Lesson Aim: To gain a clear understanding as to how we can classify settlements within a hierarchy. Lesson Objectives: 1. To determine what a settlement hierarchy is. 2. To research specific examples of settlements that fit into the hierarchy. 3. To investigate the characteristics of a range of settlements in our local area. Resources included: *PowerPoint presentation * Lesson plan * Homework instruction sheet (Print the six slides as a single-sided handout) * Settlement hierarchies worksheet Lesson 3 of 10 from my scheme of work on Urban Geography/ Settlement . Also works as a stand alone lesson on settlement hierarchies. Fully differentiated with tasks for higher and lower ability pupils. This lesson is from a scheme of work that I have written for my Year 7 groups, but it could be easily adapted for Year 8 or 9. This lesson requires pupils to make use of: * Atlases * An O.S map of the local area. Three progress checks have been incorporated into this lesson.

Lesson Aim: To establish where the largest cities in the world are and to understand reasons for their development. Lesson Objectives: 1. To write a geographical description of the distribution of the world’s biggest cities. 2. To work collaboratively in order to improve your geographical description! 3. To investigate the reasons why cities grow. Resources included: * PowerPoint presentation including hyperlinks for more able to allow for additional research * Lesson plan * World map worksheet Lesson 2 of 10 from my scheme of work on Urban Geography. Also works as a stand alone lesson on why cities grow. Fully differentiated with tasks for lower and higher ability pupils. This lesson is from a scheme of work that I have written for my Year 7 groups, but it could easily be adapted for Year 8 or 9. Three progress checks have been incorporated into this lesson.

Lesson Aim: To define key terms and work together to determine the suitability of different sites for a settlement. Lesson Objectives: 1. To define the key terms of settlement, site, situation and function 2. To establish the factors that were important when selecting early settlement sites 3. To work together to determine the best site for your tribe Resources included: * PowerPoint presentation, including hyperlink for additional research for more able * Lesson plan * Settlement card sort including lower ability differentiated version * Six tribal settlement role sheets (print using six different colours of paper and laminate for repeat use) Lesson 1 of 10 from my scheme of work on Urban Geography. Also works as a stand alone lesson on what makes a good site for a settlement. Fully differentiated with resources and additional research tasks for lower and higher ability pupils. This lesson is from a scheme of work that I have written for my Year 7 groups, but it could easily be adapted for Year 8 or 9. Three progress checks have been incorporated into this lesson.

Lessons include: 1. Introduction to ecosystems 2. How can a salmon become a tree? The nutrient cycle 3. Biomes 4. What are the characteristics of tropical rainforests? 5. Climate in tropical rainforests 6. How are animals adapted to life in hot deserts? 7. How are plants adapted to life in hot deserts? 8. Threats facing ecosystems- coral reefs 9. Biogeography end of unit test 10. Unit review lesson SoW includes: * Detailed lesson plans including regular progress checks * Powerpoint (52 slides) to accompany lessons, complete with hyperlinks to various websites and videos * A range of supporting worksheets and differentiated material- each lesson is differentiated for both less and more able students. You will also require access to: • Heinemann 'Understanding GCSE Geography for AQA Specification A' (Bowen and Palmister, 2009) text books • Wider World textbooks (old or new) • Atlases • New Basics text book- p.136 • Life on Earth- Episode 8, Jungles, episode 5, Deserts, episode 9- The Shallow Seas This is one of my favourite units to teach to my year 8 groups, however it could easily be adapted for Year 7 or Year 9.

Lesson Aim: To gain a clear understanding into the range of ways humans are having a negative impact upon coral reefs. Lesson Objectives: 1. To establish what coral is 2. To determine why coral reefs are important 3. To identify the main threats facing coral reefs Resources included: *PowerPoint presentation * Lesson plan * Seven ‘threats to coral reefs’ A4 cards, which should be laminated and stuck up around the room. * Lower ability worksheet- Threats to the coral reef table. Clipboards may also be useful. Lesson 7 of 10 from my new scheme of work on Biogeography/ Ecosystems. Also works as a stand alone lesson on threats to coral reefs. Fully differentiated with resources and additional research tasks for lower and higher ability pupils. This lesson is from a scheme of work that I have written for my Year 8 groups, but it could be easily adapted for Year 7 or 9. This lesson requires pupils to make use of: * Life on Earth- episode 9 (the shallow seas) Three progress checks have been incorporated into this lesson.

Lesson Aim: To gain a clear understanding as to what deserts are and the ways in which plants have adapted to survive here. Lesson Objectives: 1. To draw a desert soil profile 2. To define the key terms xerophytic and succulent 3. To identify a range of desert plants and to establish how they have adapted to life here Resources included: *PowerPoint presentation including desert sky hyperlink . * Lesson plan * Desert plant adaptations card sort plus statement sheet Lesson 7 of 10 from my new scheme of work on Biogeography/ Ecosystems. Also works as a stand alone lesson on plant adaptations to life in hot deserts. Fully differentiated with resources and additional research tasks for lower and higher ability pupils. This lesson is from a scheme of work that I have written for my Year 8 groups, but it could be easily adapted for Year 7 or 9. This lesson requires pupils to make use of: *Heinemann 'Understanding GCSE Geography for AQA Specification A' (Bowen and Palmister, 2009) text book. * Scissors and glue. * Life on Earth – episode 5, Deserts- this is required for an optional plenary activity so is not essential. Three progress checks have been incorporated into this lesson.

Lesson Aim: To gain a clear understanding as to what deserts are and the ways in which animals have adapted to survive here. Lesson Objectives: 1. To establish what a desert actually is 2. To locate the major deserts of the world 3. To investigate ways in which animals are adapted to life in the desert Resources included: *PowerPoint presentation including hyperlink to additional research site for more able pupils. * Lesson plan * Lower ability pupils- map of the world which indicates the location of the deserts of the world. * Adaptations of desert animals worksheet Lesson 6 of 10 from my new scheme of work on Biogeography/ Ecosystems. Also works as a stand alone lesson on adaptations of animals to life in hot deserts. Fully differentiated with resources and additional research tasks for lower and higher ability pupils. This lesson is from a scheme of work that I have written for my Year 8 groups, but it could be easily adapted for Year 7 or 9. This lesson requires pupils to make use of: Life on Earth – episode 5, Deserts Glue is also required. Three progress checks have been incorporated into this lesson.

Lesson Aim: To gain a clear understanding as to the relationship between climate and vegetation in tropical rainforests. Lesson Objectives: 1. To explain the climate of tropical rainforests. 2. To analyse the climatic characteristics of the tropical rainforest. 3. To investigate ways in which plants have adapted to the climate here. Resources included: PowerPoint presentation including hyperlinks to video clips Lesson plan Lower ability helpsheet- convectional rainfall diagram. Photocopy this as a handout with 4 slides per page to save paper. Lesson 5 of 10 from my new scheme of work on Biogeography/ Ecosystems. Also works as a stand alone lesson on the climate of tropical rainforests. Fully differentiated with resources and additional research tasks for lower and higher ability pupils. This lesson is from a scheme of work that I have written for my Year 8 groups, but it could be easily adapted for Year 7 or 9. This lesson requires pupils to make use of: • New Basics text book- p.136 • Heinemann 'Understanding GCSE Geography for AQA Specification A' (Bowen and Palmister, 2009) text book. • Life on Earth- Episode 8, Jungles (4:35-10:30 mins) Three progress checks have been incorporated into this lesson.

Lesson Aim: To understand the main characteristics of the tropical rainforest biome. Lesson Objectives: 1. To establish why tropical rainforests are important. 2. To produce an annotated poster outlining the characteristics of the tropical rainforest biome. 3. To summarise the main characteristics of the tropical rainforest. Resources included: PowerPoint presentation including hyperlinks to video clips Lesson plan Lower ability helpsheet- TRF image sheet for poster activity G&T additional research annotations to be included for poster activity (laminated cards, to be collected back in) Lesson 4 of 10 from my new scheme of work on Biogeography/ Ecosystems. Also works as a stand alone lesson on the characteristics of tropical rainforests. Fully differentiated with resources and additional research tasks for lower and higher ability pupils. This lesson is from a scheme of work that I have written for my Year 8 groups, but it could be easily adapted for Year 7 or 9. This lesson requires pupils to make use of the Wider World textbook in addition to the green Heinemann 'Understanding GCSE Geography for AQA Specification A' (Bowen and Palmister, 2009) text book. Three progress checks have been incorporated into this lesson.

Lesson Aim: To practice writing accurate geographical descriptions and conducting additional research using a range of sources. Lesson Objectives: 1. To establish what a biome is 2. To use an atlas to describe the geographical distribution of biomes 3. To carry out additional research to add biome facts to your maps Resources included: PowerPoint presentation including hyperlinks to video clips Lesson plan Lower ability biomes card sort Homework mapping worksheet (print the six slide PowerPoint document as a single-page A4 handout sheet) Lesson 3 of 10 from my new scheme of work on Biogeography/ Ecosystems. Also works as a stand alone lesson on biomes. Fully differentiated with resources and additional research tasks for lower and higher ability pupils. This lesson is from a scheme of work that I have written for my Year 8 groups, but it could be easily adapted for Year 7 or 9. Three progress checks have been incorporated into this lesson.

Lesson Aim: To gain a clear understanding as to how nutrients are recycled within an ecosystem, through examination of the question 'how can a salmon become a tree?' Lesson Objectives: 1. To determine what the nutrient cycle is 2. To explain what decomposers and detritivores are 3. To speak with confidence about the role of salmon in the nutrient cycle of an Alaskan forest Resources included: PowerPoint presentation including hyperlinks to animated clips A4 nutrient cycle sheet (back to back with salmon life cycle diagram- to be laminated for future use) G&T/ More able additional reading material- how humans can influence the nutrient cycle Lower ability picture prompts- will also need scissors and glue if these are used (six sets provided) Lesson 2 of 10 from my new scheme of work on Biogeography (Ecosystems). Also works as a stand alone lesson on the nutrient cycle. Fully differentiated with resources and additional research tasks for lower and higher ability pupils. This lesson is from a scheme of work that I have written for my Year 8 groups, but it could easily be adapted for Year 7, 9 or even KS4. Three progress checks have been incorporated into this lesson.

Lesson Aim: To establish the links between geography and biology and to gain a clear understanding as to what makes up an ecosystem. Lesson Objectives: 1. To find the fib and identify the correct definition for the term ‘ecosystem’ 2. To establish what makes up an ecosystem 3. To conduct research into a small scale ecosystem- a hedgerow. Resources included: PowerPoint presentation A3 Worksheet Lesson plan Lesson 1 of 10 from my new scheme of work on Biogeography (Ecosystems). Also works as a stand alone introduction to ecosystems lesson. This lesson requires pupils to make use of Wider World textbook in addition to the green Heinemann 'Understanding GCSE Geography for AQA Specification A' (Bowen and Palmister, 2009) text book. I have incorporated co-operative learning activities in this initial lesson to enable pupils to work together on differentiated research tasks, with the aim of building a detailed A3 worksheet based on the completion of their component parts. Each pupil will eventually receive an individual A4 copy of their worksheet. I have incorporated three progress checks throughout this lesson and have also included a small-scale ecosystem research task for homework. I have written this scheme of work for my Year 8 groups, but it could easily be adapted for Year 7 or 9. Additional research tasks included to stretch and challenge pupils.

To overcome the problem of my pupils losing their exercise books and assessments, I developed this booklet to enable me to to track progress from Year 7 to Year 9. I have used these books with great success in my department; they have been adopted and adapted across the school by the majority of other departments, who have provided me with lots of positive feedback. Ofsted were very impressed with this idea! At the beginning of Year 7, all pupils are issued with a copy of this A5 progress book, in addition to a manila folder (each cohort has the same colour folder and I keep class sets at the back of my room, each in a large A3 sealable plastic folder with a class sticker on the front). Pupils are not allowed to take their folders containing their progress books home until the end of Year 9, to ensure they do not get lost. All geography assessments are completed on paper and stored in these folders, thereby providing continuos evidence of progress over time throughout KS3. The booklet is completed by its owner throughout the year includes the following sections: * Front cover (school logo can be uploaded here) * Outline of learning journey for the year. * A progress tracker to be updated at the end of each assessment against the individual pupil target for the year * A progress review page which is completed at the end of each unit of work, once the assessed piece of work has been marked and handed back. This requires pupils to evaluate the extent to which their knowledge and understanding has changed, as well as asking them to comment on their progress against targets set at the end of their previous progress review. Pupils then take control of setting their own targets with the view to improving their attainment in the next unit of work. *To promote literacy in Geography, I have included a 'Geo-Literacy' self-review section. * Termly target review page. * Geography skills checklist. * End of year progress review page, focusing on presentation, subject knowledge and Geo-Literacy. I have built in a lesson at the end of each unit of work whereby each class is handed back their marked assessments and are required to complete a progress review page, which must be signed off by the teacher to ensure quality targets have been set. This year 7 version is easily adapted for Year 8 and Year 9; unit names just need to be altered. I have each year printed with a different coloured paper front cover to allow for ease of recognition. At the end of each year you simply need to pass the class set of manila folders containing the progress books & assessments to the next class teacher inheriting your group.

Suitable for Year 10/ 11 GCSE Geography groups. Objectives: To identify case study specifics that will lead to exam success! To consider some of the human and physical attractions in Kenya, in addition to the impacts of tourism here. To investigate some of the strategies that can be employed to manage tourism A fully resourced lesson based on access to the Heinemann text book 'Understanding GCSE Geography for AQA Specification A' (Bowen and Palmister, 2009) This lesson incorporates a high level of cooperative learning and contains differentiated roles and extension work. I originally planned this lesson during an Ofsted inspection but have since used it for a PM lesson observation. I found it worked best when spread over a double lesson but it could easily be split over two lessons if this is not an option. Resources include: * Lesson plan * Ppt. * Starter activity * Kenya Investigator instruction sheet * Kenya lower ability help sheet * Kenya Home Team instructions *Kenya A3 worksheet