Exploring the Concepts and Content in IGCSE and IBDP Geography
This slightly long(er) clip focusses on some of the realities about African migration. Good for lessons on migration, urbanisation, displacement, and more. Misconceptions are illuminated and some interesting examples of cause and consequence are brought to light as well.
Below is the agenda I am using for my New York City infrastructure growth case study. It contains a bunch of resources I have looked up online from various websites. It corresponds to a syllabus point from the Urban Environments chapter from the IBDP Geography syllabus which reads:
Urban system growth including infrastructure improvements over time, such as transport, sanitation, water, waste disposal and telecommunications
Case study of infrastructure growth over time in one city
The picture used in the agenda and below is a mindmap of ideas created by my current grade 12 students about what they would expect to learn about NYC in this case study.
New York Infrastructure Case Study (Urban Environments)
My good friend and fellow geographer Arnoud Kamp recommended this (in Dutch) mini-documentary to me. At only 45 minutes long, it goes into the diversity, personality, and future of Rotterdam, the Netherlands. If you know anything about Rotterdam and the transformation it is undergoing, you will know about the rapid gentrification that is taking over. This documentary analyses the practical consequences of the drivers of this change. One of the more apt and realistic presentations of the damages of gentrification and so called ‘urban renewal’.
https://www.vpro.nl/programmas/tegenlicht/kijk/afleveringen/2018-2019/mijn-stad-is-mijn-hart.html
THIS IS A MUST WATCH FOR DUTCH SPEAKERS INTERESTED IN GEOGRAPHY AND CITIES
A special thanks and shout out to an old student (Sasha v.h.) who sent me this incredible link. With relevance to disparities, urban environments, migration, and so much more, these images captured by drones show the distinct spatial differences between ‘rich and poor’, ‘developed and developing’, or maybe even ‘us and them’. An example of such an image taken from the website can be found below.
To all of my students past (and present too, of course), please send me any cool stuff you encounter both online or in your university courses. Would love to hear from you and use what you find in my classes!
Click the link to check out the powerful images:
Photograph: Johnny Miller
One of my favourite detailed examples/case studies to teach, below is a list of useful links I have assembled to help illustrate the water consumption issues in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Plenary:
CBS: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lake-mead-is-shrinking-and-with-it-las-vegas-water-supply/
Strategies:
Southern Nevada Water Authority: https://www.snwa.com/consv/restrictions.html
Youtube/Google Earth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPRGfyd93fo
Las Vegas Sun: https://lasvegassun.com/news/2015/apr/27/tips-california-what-nevada-has-done-conserve-wate/
Future:
Las Vegas Now: http://www.lasvegasnow.com/news/i-team-new-outlook-for-nevadas-water-future/148482842
ElectroCity is a game developed by Genesis Energy where you can build and maintain the growth of a city in a multitude different ways. It teaches students about sustainable urban growth and energy consumption, in an intriguing and memorable way.
ElectroCity link: http://www.electrocity.co.nz/
Last year, my grade 12s really enjoyed this activity for their revision and it ended up being quite straight forward to run. If you don’t have one, make an account at www.padlet.com. As a teacher, on a Smartboard, projector, Prowise; whatever you use, you can copy and paste one of the questions into a padlet. Share the link to your padlet with your students, who can then via any device access it and respond to the question. I did it in groups, so in teams of 3 students could come up with their answer. Then, as a class, when all groups had answered, we looked at the responses on the big screen to analyse who did the best and compare/contrast responses.
Padlet: www.padlet.com
Hazards and Disasters Revision Questions: Hazards and Disasters Questions
Urban Environments Revision Questions: Urban Environments Questions
Global Interactions Revision Questions: Global Interactions Questions
Mind you, these questions were based on the old syllabus, but there are still many relevant and useful questions that have ties to the new syllabus. Also, some questions are quite specific to what I taught in class, so be aware that they will be of no used to you.
The link below is to a good activity/game with regards to Urban Environments and Land Use. I have used it previously with IGCSE students, but it could definitely be adapted for IBDP students. I would recommend doing it at least over two periods; when I did it with my IGCSE students, it took around 2 hours before we could begin to wrap things up.
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/settlement-game-6446289
The link below is to a feature run by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development on Social Housing in Vienna. This is in many ways linked to the social deprivation area of the syllabus, as well as a more eco-city designed detailed example.
https://www.huduser.gov/portal/pdredge/pdr_edge_featd_article_011314.html
The link below leads to a download of photographs I have taken of this social housing district of Vienna in the spring of 2018. I have annotated them in order to display features of thoughtful urban planning.
Click the link below to access the general outline of an IA I did two years ago with my grade 12 (IBDP 2) class. It was geared towards the old syllabus, though it still can work well with the new one. Use it for an idea if you are thinking about designing a new Urban Environments IA!
Geography Internal Assessment Design
