Some initial thoughts about implementing the 2014 Geography National Curriculum for Key Stage 3

1. Ideal Key Stage 3
Key principles:
 Focus on BRIC and MINT countries
 Floating topicality
 Driven by books and writing. Strong Maths focus and geographical data literacy
 Moral dilemmas
 Building skills for future success at exam level and for understanding the world.
Geographical literacy
Year 7
What’s in our geographical
rucksack?
 Amazing Places
 Tour of the world’s places,
exploring what geographers do
and the tools we use.
 Develop literacy and maths in
geography.
 Describing where places are.
 Geographical toolkit
 Research and finding
information about different
places.
 Consolidate places and
knowledge studied at KS2
 Landscape and landscape in a
box
 Introduce the enquiry process.
How well do I
know my
geographical
location?
 GIS
introduction
 OS Maps
 Sense of
Place
 Onsite
fieldwork
‘over the
school
fence’
Geographic
al patterns
 Coastal
geography –
Brighton and
Beachy
Head
 How does
place and
history link?
 Links to
global.
How do I
become an
explorer of the
world?
 Guerrilla
Geography.
 Onsite
fieldwork.
 Asking
questions.
 Planning link.
How does my stuff make
me an automatic
geographer?
 Industry and global
connections.
 Global stereotypes and
location knowledge
 To include Sport, Cotton,
Lego
Why is the Earth
cracking up?
 Soils,
weathering

Extreme
Environments
 Writing about
places.
 Touching the
Void
 Adventure
literature
Year 8
Moving Places
 Development and
health. Why people
move.
 Exploration of
migration in the UK.
 USA / Mexico case
study.
What is the
difference between
weather and
climate?
 Underpins the
Year.
 Onsite fieldwork
India
 Extreme tourism –
mountains and
Everest. Clean up.
 Monsoon
 Flooding in
Bangladesh
How sustainable is
Iceland’s tourism
boom?
 Economic
activity
 Stats
 Bias and
viewpoint
What are the
challenges and
opportunities of
living in Africa?
 Physical
geography of the
continent.
What are the challenges
of living in Africa’s largest
city?
 How can this one minute
manifesto be delivered?

2. Year 9
How does goat poo
raise a country’s
GDP?
 Development
 Measures of
development
 Ways out of poverty.
Restless Earth
Journey to the
Centre of the Earth
 Indonesia
volcanoes.
 Iceland
How is geography
solving crime?
 Aral Sea
 GIS / Local study
Extreme
Environments
Independent
‘Geographical
Investigation’ about a
chosen extreme
environment.
Is China cleaning up
its act?
 Three Gorges
Dam
 Pollution
 Incorporating
River landforms
and land use.
Fracking Hell! Am I an
eco-saint or an eco-
sinner?
 Energy supply and
demand. Russia
 2,000 shades of grey.