Course map
Natural hazards and climate AQA Paper 1 Section A · Edexcel Paper 1 Topic 1
- AQA 3.1.1.1, AQA 3.1.1.2, Edexcel 1.7, Edexcel 1.8
Natural hazards and plate tectonics
- Define a natural hazard and explain what raises or lowers hazard risk
- Describe the Earth's layers and the global pattern of earthquakes and volcanoes
- Explain what happens at constructive, destructive and conservative plate margins
- AQA 3.1.1.2, Edexcel 1.9
Earthquakes and volcanoes: effects, responses and management
- Tell primary from secondary effects and immediate from long-term responses
- Compare a tectonic hazard's effects in places of contrasting wealth
- Explain why people live in hazardous areas and how monitoring, prediction, protection and planning reduce risk
- AQA 3.1.1.3, Edexcel 1.1, Edexcel 1.4
Global circulation and tropical storms
- Describe the global atmospheric circulation: cells, pressure belts and surface winds
- Explain where and why tropical storms form, and describe their structure
- Explain how climate change might affect tropical storms
- AQA 3.1.1.3, Edexcel 1.5, Edexcel 1.6
Tropical storm hazards, impacts and responses
- Describe the hazards a tropical storm brings: wind, rain, storm surge, flooding and landslides
- Explain why some countries are more vulnerable than others
- Weigh how monitoring, prediction, protection and planning reduce a storm's effects
- AQA 3.1.1.3 · AQA only
Weather hazards in the UK
- Name the weather hazards the UK experiences
- Explain the causes and social, economic and environmental impacts of an extreme weather event
- Weigh the evidence that UK weather is becoming more extreme
- AQA 3.1.1.4, Edexcel 1.2, Edexcel 1.3
Climate change: evidence and causes
- Read the evidence for climate change from ice cores, tree rings, records and sea level
- Explain natural causes: orbital changes, volcanic activity and solar output
- Explain how human activity strengthens the greenhouse effect, and why projections are uncertain
- AQA 3.1.1.4 · AQA only
Managing climate change: mitigation and adaptation
- Tell mitigation (reducing the causes) from adaptation (responding to the change)
- Weigh alternative energy, carbon capture, planting trees and international agreements
- Weigh changes to farming, water supply and defences against rising sea levels
The living world AQA Paper 1 Section B · Edexcel Paper 3 Topics 7 and 8
- AQA 3.1.2.1, Edexcel 7.1, Edexcel 7.2
Ecosystems and global biomes
- Use producers, consumers, decomposers, food webs and nutrient cycling to explain how an ecosystem works
- Explain what happens when one part of an ecosystem changes
- Describe where the world's major biomes are and what controls them, and the goods and services they provide
- AQA 3.1.2.2, Edexcel 8.1, Edexcel 8.3
Tropical rainforests and deforestation
- Explain how climate, soils, plants, animals and people in a rainforest depend on one another
- Explain how plants and animals adapt to rainforest conditions
- Explain the causes and impacts of deforestation
- AQA 3.1.2.2, Edexcel 8.5
Managing forests sustainably
- Explain why tropical rainforests are valuable to people and the environment
- Weigh selective logging, conservation, ecotourism, international agreements and debt reduction
- Judge which strategies are most sustainable, and for whom
- AQA 3.1.2.3 · AQA only
Hot deserts
- Explain how a hot desert's climate, soils, plants, animals and people are linked
- Weigh the opportunities and challenges of developing a hot desert
- Explain the causes of desertification and the ways to reduce it
- AQA 3.1.2.4 · AQA only
Cold environments
- Explain how a cold environment's climate, permafrost, soils, plants, animals and people are linked
- Weigh the opportunities and challenges of developing a cold environment
- Explain why fragile cold environments need protecting and how development and conservation are balanced
- Edexcel 8.2, Edexcel 8.4, Edexcel 8.6 · Edexcel B only
The taiga: threats and protection
- Explain how the taiga's climate, soils, plants and animals depend on one another
- Explain the threats from logging, mining, energy, pests, disease and fire
- Weigh the challenges of protecting wilderness areas against using the taiga's resources
Physical landscapes in the UK AQA Paper 1 Section C · Edexcel Paper 2 Topic 4
- AQA 3.1.3.1, Edexcel 4.1, Edexcel 4.2
The UK's physical landscapes
- Locate the UK's main upland and lowland areas and river systems
- Explain how rock type, past tectonics and glaciation shaped upland and lowland Britain
- Explain how weathering, erosion, people and climate shape distinctive landscapes
- AQA 3.1.3.2, Edexcel 4.3, Edexcel 4.4
Coastal processes and landforms
- Explain weathering, mass movement, erosion, transport and deposition at the coast
- Explain how waves and geology form headlands, bays, cliffs, wave-cut platforms, caves, arches and stacks
- Explain how deposition forms beaches, spits, bars and sand dunes
- AQA 3.1.3.2, Edexcel 4.5
Coastal management
- Weigh the costs and benefits of hard and soft engineering at the coast
- Explain managed retreat and why some coasts are left to erode
- Judge a coastal management scheme and the conflicts it creates
- AQA 3.1.3.3, Edexcel 4.6
River processes and landforms
- Describe how a river's long and cross profiles change downstream
- Explain erosion, transport and deposition in a river
- Explain how waterfalls, gorges, meanders, ox-bow lakes, levees and floodplains form
- AQA 3.1.3.3, Edexcel 4.7, Edexcel 4.8
Flooding and river management
- Read a flood hydrograph: lag time, peak discharge and the rising and falling limbs
- Explain the physical and human causes of flooding
- Weigh hard and soft engineering for managing flood risk
- AQA 3.1.3.4 · AQA only
Glacial landscapes
- Explain freeze-thaw, abrasion, plucking, transport and deposition by ice
- Explain how corries, arêtes, pyramidal peaks, troughs, hanging valleys, ribbon lakes and moraines form
- Weigh the opportunities and conflicts of land use and tourism in glaciated uplands
Urban issues and challenges AQA Paper 2 Section A · Edexcel Paper 1 Topic 3 and Paper 2 Topic 5
- AQA 3.2.1, Edexcel 3.1, Edexcel 3.2, Edexcel 3.3
Urbanisation and megacities
- Describe global urban trends and where megacities are growing fastest
- Explain the roles of rural-urban migration and natural increase
- Explain how economic change drives urban growth and changing land use
- AQA 3.2.1, Edexcel 3.4, Edexcel 3.5, Edexcel 3.6, Edexcel 3.7
A growing city in a developing or emerging country
- Explain the opportunities a growing city offers: jobs, services and investment
- Explain the challenges of squatter settlements, the informal economy, services and pollution
- Weigh top-down and bottom-up schemes that improve quality of life
- AQA 3.2.1, Edexcel 5.3, Edexcel 5.4, Edexcel 5.5, Edexcel 5.6, Edexcel 5.7, Edexcel 5.8
Change in a major UK city
- Explain how migration shapes a UK city's growth and character
- Explain the opportunities and challenges urban change brings: deprivation, housing, derelict land and the rural-urban fringe
- Weigh regeneration and rebranding projects
- AQA 3.2.1 · AQA only
Sustainable urban living
- Explain what makes urban living sustainable: water, energy, green space and waste
- Explain how traffic management reduces congestion
- Judge how sustainable a city's plans are
Development and the changing economy AQA Paper 2 Section B · Edexcel Paper 1 Topic 2 and Paper 2 Topic 5
- AQA 3.2.2, Edexcel 2.1, Edexcel 2.2
Measuring development and the development gap
- Use GNI per head, HDI, birth and death rates, literacy and access to water to measure development
- Read the demographic transition model and population pyramids
- Explain the physical, economic and historical causes of uneven development and its consequences
- AQA 3.2.2, Edexcel 2.3
Reducing the development gap
- Weigh investment, industry, aid, intermediate technology, fair trade, debt relief, tourism and microfinance
- Tell top-down from bottom-up strategies
- Judge how far one strategy reduced the gap in one country
- AQA 3.2.2, Edexcel 2.4, Edexcel 2.5, Edexcel 2.6, Edexcel 2.7
Development in an emerging country
- Explain an emerging country's location, links to the world and changing industrial structure
- Weigh the role of transnational corporations, aid and international links
- Explain how rapid economic growth changes quality of life and the environment
- AQA 3.2.2, Edexcel 5.1, Edexcel 5.2
The changing UK economy and population
- Explain deindustrialisation, globalisation and the growth of the post-industrial economy
- Explain the north-south divide and the changing rural landscape
- Explain how migration and an ageing population change the UK
Resource management AQA Paper 2 Section C · Edexcel Paper 3 Topic 9
- AQA 3.2.3.1, AQA 3.2.3.2, AQA 3.2.3.3 · AQA only
Resource management: food and water
- Explain why food, water and energy are unevenly distributed and in rising demand
- Explain food and water security, and why some places face deficits
- Weigh large-scale and local schemes that increase food or water supply
- AQA 3.2.3.1, AQA 3.2.3.4, Edexcel 9.1, Edexcel 9.2, Edexcel 9.3, Edexcel 9.4, Edexcel 9.5, Edexcel 9.6
Energy resources and security
- Classify energy resources as renewable or non-renewable and explain who has access to them
- Explain why global energy demand is rising and what energy insecurity means
- Weigh new fossil fuel supplies against renewables, efficiency and conservation
Skills, fieldwork and decisions AQA Paper 3 and section 3.4 · Edexcel Paper 2 Topic 6 and Paper 3 Section D
- AQA 3.4.1, AQA 3.4.2, AQA 3.4.3, AQA 3.4.4, Edexcel Geographical skills
Maps, graphs and numbers
- Read grid references, scale, direction and contours on Ordnance Survey maps
- Read and draw climate graphs, choropleth maps, scatter graphs and population pyramids
- Work out percentages, means, medians, modes, ranges and interquartile ranges
- AQA 3.3.2, Edexcel 6.1, Edexcel 6.2, Edexcel 6.3, Edexcel 6.4
Fieldwork and enquiry
- Write a fieldwork question that can be answered with data
- Choose sampling methods and primary and secondary data, and explain the risks
- Present, analyse and evaluate fieldwork results and conclusions
- AQA 3.3.1, Edexcel Paper 3 Section D
Issue evaluation and making decisions
- Read a resource booklet and pick out the evidence that matters
- Weigh the economic, social and environmental costs and benefits of each option
- Choose and justify an option, and say why you rejected the others
