A Level Geography Flying Start Pack

For 2020 admissions

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WHAT IS GEOGRAPHY?

Geography is unique in bridging the social sciences and natural sciences. Find out what makes our discipline essential in understanding the world in which we live.

Human geography concerns the understanding of the dynamics of cultures, societies, and economies. Physical geo-graphy concerns the understanding of the dynamics of landscapes and the environment.

Geography puts this understanding of social and physical processes within the context of place - recognising the great differences in cultures, political systems, economies, landscapes, and environments across the world, and ex -ploring the links between them. Understanding the causes of differences and inequalities between places and social groups underlie much of the newer developments in human geography.

Geography provides an ideal framework for relating other fields of knowledge. It is not surprising that those trained as geographers often contribute substantially to the applied management of resources and environments.

Geography is, in the broadest sense, an education for life and for living. Learning through geography – whether gained through formal learning or experientially through travel, fieldwork and expeditions – helps us all to be more socially and environmentally sensitive, better informed, and more responsible as citizens and employees.

Geography informs us about:

The places and communities in which we live and work

Our natural environments and the pressures they face

The interconnectedness of the world and our communities within it

How and why the world is changing, both globally and locally

How our individual and societal actions contribute to those changes

The choices that exist in managing our world for the future

The importance of location in business and decision-making

YOU:

Some of you will have taken Geography as a GCSE and will already be familiar with some of the topics which you will study in more depth at A Level.

However, don’t worry if you have not chosen Geography at GCSE. Providing you enjoy writing at length, have a genuine interest in how the world works, and a thirst to learn about different places and what makes them the way they are, then A Level Geography at TRC could be for you.

This pack will help you to:

See the relevance of Geography at a higher level; what can Geography do for you, and where it can take you

Link content learnt in GCSE subjects, to the A Level in Geography (such as globalisation and tectonic hazards)

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PlannerThe following plan is meant as a guide to help you structure the activities in this flying start pack between June and August.

However, if you would like to complete this at a different pace and/or spend less or more time on each activity this is entirely your choice.

Week and activity number Page number Time allocation Complete?1 – What is Geography? Why should you choose it? What can you do with Geography?

2-4 1 hour

2 – Tectonic Hazards & Risk 5 2 hours3 – Tsunami’s- what are they? 6 45 minutes4 - Water Cycle and Insecurity Topic Taster 7 1 hour5 – Coastal erosion in the UK 8 1 hour6 – What is globalisation? 9 1 hour7 – What are TNC’s? 10 1 hour8 – Why are TNC’s distributed in some places and not others?

11 1 hour

9 – Globalisation in the news 12 1 hour10 – Evaluating the costs and benefits of globalisation on different places

13 1 hour

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Activity 1 – What is Geography, why choose it, and what can Geography do for you?You are choosing to study A Level Geography, but do you understand what the course is all about?

We study the Edexcel A Level Syllabus which can be accessed here: https://qualifications.pearson.com/content/dam/pdf/A%20Level/Geography/2016/specification-and-sample-assessments/Pearson-Edexcel-GCE-A-level-Geography-specification-issue-5-FINAL.pdf

a) Make a list of the reasons why you are interested in studying Geography at TRC.

“Going Places with Geography” is the progression and careers video from the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)'s Geography Ambassador Project.

It features engaging and inspiring young graduate geographers speaking about their careers and the range of skills and experiences geography has enabled them to develop.

b) Watch the following short video clips on the RGS website showing where geography can take you. Make a list of all the sectors and possible careers that geographers can do in the box below. Once you have watched the videos and read the article, brainstorm the skills geographers have and the reasons for why geographers are in demand with graduate employers.

https://www.rgs.org/choosegeography/

https://www.rgs.org/schools/teaching-resources/going-places-with-geography-video/

https://www.rgs.org/CMSPages/GetFile.aspx?nodeguid=b3ed76e0-8abc-4968-a98f-dca3c1f15620&lang=en-GB

Possible sectors/ careers/ job roles Why are geographers in demand?What skills do geographers have?

Does anything in your list surprise you?

If you wish to explore the possibility of a geography degree at university, please click here

https://www.rgs.org/geography/choose-geography/geography-at-university/

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Activity 2 – Tectonic Hazards & a Risky WorldPeople must live with the risk of tectonic hazards which could cause harm to people, the economy and change the environment.Watch the video clip, make notes, and think about the following questions. If you don’t find all the answers in the videos, then use your initiative and do some online research.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muPmNoHn3P4a) What is the difference between a tectonic hazard and a tectonic disaster?

b) What is subduction?

c) How are plate tectonics linked to different tectonic hazards?

b) Describe and explain the distribution of tectonic earthquakes and volcanoes.

d) Research a case study example of each type of tectonic disaster (earthquake, volcano, tsunami). Complete the FactFile below:

Tectonic Disaster Social impacts (people) Economic losses (money) Any other facts

Earthquake example & date

Volcanic Disaster example & date

Tsunami disaster example & date

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Activity 3 – Tsunamis- what are they and how do they form?Watch the following video and carry out any research needed to enable you to complete the following questions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWzdgBNfhQU

a) Explain in 200 words what a tsunami is, and how they form.

b) Research and describe at least 5 different tsunami management strategies which can be used to save lives and reduce social impacts of a tsunami disaster.

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Activity 4 – Flooding and DroughtWe study the Water Cycle and Insecurity topic. This topic focuses on the causes, impacts and management strategies of river flooding and drought.

a) Choose one of the following case studies of flooding OR drought and use your research skills to investigate it fully. Think in terms of the causes of the disaster, and its impacts.

Sheffield Flash floods (2007) Causes of the flood Impacts of the flood

Mississippi River Flood (1993) Causes of the flood Impacts of the flood

The Big Dry Australian Drought 2013 Causes of the drought Impacts of the drought

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Activity 5 – What is coastal erosion?Watch the video to gain insight into the issues surrounding coastal erosionhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUh3WeilFN4a) What is coastal erosion?

b) What causes coastal erosion?

c) What conditions make coastal erosion faster?

d) How significant are waves in causing coastal erosion?

e) How is coastal erosion likely to cause problems for people and the economy?

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Activity 6 – What is globalisation?Globalisation is a process that involves more links being created between different countries. This includes links made by flows of people (migrants and tourists), goods, information, and money.

Watch the GCSE bitesize video about globalisation.https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zxpn2p3/video

Read the GCSE bitesize notes in section 4 and 5

Watch https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=ZNejKHKSbl0

1. Summarise the main factors that have caused globalisation.

2. Summarise the positive and negative impacts of globalisation.

3. Identify 3 things that show you are part of the process of globalisation.

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Activity 7 – What are TNCs?Trans-national corporations (TNCs) or multi-national corporations, are companies that operate in more than one country.

They are at the heart of the process of globalisation.

Use Wikipedia to compare two TNCs:Tesco and Walmarthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

1. Find out how many countries each of these retail companies operates in.

2. Explain how this evidence shows that Tesco and Walmart are contributing to globalisation.

3. Which of the companies is contributing the most to globalisation? Explain your answer.

4. Tesco has its Headquarters in the UK, Walmart in the USA. What do these two countries have in common that helps explain the success of their TNCs? Try and use geographical terminology in your answer.

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Activity 8 – Why do TNCs locate in some countries more than others?

Use the Global 500 (biggest companies in the world) brand directory list to identify the top 20 global brands in the world.https://brandirectory.com/rankings/global/2018/table

1. Identify which country dominates the top 10. Identify which other countries feature in the top 20.

2. Explain why these countries have such successful TNCs.

Use the Global 500 map to identify where the top 500 TNCs have their HQs.https://fortune.com/global500/2019/visualizations/

3. Describe and explain which parts of the world dominate this pattern.

4. Describe and explain which parts of the world have few of the top 500 TNC HQs.

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Activity 9 – Globalisation in the news

Read about globalisation in the BBC news:https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37554634

Complete research and find another news article with another view on globalisation.

1. Explain why some people argue that globalisation is increasingly being seen as negative.

2. Summarise the views in this second news article.

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Activity 10 – How does globalisation impact on cities?Globalisation has had a significant effect on many world cities.

Mumbai (India) and Sheffield (UK) will both be important case-studies that you will cover in your first term.

As part of the ‘Culture Vulture’ tasks you should have watched either The Full Monty or Slumdog Millionaire.

Watch the film that you have not seen and/or revisit your notes.

The Full Monty https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsNTOess--o Slumdog Millionaire https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sb5t_9GY-eo

1. Complete internet research and for each city find at least 5 additional facts about each city.

2. For each case-study write a paragraph explaining the factors that have influenced the growth and development of each city. Try and use some of the geographical terms listed below that are relevant to each city.

Sheffield: economic decline deindustrialisation poverty inner city economic restructuring service sector

Mumbai: rural-urban migration urbanization mega-city slum shanty town hyper-urbanisation

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