CURRICULUM CHANGE
KEY STAGE 3 REVIEW
"Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times."
Niccolo Machiavelli
From September, there will be a new KS3 PoS and level descriptors, for teachers to prepare new specifications for 2008 - these will go to QCA in May and be published in their final form in September once the consultation has been taken note of (one hopes). I was involved in the GA's response to the PoS.
We have already decided we are going to trial some new topics from September 2007 onwards, which will trial some new approaches to assessment as well to firm up the data collection for level assessments.
CONTRIBUTIONS
Simon Renshaw, a GA colleague, and Phil Wood, a Pilot sounding board colleague, have already started a place for Leicester teachers to discuss the implications and share ideas at the http://leicestergeog.wordpress.com/
Other local authorities would do well to do the same...
WEBSITES
For example, this post on LIVING GEOGRAPHY might give you some thoughts: http://soarvalleygeography.wordpress.com/living-geography/
NEW TOPICS TO CHOOSE FROM
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OUR PLACE King’s Lynn / Mapskills / Local Investigation Will include a comparison with children in an LEDC to explore cultural diversity and scale Use of GIS Replaces existing Year 7 opener.. |
LANDSCAPES Based on the forthcoming best-selling textbook… Mountains and landscapes and how we interpret and map them. |
FOOTPRINTS Ecological and Carbon footprinting / calculating it and reducing it ! |
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WEATHER & CLIMATE Investigating change – looking at weather in the UK and why it is like it is, as well as longer term Climate Change & weather’s impact on our lives Major climate hazards: WILD WEATHER style: hurricanes and tornadoes. |
WHAT WE BUY MAKES A DIFFERENCE Consumer issues, plus Fairtrade – based on idea of Kenyan roses & changing consumer habits and growth of multiples, possible link with FOOD & Feeding the World Fairtrade event planning |
CRIME
Exploration of perception and actual reality of crime in the local area. Would also cover global terrorism and drugs. |
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GETTING AROUND Transport and its impact. Changing networks. |
WISH YOU WERE HERE ? Tourism and its impacts on the planet. Changing tourist destinations. Space Tourism ? Answers on a postcard… |
CRACKING COASTS Exploring the processes at work on the coast and management issues with a local focus, and possible field visit… |
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INTO AFRICA / CHINA Issues to do with the continent / emerging power and links with KES pupils. Olympics 2008 as a focus. Pace of change. World Cup 2010 |
GEOGRAPHY IN THE NEWS Exploring contemporary stories. Perhaps a strand which will run through the years responding to events: e.g. Kent Equake, Tsunami, Tesco profits… |
WHAT A WASTE Eco-warriors / sustainability. Waste – link with waste audit of school and the footprinting unit…
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MOVING AROUND Migration – tackling some of stereotypes and looking at the various reasons people move and impact it has on places they leave and arrive in. Also a focus on BORDERS as places of conflict. |
MY GEOGRAPHY Development and Cultural diversity. Geography in the media. |
TREMENDOUS TECTONICS Volcanoes and Earthquakes with a focus on process rather than old case studies ? Prediction and prevention…
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GEOGRAPHIES OF GLOBALISATION McDonalds, Nike – global companies and their spread. TNCs / MNCs Fast Food and obesity Loss of identity |
ROCKY RIVERS River processes and landscapes. How we use rivers and pollute them. International issues with rivers. |
A GLOBAL VILLAGE ? Rural vs Urban and redevelopment, with a focus on preparations for Olympics 2012, and a look at Millennium Community in King’s Lynn and future plans. |
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EARNING A LIVING Job and the people that do them. Try to get people to come in and talk about different jobs in each sector. Vocational aspects of Geography – where can it take you ? |
PLANET EARTH Series as an opportunity to explore contrasting biomes: deserts, rainforests and poles. Hot and Cold ? |
ARE EU READY ? The UK in the EU. Issues for the country and the EU – focus on a country: France / Italy ? or one of your choice
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COOL GEOGRAPHY Using the RGS-IBG Antarctica site to explore this Polar region in detail. Existing resources and SoW can be used online and offline. Lots of existing resources. |
GEOGRAPHY OF SPORT Existing scheme, with added materials for global sport and widen focus away from football. |
GEOGRAPHY OF DISEASE Bird Flu / Malaria / spread of disease. Mapping of causes and exploring issues of environmental causality. |
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GEOGRAPHY OF MUSIC Music and place / cross-curricular theme. World music. Music industry. Changing technology. Gnarls Barkley etc. |
POWER TO THE PEOPLE Windmills or Nuclear ? Energy security / energy efficient vehicles |
THE BIG PICTURE A student centred enquiry on a major theme or issue. Fieldwork based ? GIS |
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GEOGRAPHY OF THE FUTURE Explore future climate / water shortages / conflicts / man-made threats. Time capsule of today’s world to leave for the future |
CYBER GEOGRAPHY Production chains of iPod / laptops etc. Shrinking world / global technologies. Make use of some Web 2.0 technologies. Google Earth assessment. |
SYNOPTIC Late in Year 9 – bringing all threads together ? |
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EMOTIONAL GEOGRAPHY Place based unit: places of fear, sentiment and pleasure. Deconstructing space. Affective mapping. Could form part of one of the other units. |
HAZARDOUS EARTH All the hazards you can chuck at them ! |
YOUR IDEAS HERE !! |