Glacial budgets
Ablation and accumulation
Warm- and cold-based glaciers
Glacial erosion, transportation and deposition
Colour coded: green statistics; yellow definitions; blue dates
Introduction and the nature and distribution of cold environments
The climate of cold environments
The vegetation of the tundra
Global distribution of past + present cold environments
Colour coded: green statistics; yellow definitions; blue dates
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
Powerpoint and worksheets looking at the relief and geology of the UK's landscapes
Starter: video and dice-rolling activity about the rock cycle
main activities: 'Classifying rocks' worksheet (comparing formation, Moh's hardness and human uses) filled in as the pupils read and discuss the Powerpoint slides. Discussions to analyse a variety of linked physical maps. Mapwork to colour areas of granite and chalk, then to add the Tees-Exe Line (including the pattern of the age of rocks from the Grampians to the South Coast).
Differentiated questions about the links between geology/UK landscapes and how the Tees-Exe Line can help describe landscape distribution.
Plenary: further locational knowledge of UK upland landscapes
Powerpoint and worksheets introducing the concept of distinctive landscapes
Two main activities: assessment of five landscape photos using description (looking for evidence of physical, human and transitory features) followed by bilpolar evaluations of two further landscapes
Differentiated question:
1-3: Describe the main features of the landscape where you live
4-6: Explain the differences between urban and rural landscapes in the UK
7-9: Explain how human and physical features interact to form a named UK landscape
Plenary gets pupils to discuss the most beautiful landscapes they have seen locally, nationally and internationally
Includes video link ('Beautiful Britain')
Case Study: The 2015 Nepal Earthquake
One Powerpoint but with enough detail for two or three lessons
Starter looks at possible advantages and disadvantages of Nepal's geography when it comes to dealing with earthquakes
Main body of the work is divided into:
LOCATION: map skills exercise
CAUSES: plate tectonics, India/Eurasia collision zone; graphing of historic data to look for tectonic patterns; shallow depth earthquakes below the Himalayas
EFFECTS: mapping proportional circles to show aftershocks; choropleth mapping exercise to show deaths by district; discussion of social, economic and environmental effects which are then analysed using an A3 worksheet to link and pairs of effects
SOLUTIONS: analysis of the usefulness of accepting foreign aid; grid worksheet to assess the sustainability of alternative earthquake proofing (car tyres, plastic bottles, straw and bamboo!)
PLENARY: how was Mount Everest affected by the 2015 earthquake?
Includes several resources, differentiated questions and links to internet media
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
Powerpoint and worksheets covering constructive plate boundaries, collision zones and volcanic hot spots.
Starter is an odd-one-out game involving keywords and place names linked to tectonics.
Constructive margins focuses on the Galapagos Islands (Nazca and Cocos Plates) where pupils draw a cross section of the boundary then use clues to annotate key features.
Hot spots and magma plumes are then introduced, linking to the African Rift Valley as a land-based plate boundary above a magma plume. A half-time Plenary looks at the importance of the Rift Valley to human evolution.
Then pupils find the answers to questions about the San Andreas Fault through a comprehension exercise and report back to the class.
The final piece of work is an A3 worksheet which combines constructive, destructive and collision boundaries. Pairs of pupils try to remember as much as they can by summarising their recent learning.
The Plenary returns to the Galapagos and the islands' importance in Darwin's Theory of Evolution.
Includes video links and differentiated questions.
Enough for two lessons...
Powerpoint and worksheets covering destructive plate margins and collision zones
Starter looks at the highest and tallest mountains on Earth, then compares them with Mons Olympus on Mars .
Destructive margins activity is a mystery, answering the question "Why are there a line of volcanoes down the western coast of South America?"
Collision zones activity answers the question "Why are there marine fossils on top of Mount Everest?"
Plenary looks at how the African-Eurasian margin has created the hills and valleys of south-east England
Includes video links and differentiated questions
Powerpoint and worksheets introducing the causes of tectonic movement.
Starter reviews pupils' prior knowledge of the structure of the Earth and then builds on this with an annotated divided bar graph of the Earth's layers.
Goes on to look at the role of convection, ridge push and slab pull using the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and Iceland as Case Studies.
Includes video links and differentiated questions.
A decision making exercise (set up as a lesson) looking at future options for feeding Egypt's growing population.
Egypt’s climate is changing. Over the next few decades the country is expected to become even hotter and drier than it already is.
Presently, oil makes up 25% of Egypt’s exports but this is predicted to run out by 2070. At the same time, the population is expected to grow by tens of millions more people. The Government will need to find a SUSTAINABLE way to feed all these extra mouths very soon.
Option 1:
Turn more of the Sahara Desert into irrigated farmland by flooding the Qattara Depression
Option 2:
Build sea defences around the farmland in the Nile Delta of northern Egypt
Option 3:
Bomb the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam to allow more of the Nile’s water to flow down to Egypt
Option 4:
Support the use of agricultural fertilisers by lowering the price of farm chemicals
Powerpoint and worksheets about the future effects of climate change on the British Isles
Starter looks at 'The Day After Tomorrow' and the idea of a climate tipping point
The main part of the lesson is a role play/debate about the future climate and the positive vs negative effects on UK life. Roles are related to government, industry, tourism, older people, wildlife trusts and farming.
the role play is concluded by a written answer to the hypothesis: "Climate change will be bad for the United Kingdom".
Plenary shows how milder winters are allowing exotic animals to survive in the UK
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.
Powerpoint and worksheet where pupils find out how various problems on Planet Earth link together and have climate change as a common thread
Starter: label a temperature graph of the past 1000 years with major events that added pollution to the atmosphere
Students then answer a series of differentiated questions after reading and discussing different aspects of our changing climate:
sea level rise + migration + starvation + drought + extreme weather + disease + extinction
Powerpoint and worksheet about the effect of the Gulf Stream on the British Isles
Starter looks at how palm trees grow in Scotland thanks to the North Atlantic Drift
Then the 'Gulf Stream Mystery' to find out how the 'Cold Blob' in the North Atlantic will change Britain's climate. Pupils annotate a map then answer a differentiated question:
1-3: Describe what the UK’s climate might be like if Greenland’s ice melts
4-6: Explain how NASA’s ‘Cold Blob’ could change the UK’s future climate
7-9: Explain how the UK’s climate is linked to the North Atlantic Ocean
Moves on to mapping changes caused by rising sea levels in the UK (to 5 metres) getting info from internet research
Plenary looks at the effects of post-glacial rebound on Scotland and southern England
I use this layout to train pupils from KS3 how to put added detail into their answers
The first cloud is for the initial idea that starts of their answer
The following clouds (because, and so, Therefore) make them explain and then expand on their answer
The final cloud (For example) makes them give place specific info (eg data, placename, quote) needed for higher level answers
After using the 'clouds' a few times, the pupils become used to the layout/technique and can write their answers as more detailed paragraphs