Welcome to the Geography Department!
Our Vision
Our department aims to help every student reach their full potential and prepare them to be active, responsible citizens and lifelong learners. We strive to foster awareness of environmental issues and encourage students to adopt lifestyles that are considerate toward others and the planet.
Through extensive outdoor fieldwork in Cyprus and overseas, we broaden our students' perspectives and develop qualities such as teamwork, data analysis, and problem-solving skills.
Departmental Aims and Ethos
Specific Geography Departmental Aims
- Develop outdoor research skills, including setting up aims and hypotheses, designing recording sheets, collecting data, sampling, analyzing, and presenting data.
- Encourage health and safety awareness in outdoor research and the ability to evaluate the validity of research results.
- Foster teamwork skills and a respectful, tolerant attitude in a multicultural society.
Curriculum
YEAR 1
- It’s your planet!
- Weather and Climate
- Ordnance Survey maps - Skills
- Settlements
YEAR 2
Year 2 Geography deals with knowledge of the man-made and natural environment. It requires students to use and apply their knowledge in data response questions. Many of their exam questions will involve data response to graphs, maps, photos, diagrams and texts.
Topics covered
- Rivers and weathering
- Economic Activity and Industry
- Resources and the Environment
- Population
During the Summer Term, Year 2 Geography students go on a field trip to explore and investigate the relationship between Resources and the Environment.
The first stop is at Klirou dam, followed by the Akaki River, at the start of the nature trail ‘Pikrovrisi tis Merikas’ and finally the abandoned copper mine in Mistero.
YEAR 3
Geography deals with knowledge of the man-made and natural environment. It requires students to use and apply their knowledge in data response questions. Many of their exam questions will involve data response to graphs, maps, photos, diagrams and texts.
Topics covered:
- Coasts
- China- A case study of trade and development
- Volcanoes and earthquakes
- Describe and interpret photos
- Interpret and construct bar graphs, line graphs, scatter graphs, flow diagrams, pie charts and choropleth maps.
- Label maps and diagrams
- Fieldwork sketching
Field trips
Mid-way through the Autumn Term, Year 3 students visit the Southern coast of Cyprus to investigate the Physical and Human features of the coast.
At Governor’s Beach, students are asked to identify, photograph and label the wide range of different coastal landforms on display. The second stop, moving East along the coast, is at Zygi marina where students can see various examples of coastal management.
Year 4 and Year 5 IGCSE Geography
Content
Students study, investigate and research a whole range of physical and human environments. The course attempts to sensitise students to the complexities of the natural and manmade environments and how these behave and interact .All through the course students are expected to see their complex role in these
Physical geography
Key Topic Areas
River environments
Hazardous environments – the characteristics and distribution of different types of natural hazards, including tropical storms, earthquakes and volcanoes.
Human Geography
Key Topic Areas
Economic activity and energy – Students will study the variations in economic activity, which have occurred spatially and over time. They will consider the relationship between population and resources.
Urban environments – Students will study the trends, characteristics and problems associated with urban environments.
Students are required to undertake a geographical investigation involving fieldwork and research in one human environment.- Urban Environments.
Globalisation and migration – Students will study the characteristics and growth in globalisation, including the role of global institutions, transnational corporations, migration and tourism. They will evaluate different approaches to managing migration and tourism in a more sustainable way.
Field trips
Year 4:
The middle of the Spring Term sees the first of two fieldtrips organised for IGCSE Geography students. The first trip is to the South-West of Nicosia, to the Akaki river, to investigate changes in river channel characteristics. As this is their first fieldtrip at IGCSE level, our aim is to encourage students to actively engage in the process of geographical enquiry and put the fundamental building blocks of practical geography in place.
Year 5:
Towards the end of the Autumn Term, as part of their IGCSE Geography syllabus, Year 5 students are tasked with investigating the ever-changing use of inner-city Nicosia. To do so, students study a range of regenerated and non-regenerated sites across central Nicosia. Aiming to cultivate critical and reflective skills, students are asked to analyse and evaluate the sustainability of recent regeneration projects, such as the new Eleftheria Square. During this fieldtrip, students are challenged to use a wide range of different geographical skills which not only prepare them for answering fieldwork-related questions in the IGCSE exam but also develop them as independent learners with enquiring minds.
GEOGRAPHY AS / A Level
The AS level is structured into 6 topics:
AS core physical themes:
1. Hydrology and fluvial geomorphology:
Drainage basin system/Discharge relationships within drainage basins/Processes/Landforms/Flood Management Strategies
Hard and soft engineering/Risk analysis. Sustainable management.
2. Atmosphere and Weather:
Diurnal energy budgets/global energy budget/ocean currents/weather processes and phenomena. The human impact: Microclimate-urban heat island/fog –smog-pollution Climate change-global warming –evidence + response
3. Rocks and weathering:
Earth Structure/Evidence/Types of plates /associated landforms/hot spots. Volcanos type/ distribution: Weathering and rocks: types of weathering/controls of weathering/slope processes/mass movement. Human impact: Stability of slopes, landslides.
4. Population:
Demographic change/Demographic Transition Model/fertility /mortality Age Sex Structure/Dependency ratio/Aging Youthful populations/Implications of population structure change-social economic-political/Pop vs Development/Population-resource relationship/Carrying Capacity/Overpopulation/under population/Optimum population/Management of natural increase..
5. Migration:
Migration as a component of pop. Change,/internal/international migration. Intra- urban/inter-urban/forced /voluntary migrations/Causes and impacts: social, political, economic and environmental Case study of international migration
6. Settlement:
Dynamics: Changes in rural settlements/urban trends and urbanisation/changing structure of urban settlements/management of urban settlements.
Advanced Level
The Advanced geography Course is structured into 4 sections
Physical environments:
1. Coastal environments:
Coastal processes/characteristics and formation of coastal landforms/coral reefs/sustainable management of coasts.
2 Hazardous environments:
Hazards resulting from: Tectonic processes/ seismic waves/ volcanoes/ tsunamis/hazard mapping/risk assessment/building design.
Mass movements: Nature and causes of mass movements/landslides/avalanches/ /hazard mapping and management’
Atmospheric disturbances:
Large scale tropical disturbances (cyclones), formation, development, risk assessment +management/tornadoes. Sustainable management of hazardous environments.
Human environments:
Global Interdependence: Trade flows and trading patterns/international debt and aid/ development of international tourism + management of tourist destination.
Economic transition:
National development/employment structures /global inequalities in social and economic well-being/HDI/globalisation of economic activity/TNCs/Foreign Direct Investment/ emergence of NICs/regional development/management of regional development.
