The Geography GCSE course follows the WJEC A specification. A copy of the full specification is available here. During Y10 the course covers six topics. A GCSE exam module covering these six topics is taken in June of Y10.

The six topics are (in the order we cover them):

• Changing Populations - This unit focuses on the reasons why people live where they live; the growth of cities in LEDCs and the decline of some cities in MEDCs; the reasons behind migration; and the impact of different birth and death rates in South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Western Europe.

• Water - This focuses on how rivers erode, transport and deposit the material they carry; on the landforms that are created; on how waterfalls can form a tourist attraction; on the physical and human causes of flooding, flood impacts, and the various methods of reducing flood risk.

• Living in an Active Zone - This is all about plate tectonics: how the Earth's crust is divided into plates; what happens at the edges of these plates; how volcanoes and earthquakes happen, their impacts, and how those impacts can be reduced.

• Climate Change - This concentrates on the greenhouse effect; how industry, farming, transport and deforestation may be contributing to the effect; and how strong the evidence is. It also looks at the likely positive and negative effects of climate change on different parts of the planet.

• Development - This unit considers what we mean by 'development' in economic and social terms. It then focuses on the Millenium Development Goals: what they are, why they were set up, what types of organisations can help them to be met, and the progress made in both South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

• Interdependence / Globalisation - This final unit considers the ever growing links between peoples and countries and businesses in our interconnected world. It focuses on the impacts of trade, on the growth of the European Union and on the new economic powers of China and India.

The course is new from September 2009. This page will start of with a few links to support learning about each unit. We hope it will grow as teachers and students find more useful things out there on the internet.

CHANGING POPULATIONS

BBC Bitesize on population.
GeoResources on population.
S-cool on population.

Shantytown game: www.sln.org.uk
Find out about favelas here
Details of life in Rocinha: www.geographyinthenews.rgs.org

Life in an Indian slum: dharavi_slum

Population links at peopleeverywhere.htm
Population basics here
The Demographic Transition Model: www.bbc.co.uk

Background information about Malawi here: www.questconnect.org
Population statistics for Malawi here: www.nationbynation.com and earthtrends.wri.org
The impact of AIDS in Malawi: news.bbc.co.uk

Factfile on Germany's population here: www.populationconnection.org
Germany's aging population: news.bbc.co.uk

The population of the UK: 2001 Census news.bbc.co.uk

Links for the research project
Part 1:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/population/migrationrev1.shtml
http://www.s-cool.co.uk/gcse/geography/populations/migration.html 
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/activities/09/gapacket05.pdf
Part 2:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/population/migrationrev4.shtml
http://www.gatm.org.uk/geographyatthemovies/population.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/5316306.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3496731.stm
http://www.forcedmigration.org/browse/regional/africa.htm

WATER

BBC Bitesize on water.
GeoResources on rivers.
S-cool on rivers.

Download a Powerpoint presentation all about hydrographs: here
Interactive site all about floods and hydrographs.

BBC Newsround Floods.
What was it like to experience the 1993 Mississippi flood? observe.arc.nasa.gov
Flood management on the Mississippi here
Flood defences for Boscastle: news.bbc.co.uk
How did Boscastle cope in 2007? news.bbc.co.uk 
Cumbria floods November 2009

Podcast floods in Bangladesh: geocrest.podomatic.com/
Floods in Mozambique in the year 2000 at news.bbc.co.uk and www.guardian.co.uk
Mozambique floods 2007 – geography repeats itself? news.bbc.co.uk
Oxfam preparing for floods in Nepal: disaster_preparedness.htm

Links for the research project
www.sln.org.uk/trentweb/

www.ontrent.org.uk/

www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Trent

www.environment-agency.gov.uk/flood

www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/getamap/

LIVING IN AN ACTIVE ZONE

BBC Bitesize on plate tectonics.
GeoResources on plate tectonics.
S-cool on tectonics.

Plate tectonics & plate boundaries: www.moorlandschool.co.uk
To find out about earthquakes visit www.ideers.bris.ac.uk
Another site about volcanoes and earthquakes is at restlessearth.htm
Volcanic eruptions at www.georesources.co.uk
BBC Newsround Volcanoes.
BBC Newsround Earthquakes & Tsunami.
Seismic waves: www.forgefx.com
New Zealand’s volcanic zone at aboutvolcanoes.html
Natural hazard links at education.guardian.co.uk

Podcast Mt St Helen’s: geocrest.podomatic.com
Podcast Kobe Earthquake: geocrest.podomatic.com

The Indian Ocean Tsunami: www.nytimes.com
1. Map and summary.
2. BBC News special report.
3. Animated guide to the Tsunami.
4. How did it start and spread?
5. Detailed sets of links: A; B; C; D, E
6. Aerial photos and the impact on Aceh, Indonesia.
7. Stories from tsunami survivors.
8. The effects on various countries: www.guardian.co.uk
9. How has aid been spent to help tsunami hit areas? USAid, Christian Aid, ActionAid and ITDG.
10. Can tsunami warning systems work? And here.
11. Tsunami warning system now up and running: here
12. Wikipedia on the Asian Tsunami.
13. Tsunami videos.
14. What happened after the Tsunami?
15. A newspaper report from two days after the disaster.

How does aid help after natural disasters? www.shelterboxschools.org
Can you build an earthquake proof bridge? www.newbaybridge.org
Stop disasters game! www.stopdisastersgame.org/

CLIMATE CHANGE

S-cool on global warming.

The main ideas about climate change.
A-Z of Climate Change video.
BBC News guide to climate change.

Climate change in the Arctic.

DEVELOPMENT

BBC Bitesize on development.
GeoResources on development.
S-cool on development.

INTERDEPENDENCE / GLOBALISATION

BBC Bitesize on globalisation.
S-cool on globalisation.
S-cool on interdependence.

Toyota in the UK at www.toyotauk.com
Why did Toyota come to Burnaston? www.endon.staffs.sch.uk
Toyota at Burnaston: news.bbc.co.uk

Nike workers and factories at www.nike.com
Boycott Nike factsheets at www.saigon.com

Child labour video presentation: www.ilo.org
Simsweatshop www.simsweatshop.com
BBC child labour news: news.bbc.co.uk
Child workers growing cocoa: news.bbc.co.uk
Child labour in Indian quarries: news.bbc.co.uk
Campaigns for better working conditions in the world clothing industry: www.cleanclothes.org and observer.guardian.co.uk