Cross Section and Sketch Maps

Draw accurate and sketch cross sections from a contour map, calculate vertical exaggeration, gradient and relief, test intervisibility, and draw, enlarge and reduce sketch maps.

2

Interpretation of Photographs

Identify the types of photograph and their sections, find the scale of vertical photographs, interpret physical and human features, sketch a photograph to a given size, and explain how the features relate to each other.

3

The Origin and Distribution of the Continents

Examine how the continents came to be where they are: Wegener's continental drift and its evidence, seafloor spreading and plate tectonics, the landforms of plate boundaries, and the East African and Albertine Rifts beside Rwanda.

4

External Landform Processes and Related Features

Analyse weathering processes and the landforms they produce in limestone, humid tropical and arid regions, the work of glaciers, and mass wasting, and how all of these relate to human activities.

5

Wave Erosion and Deposition

Explain how waves form, break and move sediment, analyse the landforms of wave erosion and deposition, and evaluate how changes of sea level and the growth of coral reefs shape coasts and the people who use them.

6

Rocks and Minerals

Classify rocks and minerals, explain how they form and how they are identified, and evaluate their importance to the landscape and to economic life in Rwanda and the world.

7

Classification of Soils and Soil Formation

Explain the factors and processes that form soils, classify soils as zonal, intrazonal and azonal with their world distribution, and evaluate soil erosion, conservation and the economic importance of soils.

8

Climate Change

Explain the meaning, evidence, causes and effects of climate change at global, African and Rwandan scales, the greenhouse effect behind global warming, the adaptation and mitigation measures that respond to it, and the causes and effects of desertification.

9

Global Drainage Systems

Explain the work of rivers and the landforms they create from source to mouth, river capture, rejuvenation and drainage patterns, the formation and value of lakes, seas and oceans, the causes and effects of ocean currents and tides, and how the world's water bodies can be protected.

10

Power and Energy Production in the World

Compare the world's non-renewable and renewable sources of energy, explain the physical, economic and political factors that favour power production in particular places, and evaluate the part energy plays in sustainable development, the problems of producing it and the possible solutions, with cases from Rwanda, Africa and the wider world.

11

Industrialization in the World

Classify industries, explain the factors that influence where industries locate, describe the world's major industrial regions through case studies of the USA, China and Egypt, and evaluate the benefits of industrial development, its problems and the ways to remedy them, with links to Rwanda's own industrial growth.

12

Transport and Communication in the World

Compare the types of transport and their advantages and disadvantages, explain the factors in transport development, its importance, problems and improvements, study the St Lawrence Seaway, TAZARA and the Trans-African Highway, and analyse the means, importance and problems of communication, with links to landlocked Rwanda.

13

Trade and Commerce in the World

Explain the meaning and types of trade and commerce, the factors that influence international trade, the trade problems of developing countries, the role of the world's major financial centres, and how trading blocs such as the EAC, ECOWAS, OPEC and the EU promote regional integration, evaluating how trade affects sustainable development.

14

World Multipurpose River Projects

Explain the meaning, aims and importance of multipurpose river projects, the problems they face and how these can be solved, and evaluate their impact on sustainable development through case studies of the Aswan High Dam, the Akosombo Dam, the Huang He project and the Tennessee Valley Authority, with regional examples from Rusumo, Kariba and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

15

Environmental Conservation and Tourism

Explain the environment and how it is degraded, the methods and importance of conservation, the types, causes, effects and solutions of pollution and of natural and human-made catastrophes, and the world's major tourist areas, the factors that affect tourism and its importance, impacts, problems and prospects, with case studies of Switzerland, the USA and East Africa, analysing how conservation and tourism affect sustainable development.

Units