This full lesson combines sketching skills and reading comprehension to annotate a diagram of the different rainforest layers: forest floor, understory, canopy and emergent layer. Tropical rainforest biomes are found around 0 degrees lattitude, also known as the equator. Almost all GCSE geography examination boards expect students to have a detailed understanding on the layers and features of the rainforest. This lesson includes a kinathstectic mini-quiz to test students understading on each of the layers; they move around the 4 corners of the room to classify statements on each of the different layer characteristics.

Hot deserts are known for their harsh climates and unforgiving landscapes, yet their are economic and environmental opportunities in these regions in you look closely enough. Water and resource management becomes even more important in the Sahara as drought and desertification takes hold. This 4 lesson bundle covers everything your students need to know about a desert case study for their examination on the ‘Living World’/ Ecosystems’ topic for the AQA exam board specification. The first lesson analysis the climate of the Sahara using a living graph to cut and stick statements around. The second lesson focuses on hidden resources in the Shel, such as oil, minerals and hidden underground aquifers. Students make a chloropeth map to show where these are found. Students will also take part in group work to present to the class about how different plant and animal life has adapted to the harsh conditions of the Sahara desert. In addition, they will sort statements into a venn diagram to classify the various human causes of desertification (climate change, agriculture or population pressure) before summarising their notes into a mindmap. Finally, they will examine a range of approaches in use to combat desertification, and write up a full report of their findings. By the end of these resources you students will have a sound and detailed understanding on the concepts of; Desertification Adaptions Economic opportunities Social, economic and environ aggroforestry They will also attempt exam questions such as; Explain the human causes of desertification Explain how the desert climate impacts upon the people living there

Most countries devise their electricity generation mean through a mix of fossil fuels and renewable energy resources. This A3 revision poster gets students analysing energy mix trends from pie charts located onto the world map. The original map is available as a free download from the EDF energy website; edfenergy.com/energy/education however a large copy is made available on the second slide of the powerpoint. Students answer prompt questions onto the A3 sheet around a copy of the pie-chart map, such as ’ describe the UK’s energy mix’ and also ’ compare the energy mix between the USA and Brazil.’ There are questions designed to make student connect more broadly to the topic ’ Challenge of Resource Management. The energy mix section on this topic is core contact, therefore important for all students to understand. These would make ideal classroom displays or as independent revision work in the lead up to examinations. This worksheet is designed for middle to higher ability students but could be easily adapted for lower abilities with a few prompts/ sentence starters here and there.

Advent calendars are traditionally associated with the December count down to 25th, Christ’s birthday. At the end, kids can look forward to earnings their biggest chocolate on Christmas day. This advent calender is perfect to use with years 7 8 and 9 in the final classes before the festive break. These can be used as mini starters, or take up the whole lesson. The answers to the questions on each day are provided, so make sure you have small chocolates or candy to give out for any students who complete and self mark their quiz. There is a mixture of vocab, general knowledge, map skills, locational knowledge throughout plus all important literacy. anagrams. Use this resource in conjunction with my original ’ 3D stand up geography christmas trees’ to get a fabulous festive geography display going in your classroom.

This is a short ( 3 mins approx) mid-unit test to check students understanding on the concept of sustainable tourism. It could also easily be set as a classwork or homework task. Students must show they can define sustainable tourism, explain the negative impacts of mass tourism, and annotate an ecolodge with its sustainable features. This was originally written for year 9 as an introduction to the Unit 1 travel and Tourism Btec course ( and unit 1 examination). It could also easily be used for Ks3 Geography. Would go well with my other resource on ’ Sustainable tourism & Ecolodges’.

The geology of a coastline will have an impact on how quickly it retreats backwards due to the erosion processes off hydraulic action and abrasion. This lesson considers how the aspect, rock type, layers and existing sea defenses all contribute to different rates of erosion. The meanings of the terms lithology, concordant and discordant coastlines are apparent throughout the lesson. This lesson was designed initially for an interview, and worked really well for a 50 minute lesson duration. starter: Students examine the picture and discuss what is happening to the houses and why. They then compare two coastlines; Durdle Door and Swanage Bay, and predict which one they think will retreat the quickest, with the aid of maps. Main - students annotate their images/ maps with information about the geology of each coastline, from either the teacher talk or print-outs from the slides. they can be encouraged to do their own research also at this point. Then they attempt a 4 mark exam question designed to test their understanding of the geology and how it influences coastal erosion. plenary- a gap fill exercise on an image to test students recall on the main factors discussed in the lesson.

This is a complete portfolio of student work who has been graded and assessed at MERIT level for Unit 5 on the EDEXCEL Btech travel and tourism award. This unit showcases various factors that effect tourism at a world-wide level and the resource focuses on the following elements of learning aim A ( climate in Portugal, snowfall in the Alps, Hurricane season in Florida). In learning aim B it discusses passport and visa requirements for the USA, and health precautions and advice for travel to Columbia, Africa and Thailand, with a case study focus on the Ebola outbreak. This work has been sent off and externally moderated and acts as an example for other pupils and schools to follow- given the lack of examplar material from the exam board. This meets the criteria for the older specification which is valid for summer 2019 exam series. The work shows how the teacher has annotated the work prior to moderation to show where assessment criteria has been met. We have used this with our students to help them understand the written quality and presentation required for a high mark.

This powerpoint resource offer a series of 8 starter activities, each designed to develop a particular critical thinking skill in students such as meta cognition, assessing importance of different view-points and sources. Each skills-based task is set in the context of human-based Geography, largely connected to the AQA Specification A topic of ‘Urban Issues & challenges’ but does also encompass wider synoptic links to other parts of human geography. Each skills based starter can be done as a stand alone activity, or all 8 skills could be done together in one lesson as a revision session for Paper 2 Human Geography. The importance of critical skills to exam success is implied throughout, and at the end, the final task asks students to analyse past exam questions and identify which of the critical skills taught will be useful to answering the question set. This resource is aimed at middle to high ability learners.

This resource is designed for a quick recap across all 3 of the Human Paper topics: Urban Issues and Challenges, The Challenge of Resource Management and Changing Economic World. It is made up of a series of 20 questions on each topic ( 60 in total) which only require brief answers ( 1 -2 marks) and is taken from across a broad range of the specification, focusing on the CORE elements. It has been designed for last minute revision and can be done in class or at home. It would be useful for students to complete with access to the BBC bitesize revision website or a revision guide to ease speed of completion. Most of the command words are give, identify, outline, describe etc. Please note these are questions only without answers/ mark scheme.

I love to spend a lesson doing these reflection activities at the end of a half term or unit of work. These are ideal for lower year groups, 7 and 8, but possibly could be used for junior years at primary school too. I set these when I want some feedback on my topic and also some time to get some assesment marking done. For those that finish early ask them to mount their sheet onto coloured sugar paper and draw a fancy border, alternatively print double-sided with a geography themed colouring page/ map on the reverse. Keep completed copies for displays and to bring out at open evenings.

This worksheet builds on the basic map skills once they have been taught and is designed to stretch and challenge middle and higher ability students to interpret maps and images and create contour maps. They will need to 1. create a contour map of Mordor, 2. Use colour to shade the relief onto their map or image and 3. Use compass directions to see where will be effected if mount doom volcano erupts. For middle ability sets the teacher may need to help the students get started by drawing some contour lines onto the whiteboard to represent gentle hills, steep volcano and flatter areas as they may find this tricky.

This series of activities gets students to use their maps, graphs and numeracy skills to learn about the Rio Olympic Games in 2016. It can be done as a lesson using the powerpoint slides or set as a homework activity using the publisher document and printing in large A3 size. The posters look fantastic on display and is sure to gain attention from SLT and ofsted while you develop cross curricular links with maths. On the poster there is a simply AFL tool- teachers can circle or tick whether the work gets bronze, silver or gold award. Ideal for any Ks3 grouop- originally written for year 8.

I have adapted the famous game of connect 4, where 2 players are pitted against each other to connect 4 coloured ’ disks’ into adjacent slots vertically, horizontally or diagonally. Each player needs to give the correct answer before being allowed to colour in their disk. 2 players can fill in the same sheet, or ideally laminate the blank board for multiple uses with non-permenant markers and save your photocopying budget. Great for all ability ranges and engaging less motivated student with physical Geography content for the paper 1 AQA GCSE examination. Questions cover changes and processess along the long profile of a river plus definitions for drainage basin features.

This odd-one out activity encourages students to consider key terms, important concepts and processes within hot deserts and tropical rainforests. There are 8 sets of 4 words/ phrases and students must critically think about which one does not fit the overall pattern. Answers are provided with simple explanations. This works well as a starter activity for GCSE groups but could easily be set as a homework task for independant study.

This resource is my own predictions for the content from each topic that I think will come up in the summer exams for this spec which I myself have taught for 10 years. I have cross referenced the full exam from 2018 to highlight content not yet covered. It is pupil friendly and would be ideal to plan your departmental revision around or give straight to the students

Combining creativity and map skills where students need to read the map to fill out gaps in a story. The story will test students understanding on map symbols, grid references,direction, scale and distance, and there are extension questions which require critical thinking around the map for the most able students. Answers included! You could even ask your students to write their own map skills story too based on a map of their choice to embrace national story telling week.

These resources were created to help students complete learning aim A in their unit 5 coursework for Btec ( climatic factors that effect tourism). There is a help-sheet for students to read about the impacts of Hurricane Sandy on the USA tourism industry. Students then use this information to complete / fill out the Power-Point slide to show their understanding from Pass to Merit level. Links for further study are provided. This template has been used successfully in my school to gain MERIT level awards. please see my other resources for Learning aim A: Snowfall in the Alps.

This is a teacher-made example of part of a UNIT 5 coursework ( learning aim A); Factors that effect Worldwide Travel and Tourism. The factor here is snowfall, and how this impacts on the appeal of the ALPs, in France. The work shows the difference between describe and explain, and was used to help students understand the detail and quality that examiners look for in MERIT work. There are no formal activities linked to this, however students could use this to judge against their own work.

A useful revision homework where students pick and annotate photographs/maps of coastal landforms. A peer assessment and feedback grid is included.

This is a lesson which introduces the concept of e-tickets and m-tickets. Students then complete a grid to assess the advantages and disadvanatges of using these types of tickets. this resource was produced for the Unit 1 examination in Travel and Tourism.