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Year 8 Nexus Humanities

Curriculum Outline 2012-2013

Topics at a Glance

Term 1 2a 2b 3a 3b

Theme

Key Skills

Fragile World

Global Awareness

Dangerous World

Recognising patterns

Diverse World

Sustainability

My World

Empathy

Shrinking World

Causality & Opinion

Key Topic Who Wants To LiveForever?

Water, WaterEverywhere

Can The Earth Cope? Empire Building Slaves to Fashion

The aim of the Year 8 program of study is to consolidate and develop learners knowledge and understanding from Year 7. The course is

focussed around learners exploring changes in the world and the impacts these can have. Learners will work individually, in pairs and

groups to integrate and apply a range of thinking skills. Each topic will last approximately one half term and is linked to a key theme,

which learners will follow throughout years 7, 8 & 9. The themes are designed to give learners continuity and focus for their learning.

Each topic is linked back to the three key learning outcomes, humanities knowledge, enquiry & investigation & skills. The topics are

continually assessed through formative assessment, supplemented by a more formal assessment at some point during each topic. Thisassessment will take on a variety of forms, the outline of which can be found below. Homework will be set in the form of Extended

Learning Projects (ELPs) individual and group based extension tasks that overarch the curriculum, providing a richer, deeper learning

experience. These ELPs will take many forms and include research, preparatory work, specific tasks/questions or an enquiry-based

project.

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Key Topic Significant ConceptsKey Learning Outcomes (correspond to the Nexus

Humanities objectives)Assessment Opportunities

Who Wants

to Live

Forever?

How and why has population changed over time? What are

the affects of a changing population? Where does everybody

live? Why? What will the future hold for our ever-growing

population?

Learners will explore how and why population has changed overtime, including the impacts of the industrial revolution. They will

consider the affects of both growing and ageing populations in

more and less economically developed countries and the

measures taken to deal with these issues. Learners will consider

what the future for our growing population may hold.

Humanities Knowledge: Investigate the change in

places, explored through population distribution and

change. To recognise and describe population

patterns and processes, comparing MEDCs and LEDCs

Enquiry & Investigation: Ask questions, and use

decision-making skills appreciate values andattitudes.

Skills: Using a range of primary and secondarysources and graphs. Understand the concept ofchronology.

Policy Control:

Learners will investigate a population

control policy of their choice. They

will consider the need for the policy,

the advantages, disadvantages and

how successful it is/was.This assessment will be re-written

ELPWho wants to live forever? Learners will apply their investigative research skills to produce a newspaper article for Time magazine considering the

causes and consequences of over and under population on society today. They may think about the effects on a personal, national or global level.

Water,Water

Everywhere

Where does our water come from? Where is all the water?

Who relies on water? What problems are associated withwater? Will there be enough water for a crowded world?

Learners will use their knowledge and understanding of the

water cycle to explore how water moves on the land (field visit)and investigate the impact this has on various locations

throughout the world. Learners will then consider solutions tosome of the problems such as drought, flooding and water

scarcity & contamination.

This is linked to the residential field trip

Humanities Knowledge: To understand the

processes associated with how water moves on theland. To consider the impacts of water on people and

how we manage the impacts. To empathise with

others.

Enquiry & Investigation: Ask & identify questions,

issues and problems. Experience decision-making.Skills: Researching using a variety of media.

Communication with ICT.

Blue Gold Debate the issue of blue

gold the current distribution,

consumption and what the future

may hold for this vital resource.

Too little? Too Much? Self & peerteaching. Learners will choose the

area they would like to study andproduce resources for other learners.

They will then learn about the

alternative from their peers.

ELPBoard Games RUSLearners will work as a group to research, design and produce a board game based on their learning in this topic. They will need to

be imaginative and consider their audience and key topic areas. They will then play and assess each others games

Can TheEarth Cope?

Does it matter what city or what part of a city you live in?

How can we measure the quality of life in a city? Why arethere such divides? What could cities be like in the future?

How can we sustainably manage the planet for the future

generations?Learners will investigate how the quality of life can be measured.

To explore why and how the world is rapidly urbanising and thenew challenges inhabitations will face. Learners will then

consider the resulting environmental issues and consequences.

The aim will be for learners to use their humanities knowledge to

consider how we can manage our earth for future generations to

enjoy.

Humanities Knowledge: To explore the concept of

change and global awareness. Develop empathy.Appreciate values and attitudes through the

exploration of interdependence and global

citizenship. Locating places and environments.Enquiry & Investigation: Research and analyse

information about a variety of locations. Usingevidence to support ideas and opinions.

Skills:Analytical skills; identifying questions, issues

and problems. Using a range of sources. Handling

and analysing data to draw conclusions.

Communicating ideas.

Slumdog Millionaire Considering

how quality of life and location canaffect the different types of cities

and the subsequent. Producing their

own urban transect.

Stepping into the Future;sustainable solutions Producing

timelines comparing probable and

preferable futures.

ELP

Can the earth cope with our demands? Designing an eco-friendly? Learners will be developing their enquiry, information processing, reasoning

and creativity skills to plan, design and make a sustainable micro-neighbourhood for the future. They will be able to work individually or in small groups

to produce a design and supporting report explaining and justifying their design.

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Key Topic Significant ConceptsKey Learning Outcomes (correspond to the Nexus

Humanities objectives)Assessment Opportunities

Empire

Building

How did colonialism change communities around the world?

How did it all begin? To what extent was the effect of

colonialism positive or negative? How do communities feel

the impacts of colonialism today?

Learners will investigate the concepts colonialism and

imperialism. The key focus is what role do people play in shaping

the lives of others, today and historically? We will explore

indigenous peoples who had well-established civilisations beforethey were discovered and the differing views of colonialism asnegative and positive. We will use our knowledge to discover if

imperialism is still happening today!

Humanities Knowledge: To know, and understand

the reasons for, and the events of, exploration in a

number of historical and more recent time periods.

To empathise with people from different situations

and time periods.

Enquiry & Investigation: Asking questions to gain

clarification and further understanding. Compare and

contrast aspects of historical exploration with today.

Skills: locate, analyse and use a range of sources to

reconstruct aspects of the life of explorers, settlers

and indigenous peoples;

Colonialism; the good, the bad and

the ugly? Learners will researchand produce a poster outlining the

reasons for negative and positive

impacts of colonialism in a particular

part of the world.

Debate: How do the relics of

colonialism affect communitiestoday? What might the impacts be in

the future?

ELPSlave Diary The purpose of this task is to give learners the opportunity to use their research skills to produce an empathetic, creative imaginative piece

that demonstrates their understanding of the experience of slaves, from their life in Africa to their arrival in the Americas.

Slaves toFashion

How does world trade work? How have trade patternschanged? How does globalisation affect the fashion industry?

Who are the winners and losers in the globalisation process?

Is it fair?

In this topic learners will develop their understanding of theglobal nature of economic activity and development through a

study of the fashion industry. They will investigate theinterdependence between people, places and environments in

this industry and through this study begin to understand the

concept of globalization. Appreciate that different values and

attitudes, including their own, may have different effects onpeoples lives, especially in less economically developed

countries (LEDCs);

Humanities Knowledge: Describe and explain arange of human processes, recognise that these

interact to produce distinctive characteristics of

economic activity. Appreciate the links and

relationships that make countries dependent on each

other; explore interdependence and globalcitizenship.

Enquiry & Investigation: Suggest relevant questionsand an appropriate sequence if investigation leading

to substantiated conclusions.

Skills: Enquiry & geographical skills; Using sources

such as atlases and Google Earth. Collecting and

displaying information. Communication and ICT.

The realities of the global fashionindustry extended writing which:

explains what globalisation is and

what its effects are; considers the

extent to which effects are good or

bad; makes predictions for thefuture; and considers the issue of

sustainable development.

ELPSlavery Today Surely the world has learned from their mistakes of the past? Slavery does not happen todayLearners will work collaboratively to investigate

this statement. They will focus on the issue of the underage work force and produce their findings as a presentation, painting, song or radio broadcast.