1. 1. A future sustainable family home Whether its because we want to do something to reduce our impact on climate change and the environment or simply to reduce our bills, we are all becoming more conscious of the way we live. Research ways of making a family home more sustainable. Design and produce a model, exploded diagram or plan of a future home. Annotate it with detailed labels to show how it is sustainable. Consider things like: building materials, aspect, water, energy consumption, waste, work, travel and anything else you think is important. 2. Bidding for the 2018 World Cup The Football Association’s bid to hold the 2018 Football World Cup in England lost out to Russia. However, London won the bid to host the Olympic Games in 2012, the Rugby World Cup will be held here in 2015 and the Cricket World Cup in 2019. Drawing on the experience of these successful bids, produce a film (using Moviemaker) for the FA to use to support their bid to FIFA outlining why England should host the 2026 World Cup. 3. Blackout Britain? Last winter, parts of Britain experienced power blackouts. As energy demand rises blackouts are likely to become more common. As North Sea gas and oil runs out, Britain is becoming more dependent on imported energy supplies from unreliable parts of the world like Russia. Produce a storyboard for a 5 minute item on the main BBC news. You should outline the issues facing Britain, examine alternatives and make recommendations about how Britain could ensure its future energy supplies. You should consider both demand and supply. 4. Plan a showcase residential area As a cutting edge urban planner, research current thinking about how best to plan residential areas in our cities. Design and produce an annotated plan or model of a residential area that is pleasant to live in. Your plan should take account of mobility, road safety, amenities, minimising crime, creating social cohesion and any other issues that you think are important. 5. Is a wall the best way to a peaceful solution to a divided land? In a small crowded part of the Middle East the Israelis and the Palestinians claim the same territory. The two nations have been in conflict for the last 60 years. The Israelis have been building an 8m concrete wall to surround and contain the Palestinian areas of the West Bank. Research the Israel-Palestine conflict to help you understand the different political positions and life on both sides of the wall. Decide if a wall is the best way to create peace or if there is a better option. You can present your task as an annotated map or a piece of writing. 6. The Eden Project You are a graphic designer who has been employed by the Eden Project in Cornwall. They have asked you to produce a guide that is given to visitors when they buy their ticket. The guide should educate visitors about one of the biomes (ecosystems) in the project’s conservatories and explain why the biome of your choice is so important. Visit the project’s website to select a biome. 7. Should Britain be providing aid to India? Over the last 5 years India’s yearly growth of GDP has averaged over 8% - after China, India is the world’s second fastest growing economy. Its economy is now 50% larger than the UK’s and it has more billionaires and millionaires. Over the same period the UK has provided India with £1.5 billion in aid and is pledged to continue to do so. As the UK Government plans enormous cuts in spending in this country, should this be rethought? Write a speech for an MP to deliver in Parliament, outlining the background to both sides of the issue before concluding with what the Government should do in future. 8. Shaping the landscape You are a newly qualified teacher in your first year at Cottenham Village College. You have to teach a lesson to a Year 9 geography class on the processes involved in shaping the landscape and the landscape features they produce. You should research these processes and present your work as a lesson plan accompanied by the resources you intend to use in the classroom. Choose one from ice, rivers or the sea as a shaper of our landscape to be the topic for your lesson. 9. Should Antarctica be developed for the good of the world? Antarctica is the world’s last unspoilt wilderness – a huge, uninhabited continent covered in ice and snow. Yet below the continent and off its shores are vast resources of oil, gas and minerals. Tourists have also started arriving. Some countries and multinational companies see opportunities to exploit Antarctica, not least as resources run low elsewhere. Research the issue and make a case for the future development or conservation of the continent. How you present your case is your decision. Year 9 Homework: Can Geography make a difference to our world? Homework will be set in a 4 week cycle. Choose any 4 homework activities from the grid below. Discuss your choices at home before deciding. Highlight your choices and show your teacher which ones you are planning to do. Name: ………………………………. Teacher: ……………………………

2. Year 9 Geography Enquiry Homework Homework is not the most appealing aspect of school, but it helps you to progress, teaches independent study skills and has to be done. This is a new Humanities idea to make homework a more creative and enjoyable experience. You get to decide what you do and when you do it. Over the next 16 school weeks you must complete 4 tasks for geography homework from the options below. It’s your choice - try to think about which tasks you will enjoy doing, what you are good at and what resources you have access to. If you need the Internet but don’t have it at home you can use the computers in H7 or the LRC at lunchtime or after school. Your teacher will get you to write the 4 hand in dates in your planner when you are given this sheet. You have to show independence, deciding how to undertake the necessary research and complete each task. However, you can ask your teacher for guidance if you get stuck in a rut. You can discuss tasks with friends (that’s discuss not copy from them) but you must produce your own work to hand in to your teacher. You can organise your homework in a way that suits you, just meet the deadline. You can do it in 20 minute bursts or two-hour sessions - a good guide would be to spend about 45 minutes each week or at least 3 and a half hours overall on each task, but you can spend more if you really get into it (again, your choice). You should also attach a reflection sheet to each task where you write comments to explain how and why you have gone about completing your work. To be successful you should: (some of these things are more relevant to some tasks than to others – so pick a balance of tasks) Choose a variety of issues and types of task: e.g. to do with environmental, economic, social and/or political issues… e.g. to do with local, national and/or international issues… e.g. that use practical, ICT-based and written methods to present your tasks… Think of questions when you begin your task. These questions help structure and guide your research. Ask further questions as your research progresses. Be prepared to explain reasons for your choice of focus/question(s) e.g. explaining your choice of tasks and particular questions you decided to consider: e.g. “I decided to research this question because…” “I decided to look at this issue because…” “I wanted to study this because…” Present your findings appropriately and creatively in an organised way. Select relevant sources and types of information. Group evidence collected during your research into appropriate categories and/or themes. Explain reasons for taking a particular route and/or your ways of presenting your findings, etc. Be flexible and be prepared to change direction or approach the task from a different angle if it helps you in the research process and the completion of the task. Analyse and explain what you have found out, to make sense and meaning out of it, rather than just describing something or listing facts. Draw conclusions about the questions you asked. Comment on the success of dealing with potholes, e.g. “I was looking into…however, I felt that a better Q was…” “Originally, I wanted to…However, in the end I…because…” “When researching, I had problems with…so I…” “When I found out…this made me think that…However, later I discovered…so then I thought…” Good luck – Hope you enjoy it.