AQA Geography – Geographical reflections

A digital media approach to case studies and examples.

As we approach the exam seasion again, I have started to think about how the students access the materials we have at school. In a time when life for most of our students is multi-media and digital, it seems that I am still routed in the paper based society of the 20th century! For some students this focus on paper based materials will be very important, as not everyone has a smart phone, access to the internet or is confident to use online materials. I shall therefore not be replacing my paper based materials totally any time soon, but perhaps now is a good time to think about how I can embrace the 21th century digital age a little more.

Case studies and examples are important in geography, as they provide a contex to the knowledge and skills the students experience.

Images and perhaps videos that are used as case studies or examples are vitial in also developing student’s sense of place, which in turn will promote a much better understanding of the concepts that occur in these places. To this end, embracing a more digital media approach to case studies and examples should help to embed the theory and real life geography together.

Before I go any further, lets cosnider the differences between case studies and examples. From the AQA specification that I use the differences are stated as,

Case studies are broader in context and require greater breadth and depth of knowledge and understanding. Examples are more focused on a specific event or situation, are smaller in scale and do not cover the same degree of content.
AQA GCSE Speficiation

I remember someone once said on a CPD course that case studies were like a buse and examples are like a taxi.

The Bus, like the passengers has much more detail to remember, and like the bus route, will cover several concepts themes or cover a larger area. A taxi on the other hand will focus on one particular area (or destination) and will only include a handfull of details.

Here is my first attempt at producing a digital map of our case studies. You should be able to click on each circle to bring up the details.

https://arcg.is/0uLXrD

My next stage is to develop a story map version that also highlights exam type questions.

Planning climate change lessons at GCSE Level.

When I start planning lessons for my GCSE groups, I always start with the specification, as this informs me what areas I need to address and the content that examiners are going to focus on when writing exams. I follow the AQA Geography specification and this is what needs to be covered at GCSE level…

I then look through different textbooks and past papers for examples of exam style questions. At work, we use the exampro service, which we find excellent and so easy to use. I do this to really try and get into the minds of the examiner and think about how they are viewing the content. It is also really helpful as there will often be different types of images and figures that are used in the exam that I might not have considered using. Here are some typical exam type questions, from a range of sources for climate change that I have come across are:

Explain how volcanic activity and orbital changes may cause long-term climate change.
Outline one strategy which aims to reduce the rate of climate change (mitigation).
Explain why international directives are needed to reduce carbon emissions.
Describe local responses to the threat of global climate change.
Describe the possible effects of climate change on the UK.
Describe and explain the global response(s) to the threat of climate change
Climate change has global consequences. Describe the environmental and economic consequences of climate change for the world.

All of these questions require the students to think in different ways. Some ask the student to recall information, the AO1 knowledge and AO2 Understanding. Others when using images might tackle AO3 Applying knowledge and Understanding, while others might require students to select information AO4. It is therefore important that when planning lessons for my students, that I too offer this range of different requirements.

An example of a starter I use at the start of the GCSE module on Climate Change is shown below.. I ask students to study the graph – produced by NASA and available here and to then predict what happens next, based on historical records and evidence. Students are given a copy of the graph and the x axis extended to include a further 200,000 years. The discussions that the graphs generate really helps to kick start the climate change lessons.

By using data like the graph above, it leads nicely into the idea of natural causes of climate change, as well as providing a temporal context to the issue, which is where the lesson develops and moves onto.

It is also really helpful in developing the language of the lesson, so I check that students are aware what millennia means for example.

How do you approach planning GCSE lessons from the specification, I would love to hear your thoughts..

Paul