Geography at key stage 3    (Year 9)

How is a stretch of the local river used?

What conflicts of interests occur between different leisure users ?

• Identify a stretch of local river to survey different uses and leisure activities. Involve pupils in preparing for the investigation and prepare them thoroughly for their fieldwork. On the visit, map all different uses and take photographs of and/or video the leisure facilities/activities - pupils can use these records to establish possible conflicts of interest between different uses and user groups later. Data-collection forms could be designed and loaded onto a palmtop computer for completion in the field.
• Arrange a meeting with a leisure and recreation officer from the local authority or tourist board (either during the visit or back at school) to identify the planning and management issues involved in catering for different interest groups. Help pupils to prepare a suitable selection of questions and discuss the level of formality required for the meeting.
• Ask pupils to record what they have found by drawing annotated sketch maps and diagrams. (For some rivers maps may already exist.) Also ask pupils to complete an 'impact matrix' to help them assess any conflict of interest between different leisure users.

How can the different leisure activities be managed to reduce conflict?

Who decides how the river and its environment are used?

• Organise pupils into groups to identify and talk about conflict issues and to prepare a detailed plan for managing different leisure activities so that conflicts of interest are resolved. Ask pupils to write up their suggestions as notes for a presentation to the local planning department and the leisure and amenity committee.
• As an extension task, ask pupils to plan the development of a local park to cater for different age and interest groups. Produce an information leaflet about the park for the local community, parents and children to show how they can play a part in protecting it.

What conflicts of interest occur from different uses of a river? Why are rivers so vulnerable to misuse and pollution? How can the use of a river be managed to overcome the problem of pollution? How can international agencies safeguard rivers and sea areas for future generations?

• Ask pupils to use an atlas to identify the River Rhine and the North Sea as international waterways and to label important aspects on an outline map.
• Introduce pupils to a selection of secondary data on the commercial traffic, industry and urban developments along the course of the Rhine, from source to mouth. Ask them to identify patterns of distribution and the 'chemical cocktail' of pollutants entering the river and to add these to their map.
• Ask pupils to produce a report on 'The state of the Rhine', to include an assessment of the problems and to suggest possible solutions. Ask pupils to refer to the international nature of the problems and solutions and to the responsibilities of local, regional and national governments, as well as of private industries, individuals and groups. Pupils may need reminding that the report should be objective, formal and impersonal. Weaker writers are likely to need more structured support.
• Ask pupils to research the causes and consequences of pollution in the North Sea and to produce a plan to protect the sea's environment and ecosystem. Help pupils to understand how individual actions may contribute to large-scale issues.

How do people use national parks? What conflicts of interest result from their use?

• Invite pupils to suggest a definition of a national park and then define it correctly. Involve pupils in a mapping exercise to record the locations and names of all national parks, motorways and conurbations in England and Wales. Discuss patterns and relationships evident. Focus in particular on the Peak District or the Yorkshire Dales national parks.
• Ask pupils to use OS maps, photographs and narrative to match land, leisure and employment uses in the Peak District. Help them identify the distinctive landscape features of the White Peak (limestone) and the Dark Peak (millstone grit).
• Ask pupils to plan a walk for a group of geography students to see different landscape features in the area. Mark these, noting what they would see at different locations.
• Ask pupils to use a range of resources including employment statistics to determine the main employment opportunities within the Peak District National Park, eg farming, quarrying, tourism. Compare these with the employment data for the park's residents - account for the differences and try to establish the problems which ensue.

What is a 'honeypot' site? How might the pressures on national parks be managed?

• Conduct a case study of a 'honeypot' site (Dovedale in the Peak District or Malham in the Yorkshire Dales), through carrying out a cost-benefit analysis. Identify the attractions and the pressures of tourism on the site. Use newspaper articles on Dovedale or Malham to assess the impact that being a honeypot has on an area.
• Ask pupils to put forward a plan which allows people to access the area but also makes suggestions about reducing their impact.

Why is Antarctica under threat? What is a world park? How can Antarctica be conserved and managed to sustain its environment ?

• Provide pupils with a range of resources that require careful interpretation, eg map, photographic and video evidence, textbooks, to suggest an answer to the question Why is Antarctica important and how is it used by people?
• Ask pupils to draw annotated sketch maps and diagrams of Antarctica and its landscape.
• Plan a role play to present a case for developing and exploiting the mineral resources of Antarctica. Organise pupils into groups to research and present the case on behalf of various groups, eg a mining operator, government official from a less economically developed country (LEDC), member of Greenpeace, scientist with special interest in the ecology and environment, government representative opposing development, tour operator, United Nations representative.
• Ask pupils to produce a report to the United Nations outlining the importance of Antarctica as a world park and which describes and explains different strategies for protecting its fragile environment. The report may be substantial and well structured, coming towards the end of year 9. It builds on report writing in previous units, and headings and topic sentences may be identified for weaker writers. Tone should be formal, objective and impersonal. Pupils' attention should be drawn to the specific features of formal writing, eg passive verbs, third person, abstract words. Remind pupils of the correct use of punctuation, eg full stops, commas, brackets, semicolons and dashes.
• Ask pupils to consider how global warming may affect Antarctica and to discover what may happen as a result. Ask them to consider what part they may be able to play as individuals to reduce the threat.