1. GCE 2008 Geography

2. GCE 2008 This new GCE Geography specification builds on the strengths of current specifications, namely Edexcel GCE Geography specification A (8214/9214) and Edexcel GCE Geography specification B (8215/9215). GCE 2008 Geography The Specification is brand new and exciting The content recognizes the need to engage with students and challenge them The geography is issues and enquiry based and expects students to research and question Fieldwork is integral, as are skills needed in higher education Why choose Edexcel? Slide 2

3. Evidence of assessment overload, especially at AS Declining numbers/competition from newer subjects Evidence of a repeated curriculum GCE 2008 Geography Changing global geography, not reflected by old specifications A need for renewal, recognised in the Geography Action Plan The ‘stretch and challenge’ agenda Guiding issues GCE 2008 Slide 3

4. AS should be stimulating and inspiring A2 should be challenging and questioning The loss of coursework should not lead to a loss of fieldwork A balance of local, global and regional geographies GCE 2008 Geography Geography should be current and ‘real’, but set in historical and theoretical contexts Choice should be present at AS and A2 Quality resources should be available to teachers at an early stage Guiding principles GCE 2008 Slide 4

5. GCE 2008 Geography GCE 2008 Who was involved? Student surveys and focus groups Centre surveys and teacher focus groups Extensive survey of HE views Expert input: Dr Rita Gardiner (RGS) David Lambert (GA) Eleanor Rawling Vivien Pointon Chief examiners and Principal examiners from both Spec A and B Edexcel Geography support team (revisers, subject officers) The FSC’s Juniper Hall: new spec. birthplace Slide 5

6. 1 new specification; not an amalgam of A and B 4 units, rather than 6 No coursework – completely exam tested Reduction in assessment burden on candidates Refreshed content GCE 2008 Geography What are the key changes? GCE 2008 Slide 6

7. GCE 2008 Geography Slide 7

8. GCE 2008 Geography GCE 2008 WORLD at RISK Global hazards, global hazard trends, global hazard patterns Climate change and its causes, global warming impacts and options The challenge of global hazards for the future GOING GLOBAL Globalisation, global groupings, global networks Population and roots, on the move, world cities The challenge of a globalising world AS Unit 1 – Global Challenges Slide 8

9. GCE 2008 Geography Assessment for Unit 1 – Global Challenges 1 ½ hour examination including resource booklet Combination of: data response / short questions objective items longer / guided essay questions GCE 2008 Slide 9

10. Using Figure 4(a): (a) Which EU country was the source of most immigrants to the UK? (1) (i) Suggest reasons for this flow. (2) (b) Which EU country was the destination for most UK emigration? (1) (i) Suggest reasons for this flow. (2) (c) Which of the following population movements is best described as economic migration? Tick the most appropriate box People forced to leave a country to escape from famine Those who arrive claiming to be victims of persecution People travelling abroad to find work elsewhere People entering a country unofficially Those who retire to ‘a place in the sun’ (1) Using Figure 4(b): (d) Explain why the UK is a ‘global hub’ for the movement of people. (4) (11 marks) Figure 4(a) Migrations to and from the EU GCE 2008 Geography Assessment for Unit 1: data response Figure 4(b)

11. GCE 2008 Geography Assessment for Unit 1: guided essays GCE 2008 10. Study Figure 10. (a)Suggest why the various groups shown hold differing views about this global trade (10) (b) Explain how people can manage the environmental and social costs of globalisation for a better world. (15) Slide 11 UK customers are generally happy but some businesses and workers are less pleased Millions of Chinese people and their government support this venture Maersk shipping lines has offices in 150 countries, and 500 large container ships Critics of this world-wide commercial activity see this as ‘globalisation gone mad’

12. GCE 2008 Geography GCE 2008 PHYSICAL EXTREME WEATHER: extreme weather watch, extreme impacts, increasing risks, management OR CROWDED COASTS: competition for coasts, coping with pressure, increasing risks, management HUMAN UNEQUAL SPACES: Recognising inequality, inequality for whom?, managing urban and rural inequality OR REBRANDING PLACES: time to rebrand, rebranding strategies, managing rural and urban rebranding AS Unit 2 – Geographical Investigations Slide 12

13. GCE 2008 Geography Assessment for Unit 2 – Geographical Investigations 1 hour examination including resource booklet 2 longer response questions Questions in three parts: data response investigation skills impacts/management issues GCE 2008 Slide 13

14. GCE 2008 Geography Assessment for Unit 2 – data response GCE 2008 (a) Suggest some of the physical and economic factors that may have made Florida a crowded coast. (10) (b) Using named examples, examine some of the environmental costs of coastal developments such as those shown in Florida. (10) (c) Describe and explain a programme of fieldwork and research you would use to investigate the impacts of either coastal erosion or coastal flooding, along a stretch of coastline. (15) TOTAL 35 marks Slide 14

15. GCE 2008 Geography GCE 2008 The planet is ‘contested’ in a variety of ways, for example: Increasing demands on a diminishing resource base. Conflicting over the use of resources versus their protection. Questions of economic development and inequality. Should the aim be to make current patterns of consumption more sustainable, or are more radical actions needed? Is technological development the solution to problems of resource depletion and environmental degradation, or it is part of the problem? A2 Unit 3 – Contested Planet Over-arching themes Slide 15

16. Providing resources: the costs and problems of consumption; management options and challenges Unequal patterns of consumption: poverty – v - wealth The role of technology: In overcoming resource scarcity: inequality and resource management issues. GCE 2008 Geography Organisation of Unit 3 GCE 2008 Synoptic Themes PLAYERSACTIONSFUTURES Slide 16

17. GCE 2008 Geography GCE 2008 A2 Unit 3 – Contested Planet Energy demand, supply, impacts of energy security, the future of energy supply Energy Security Water Conflicts Geography of water supply, risks of water insecurity, water conflicts and the future Biodiversity under Threat Defining biodiversity, what threatens biodiversity, management of threats Superpower Geographies Superpowers and geopolitics, impacts and influence of superpower economies, superpower change and futures Causes, implications at different scales, reducing the development gap Inequalities in access to technology, technology and development, technology and the planet’s future Bridging the Development Gap The Technological Fix Slide 17

18. GCE 2008 Geography Assessment for Unit 3 – Contested Planet 2½ hour examination including resource booklet Pre-released synoptic materials Section A – 2 extended essay questions Section B – 3 synoptic short essay style questions GCE 2008 Slide 18

19. GCE 2008 Geography GCE 2008 A2 Unit 3 – Contested Planet Paper overview Q6 a-c Synoptic TECHNOLOGICAL FIX Q1 WaterQ2 Energy Q3 Biodiversity Q4 Superpowers Q5 Development Slide 19

20. GCE 2008 Geography GCE 2008 Assessment for Unit 3: extended essays Slide 20 (a)Explain the pattern of alien species invasions, and suggest the possible impacts of alien species on ecosystems (15) (b) Evaluate the relative importance of global and local threats to one named global ecosystem. (15)

21. GCE 2008 Geography GCE 2008 A2 Unit 4 – Geographical Research Choice for centres and candidates Physical and Human options, but not a physical and human divide Some ‘old favourites’ renewed (tectonic hazards) Some new topics (cultural diversity / glaciation) Research Flexibility in teaching and learning Slide 21

22. GCE 2008 Geography GCE 2008 A2 Unit 4 – Geographical Research Health risks, complex causes, pollution and health risk links, managing health risks Pollution and Human Health at Risk Consuming the rural landscape Growth of leisure and tourism landscapes, fragility of rural landscapes, impact on rural landscapes, management Definition and value of culture, spatial cultural variations, impact of globalization, cultural attitudes and the environment Feast or famine, causes of food supply inequalities, desertification and life at the margins, management and security Location, climatic processes and their causes, landforms and landscapes, glaciation, challenges, opportunities and management Hazards and causes, physical impacts, human impacts, hazard response and the future Tectonic activity and hazards Cold Environments Life on the margins and food supply The world of cultural diversity Slide 22

23. GCE 2008 Geography Assessment for Unit 4 – Geographical Research 1½ hour examination Pre-released materials (a research steer) 1 long report question relating to chosen option study GCE 2008 Slide 23

24. GCE 2008 Geography GCE 2008 A2 Unit 4 – Geographical Research OPTION 1: Tectonic activity and hazards The physical causes of tectonic hazards and responses to them OPTION 5: Pollution and Human health at risk The need for international action OPTION 1: Tectonic activity and hazards Question 1 Discuss the relationship between the nature of tectonic hazards and human responses to them. (70) OPTION 5: Pollution and Human health at risk Question 5 Explain why international initiatives are increasingly needed to cope with the risks of disease and pollution. (70) Slide 24

25. GCE 2008 – e-Spec GCE 2008 Electronic, interactive version of the specification Content easy to evaluate and discuss Free inside the specification in September 2007 Slide 25

26. GCE 2008 – How do I Keep Up to Date? Keep informed – sign up for email alerts on: www.edexcel.org.uk/gce2008 Regional Office and Team Support Keep in touch : GCE enquiries – telephone 0844 576 0025 ‘Ask the Expert’ service www.edexcel.org.uk/about/ask GCE 2008 Slide 26