Syllabus = OCR 1986 Geography

Studying Geography at GCSE is learning for life. It helps you to understand the world in which you live and enables you to make informed comments about what is happening in the world today. Geography studies environments, both natural and manmade, and how people live in them. It explains the location of places and people's activities in these places. Geography encourages us to care for people and the places where they live.

Quotes by recent GCSE geography students include:

I'll remember our field trip for the rest of my life! (Year 10)

I had so much fun. I learnt a lot and was never bored! (Year 10)

It was one of the best school trips ever! (Year 10)

The world is constantly changing and it helps you to make sense of those changes.

Geography is a subject that combines well with most other subjects as it bridges the Arts and Sciences and gives flexibility for further education.

Course content

During the course you will gain knowledge and understanding about the various topics detailed below. As you study them you will learn a variety of skills which will be useful to you in many different aspects of academic study and everyday life. These will include selecting data from a variety of sources including censuses, maps at a variety of scales, graphs, photographs, satellite images and information stored in an IT format. During our Lake District Field Course you will also collect data by interviewing, land use mapping, measuring, field sketching and questionnaires. You will learn how to interpret the data you have selected. The field course gives you the opportunity to experience Geography at first hand. It is complemented by local fieldwork in Year 11.

The four main topics we study are: the physical processes of rivers, coasts and plate tectonics and how these processes affect and are affected by human activity; the way in which the world’s population is changing, as people’s values and attitudes change; the nature of settlements, both rural and urban; the nature of economic activities such as farming and industry and how and why these differ according to the state of development of the country; the environmental costs of meeting people’s needs for development and how we can manage delicate environments in order to safe-guard them for future generations.

Teaching and Assessment

our lessons will vary in the way they are taught but during the course you will have to put together a good set of notes, many of which you will record with help from your teacher. These will aid your revision at the end of the course.

You will have to complete a piece of coursework, approximately 2500 words, which is worth 25% of the final examination mark. You will have to collect data, using skills learnt from fieldwork, to find the answer to a question which you will be given. You will have to decide the best ways to present your data and then write up what you have found out and suggest reasons for your findings. You will improve your knowledge of software programmes as you complete your coursework, with specific marks set aside for the use of ICT. You will be given help and support to complete this work.

At the end of the course you will have to take two examinations: one assesses the skills you have learnt and the other tests your knowledge and understanding of the main topics you have covered. You can take these exams at either Higher or Foundation Level according to your ability.