This section of the specification focuses on the major stores of water and carbon at or near the Earth’s surface and the dynamic cyclical relationships associated with them. These are major elements in the natural environment and understanding them is fundamental to many aspects of physical geography. This section specifies a systems approach to the study of water and carbon cycles. The content invites students to contemplate the magnitude and significance of the cycles at a variety of scales, their relevance to wider geography and their central importance for human populations. Areas of study focus on factors affecting the water and carbon cycles and their influence on climate and surroundings from tropical rainforests to rivers.
Water is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's streams, lakes, and oceans, and the fluids of most living organisms. It is vital for all known forms of life.
Areas of the world that are not owned by any individual.
The surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal, or plant lives or operates.
The series of processes by which carbon compounds are interconverted in the environment, involving the incorporation of carbon dioxide into living tissue by photosynthesis and its return to the atmosphere through respiration, decay of dead organisms etc.
The water cycle begins with the evaporation of water from the surface of the ocean. As moist air is lifted, it cools and water vapor condenses to form clouds. Moisture is transported around the globe until it returns to the surface as precipitation.
A hydrosphere is the total amount of water on a planet. The hydrosphere includes water that is on the surface of the planet, underground, and in the air. A planet's hydrosphere can be liquid, vapor, or ice.
The cryosphere is the frozen water part of the Earth system. Beaufort Sea, north of Alaska. One part of the cryosphere is ice that is found in water. This includes frozen parts of the ocean, such as waters surrounding Antarctica and the Arctic.
The tropical rainforest is a hot, moist biome found near Earth's equator. The world's largest tropical rainforests are in South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia. Tropical rainforests receive from 60 to 160 inches of precipitation that is fairly evenly
The variety of plant and animal life in the world or in a particular habitat, a high level of which is usually considered to be important and desirable.
Having all constituent parts linked or connected.
An appreciation of the world and its interconnected nature.
Working in collaboration in the collective commons.
This study of two contrasting places, one local and one international, focuses on people's engagement with places, their experience of them and the qualities they ascribe to them, all of which are of fundamental importance in their lives.
Make or become different.
Refers to both the human and the physical characteristics of a location
A small area in which individual features and details of the physical. and human aspects of geography can be investigated.
A geographic information system (GIS) is a framework for gathering, managing & analyzing data.
Cultural geographers, anthropologists, sociologists and urban planners study why certain places hold special meaning to particular people or animals. Places said to have a strong "sense of place" have a strong identity that is deeply felt by inhabitants.
Population structure in terms of age, gender and ethnicity.
Factors are the local, internal characteristics which create a place’s identity.
Height of the land, relief (hills and mountains).
Investment from a business based outside of the area.
Exogenous factors are external influences on a place’s identity. They are caused by a place’s relationship with other places.
Through developing this knowledge, students will gain understanding of the way in which their own lives and those of others are affected by continuity and change in the nature of places which are of fundamental importance in their lives.
Students acknowledge the importance of changing places and engage with how places are known and experienced, how their character is appreciated, and the factors and processes which impact upon places and how they change and develop over time.
Here we focus on coastal zones, which are dynamic environments in which landscapes develop by the interaction of winds, waves, currents and terrestrial and marine sediments. The operation and outcomes of fundamental geomorphological processes and their association with distinctive landscapes are readily observable.
Where the land and the sea meet.
Coastal management is defence against flooding and erosion, and techniques that stop erosion to claim lands.
A sediment cell is a largely self-contained stretch of coastline. They are regarded as closed systems as sediment is not usually transferred from one to the other.
The four ways that waves and tides erode the coast.
The four ways that waves and tidal currents transport material.
The shape of the coastline and its orientation to oncoming waves.
Sub-aerial processes refer to the processes of weathering and mass movement.
Tides are caused by the gravitational pull of the moon and to a lesser extent the sun.
The beach profile extends from the offshore zone to the backshore zone. The beach itself forms from the nearshore to the backshore within the tidal range.
A biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment.
Knowledge and awareness of the UK and other coastlines and the interconnected nature and importance of them on a range of scales.
Areas of study range from coastal processes and landscape development to the management of a variety of differing coastal zones, helping the learner to appreciate other communities and viewpoints.
This section focuses on globalisation – the economic, political and social changes associated with technological and other driving forces which have been a key feature of global economy and society in recent decades. Increased interdependence and transformed relationships between peoples, states and environments have prompted more or less successful attempts at a global level to manage and govern some aspects of human affairs.
These are huge company that does business in several countries. Many TNCs are much richer than entire countries in the less developed world. Such companies can provide work and enrich a country's economy - or some say they can exploit the workers.
A particular attitude towards or way of regarding something; a point of view.
Belonging to or occurring in the present.
International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories. In most countries, such trade represents a significant share of gross domestic product (GDP).
Relating to society or its organisation.
The action or manner of governing a state, organisation, etc.
The action of buying and selling goods and services.
Relating to or using technology.
The process by which businesses or other organisations develop international influence or start operating on an international scale.
The branch of knowledge concerned with the production, consumption, and transfer of wealth.
Students engage with important dimensions of global systems and governance with particular emphasis on international trade and access to markets and the governance of the global commons, such as Antarctica.
Students contemplate many complex dimensions of contemporary world affairs and their own place in and perspective on them.