KS3 Fragile Environments Unit

This fully resourced unit has content that introduces key language and concepts that will link into the Edexcel GCSE SoW, or as a stand alone unit for KS3. It meets the governments National Curriculum requirements for:

• Locational knowledge
• Place knowledge
• Human and physical geography
• Geographical skills

It has been constructed to take students on a journey. They will understand what fragile and extreme environments are, and by using located case studies that highlight the impacts of population growth, human activities and climate change on those environments, they will start to evaluate responses.

A key theme running throughout is to combat the increase in climate anxiety in students. This unit aims to foster awareness and a sense of advocacy by showing positive individual and international strategies that are already halting and reversing the damage being done.

It contains 9 fully resourced lessons, each title is a question that lesson will answer. The unit interleaves learning and later lessons recap and draw on knowledge from earlier lessons. Regular knowledge checks are embedded.

Lessons are a minimum of 1 hour and, if time allows, can be split to extend the unit. There are notes attached to many of the slides explaining or expanding on content to enhance teacher expertise. There are relevant and enjoyable video clips attached to most lessons should you need additional content.

1. What is a fragile environment? (factors, including food webs)
2. Are fragile environments extreme? (using climate graphs)
3. Are Polar environments fragile? (including plant and animal adaptations)
4. Should we protect the Antarctic? (Antarctic Treaty decision making exercise)
5. Are deserts fragile environments? (cold deserts - Gobi case study)
6. What makes hot deserts fragile? (hot deserts - location & characteristics)
7. How do humans adapt? (comparing nomadic Bedouin & Mongol tribes)
8. Can fragile environments break? (focus on causes & impact of desertification)
9. Can fragile environments be fixed? (Great Green Wall Initiative - Sahel)

Bundle also contains a Knowledge Organiser, plus a 40 mark end of topic assessment, with teachers mark sheet.