differences to describe, compare and contrast places and environments
3. describe the causes and consequences of how places and environments change, e.g. by season; from past to present, the need for sustainability.
Investigating
1. observe and ask questions about a place, environment or a geographical issue, e.g. Why does it flood? How and why is our village changing?
2. measure, collect and record data through carrying out practical investigations and fieldwork, and using secondary sources, e.g. use instruments to measure rainfall, use GIS, design questionnaires
3. organise and analyse evidence, develop ideas to find answers and draw conclusions, e.g. use a data spreadsheet, compare weather data.
Communicating
1. express own opinions and be aware that people have different points of view about places, environments and geographical issues, e.g. about wind farms, fair trade
2. make decisions about geographical issues by distinguishing between fact and opinion and considering different arguments, e.g. a traffic problem
3. communicate findings in a variety of ways, e.g. using geographical terms, annotated photographs, maps, diagrams, or ICT.
