GCE 2008 Geography

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

• 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 2008Slide 3

• 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 2008Slide 4

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 RawlingVivien 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

• 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 2008Slide 6

GCE 2008 Geography

Slide 7

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

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 2008Slide 9

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 boxPeople forced to leave a country to escape from

famineThose who arrive claiming to be victims of

persecutionPeople travelling abroad to find work elsewherePeople entering a country unofficiallyThose 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 responseFigure 4(b)

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 ventureMaersk 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’

GCE 2008 Geography

GCE 2008

PHYSICAL

EXTREME WEATHER: extreme weather watch, extreme impacts,

increasing risks, managementOR

CROWDED COASTS: competition for coasts, coping with pressure, increasing

risks, management

HUMAN

UNEQUAL SPACES: Recognising inequality, inequality for whom?,

managing urban and rural inequalityOR

REBRANDING PLACES: time to rebrand, rebranding strategies,

managing rural and urban rebranding

AS Unit 2 – Geographical Investigations

Slide 12

GCE 2008 Geography Assessment for Unit 2 – Geographical Investigations

1 hour examination including resource booklet

2 longer response questionsQuestions in three parts:

• data response• investigation skills• impacts/management issues

GCE 2008Slide 13

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 marksSlide 14

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

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

FUTURES ACTIONS

PLAYERS

Synoptic

Themes

Slide 16

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 ThreatDefining biodiversity, what threatens biodiversity, management of threats

Superpower GeographiesSuperpowers 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

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 2008Slide 18

GCE 2008 Geography

GCE 2008

A2 Unit 3 – Contested Planet

Paper overview

Q5 Development

Q4 Superpowers Q3 Biodiversity

Q2 Energy

Q1 Water

Q6 a-cSynoptic

TECHNOLOGICAL FIX

Slide 19

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)

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

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

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 2008Slide 23

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 1Discuss 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

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

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 2008Slide 26