St. Wilfrid’s RC College

Bridging Unit GCSE A Level

Geography Department

Bridging Unit Tasks

Geography scrap book

There are so many issues in the ‘real world’ that we can link to our geography specification at A

Level.

Your task:

Each week you need to add one human and one physical geography article to your scrapbook.

Success Criteria:

a. Read one human geography article (make sure you write down the link of the article).

b. Use Appendix 1 as a starting point if needed.

c. Summarise the main points of the article-this could be annotations on the article itself or

a written summary.

d. Using Appendix 2 (exam specification) explain how this article links to the A Level

specification.

e. Repeat again with a physical geography article (make sure you write down the link of the

article.

You should come to your first A Level geography lesson with a minimum of 7 physical geography

articles and 7 human geography articles.

Rationale:

This work will set you up on wider geographical knowledge and understanding of the world in

advance of your A Level.

Appendix 1: Article starting points

Don’t forget to ‘challenge’ yourself and research your own articles.

Globalisation Extra Reading

1. Why is globalisation under attack?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37554634

2. The globalisation elephant graph

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37542494

3. Of course there’s a globalisation backlash. It has failed billions of people -

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/feb/13/globalisation-backlash-open-markets-

borders-climate-populism-coronavirus

4. 'My job went abroad because of globalisation' https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51180111

5. War on plastic won’t be easy

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/16/the-war-on-plastic-wont-be-easily-won

6. Who owns the Arctic?

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/06/russia-and-china-battle-us-in-race-to-control-arctic.html

Regenerating Places Extra Reading

1. BBC News: England's most deprived areas named as Jaywick and Blackpool

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-49812519

2. The coolest place in Britain -

https://baltictriangle.liverpoolecho.co.uk/?_ga=2.156797435.1721947916.1584629898-

138814550.1584629898

Water and Carbon

1. What is the water and carbon cycle?

https://www.rgs.org/CMSPages/GetFile.aspx?nodeguid=6dc9f1c1-f92d-4c04-9f85-

9985844a6a79&lang=en-GB

2. Soils in the Nexus: A crucial resource for water, energy and food supply

https://www.weltbild.at/media/txt/pdf/9783865814319-099913647-soils-in-the-

nexus.pdf

3. A new look at the long term carbon cycle

https://www.geosociety.org/gsatoday/archive/9/11/pdf/gt9911.pdf

4. Why are we getting more storms?

https://www.express.co.uk/news/weather/1241938/uk-storm-warning-atlantic-storms-worse-why-

so-many-storms-increase-storm-dennis-met-office

5. Why is it raining so much this year?

https://earther.gizmodo.com/why-is-it-raining-so-much-this-year-1835624963

Coastal Landscapes

1. Sea level rise and coastal environments

https://www.nap.edu/read/12782/chapter/11

2. Future proof UK coastlines

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/apr/11/uk-coastal-areas-sea-levels-national-trust

Appendix 2: Eduqas Year 12 A Level Geography

Paper 1

1.1 Coastal Landscapes

This theme involves the study of coastal landscapes developed by the interaction of winds, waves and

currents and the sediment supply from terrestrial and offshore sources. Study takes place within a

systems framework, focusing on spatial and temporal variations in the geomorphological processes that

operate within coastal landscapes and how the flows of energy and movement of materials combine to

create specific landforms on rocky, sandy and estuarine coastlines. Scale in this theme is fundamentally

at the local level but includes a wider region to put the local into context. Some content moves

beyond the local to the global to embrace a variety of landscapes not evident in the UK, for example

the study of mangrove coastlines. The impact of human activity as a factor causing change within

coastal landscape systems will also be studied.

1.3: Changing Places

This compulsory theme focuses on places and their dynamic characteristics. While the UK and especially

the place(s) where the learner lives / lived and / or studies are the context for study, appropriate

examples from different regional and national contexts may be used, both in class and in field studies.

'Place' is a portion of geographic space to which meaning has been given by people. Different places have

distinct characteristics due to their natural features and the landscapes that people have created.

Places change over time and develop layered history. This history helps to shape the identity and

'personality' of a place. The identity is also shaped by the relationship to other places at a range of

scales. A place, such as London’s Trafalgar Square or the Lake District, may symbolise different things

for different people. Places can evoke feelings of nostalgia, pride, hope, adventure, tranquillity or fear.

Places are a vital part of the learners' own lives and the lives of others.

Places are dynamic because the population, society, and the economy upon which they depend and the

environment in which they are situated are in a constant state of flux. The changing economic

environment impacts on employment structure with effects on the environment, the demography of

the place and the consequent socio-economic characteristics. As places change there is often a need for

government and society to respond through innovation, marketing and reinvention. This leads to the

'remaking' of rural and urban places. Economic restructuring drives change. This has major impacts on

social inequalities, culture, and the environment in relation to learners' own lives and the lives of

others.

Paper 2

2.1 Water and Carbon Cycles

This compulsory theme is based on the physical processes which control the cycling of both water and

carbon between land, oceans and the atmosphere. It takes place within a systems framework to

emphasise the integrated nature of land, oceans and atmosphere, so that learners can gain an

understanding of the key role played by the carbon and water cycles in supporting life on Earth.

Systems operate at a range of temporal scales (seconds to millions of years) and space (plant to

global) scales.

As an outcome of studying this theme, learners will gain an understanding of specialised concepts:

adaptation (to maintain equilibrium), causality (changes within the cycles), equilibrium (of the cycles),

feedback (within the systems), interdependence (of the two cycles), mitigation (to maintain

equilibrium), resilience (of the system), sustainability (of the system), systems (the water and carbon

cycles), and thresholds (the tipping point for change within and between the cycles).

2.2: Global Governance: Change and Challenges

This theme covers global change and challenges. The focus of 2.2.1 to 2.2.5 is processes and patterns

of global migration, a global flow which has historically had a major impact on most countries.

Technological developments have accelerated migration over time, giving rise to a shrinking world. This

brings opportunities and challenges to different localities. The focus on 2.2.6 to 2.2.10 is the global

governance of the Earth’s oceans. Global flows that cross oceans include container shipping, oil tankers,

broadband networks and illegal movements of people and goods. The oceans also function as a global

commons for waste. Over time, nations have recognised the strategic importance of oceans. Throughout

this section, learners are encouraged to reflect on how connectivity has linked people, places and

environments across the globe, involving movements of goods, people, technology and ideas. While

globalisation is sometimes characterised as a borderless world, in reality a growing number of national

and international laws and conventions have been introduced. These laws and conventions aim to manage

global systems and the consequences they bring to people, places and environments around the world,

which are often tied to issues of power, justice and inequality. Systems operate at a range of temporal

scales and space (local to global) scales. As an outcome of studying 2.2.1 to 2.2.5, learners will gain

an understanding of specialised concepts: causality (drivers of global patterns of migration), globalisation

(links between countries), risk (associated with refugees), and resilience (ability of neighbouring

countries to cope with refugees).