OCR A-Level Geography Course Options For teaching from September 2016

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1 OCR A-Level Geography Course Options For teaching from September 2016 has been an FSC Field Centre since It is ideally placed to provide access to the distinctive fluvial, coastal and post glacial landscapes of Shropshire and Wales as well as the urban areas of Shropshire and the West Midlands. Within easy reach of are many contrasting urban and rural locations that provide excellent opportunities for investigating space, place, water, carbon, as well as contemporary urban and rural themes. The Centre grounds and surrounding catchments contain a wide range and scale of habitats ideal for studying cycling of water and carbon through ecosystems. The Centre overlooks the River Severn and is located on a glacial moraine 8 kilometres to the west of Shrewsbury. The Centre campus includes a delightfully upgraded Queen Anne country house and two purpose-built teaching and accommodation buildings. The estate consists of 12 hectares of grassland, woodland and a specialist habitat area. The Centre has a full range of field work equipment, all classrooms have interactive whiteboards and ICT facilities to enable innovative GIS analysis of quantitative and qualitative fieldwork data. Our courses are designed to: Inspire and engage students to develop their geographical understanding and skills. Prepare students for their Geography Investigation. Exemplify the complete enquiry process. Provide engaging relevant opportunities for students to apply geographical knowledge, specialised concepts and skills. Incorporate a wide range of qualitative and quantitative geographical and fieldwork skills including the use of GIS using ArcGIS software. Cover a range of topics from the specification, as part of fulfilling the minimum requirement of four days of fieldwork for A Level.

2 OCR A Level Geography Options Suggested Programmes Individual Investigations Morning Afternoon and Evening Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Site visit to explore focus and devise a methodology (Telford Town Park or Church Stretton) Day 4 Data collection and refining for Individual Investigation Day 5 Additional data collection/presentation Fieldwork Skills Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Morning Afternoon and Evening Full Day Options (Local options can be split over two half days) Location Content Specification Links Catchment hydrology and drainage basin systems Long Mynd Students will build knowledge of hydrological processes at an upland catchment scale. Using long term monitoring equipment students will have access to input (precipitation) and output (river discharge) data. In the field, students will have the opportunity to measure stores, flows and transfers such as infiltration, throughflow and surface runoff, as well as considering other variables which contribute to outputs such as geology, vegetation and interception and gradient These will be mapped using GIS. 1a-1c. Inputs, outputs, stores and pathways. 3a-3b. Change over time, human factors, pathways and processes. Water surplus, flooding and the impact on people Shrewsbury Students will build case study knowledge of the physical and human factors that make the River Severn prone to flooding. Students will also tour the Frankwell flood alleviation scheme to see a variety of hard and soft engineering solutions managing flood risk. Students will additionally study the impact of land use on the rainfall/runoff relationship. Practical work will be carried out on plots to simulate the impact of storms on a range of ground surfaces. Students use the results to produce and interpret hydrographs. 1a-1c. Inputs, outputs, stores and pathways. 3a-3b. Change over time, human factors, pathways and processes.

3 Coastal systems, landscapes and issues surrounding environmental management Talacre, Prestatyn and Rhyl, North Wales The management of a fragile coastal ecosystem Talacre, North Wales Glacial systems and landscapes Cwm Idwal, Snowdonia Carbon sequestration and sustainable woodland management Haughmond Hill, Shrewsbury Changing place case study Ironbridge Economic change and influences on social inequality Sutton Hill and Lightmoor Village (Telford) Evaluating the success of rebranding Ludlow Students will have the opportunity to visit the contrasting coastal settlements of Talacre, Prestatyn and Rhyl in North Wales. The sites will provide the students with the opportunity to observe a range of different coastal defences, deliberate cost benefit analyses and discover the impacts of coastal flooding in low lying, erosive and vulnerable areas. Fieldwork will include studying physical processes upon the beach followed by investigating shoreline management and impact issues within the settlements themselves. Students will visit the settlement of Talacre on the North Wales coastline where they will investigate the potential impacts of flooding upon low-lying areas protected by a natural sand dune (SSSI) defence. Students will sample along an interrupted belt transect to discover the process of Psammosere succession to develop an understanding of the fragile ecosystem. Students will then investigate the threat from coastal flooding upon the SSSI and the settlement itself, discussing the need for/controversial issues surrounding hard engineering and coastal defences. Students will visit an inspiring post-glacial landscape carved by ice during the Devensian glacial period 18,000 BP. Students will observe landforms such as corries, moraines, U-shaped valleys and ribbon lakes and interpret the associated glacial and periglacial processes. Fieldwork will include taking field notes to record glacial geomorphology, mapping landform orientation, field sketches and taking photographs. To follow up, photos will be geolocated with annotations. Students will collect biomass data to compare broadleaved and coniferous woodlands for their ability to sequester carbon. Fieldwork will involve applied mathematics such as trigonometry, pi. Analysis will involve reading line graphs and extrapolation. The day will conclude with examining changes in woodland cover past and present, along with current and future strategies for managing woodlands as a carbon store. Students explore how past and present connections at all scales have shaped the demographic, socio-economic, political, built, natural and cultural characteristics of Ironbridge. Informal, formal and statistical representations of this place will be analysed to understand how continuity and change has affected people s lives and identities as the town has transitioned from an industrial area to a post-industrial World Heritage Site. Students will visit two contrasting areas in Shropshire to compare how recent economic changes in both communities have impacted upon social inequality. Tutors will assist students in using GIS to research deprivation indicators with additional primary data and interviews with organisations responsible for the economic change. Students will evaluate the success of the rebranding of Ludlow as a Food Town. A range of measures including social and economic indicators, plus surveys of the city and its stakeholders, will enable contrasting views and success criteria to be considered a-4b. Coastal landscapes, systems, landforms evolution and human activity changes a-4b. Human intentional and unintentional impacts. 1. 2a-2b. Glacial systems and landscapes. 1b-1c, 3b-3c. The carbon cycle: systems, processes, stores and monitoring. 1a. What s in a place? 3a-3c, 4. How does economic change influence patterns of social inequality in place? Players and patterns. 5a-c. A case study of the rebranding process and players.

4 Half Day Options Location Content Specification Links Runoff variation and flood hydrographs Preston Montford Students study the impact of land use on the rainfall/runoff relationship. Practical work will be carried out on plots to simulate the impact of storms on a range of ground surfaces. Students use the results to produce and interpret hydrographs. 1a-1c. Inputs, outputs, stores and pathways. 3a-3b. Change over time, human factors, pathways and processes Knowing and understanding place Shrewsbury Lowland glaciation: Processes and landforms Shropshire Economic change and influences on social inequality Sutton Hill and Lightmoor Village (Telford) Students will explore and compare the role of direct experience with the way others represent place. They will collect and interpret qualitative and quantitative data to understand how Shrewsbury is known and experienced. During the Devensian glacial maximum 18,000BP, Shropshire was the meeting point of the Irish Sea ice sheet and a valley glacier. Students will explore evidence for the presence of and the subsequent melting of these ice sheets through a tour of several sites in the local area of depositional, peri-glacial and fluvio-glacial features. Fieldwork will include taking field notes to record glacial geomorphology, mapping landform orientation, field sketches and annotating photographs. Students will visit two contrasting areas in Shropshire to compare how recent economic changes in both communities have impacted upon social inequality. Tutors will assist students in using GIS to research deprivation indicators with additional primary data and interviews with organisations responsible for the economic change. 2a-2b. How do we understand place? 1. 2a-2b. Glacial processes, landforms and landscapes. 3a-3c, 4. How does economic change influence patterns of social inequality in place? Players and patterns. Individual Investigation Location Content Role of the FSC Tutor Exploring focus and devising methodology Telford or Church Stretton. Students will have the opportunity to explore and research a new area with regards to water, carbon or place themes. Using skills from previous days they will generate a relevant geographical question to research and plan methodologies. They will finalise their title and focus of the investigation. Tutors will provide guidance in choosing suitable enquiry questions and methodologies. They will organise groups and logistics for data collection strategies. Primary data collection Telford or Church Stretton. In small groups, students will collect their own data for their individual investigation. The evening can be spent on presentation and analysis techniques. If needs be, students can return to the field site to collect more data on their final morning or research secondary data sources. Tutors will assist in further data methodology refining and can provide technical assistance with geolocating data. They will organise logistics of any further data collection.

5 What is included in the fee? Expert tuition, from fully trained staff, providing up to 10 hours of tuition a day Fully catered accommodation including cooked breakfast, packed lunch, afternoon cake and evening meal Access to Centre grounds, workrooms, ICT network and recreational spaces Use of specialist equipment and resources Support before and after the course Established health and safety procedures, including 24-hour emergency cover Tuition is delivered by talented teachers, with an expert knowledge of their subject and field work locations and a passion for the subject being taught. All staff undertake Safeguarding training and all key personnel including the education team are DBS checked. Our education team have regular first aid, risk assessment and water safety training and undertake regular, ongoing development work to keep them up to date with subject, specification and curriculum knowledge. Course options listed in this booklet can be combined to form a programme which will meet the requirements of your specification. However, if you would like to develop a unique fieldwork course for your group please contact us to discuss possible alternatives. External Recognition of Quality has been awarded the Quality Badge by The Council for Learning Outside the Classroom. The badge is awarded to organisations that have demonstrated that they consistently deliver high quality teaching and learning experiences and manage risk effectively. This means that you will have to complete less paperwork when visiting our centre. us at: enquiries.pm@field-studies-council.org