Senior School - Geography
Staff
Mr Simon Nash, BA, PGCE
Transition-S2 Courses
Transition
The transition course examines geography at the local and national scale whilst introducing a number of basic geographical skills.
- Map work and Skills
- Geography of Scotland and the UK
- Water as a resource, River Flooding and Management
- Rural v Urban Environments
- Settlement
- Transport
Transition have a fieldtrip in the summer term to investigate settlement and transport patterns.
S1
The scale of enquiry moves from the local scale to a series of studies at the national and regional scale.
- Weather, including fieldwork
- Global climatic zones with detail on hot deserts and the tundra
- Economic activities
- The Physical Landscape and its protection
- Rivers
- Glaciers
- Coasts
- National Parks
- Tourism
- Conservation
The S1 have a fieldtrip in the summer term to investigate Economic activity, tourism and conservation.
S2
The scope of study in S2 progresses to the global scale.
- Plate Tectonics – Earthquakes and Volcanoes
- Development, Trade & Aid – why do countries differ?
- Kenya – an developing nation
- Brazil -The Tropical Rainforest and deforestation
- Japan – an economically developed nation
Where possible, students in S1 and S2 are required to complete project work drawing on contemporary case study material, utilising their IT skills.
S3-S6 Courses:
S3-S4 Standard Grade
Units of Study
- Population
- Urban & Settlement
- Physical Landscapes
- Weather & Climate
- Industry & Agriculture
- Development, Trade & Aid
- Conflicts of Land Use
- International Issues
- Geographical Methods and Techniques
Students are assessed according to their Knowledge and Understanding and Enquiry Skills. To aid their handling of the Enquiry skills questions students are given two fieldwork experiences during the course.
Intermediate 2
The Intermediate 2 course is offered to S5 candidates who did not achieve a Credit pass at Standard grade with the possibility of proceeding to Higher the following year. Three units are studied :
Unit 1- Physical Environments- Glaciation, Limestone, Coasts and Rivers
Unit 2- Human Environments – Population, Urban, Rural and Industry
Unit 3- Environmental Interactions- two topics chosen from
- Rural Land Degradation - River basin management
- European environmental inequalities - Development and Health
- Environmental Hazards
Higher
There are three units:
Unit 1: Physical Core - Atmosphere, Hydrosphere, Lithosphere, Biosphere
Unit 2: Human Core - Population, Rural, Industrial, Urban
Unit 3: Environmental Interactions
- Rural Land Resources
- Urban change and its management
- Development and Health
Geographical skills are assessed as a part of each assessment.
There several field trips through out the course. These included North Yorkshire limestone, Scottish Coasts, Urban and Industrial patterns in Edinburgh.
Advanced Higher
The course is made of three areas of assessment:
Unit 1: Geographical Methods & Techniques, the emphasis on this unit is on fieldwork, statistical analysis and mapping. Accounts for 30% of the course assessed by an examination.
Unit 2: The Geographical Study of 3000 words, this unit develops the skills from Unit 1 into a dissertation. Accounts for 40% of the course.
Unit 3: Geographical Issues - this unit stands alone since it is based around the topics covered in the Higher. Students produce a Critical Investigation essay of 1500-2000 words. Accounts for 30% of the course.
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The students select the topics, with guidance from their teacher, for both the essay and the study. They then work independently to complete them with teacher support and guidance, using the methods and techniques taught in class.
