Scheme of work Geography – Physical geography: Water and carbon cycles This resource is a scheme of work for the A-level Geography specification (7037). On accreditation of the final specification any revisions will be published on the website. This scheme of work is not exhaustive or prescriptive, it is designed to suggest activities and resources that you might find useful in your teaching. 3.1 Physical geography Core topic 3.1.1 Water and carbon cycles Specification content Week Number Subject-specific skills development Learning outcomes Suggested Learning activities (including ref to differentiation and extension activities) Resources Week 1 Systems in physical geography: Systems concepts and their applications to the water and carbon cycles energy, stores/components, flows/transfers, positive/negative feedback, dynamic equilibrium. Use of key subject specific and technical terminology. To identify connections and interrelationships between different aspects of geography. Constructing and using systems and models. An overview of the concept and use of 'models' by geographers as simplifications of a complex Understanding of the concept of 'systems frameworks' as a type of model fundamental to most areas of geographical understanding. Students will be able to identify, describe and explain the elements of geographical systems, including: Stores/Components Flows/Connections Elements Attributes Relationships Small group discussions followed by feedback - what models used in geography do students know? Students to draw and annotate a model system to show the key elements of a system. Students to draw and annotate a diagram of an example of a positive feedback system and a negative feedback system. Repeat group discussion to see if students can now think Introductory presentation on Website with simple summaries of a number of A summary of the features of the A summary of the features of the A summary of the features of the More information on the A summary of the features of the outputs,
Labelling and annotation of diagrams. Students will be able to identify, describe and explain common characteristics of systems including: Boundaries Inputs Outputs Students will understand systems that are classified as: Isolated systems Closed systems Open systems Students will understand systems as being in a state of dynamic equilibrium that includes: Positive feedback Negative feedback Students will be able to identify the four major subsystems of the earth: Atmosphere Lithosphere Hydrosphere Biosphere To understand that these are interlinked as a ‘cascading system’. of any more examples of systems in geography. Students to work in pairs/small groups to think of ways in which the 4 ‘spheres’ are interlinked. To feedback and share ideas. Opportunity here for a short research task for interconnections between geographical systems. Practice low-tariff exam questions to assess learning – peer assessment opportunity. An online lesson activity investigating connections in the Week 1-3 The Water Cycle Global distribution and size of major stores of water – lithosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere and atmosphere. Processes driving change in the magnitude of stores over time and space, including flows Use of key subject specific and technical terminology. Opportunities to develop skills such as drawing, labelling and annotating diagrams. Opportunity to study soil infiltration rates. Students will understand that on earth water exists in three forms: ice Liquid water Gaseous water vapor Students will understand the idea of latent heat and energy in the context of evaporation and condensation and how they relate Q&A/paired discussion – in what ‘states’ does water exist? Construct a diagram to illustrate changing state, including latent heat. An opportunity to conduct research into each of the major stores of water – in small groups each student An interactive website that summarizes the A simple summary of the including latent heat More detailed information on the A link to some lesson ideas on the
and transfers: evaporation, condensation, cloud formation, causes of precipitation and cryospheric processes at hill slope, drainage basin and global scales with reference to varying timescales involved. Drainage basins as open systems – inputs and to include precipitation, evapotranspiration and runoff; stores and flows, to include interception, surface, soil water, groundwater and channel storage; stemflow, infiltration overland flow, and channel flow. Concept of water balance. Runoff variation and the flood hydrograph. Changes in the cycle over time to include natural variation (including storm events, seasonal changes) and human impact (including farming practices, land use change and water abstraction). Online research. Construct and interpret line graphs and bar graphs. to atmospheric processes like cloud formation and precipitation. Students will understand the distribution of water on earth in terms of: Oceanian and fresh water The limited amount of water economically and physically accessible for human use. Students will understand that the Earth’s water is distributed between: Oceanic water Cryospheric water Terrestrial water Atmospheric water Students will explore the nature of the dynamic equilibrium between these stores. Students will be able to describe and explain the characteristics of each of these stores. Students will be able to describe and explain the characteristics and inputs, stores, transfers and outputs of a drainage basin system, including: Precipitation Interception store Throughfall Stemflow Infiltration Soil storage Vegetation storage given one store to research and return to the group to share and snowball. Construct and annotate a of diagrams to illustrate hydrological cycles, drainage basin hydrological cycles and slope drainage systems Construct and annotate a model of the soil moisture budget – opportunity to stretch students with thinking skills to identify and analyse factors affecting the SMB. Opportunities to study local level case studies of drainage basins, storm hydrographs, etc. Opportunities to assess all aspects with a full range of exam style Qs. A summary of some of the key themes within the A summary of Information on cloud Met Office video clip on A range of Met Office videos on many aspects of the A summary of Further information on / and global stores A summary of the characteristics of A resource for creating a storm hydrograph: Search for information on and flow data for gauging stations in the UK – data can be downloaded to create hydrographs: The National river flow archives and
Burial Compaction Carbon sequestration Weathering. Students to be able to describe, explain, analyse and comment on factors leading to change in the carbon cycle, including: Wild fires Volcanic activity Hydrocarbon fuel extraction Land use changes. Students to be able to describe and explain, and draw conclusions about the nature of the impacts of carbon cycle, and possible future changes, for: the land the oceans the atmosphere and global climate. Students to be introduced to the idea of “enhance greenhouse effect”. Atlantic ocean currents on the climate of NW Europe. The greenhouse effect should be prior knowledge for students – in pairs ask students to produce a diagram and accompanying annotations and text to explain to each other the Greenhouse effect. Students to ‘peer assess’ each other and identify strengths and weaknesses of each other’s explanation. Ensure all students have access to a “correct” description and explanation, followed by multimedia or research opportunity to explore the idea of the “enhanced greenhouse effect”. Week 7 Water, Carbon, Climate and Life on Earth The key role of the carbon and water stores and cycles in supporting life on Earth and particular reference to climate. The relationship between the water cycle and carbon cycle in the Comparative graphing techniques. Extended writing to levels descriptors. Collect, analyze and interpret information from a range of secondary sources – including factual, Students to understand the positive feedback between CO2 led warming leading to higher evaporation rates and a wetter atmosphere. Students to understand the significance of water (water vapour and clouds) and carbon (CO2) as greenhouse gases. An opportunity for students to construct comparative graphs – to show increases in greenhouse gases and atmospheric temperatures. Students could construct feedback diagrams to illustrate relationships between water and carbon cycles and climate change. Website with resources, lesson ideas and interactive activities about a range of issues relating to the Website with a range of pages exploring links between the Studying the effects of
atmosphere. The role of feedbacks within and between cycles and their link to climate change and implications for life on Earth. Human interventions in the carbon cycle designed to influence carbon transfers and mitigate the impacts of climate change. numerical and spatial data. Critical questioning of information, and sources of information. Evaluating and presenting findings from research. Students to understand the dominance of CO2 in controlling the scale of the greenhouse effect. Students to understand and explain why there is a lag between increased emissions of CO2 and any resulting temperature increase. Students to have a understanding of the concept of “mitigation”. All students will be able to identify a of possible human interventions to reduce or prevent emissions. Differentiation could be used when getting students to identify categories or groupings of strategies/approaches – eg local, regional, national, global etc. Students to be able to describe and explain in detail a range of specific strategies that are employed to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. Possibly including: Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) Changing rural land use Improved transport practices. Following discussion and reading students to write an extended prose exam style answer to explain the role of carbon and water in the greenhouse effect. Opportunity for peer assessment. Opportunity for group work for students to identify as many mitigation strategies as possible, and to then categorise. This information once shared could be used to produce a summary Mind map. An opportunity for a research or individual learning activity for students to explore different mitigation strategies – this learning could be shared with the group in a range of ways including wall display, group/individual presentation, PowerPoint/Prezi presentation, YouTube video, or blog, etc. An opportunity to discuss the differing views relating to climate change, and any ethical, moral or issues arising. Also to be critical of the sources of data. Met Office climate scientist explores the idea of Video clip of Met Office climate scientist exploring the idea of climate feedbacks (9 mins): Ted-Ed video exploring the role of clouds in climate change: Video looking at the Human Role in climate change (11 mins): Carbon in the USA Link to the Imperial College Centre for Carbon Capture and Storage A lengthy 2005 IPCC report on Carbon capture and storage, runs to +400 pages, but the “Summary for Policymakers” introduces a range of key ideas with accompanying diagrams: The UNEP for Climate Change Mitigation, with links to different sectors including Agriculture and Transport: IPCC video clips:
Working II – Fifth Assessment Report – Climate change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability: Working Group III – Fifth Assessment Report – Climate change 2014: Mitigation of climate change: Week 8-9 Case Study 1 Case study of a tropical rainforest setting to illustrate and analyze key themes in water and carbon cycles and their relationship to environmental change and human activity. Collect, analyse and interpret a range of qualitative and quantitative data from a range of primary and secondary sources – this could include discursive/creative material when looking at the experiences of people in place. Students will be able to describe, explain and evaluate a number of themes relating to water and climate in the Amazon tropical rainforest, including: how changes in the and carbon cycles have changed the tropical rainforest environment the relationships between hydrology, the carbon and the environment how human activity affects the tropical rainforest. Students will be able to describe and evaluate a range of strategies employed in the Amazon tropical rainforest to reduce the effects of climate change. Opportunity for individual, paired or research task, using a range of textual, digital or audiovisual resources. Findings could be shared in traditional classroom approaches or shared through a VLE on a blog for example. For a more active learning approach students could research from the point of view of different stakeholders. Feedback could then take the form of a debate/roleplay or construction of SWOT analysis in groups etc. Deforestation and carbon cycles in the Amazon rainforest: Simple introductory clip about the and water and carbon Presentation exploring the impacts of land use change on the hydrological cycle in the Brazilian Amazon region: Exploring the impacts of climate change in the Amazonian tropical rainforest: