PAFG Geography Department curriculum overviews
Year 9
Term
Topics
and
Fertile
Question
Key
content
Term 1
The challenge of natural hazards
Natural hazards then Tectonic hazards then
Tropical storms
How have tectonic and climatic processes affected
people and the planet?
1. Introduction to the course.
2. What are natural hazards? (Definition and
types of hazard and factors affecting risk.)
3. Where are earthquakes and volcanoes found?
(Global distribution of earthquakes and volcanic
eruptions.)
4. What happens at plate boundaries? (Processes
at different plate boundaries – constructive,
destructive and conservative.)
5. What were the effects and responses of the
eruption of …? (An LIC/NEE case study of two
countries of contrasting levels of wealth to
show the primary and secondary effects of, and
the immediate and long-term responses to, a
tectonic hazard.)
6. What were the effects and responses of the
eruption of Eyjafjallajokull? (An HIC case study
of two countries of contrasting levels of wealth
to show the primary and secondary effects of,
and the immediate and long-term responses to,
a tectonic hazard.)
7. Why do people live in these hazardous areas?
(Reasons why people continue to live in areas
at risk from tectonic hazards.)
8. How can we monitor, protect and plan for
tectonic hazards? (How monitoring, prediction,
protection and planning can reduce the risks
from a tectonic hazard.)
9. Mid-unit test.
10. Where do tropical storms occur? (Global
distribution of tropical storms (hurricanes,
cyclones, typhoons).)
11. How do tropical storms form? (Conditions
leading to the formation of a tropical storm.)
12. What are the features of a tropical storm? (The
structure and features of a tropical storm.)
13. How might climate change affect tropical
storms? (How climate change might affect the
distribution, frequency and intensity of tropical
storms.)
14. What were the effects of and responses to
Typhoon Haiyan? (A case study of a tropical
storm to illustrate: the primary and secondary
effects and the immediate and long-term
responses.)
Term 2
The challenge of natural hazards
Extreme weather in the UK then Climate change
How are the weather and climate changing?
1. How can we monitor, protect and plan for
tropical storms? (How monitoring, prediction,
protection and planning can reduce the effects
of tropical storms.)
2. End of unit test.
3. How does the UK get its climate? (Types of
weather hazard experienced in the UK.)
4. What are anticyclones and depressions? (Types
of weather hazard experienced in the UK.)
5. What extreme weather does the UK
experience? (Types of weather hazard
experienced in the UK.)
6. How extreme were the storms of 2013/14? (An
example of a recent extreme weather event in
the UK to illustrate: causes; social, economic and
environmental impacts; how management
strategies can reduce risk.)
7. Is UK weather getting more extreme? (Evidence
that weather is becoming more extreme in the
UK.)
8. Mid-unit test.
9. How Earth’s climate already changed?
(Evidence for climate change from the beginning
of the Quaternary period to the present day.)
10. How may the climate have changed naturally?
(Possible causes of climate change: natural
factors – orbital changes, volcanic activity and
solar output)
11. How could humans have caused climate
change? (Possible causes of climate change:
human factors – use of fossil fuels, agriculture
and deforestation.)
12. What is climate mitigation? (Managing the
impacts of climate change: mitigation –
alternative energy production, carbon capture,
planting trees, international agreements.)
13. How can we adapt to climate change?
(Managing the impacts of climate change:
adaptation – change in agricultural systems,
managing water supply, and reducing risk from
rising sea levels.)
14. End of unit test.
Term 3
Physical landscapes in the UK
UK physical landscapes then Glacial landscapes in
the UK
How does the UK’s relief cover a range of diverse
landscapes? Then How has ice shaped the UK?
1. What is the relief of the UK? (UK Physical
Landscapes.)
2. Where are the UK’s major rivers? (UK Physical
Landscapes.)
3. Where is all our ice? (Introduction to glaciers)
4. How do glaciers form? (Glacial formation.)
5. How can ice break rock? (Freeze thaw
weathering.)
6. How do glaciers erode the landscape? (Erosion
– abrasion and plucking.)
7. How do glaciers move sediment? (Movement
and transportation – rotational slumping and
bulldozing.)
8. How do glaciers leave sediment? (Deposition –
why glaciers deposit sediment (till and
outwash).)
9. Mid-unit test.
10. How do corries, aretes and pyramidal peaks
form? (Erosional landforms – corries, arêtes,
pyramidal peaks.)
11. How do glacial valleys form? (Erosional
landforms – truncated spurs, glacial troughs,
ribbon lakes and hanging valleys.)
12. How do erratics, drumlins and moraines form?
(Depositional landforms – erratics, drumlins,
types of moraine.)
13. How can we recognise glaciated features on a
map? (Example of glaciated area in the UK –
Snowdonia/Lake District.)
14. OS skills test.
Term 4
Term 5
Term 6
The changing economic world
The changing economic world
Urban issues and challenges
How do we measure and manage development?
How does the economy of X compare to the UK?
How do different cities compare?
1. What happens in glaciated areas? (Economic
activities in glaciated areas – farming, forestry,
quarrying and tourism.)
2. Should glaciated areas be conserved or
developed? (Conflict over land use and between
conservation and development.)
3. What tourism is there in …..? (Case Study of a
glaciated upland area in the UK used for
tourism.)
4. End of unit test.
5. Is the world simply ‘rich’ and ‘poor’? (Different
ways of classifying parts of the world according
to their level of economic development and
quality of life.)
6. How do we measure development? (Different
economic and social measures of development:
gross national income (GNI) per head, birth and
death rates, infant mortality, life expectancy,
people per doctor, literacy rates, access to safe
water.)
7. How do we calculate the HDI? (Different
economic and social measures of development:
Human Development Index (HDI).)
8. How can we improve our measures of
development? (Limitations of economic and
social measures.)
9. What factors affect development? (Factors
influencing the rate and level of development.)
10. How does uneven development affect lives?
(Consequences of uneven development.)
11. Mid-unit test.
1. What happens when we’re overcrowded? (The
impacts of rapid population growth on quality of
life.)
2. How do investment and aid work? (Managing
disparities in development and quality of life:
investment, aid, using intermediate technology.)
3. How do freetrade, fairtrade and loans work?
(Managing disparities in development and
quality of life: free trade and fairtrade, debt
relief, microfinance loans.)
4. How can we manage the population? (An
example of how managing population change in
one country helps to reduce the development
gap.)
5. Big question needed (An example of how the
growth of tourism in an LIC or NEE helps to
reduce the development gap.)
6. Mid-unit test.
7. (A case study of one LIC or NEE to illustrate:
the changing industrial structure; the balance
between different sectors of the economy; how
manufacturing industry can stimulate economic
development.)
8. (A case study of one LIC or NEE to illustrate:
the role of transnational corporations (TNCs) in
relation to industrial development and
advantages and disadvantages of TNC(s) to the
host country.)
9. (A case study of one LIC or NEE to illustrate:
the changing political and trading relationships
with the wider world
10. (International aid: types of aid, impacts of aid
on the receiving country; the debt crisis and
debt relief)
11. (How economic development is improving the
quality of life for the population.)
12. Mid-unit test.
13. How is the UK economy changing? (Economic
futures in the UK: causes of economic change:
globalisation and government policies, deindustrialisation and decline of traditional
industrial base.)
14. How is the UK economy changing? (Economic
futures in the UK: moving towards a postindustrial economy: development of
information technology, service industries,
finance and research, and science and business
parks.)
15. (Impacts of industry on the physical
environment and an example of how modern
industrial development can be more
environmentally sustainable.)
16. How has the UK developed its infrastructure?
(Economic futures in the UK: improvements
and new developments in road and rail
infrastructure, port and airport capacity.)
17. Why are there regional differences in the UK?
(Economic futures in the UK: the North–South
divide. Strategies used in an attempt to resolve
regional differences.)
1. How is the UK linked to the wider world?
(Economic futures in the UK: the place of the UK
in the wider world. Links through trade, culture,
transport, and electronic communication.
Economic and political links: the European Union
(EU) and Commonwealth.)
2. End of unit test.
3. How has world population changed? (World
population growth.)
4. How are our cities growing? (The global pattern
of urban change. Urban trends in different parts
of the world.)
5. Why are people moving to cities? (Factors
affecting the rate of urbanisation and the
emergence of mega-cities.)
6. (A case study of a major city in an LIC or NEE to
illustrate: the location and importance of the
city, both nationally and internationally; causes
of growth: natural increase and migration.)
7. (Opportunities: social: access to services –
health, education, water supply, energy and
economic: employment, formal and informal
economy.)
8. (Challenges: social and economic: the growth of
squatter settlements, access to clean water and
sanitation systems, poor health, education,
unemployment, crime.)
9. (Challenges: environmental: waste, air and water
pollution, traffic congestion.)
10. (An example of how urban planning is improving
the quality of life for the urban poor.)
11. Mid-unit test.
12. Where do people live in the UK? (Overview of
the distribution of population and the major
cities in the UK.)
13. (A case study of a major city in the UK to
illustrate: the location and importance of the city
in the UK and the wider world; impacts of
national and international migration on the
growth and character of the city.)
14. (Opportunities: social and economic: cultural
mix, recreation and entertainment, employment,
integrated transport systems; environmental:
urban greening.)
15. (Challenges: social and economic: urban decline
and deprivation, inequalities in housing,
education, health and employment.)
16. (Environmental: dereliction, the impact of urban
sprawl on the rural–urban fringe, building on
brownfield and greenfield sites, waste disposal
and atmospheric pollution.)
17. Mid-unit test.