Geography (9-1) 0976: KS4

Population and settlement

The natural environment

Economic development

Population dynamics

Migration

Population structure

Population density and distribution

Settlements (rural and urban) and service provision

Urban settlements

Urbanisation

Earthquakes and volcanoes

Rivers

Coasts

Weather

Climate and natural vegetation

Development

Food production

Industry

Tourism

Energy

Water

Environmental risks of economic development

Describe and give reasons for the rapid increase in the world’s population

Show an understanding of over-population and under-population

Understand the main causes of a change in population size

Give reasons for contrasting rates of natural population change

Describe and evaluate population policies

Explain and give reasons for population migration

Demonstrate an understanding of the impacts of migration

Identify and give reasons for and implications of different types of population structure

Describe the factors influencing the density and distribution of population

Explain the patterns of settlement

Describe and explain the factors which may influence the sites, growth and functions of settlements

Give reasons for the hierarchy of settlements and services

Describe and give reasons for the characteristics of, and changes in, land use in urban areas

Explain the problems of urban areas, their causes and possible solutions

Identify and suggest reasons for rapid urban growth

Describe the impacts of urban growth on both rural and urban areas, along with possible solutions to reduce the negative impacts

Describe the main types and features of volcanoes and earthquakes

Describe and explain the distribution of earthquakes and volcanoes

Describe the causes of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions and their effects on people and the environment

Demonstrate an understanding that volcanoes present hazards and offer opportunities for people

Explain what can be done to reduce the impacts of earthquakes and volcanoes

Explain the main hydrological characteristics and processes which operate in rivers and drainage basins

Demonstrate an understanding of the work of a river in eroding, transporting and depositing

Describe and explain the formation of the landforms associated with these processes

Demonstrate an understanding that rivers present hazards and offer opportunities for people

Explain what can be done to manage the impacts of river flooding

Demonstrate an understanding of the work of the sea and wind in eroding, transporting and depositing

Describe and explain the formation of the landforms associated with these processes

Describe coral reefs and mangrove swamps and the conditions required for their development

Demonstrate an understanding that coasts present hazards and offer opportunities for people

Explain what can be done to manage the impacts of coastal erosion

Describe how weather data are collected

Make calculations using information from weather instruments

Use and interpret graphs and other diagrams showing weather and climate data

Describe and explain the characteristics of two climates: equatorial and hot desert

Describe and explain the characteristics of tropical rainforest and hot desert ecosystems

Describe the causes and effects of deforestation of tropical rainforest

Use a variety of indicators to assess the level of development of a country

Identify and explain inequalities between and within countries

Classify production into different sectors and give illustrations of each

Describe and explain how the proportions employed in each sector vary according to the level of development

Describe and explain the process of globalisation, and consider its impacts

Describe and explain the main features of an agricultural system: inputs, processes and outputs

Recognise the causes and effects of food shortages and describe possible solutions to this problem

Demonstrate an understanding of an industrial system: inputs, processes and outputs (products and waste)

Describe and explain the factors influencing the distribution and location of factories and industrial zones

Describe and explain the growth of tourism in relation to the main attractions of the physical and human landscape

Evaluate the benefits and disadvantages of tourism to receiving areas

Demonstrate an understanding that careful management of tourism is required in order for it to be sustainable

Describe the importance of non-renewable fossil fuels, renewable energy supplies, nuclear power and fuelwood; globally and in different countries at different levels of development

Evaluate the benefits and disadvantages of nuclear power and renewable energy sources

Describe methods of water supply and the proportions of water used for agriculture, domestic and industrial purposes in countries at different levels of economic development

Explain why there are water shortages in some areas and demonstrate that careful management is required to ensure future supplies

Describe how economic activities may pose threats to the natural environment and people, locally and globally

Demonstrate the need for sustainable development and management

Understand the importance of resource conservation

Causes and consequences of over-population and under-population

How birth rate, death rate and migration contribute to the population of a country increasing or decliningT1

Impacts of social, economic and other factors (including government policies, HIV/AIDS) on birth and death rates

Internal movements such as rural-urban migration, as well as international migrations, both voluntary and involuntary

Positive and negative impacts on the destination and origin of the migrants, and on the migrants themselves

Age/sex pyramids of countries at different levels of economic development

Physical, economic, social and political factors

Dispersed, linear, and nucleated settlement patterns

Influence of physical factors (including relief, soil, water supply) and other factors (including accessibility, resources)

High-, middle- and low-order settlements and services. Sphere of influence and threshold population

Land use zones including the Central Business District (CBD), residential areas, industrial areas and the rural-urban fringe of urban areas in countries at different levels of economic development

The effect of change in land use and rapid urban growth in an urban area including the effects of urban sprawl

Different types of pollution (air, noise, water, visual), inequality, housing issues, traffic congestion and conflicts over land use change

Reference should be made to physical, economic and social factors which result in rural depopulation and the movement of people to major cities

The effects of urbanisation on the people and the natural environment 

The characteristics of squatter settlements

Strategies to reduce the negative impacts of urbanisation

Types of volcanoes (including strato-volcanoes [composite cone] and shield volcano)

Features of volcanoes (including crater, vent, magma chamber)

Features of earthquakes (including epicentre, focus, magnitude)

The global pattern of plates and their structure; an awareness of plate movements, subduction zones and their effects – constructive/divergent, destructive/convergent and conservative plate boundaries

Characteristics of rivers (including width, depth, speed of flow, discharge) and drainage basins (including watershed, tributary, confluence) 

Processes which operate in a drainage basin (including interception, infiltration, throughflow, groundwater flow, evaporation, overland flow)

Forms of river valleys – long profile and shape in cross-section, waterfalls, potholes, meanders, oxbow lakes, deltas, levées and flood plains

Causes of hazards (including flooding and river erosion)

Opportunities of living on a flood plain or a delta or near a river

Cliffs, wave-cut platforms, caves, arches, stacks, stumps, bay and headland coastlines, beaches, spits, and coastal sand dunes

Hazards (including coastal erosion and tropical storms)

Describe and explain the characteristics, siting and use made of a Stevenson Screen

Rain gauge, maximum-minimum thermometer, wet-and-dry bulb thermometer (hygrometer), sunshine recorder, barometer, anemometer and wind vane, along with simple digital instruments which can be used for weather observations; observations of types and amounts of cloud

Climate characteristics (including temperature [mean temperature of the hottest month, mean temperature of the coolest month, annual range]; and precipitation including convection and relief rainfall [the amount and seasonal distribution])

Factors influencing the characteristics of these climates (including latitude, pressure systems, winds, distance from the sea, altitude and ocean currents)

Climatic graphs showing the main characteristics of temperature and rainfall of the two climates

The relationship in each ecosystem of natural vegetation, soil, wildlife and climate

Effects on the natural environment (both locally and globally) and effects on people

Indicators of development (including GNP per capita, literacy, life expectancy and composite indices, e.g. Human Development Index (HDI))

Primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary sectors

Use of indicators of development and employment structure to compare countries at different levels of economic development and over time

The role of technology and transnational corporations in globalisation along with economic factors which give rise to globalisation

Impacts at a local, national and global scale

Farming types: commercial and subsistence; arable, pastoral and mixed; intensive and extensive

The influence of natural and human inputs on agricultural land use (including natural inputs [relief, climate and soil] and human inputs [economic and social]). Their combined influences on the scale of production, methods of organisation and the products of agricultural systems

Natural problems which cause food shortages (including drought, floods, tropical storms, pests) and economic and political factors (including low capital investment, poor distribution/transport difficulties, wars)

The negative effects of food shortages; the effects of food shortages in encouraging food aid and measures to increase output

Industry types: manufacturing, processing, assembly and high technology industry

The influence of factors including land, labour, raw materials and fuel and power, transport, markets and political factors

Their combined influences on the location, scale of production, methods of organisation and the products of the system

Industrial zones and/or factories with respect to locational and siting factors

Non-renewable fossil fuels including coal, oil and natural gas. Renewable energy supplies including geothermal, wind, HEP, wave and tidal power, solar power and biofuels

Methods of water supply (including reservoirs/dams, wells and bore holes, desalination)

The impact of lack of access to clean water on local people and the potential for economic development

Threats to the natural environment (including soil erosion, desertification, enhanced global warming and pollution [water, air, noise, visual])