GEOGRAPHY - LEVEL 3 (EDEXCEL)

From September we are offering students the opportunity to study a most exciting and forward thinking Advanced Level Geography course packed full with ideas and issues of tremendous importance in our modern world.  It will appeal to students who have an interest in global issues and who have enjoyed the range of topics they have studied in Geography at Key Stages 3 and 4.  The world we live in is changing; Geography allows us to see how and why it is changing.

AS (Year 12) SYLLABUS OUTLINE:

GLOBAL CHALLENGES is a unit containing two topics called WORLD AT RISK and GOING GLOBAL. It focuses on the enormous challenges facing all human societies at a time of unprecedented global economic progress and potentially catastrophic environmental change. Students will investigate some of the issues and debates facing our world today including global hazards, climate change, globalisation and the migration of population. Assessment is by one 1½ hour exam.

In the second unit called GEOGRAPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS two topics are studied: Crowded Coasts and Rebranding Places. This unit focuses on fieldwork and related research and is assessed by one 1 hour & 15 minute exam.

(Fieldwork will continue to be an important part of A level Geography at Roade and is likely to include both residential and day visits).

A2 (Year 13) SYLLABUS OUTLINE:

The CONTESTED PLANET unit introduces students to key contemporary global issues, and allows them to explore the significance of the issues and examine a range of potential solutions to them. It covers the topics of Energy Security, Water Conflicts, Biodiversity Under Threat, Superpower Geographies, Bridging the Development Gap and The Technological Fix. This section is assessed by one 2½ hour exam.

Although there is no longer any coursework in A level Geography, there is a GEOGRAPHICAL RESEARCH unit where students choose one from a range of subjects to investigate: Tectonic Activity and Hazards; Cold Environments; Life on the Margins – the Food Supply Problem; The World of Cultural Diversity; Pollution and Human Health at Risk; and Consuming the Rural Landscape. Students carry out research into their chosen topic and write about it in a 1½ hour exam.

This course will provide an excellent platform for further study at university as well as opening many career opportunities. Geographers are always in demand because of their wide range of skills, and in particular careers such as architecture, cartography, landscape design, agriculture, environmental health, estate management, nature conservation, archaeology, law, libraries, museums, publishing, business, overseas marketing, leisure and tourism, civil engineering, meteorology, navigation, sport and recreation management, surveying and transport services all have direct links with the subject.

‘Geography is the subject that holds the key to our future’. (Michael Palin)

Who to see for more information

Mrs Scanlan