Topic title: Sustainable development
Year group: 7
When taught: March to May
What are we learning?
· Why do settlements grow? Bourton and London
· Urban issues and challenges in London
· How can places be more sustainable?
· The Middle East: What is Saudi Arabia like?
· Unsustainable places? Saudi Arabia and the 2034 World Cup
· Sustainable places? Neom; a new eco settlement
· Designing your own sustainable development
Why is this important to know?
· This unit draws on key themes from the National Curriculum, including Sustainability, Urban environments, The Middle East and also incorporates sporting Geographies.
· Sustainability is a core Geographical concept that helps students understand the complex relationships between people, places, and environments, and how human actions impact the planet’s long-term health.
· Students study the Middle East, focusing on Saudi Arabia as a place that often have not studied before and have little prior knowledge of. We study the physical and human Geography of the country, looking at its natural features, economy and population as well as its natural resources. Students look at the Qatar 2022 World Cup and the proposals for the 2034 World Cup in Saudi Arabia, focusing on how sports have an impact on place.
· Students research ideas of sustainable developments and ‘eco cities’ and use their creativity to design their choice of eco development, e.g. a sports stadium or music venue. This fosters a sound understanding of sustainable approaches as well as creativity.
Where does this link into our past and future learning?
· This topic provides a sound foundation on the concepts of social, economic and environmental sustainability and sustainable approaches in our homes and cities. This is built on throughout the rest of KS3 Geography, but especially in year 8 within the topics of Climate change and Coral Reefs and Plastic, Fantastic?
· Students build on skills from their prior learning on the two types of Geography, human and physical, to study a new place and strengthen their understanding of social, economic and environmental concepts.
How will we be assessed on this topic?
· A DIRT task on their new sustainable development, assessed by their teacher
What makes a strong piece of work in this topic? What are teachers hoping to see?
· Consideration of the social, economic and environmental aspects of sustainability
· Use of BLT to fully explain reasons behind your decision making
· Creativity and originality in your sustainable development design
What key words are there in this topic?
What can I try if I want to stretch and challenge myself on this topic?
· Research examples of eco cities around the world, e.g. Curitiba and their key sustainable features
· Read about the Burgess model on how cities have grown. Consider the limitations of the model and how useful it is today
What wider reading can be done on this topic?
‘You can save the planet’ by Gifford et al (2019)
‘A song of a city’ by Jaime Lerner TED Talk
Saudi Arabia: CIA World Factbook
Supporting document/links:
Year 7 Revision sheet
