Sixth Form Course Booklet 2013 - Bromsgrove School

Geography, SL and HL
Geography as part of the IBDP secures locational knowledge and understanding of spatial relations. The emphasis is to
provide students with knowledge and understanding of events in the context of Geographical processes and patterns,
analysing the connections between them from natural, economic, social and political perspectives. Our aim in the
department is to enable students to be able to make judgements having critically analysed data from a wide range of
sources. We aim to help nurture a sense of inquiry which will encourage students to ask questions about the world
around them. There is considerable emphasis placed on the concept of global citizenship and implicit in each course is
the desire to empower our students to realise that they can contribute to the global community either through raising
environmental awareness or by taking an interest in development issues around the world. The global case studies
used to deliver the material will encourage our students to think about issues from the perspective of other cultures,
with the ultimate aim of enlightening the students to the danger of cultural bias and being Eurocentric in our approach
to issues.
The core of the syllabus is centred on the themes of population, resources and development. Emphasis within the core
is given to the contemporary issues of population growth, structure and their link to the concept of the resource crisis,
climate change and sustainability. In addition students will question the concept of quality of life and development. HL
students will have the opportunity to investigate the causes and impacts of globalisation at different scales (localglobal).
The two optional themes at SL will be Urban Environments and Leisure and Tourism. At HL students will also
study Freshwater - issues and conflicts.
Geographical Skills are integrated throughout each course. The skills of visual literacy are central and involve
interpreting maps, graphs, diagrams, aerial photos and satellite images. Developing the ability to research topics is also
key and some sessions will be based upon library and internet research with a view to developing independent study
skills. There will also be the opportunity to experience field work. In the Lower Sixth IBDP geographers must attend a
residential field course which is held over the first weekend of the October half-term (Friday – Monday evening) at
Betws-y-Coed in North Wales. During their stay they will undertake primary data collection in a river and in addition
they will look at flood management schemes. On the field course they will complete the first draft of their internal
assessment which will be based on their river study which will involve the use of statistics.
Assessment:
HL
SL
External Assessment (4 hours 35 minutes) 80% (2 hours 40 minutes) 80%
Paper 1 (1½ hours) 25% (1½ hours) 45%
Paper 2 (1 hour 45 minutes) 30% (1 hour 10 minutes) 35%
Paper 3 (1 hour 20 minutes) 25%
Internal Assessment
Written report based on fieldwork
(Maximum 2,500 words) taking
approximately 20 hours. 20%
Written report based on fieldwork
(Maximum 2,500 words) taking
approximately 20 hours. 20%
For more information contact Mrs J A Holden or Miss F E Diver
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