Geography

Natalie Croucher

During the summer term year 7 have been studying weather and climate, students made a range of different working weather instruments to demonstrate how the weather can be measured. All of the students produced exceptional work but after careful consideration Fleur and Aimee in 7G1 were crowned the winners. Fleur made a working barometer and Aimee made a working weather vane. 7H4 have been introduced to the idea of climate change this term and have been using blazers to demonstrate the difference between the natural greenhouse effect that we need to survive and the enhanced greenhouse effect which is accelerating the warming process. The student representing the greenhouse effect wore one blazer experiencing an ambient temperature. With the student representing the enhanced greenhouse effect being covered by 5 blazers one to represent each polluter that contributes to climate change for example construction, industry and transport. The student could physically feel an increase in temperature which allowed them to understand the changes to the greenhouse effect and how humans are involved in the process of changing the climate. Students will then go on to examining the different effects of these changes and how we can begin to mitigate against this rise in greenhouse gases. This term year 9 have been examining coastal processes and how the coastline can be managed. In 9G3 they have been completing a decision-making exercise where they must decide which type of coastal management is most appropriate for Lyme Regis. Once they have decided on the appropriate method then they have modelled this onto a satellite image of the coastline and then justified these decisions to the class.

This year our IB Geographers spent three days in different parts of London in order to examine the impacts and successes (or failures) of urban renewal and its associated gentrification, key elements of the IB Geography curriculum. London provides a rich and diverse environment in which to study these topics with numerous examples of successful redevelopment of previously run-down and undesirable areas.

To provide appropriate contrast we visited the locations shown in the pictures – The Barbican Estate in the heart of the old City of London, The London docklands in what was formerly London’s centre of colonial trade and The London Olympics regeneration in Stratford, a superb example of integrated redevelopment of sport, leisure, retail, residential and culture. Our students carried out a range of fieldwork and research techniques to ascertain ‘To what extent has urban renewal led to gentrification in different areas of London?’.

Day one involved a walking tour of the City of London passing Monument and the Bank of England en route to The Barbican Estate and Cheapside. The students were keen to understand brutalism and modernism, the dominant styles of architecture in the Barbican and interested in how influential the old ‘Guilds’ of London were and some still are. They noted the contrast between old and new, appreciating the impact of the second world war blitz on urban renewal.

The hottest day of the year welcomed us on day two and luckily, we were close to cooling water all day in the London Docklands. After an interesting visit to The Museum of the London Docklands to contextualise our visit, we explored Canary Wharf and all the associated developments then crossed (with great difficulty over the A1261) over to Poplar. Here the traditional community was in stark contrast to much of the Docklands indicating that gentrification has not occurred as a result of the Docklands. We even saw a Police chase as they tried to apprehend a suspect for an unknown crime. A rainy day saw us arrive at Stratford’s Westfield Centre on day three. Here the amazing Olympic park and all associated sports, retail, cultural and residential developments show what can be achieved on former brownfield sites.

Evidence of the Olympic legacy abound in the area although just a mile from the Olympic park in Maryland it is much less visible. As ever our students were a credit to the academy and learned a great deal about London and how it is a dynamic entity. At the end of September and the beginning of October year 13 Geography went on a series of fieldtrips to Hastings, Botany Bay and Reculver to collect data for there NEA’s which are worth 20% of their final grade. Students designed their own question, their own fieldwork, collected their data and then wrote up their findings enabling them to answer their individual question’s. The students produced some exceptional work both studying human geography and physical.

Ella Keene produced a brilliant investigation into how and why the characteristics of the beach and sediment vary along the coastline at Hastings.

To answer this question Ella collected a wide range of primary data at three different sites along the coast. She measured the beach profile using ranging poles and a clinometer, she examined the angularity of pebbles and measured the height of sediment deposited at the groynes. Along with secondary data this allowed Ella to conclude that the characteristics of the stretch of coastline vary greatly and this is due to a change in wave frequency, longshore drift direction and the use of a range of coastal management techniques.