Teaching of Geography in S2 has been through a thorough revision to reflect an increased concentration on global issues and developing global citizenship. Four units will be taught, each lasting approximately seven hours although there is some flexibility as the teaching of Natural Hazards and Disasters will take slightly longer. The four units have been tentatively fixed as shown below but there is the flexibility to respond to matters of current interest – in 2009/2010, for instance, short units on the climate change conference in Copenhagen and on World Cup geography were taught.
- extreme weather – with changes in the global climate, the likelihood of extreme weather events occurring around the world is increasing. We look at the distribution of hurricanes, tornadoes and floods and their effects on people using up-to-date case studies
- China – in collaboration with Modern Studies, History and Business Education we look at one of the most discussed country in the world. In geography we concventrate on the physical landscape of the country and the problems this causes for its people. We will also be looking at the Chinese contribution to climate change and some of the world-leading ideas the country is introducing to combat it
- natural disasters – studies of extreme weather and climate change lead naturally (although, in some cases, surprisingly) into other extreme events such as earthquakes and volcanoes, particularly their effects on developing countries. Case studies use well-known events such as the eruption of Mount St Helens and the Asian tsunami as well as new incidents as and when they occur
- rich world, poor world – it is important young people begin to develop an understanding of their world by S2 and learn about why some countries are economically developed while others are not. Developing global citizenship means we highlight the positive nature of many countries, especially those in Africa, as well as the more commonly discussed negative aspects.
While these are the four major components of the S2 geography course we keep some leeway in the programme to respond to events such as World Aids Day and geographical happenings in the news. Fieldwork is being increasingly developed as part of the S2 course where possible and we look to develop the use of geographical technologies begun in S1.
