About the Unit.

This 'long' unit encourages children to investigate coastal features through an enquiry based approach incorporating fieldwork, research and ICT skills. The unit provides opportunities for children to identify physical and human features and their impact on the environment.

The unit focuses on:

• Coastal features and their formation.
• Human interaction.
• Environmental Issues including impact and sustainability.

This unit offers links with literacy, numeracy, ICT, science and citizenship.

This unit was developed by teachers prior to the publication of the QCA Unit 23 Investigating coasts. The authors have ensured that the content meets National Curriculum requirements and can be used in association with the new QCA unit.

Vocabulary

In this unit, children are likely to use:

ocean, sea, human, physical, feature, landform, cliff, beach, rock, stack, arch, cave, spit, bay, headland, wave, current, tide, groyne, sea wall, sand, pebble, shingle, transportation, erosion, deposition, tourism, litter, pollution, employment, street furniture, hazard, flood prevention scheme, barrier, field sketch, questionnaire

They may also include:

river, estuary, delta, water cycle, estuaries, deltas, mangrove swamp, sand dunes, saltmarshes, lagoons, longshore drift.

Resources

globes, atlases and maps

data handling and graphing package

CD-ROMS

access to the Internet

pictures/postcards of contrasting environments and coastal features

information books

digital camera, scanner

Prior Learning

It is helpful if the children have:

• been introduced to the water cycle (QCA Unit7)
  undertaken fieldwork
• used globes, maps and atlases

 Expectations

describe the main features of coastal environments;
begin to understand the processes of erosion and deposition in coastal environments and begin to understand how these processes shape and change the coastline;
identify and explain the different views held by people about environmental change;
recognise how people can improve or damage the environment;
suggest geographical questions for study;
use a range of skills of geographical enquiry

recognise that wave and human activity affect coastal environments;
respond to geographical questions which have been framed by the teacher

some children will have progressed further and will also:

recognise and explain the processes and features evident within a range of coastal environments;
recognise how coastal environments may be managed sustainably

Future Learning

Children may extend their work in this unit by investigating current issues or events in the local or wider locality; e.g. floods and sea defence schemes, hazards and global warming through the media (QCA Unit 16).

This unit provides a foundation for further study of coastal features at Key Stage 3, where work focuses on the processes responsible for the development of selected landforms and the causes and effects of flooding and pollution.