The Littoral Zone and Classifying Coasts: Edexcel A-Level Lesson

This is Lesson 1 of a 24-lesson Coasts series, shared free so you can see exactly what the full series is like before buying. It needs nothing but the files: the starter quiz is GCSE retrieval.

Planned to a 50-minute core with up to 10 minutes of “if time” material, so it still works when changeover and admin shorten the hour.

What is in the lesson

• Retrieval starter quiz with answers, outcome, key words and outline.
• Three learning cycles, each with three explanation slides (original diagrams) and a teacher script in the notes (“Say … Ask … (answer)”): the littoral zone and the coast as a system; classifying coasts (plate setting, tides, waves, geology and sea level); rocky v coastal plain landscapes.
• One check per cycle (multiple choice, true or false), two practice tasks with A* stretch and feedback slides, and an “if time” odd-one-out task.
• An optional NASA Landsat clip of a moving shoreline, linked not embedded, with watch-for questions.
• An original 6-mark exam question, 3(a), on a figure comparing five UK and US coasts: writing frame, levels mark scheme (AO1 3 / AO2 3), and a C-standard and an A*-standard example answer with margin notes.
• Exit quiz with homework and a link to the next lesson.
• A two-sided class-set resource sheet (three figures and a table of eight coasts) and teacher notes with timings, answers, specification map, misconceptions and sources.

The exam-style question is original and written in the style of Pearson Edexcel; it is not a past-paper question. This resource is not endorsed by Pearson.

If you like it, the full Edexcel Topic 2B series has 24 lessons covering 2B.1–2B.12, 25 exam-style items with C and A* answers, two group projects and a 40-mark end-of-topic paper.