Swavesey Village College Cambridgeshire 
UK

KS4 - GCSE

Welcome to the KS4 Geography Home Page. This page is designed to help you navigate your way through the Geography GCSE syllabus. There are plenty of things to look at so start be choosing a topic from the left. For each topic you will find links to the left to support your learning.

Have a look at the GCSE Geography Forum. If you have any questions, queries or concerns about Geography, why not use the message board to share them with your peers?

Here is a breakdown of how your GCSE grade will be calculated:

Paper 2 - Human

Paper 1 - Physical

IGTF News

Your GCSE Geography Coursework will be started in the Summer Term of Yr10. In order to complete the coursework you will need to:


After collecting your data you will have time in lessons to complete your report. You will need to work on your project over the last few weeks of term and finish it when you return in Autumn Term Yr11.

You can use the links on the left to download support materials and guidelines for your project.

Case Studies:
Four case studies accompany this topic looking at LEDC & MEDC comparisons for volcanoes (Montserrat vs Mt. St. Helens) and earthquakes (Kashmir vs San Francisco).

Case Studies:
For this topic you will need to study how aid is used in Ghana (LEDC) and how multinational companies can be considered to be exploiting these countries.

Case Studies:
You case study will focus on tourism in Snowdonia looking at the ways the post glacial environment is used by the National Park Authority.

Case Studies:
For this topic you will look at the reasons behind mass migration in Darfur, Africa and how it compares to migration within the UK.

Case Studies:
Your case studies will include Lyme Regis (South Coast UK), Happisburgh (North Norfolk Coast) and any other case information gathered whilst on your coursework fieldtrip.

Case Studies:
Your two case studies for this topic look at comparing an MEDC example with an LEDC. You will look at the problems and solutions of two settlements in London (MEDC) and Sao Paulo (LEDC).

Case Studies:
You will look at the impact of tourism in a UK National Park (The Pennine Way) and compare it to a tourism development in Phuket, Thailand.

Case Studies:
You will study the issues surrounding increasing coal use in China (LEDC). The debate surrounding wind power in the UK (MEDC) will also be looked at considering different interest groups.

Case Studies:
The case studies to look at involve human use of different landscapes. You will look at the use of a granite landscape in Dartmoor and Ingleton Quarry in Yorkshire.

Case Studies:
Your first case study will be heavy industry in South Wales where you will see how government intervention has revived the region following decline. You will also look at the Ruhr Valley (Germany).

Case Studies:
The case studies for this topic look at different scales from local (UK), European (Netherlands) & global (Brazil & The Philippines). This gives a total of four case studies to look at.

Case Studies:
For this topic you will need to compare an LEDC example with an MEDC. The LEDC Case Study will be the Bangladesh Floods and the MEDC Case Study will be the Netherlands Floods.

For this topic you will need to study tectonic plate dynamics and the relationship people have with natural disasters. Why is it that people live so close to volcanoes and known earthquake zones? The range of information you will cover with this topic includes:

 

 

In this interesting topic you will look at the responses made by governments to natural disasters. You should by the end of the topic be able to compare the different types of response made by countries and how their Mitigation systems vary. The main difference identified relates to economics where the richer (MEDC) countries usually respond quicker therefore reducing life loss. Availability of medical support also impacts on life loss from the secondary effects of a natural disaster such as typhoid and infection. In general the following applies:



The classification of different types of Earthquake and Volcano directly links to the damage caused and the death toll. It is important for you to understand the more dangerous natural hazards and the reasons behind why they are worse.

For this topic you will need to study the relationship between LEDC and MEDC countries. The range of information you will cover with this topic includes:

 

 

It is often considered difficult to compare the development of different countries due to the fact that they have many different factors such as population, money earned and land size. There are however a system of development indicators that make it easier to compare different countries. These include things like Birth & Death Rates, Infant Mortality Rates, GDP per capita and the Human Development Index (HDI). In studying these figures a clear distinction between countries can be identified called the Development Gap. It is interesting to see reasons for such a large gap including environment, history and trade.

There are many links between countries by Trade and Aid. It is considered that many LEDC countries (particularly in Africa) are 'controlled' by MEDC trade. This is due to LEDCs selling raw materials for a low price to MEDCs who sell manufactured goods back to LEDCs for a high price. Unique arrangements between countries also exist in the form of Bilateral and Multilateral Aid. This again raises many questions as to how MEDCs try to control LEDC development.

For this topic you will need to study physical processes of glaciers and understand how humans can use these environments. The range of information you will cover with this topic includes:

 

 

The power of ice can only be see in certain places in the world today but much of the landscape of the UK has been created by the movement of large frozen water masses across the surface. For Valley Glaciers the power of the ice comes from the gravitational pull forcing glaciers to travel downhill. Continental Glaciers are again affected by gravity but more by the expansion of the mass of ice.

Two processes of erosion dominate within glaciers, Plucking and Abrasion. These processes leave distinctive marks on the landscape including U-Shaped Valleys, Hanging Waterfalls, Truncated Spurs and Corries. When a glacier retreats, the material it is carrying is deposited in many different ways. These create moraine deposits that can be Lateral, Medial, Recessional or Terminal.

The way in which people have adapted to live in these post glacial environments includes activities such as Tourism, Mining, Farming and Forestry. You will also develop your map work skills that you will need for your Paper 1 looking at grid references and interpreting contour lines.

For this topic you will need to study population dynamics and the way population influences the decisions made by governments. The range of information you will cover with this topic includes:

 

 

For this topic you will need to study physical processes of coasts and understand how humans can influence these processes. The range of information you will cover with this topic includes:

 

 

This topic leads into your coursework project that you will start before the Summer Holidays. Before you can collect your data you will need to have an understanding of the processes found at the coast. To start with you will look at Erosional Processes and how they create individual landscapes. Following this you will need to understand the Transportational Processes and Longshore Drift. Lastly you will need to know how Depositional Landforms are created and how they differ to others. Below is an overview of landforms found at the coast:
 

For this topic you will need to study the many different uses and classifications of a settlement. The range of information you will cover with this topic includes:

 

 

For this topic you will need to study identify the implications of mass tourism and what can be offered as an alternative. The range of information you will cover with this topic includes:

 

 

There are many reasons for travelling abroad but quite often people do so to relax and take a break from their day-to-day life. Without realising, many people have massive impacts when they travel abroad, on the environment & the local community. Many tourist resorts in countries set out to make as much money as possible. Unfortunately this is often at the expense of the Environment or local Society. Water pollution, noise pollution and air pollution are often by-products of mass tourism. Often little is done to solve these problems due to the Economic and Political advantages of receiving large tourist numbers. Some countries are developing legislation to deal with foreign tourist companies although any changes made will inevitably deter companies as they would reduce profit margins. A company will simply look 'elsewhere'.

One solution offered is sustainable tourism that is more socially and environmentally sensitive. These holidays offer opportunities to learn local cultures and more about the plants and animals in the area surrounding your area. They are called; Ecotourism, Community Tourism and Agritoursim.

For this topic you will need to study how humans manage resources effectively and ineffectively. The range of information you will cover with this topic includes:

 

 

This small topic looks at the way in which people use resources and ways in which we can do so more sustainably. Renewable and Non-Renewable energy is another key area for this topic looking at the many different ways of producing energy and the circumstances they create. For two case studies you will look at how the energy types affect the people who live near them and the conflicts that arise from using them.

Other ways to use resources more sustainably is resource substitution where an alternative, less environmentally damaging alternatives are offered. This not only looks at energy replacements but also replacements for materials such as plastics (made from oil). A revival in traditional methods has been made using renewable resources such as wood, hemp and cotton.

From looking closely at different energy types you will see that there are many problems with using specific energies and you will need to consider Social, Economic, Environmental and Political (SEEP) problems.

For this topic you will need to study processes of the rock cycle and understand the landscapes created by different types of rock. The range of information you will cover with this topic includes:

 

 

To begin with you need to look at the three rock types and be able to identify the unique differences between them. This helps you to understand the processes involved in creating these rocks. You will further study these processes in other topics such as rivers & glaciation (Sedimentary) and tectonics (Igneous and Metamorphic). Identifying the three rock types can be made using the following information:

Different rock types produce unique environments from which specific characteristics can be seen. Humans use these landscapes in different ways from Farming to Quarrying and Tourism. Case study examples will focus on these uses to support your understanding.

For this topic you will need to study the four main sectors of industry and identify the different types of employment within each. The range of information you will cover with this topic includes:

 

 

The starting point for this topic is determining the four types of industry and what they involve. They can be simplified to Primary, Secondary, Tertiary and Quaternary sectors, as shown below:
 

For this topic you will need to study farming as a system and know how appropriate technology is different for individual countries. The range of information you will cover with this topic includes:

 

 

 

For this topic you will need to study physical processes of rivers and understand how humans can influence these processes. The range of information you will cover with this topic includes:

 

 

Rivers are dynamic systems that often travel some distance from altitude to sea level. As water travels down the river, the force of the liquid impacts the rock surrounding the river. The force of the water will erode the rock in one of four ways; Hydraulic Action, Abrasion, Corrasion and Attrition.

Once the rock has been broken away from the bed and banks, it will be transported down the river towards the sea. Sediment is transported either by Traction, Saltation, Suspension or Solution depending on the size of the particles.

When a river reaches a standing body of water such as a lake or the sea, the velocity of the river is slowed down. As velocity drops, the larger particles being transported are deposited first followed by smaller particles. The further from the river mouth you travel, the finer the particles that are present. As the river travels to the sea, it will create many different landforms depending on the type of erosion present (either Vertical or Lateral).