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Geography

Geography is concerned with the real world – past, present and future. Geography is a flexible subject that should attract those who want to maintain strong links with the real world. It is a dynamic and ever changing subject.

The Geography curriculum at Fort Pitt has been totally revamped. This has brought the curriculum up to date, to include topics relevant to the lives of our students, both now and in the future.

Subject Leader: Miss N Smith (nsmith@fortpitt.medway.sch.uk)

Curriculum Content

Key Stage 3

Year 7

  • Polar climates: looking at the future of the Arctic and Antarctic, and whether we should protect it or mine for natural resources.
  • Development: pupils will investigate why some countries are richer than others, taking into consideration the rise of a new superpower, the BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China).
  • Water on the land: looking at the water cycle, flooding and flood protection.
  • Map work: looking at how to read height, direction, scale and grid references.

Year 8

  • Tourism: exploring issues of mass tourism vs. ecotourism.
  • Kenya: a look at the different Kenyan tribes, tribal culture and how the lives of tribespeople are changing.
  • Restless Earth: looking at the structure of the Earth, continental drift, earthquakes and volcanoes.
  • Tomorrow’s citizens: looking at ways of producing sustainable energy and waste.

Key Stage 4

Exam Board: Edexcel B

Year 9 Year 10 Year 11
Restless Earth Coastal Change & Conflict Consuming Resources
Climate & Change Extreme Climates Globalisation
Battle for the Biosphere Population Dynamics Development Dilemmas
Water World Controlled assessment The Challenges of an Urban World
Decision-making skills Decision-making skills The Changing Economy of the UK
Decision Making Skills
Unit 3 Decision making exercise   25% Unit 4 Controlled assessment    25%
This unit investigates current issues; this year it is the sustainability of the Olympics.  Pupils will learn how to evaluate evidence and use a variety of sources to make an informed decision that can be supported by specific and factual reasons. Pupils will be taken to Pett Level and Fairlight Cove to conduct a range of fieldwork methods to test a chosen hypothesis.  Pupils will then use a variety of methods and graphical techniques to display their findings, analyse them and come to a well informed conclusion

Key Stage 5 – A Level

Exam Board: Edexcel

Year 12 unit 1 Year 12 unit 2 Year 13 unit 3 Year 13 unit 4
Going Global Rebranding Places Contested planet Geographical Research-
Globalisation Coastal Change & Extreme Weather Energy Security Tectonic Processes
Migration & Population Change Superpowers Pollution & Human Health
World at Risk Bridging the Development Gap
Hazards Biodiversity under Threat
Climate change The Technological Fix

Geography is not just a subject to learn in the classroom.  Fort Pitt believes strongly in learning beyond the curriculum, and within Geography we give pupils the opportunity to investigate coastal flooding and erosion at Pett Level and Fairlight Cove (near Hastings).  A-level pupils have the opportunity to attend a residential fieldwork course at Box Hill in Surrey.

Fort Pitt Geography department will equip your daughter not only with good subject knowledge and confidence but many transferable skills that can be applied across the curriculum and in the workplace.