Geography

Year 8

Subject: Geography

Unit 1a: Brazil

During the first part of this term students will embark on a country study of Brazil. Here they will look at all aspects of the human and physical Geography of the country. This will include economic development and how we make judgements about this. It will also include a detailed study of the contrasts in the quality of life of people in Rio de Janeiro.

The main assessment tasks will include a written comparison of the lives of people in the Favela areas of Rio de Janeiro and the edge city of Barra Di Tijuca.

Unit 1b: The Rainforest Ecosystem
This unit is about the fragile rainforest ecosystem. Within the unit learners are encouraged to understand the unique structure of the rainforest and how it has developed nutrient cycles for survival. They will explore how they are currently used and the potential uses in the future. They will consider reasons why there is a difficult balance between exploiting the resources it contains for the benefit of the Brazilian people and the global implications of its development. They will also consider how future developments may be planned in a sustainable way.

The main assessment tasks will be a written test as well as a group task on a development project in the rainforest.

Unit 2: Do we have equal rights to resources? Water.

This is unit about water resource use, conflict and management. Within this unit learners are encouraged to understand the consequences of their own use of water and appreciate how important it is to manage this essential resource. They contrast their own experiences with those living in the Middle East where access to a constant and clean water supply provides a challenge. They are given opportunities to decide for themselves how they would manage water in the future and make informed decisions on their personal water consumption.

The main assessment will be a decision making exercise.

During this unit students will study the differences between leisure and tourism industries. They will look locally at the variety of leisure facilities available in Jersey, as well as looking at trends in tourism across the UK. Tourism as an industry can be both good and bad for destinations, and a sustainable approach to use in the future is important. All these aspects will be explored.
The main assessment task will be a PowerPoint presentation to discuss for positive and negative aspects of tourism for a place that they have visited.

During this unit students will study the weather. They will learn how different elements of the weather are measured and recorded, how the hydrological cycle works in order to answer the question ‘why does it rain?’ They will explore the difference between weather and climate and see where different climate zones are in the world.
Students will also explore issues surrounding our current changeable weather patterns and how they link into current theories of global climate change.

The main assessment task will be based around a homework project and climate change based essay.

All units will be assessed in the end of year examinations.