Course Length: Full academic year (30 weeks)
This Year's Schedule: Click here to view
Aims of the Course
Flooding and extreme weather events grab the headlines, but our environments are constantly changing. Natural cycles have checks and balances but what happens when you inject human interference? Can our farmland still feed us when we have damaged the soil? Should coastlines be allowed to erode unchecked? Can we really clean up pollution? Could Britain ever experience another severe winter? These are just some of the questions that we will be exploring in Geography: Changing Environments.
The course will be full of interesting and important information for understanding the past, living in the present and not fearing the future. We will be looking at a range of scales from global down to our home environments and exploring some amazing tech solutions to some of today’s problems. I can't guarantee no doom and gloom, but we will be aiming for a balanced approach and will have a good dig into the various issues.
The course will be full of interesting and important information for understanding the past, living in the present and not fearing the future. We will be looking at a range of scales from global down to our home environments and exploring some amazing tech solutions to some of today’s problems. I can't guarantee no doom and gloom, but we will be aiming for a balanced approach and will have a good dig into the various issues.
There are no requirements for prior study, but younger students might like to consider
beginning with Geography: Exploring Environments.
Texts include titles like What Has Nature Ever Done For Us? by Juniper and Frozen Britain by McCaskill and Hudson.
Homework Expectations
Each week, students complete a reading assignment, write a summary, and answer three questions based on the text. They also attend a one-hour webinar, where they'll look in more detail at some of the themes in the books.
How It Supports Your Child's Education
This course will suit students as young as 12, but also serves as a high school credit in social studies for US-style, college-bound approaches, or as a pre-(I)GCSE course for those aiming to sit UK-style exams. While the topics covered will be aimed at the depth needed for (I)GCSE, the course content will not cover all of the material required by any particular syllabus.
Who Teaches Geography: Exploring Environments?
Sandra Bird has a degree in Combined Science from Sheffield University and taught geography for a number of years before home educating her two daughters. She has 29 years of experience as a geography examiner, including being principal examiner for 17 of them. Her Blog About Britain project is a free resource for UK geography. Links to the 40 booklets of lessons and activities can be found by searching Blog About Britain on Facebook.See all courses taught by Sandra