Geography Case Study
NEOM is a planned urban development in north-west Saudi Arabia
When completed it will cover 26,500 km² which is larger than the whole of Wales
Why does Saudi Arabia want to build Neom?
Why is the Huwaitat tribe extremely worried?
Abdul Rahim al-Hwaiti: terrorist or martyr?
This resource includes a variety of lesson activities to pick and choose:
Photographic Analysis: The Line (includes worksheet)
Which Geography keyword is the odd one out?
Which country is the odd one out?
Several slides to project and set the scene (locational knowledge, artists’ impressions of the planned districts)
Links to videos of the Neom development: ‘Saudi Arabia’s mega project’; ‘“The Line” under construction in Saudi Arabia’; ‘Neom: The dark side’
Question Grid: Neom (Who? What? Where? etc, vs is… did… can… etc)
The death of Abdul Rahim al-Hwaiti, a Huwaitat tribesman from the area where the Saudi government wants to build Neom. Abdul posted a video on YouTube saying he did not want money to leave his home. A day later and he was shot dead by the Saudi Army
Concept Map: Neom (35 facts, to be colour coded - Locations; Causes; Effects; Management; Supporting Data
Illustrated glossary: Neom (Peak Oil; Economic diversification; Population density; Desalination plant) - definitions given, students to draw their understanding
Thought Chains: Neom - using knowledge learned so far, students complete boxes (because… and so… Therefore… For example…) to show understanding using scaffolding for higher level answers (eg ‘Saudi Arabia needs to DIVERSIFY its industries…’; ‘The region currently has a POPULATION DENSITY of just 6 people per km²’; ‘Neom is / is not ENVIRONMENTALLY sustainable
(‘Planet’)…’)
Geo-Trinity: Neom - students show similarities and differences between the Saudi government, Huwaitat tribespeople and foreign tourists
‘Six Hats’: Neom: - de Bono’s critical thinking technique
Design a sustainable hotel for Neom - choose five (from twenty-four) features of a sustainable resort, then explain the decision (eg eShuttle buses between the hotel and public transportation hubs; Install ‘smart’ showers that limit their usage to a pre-set time; Stock locally-made Fair Trade hotel souvenirs rather than branded/designer items)
Stakeholders conclusion: Neom - students compare different opinions of the development with their own
Teachers’ background information: links to websites, including the original BBC News story and the official Neom site
Eight page booklet : define coastal keywords; complete a fact file about a seaside resort; SPAG exercise about Holderness erosion; annotate a map to show human uses of the Humber region; family dilemma about using fossil fuels; write a poem based on a beautiful coastal scene; explain how transport changes have affected holiday habits over time
Eight page booklet : define weather and climate keywords; map the areas of the World to show general effects of Climate Change; SPAG exercise about rising sea levels; questionnaire to survey attitudes towards Climate Change; Moral dilemma about family holidays abroad; personal responses to some religious quotes about the environment; description of how Climate Change may affect our heritage sites
A decision making exercise which could last a few lessons or be set as a homework project
A property developer is looking to build a five star hotel in San Francisco
Pupils have to decide on the most sustainable county in the Bay Area
Introductory Powerpoint, a project workbook and LOTS of resources are included
The completed project/proposal covers:
Background to tourism in California
The physical hazards threatening San Francisco
Explanation for choosing one of the Bay Area counties
Sustainability (PPP) of the various sites
Reasons for rejecting the others
Consideration of how to make the structure safe from earthquakes
Space for the pupils to be imaginative and design the resort
Eight page booklet : define keywords, create a factfile about an African country, a SPAG exercise about the continent, a short piece of research about the UN's work in Africa, an opinion piece about whether or not the UK still owes a moral debt to Africa for colonialism, a page to decorate an outline map of Africa with traditional patterns and finally a page to show how modern music is related to African rhythms
Powerpoint covering headlands and bays along the destructive Holderness coast
Starter: use maps to locate Flamborough Head
Main activities: sketch bird's eye view diagrams showing before and after erosion has affected a discordant coastline. Followed by a differentiated question: 1-3: How do headlands and bays form? 4-6: What role have chalk and boulder clay played in the formation of Flamborough Head?
7-9: What is wave refraction and how has it affected the Flamborough landscape?
Second part gets pupils to annotate a diagram to show the sequence of cave-arch-stack formation using a series of mixed-up pieces of info (so can be done as a card sort or a mystery). Class then feeds back verbally by responding to a series of images and questions
Third part: pupils work together to find advantages and disadvantages of headlands and bays using clues from a large scale OS map
Plenary: pupils recap learning by describing and explaining features seen in a photo of the chalk at Flamborough
Powerpoint looking at erosion and transportation along Holderness
Starter: the properties of powerful waves, including fetch
Main activities: map work to measure the fetch from Holderness to various coasts of the North Sea. Then radar diagrams are introduced, using a wind rose as an example followed by the pupils constructing a radar to show dominant wave patterns. Then the link between the UK's SW prevailing wind and how it causes NNE dominant waves. Differentiated question... 1-3: What makes a sea wave powerful? 4-6: Explain why North Sea waves can be powerful and damaging
7-9: Refer to data which suggests that Holderness is threatened by powerful waves
Second part gets pupils to draw and label diagrams to compare the features of constructive and destructive waves. They are then asked to assess photos of Holderness to decide which type of wave is affecting that coastline.
Third part looks at the properties of boulder clay and why that soft geology is a problem. Differentiated question: 1-3: Why are the caravan owners worried about the erosion of the cliffs at Hornsea? 4-6: Explain why erosion of the boulder clay is a problem for Holderness
7-9: Explain why the erosion of boulder clay is an economic problem for Holderness businesses
Plenary: pupils are asked to show how they think a typical wave moves, then are shown an animation that describes the circular motion of real wave patterns
Powerpoint and worksheets explaining the Enhanced Greenhouse Effect
Starter is an odd-one-out quiz of various human activities which affect climate
Students draw a pie chart showing sources of greenhouse gases from human activities then memorise and sketch the Enhanced Greenhouse Effect
The main work involves constructing a mind map of the effects caused by major greenhouse pollutants (carbon dioxide, water vapour, nitrous oxide, methane and halocarbons)
Differentiated questions:
1-3: How does (a) industry and (b) farming make climate change worse?
4-6: How do humans add to the Greenhouse Effect and climate change?
7-9: Using named chemical compounds, explain how human actions increase the rate of climate change
Plenary: affects of contrails on the short-term weather
Enough for two lessons
A glaciated environment at a local scale- The Helvellyn area of the English Lake District
A contrasting glaciated landscape from beyond the UK- The Athabasca Glacier
A contrasting glaciated landscape from beyond the UK- The Sápmi region of tundra, northern Europe
Colour coded: green statistics; yellow definitions; blue dates
Case study of a country experiencing specific patterns of overall population change: Japan- decline + ageing
Case study of a specified local area: place, health and well-being- Hook, Hart, Hampshire
Colour coded: green statistics; yellow definitions; blue dates
Powerpoint and worksheet about the extreme temperatures, precipitation and winds around the World.
The work involves researching Case Studies from info sheets then annotating a World map with explanations for the extremes. Pupils work together, report back to other pupils then to the whole class.
Case Studies are: the Atacama Desert; Ridge A in Antarctica; Mawsynram in India; the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica; Death Valley; Barrow Island off Australia; and Vostok Station, again in Antarctica. Builds on knowledge from Hazards 1: "GLOBAL CIRCULATION SYSTEM". Enough for two lessons.
Eight page booklet : define geological keywords; compile a fact file about a geological time period; a SPAG exercise about British geology; a page to research how humans use clay, limestone, marble and sandstone; a moral dilemma: spend money on repairing a historic cathedral or to look after the poor and homeless; complete a database about some of the World's holy rocks and stones; and finally a page to research questions about the UK's geology
Eight page booklet : define rivers keywords, comparison of the Rivers Severn and Nile; a SPAG exercise about the Humber Estuary; a page to annotate a map of the Colorado to show the importance of the river basin; a moral dilemma based on the water conflict between the USA and Mexico; a look at the holiness of the Ganges; and finally research to find the etymology of British river names
Eight page booklet : define glacier keywords; map skills page to locate and name glacial areas around the World; SPAG exercise about the glaciers on Mars; page to compare advantages and disadvantages of tourism in the glacial landscape of the Lake District; moral dilemma about whether people in the UK should be concerned with the melting of Himalayan glaciers; research page about glaciers in World cultures; and finally a page about Ötzi the Iceman and how his body was analysed by archaeologists
A decision making exercise (set up as a lesson) based around transnational corporations and developing countries.
How can Nigeria meet the United Nations set a Millennium Development Goal of ‘Halve the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water’?
The Nigerian Government has four options…
-Encourage the use of bottled water in partnership with a transnational company like Nestlé
-Educate Nigerian school pupils to understand the importance of water hygiene
-Form a partnership with a non-government organisation such as Water Aid
-Invest government resources into clean water supplies and sewage treatment works
Includes resources and questions