Coasts: Soft Engineering

AQA GCSE Geography lesson for the new specification Unit 1C: In this lesson we look at types of soft engineering and look at an example where they have been applied. We also use the lesson as an opportunity to practice some map skills.

The starter is a simple retrieval practice grid based on the coasts unit of work. We begin by locating Crow Point which is an area in North Devon at risk from coastal erosion where soft engineering strategies have been used to prevent further erosion to the fragile dune system. The pupils will be given a large A3 sheet of paper with an outline map of the area including the dune system. The pupils then use grid references to add labels and features onto their map. Once they have completed this we look at the different types of soft engineering strategies and the advantages and disadvantages. The pupils are given grid references to the location these strategies have been applied. They locate them on their map and write the details in the appropriate box. We do this four all four strategies. This could be done as an info gather, round the room, carousel etc.

We finish with a 4 mark question comparing hard and soft engineering with some guidance on how they can answer this.

In a nutshell lesson includes:

Retrieval practice starter
Map skills practice
Soft engineering information gather task
4-mark GCSE-style question with guidance should the pupils need it.

Hope this saves you some valuable planning time.

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