Course Map — Where IB? Geography DP

§ 01

Year 1, Semester 1 — 40 sessions

Skills are introduced early and then revisited in every unit rather than parked in an introductory block. The Iran case study comes before the population core so that you see a finished case study before you are asked to build one.

Course launch

Welcome, course purpose, the essential question, syllabus orientation, student survey.

Becoming a geographer

What geographers actually study; physical and human geography; the six concepts introduced.

Geographic evidence

Maps, scale, spatial patterns, data reliability and how to interpret a source.

Reading a case study

Case study anatomy; reading geographically; preparation for the Iran chapter.

Iran investigation

Terrain, resources, location, connections and current relevance, in evidence teams.

Iran synthesisFormative

Build the class model case study, evaluate the argument, write the first supported IB-style response.

07–10

Population distribution

Patterns, density, the physical and human factors behind them, and spatial interaction.

11–14

Population change

Fertility, mortality, natural increase, demographic transition and population momentum.

15–18

Population structure

Dependency, population pyramids, youthful and ageing populations, and their consequences.

19–21

Migration

Drivers, flows, impacts, policies and genuinely contrasting perspectives.

22–24

Population responses

Pro-natalist and anti-natalist policy, China, evaluation, and timed writing.

Population assessmentAssessed

Paper 2 style data response plus an extended response.

Feedback and revision

Markscheme analysis, correction reflection, and a rewritten response.

27–30

Fieldwork foundationsIA groundwork

Questions, hypotheses, sampling, reliability, validity, mapping, graphing, evaluation.

31–38

Global climate

Climate systems, causes, vulnerability, impacts, adaptation, mitigation and resilience.

Semester synthesis

Connections among population, climate, power, scale and possibility.

Semester assessmentAssessed

Cumulative, using unfamiliar data and structured geographic writing.

§ 02

The rest of the course

Year 1 · Semester 2

5 weeks

Global Climate completed

Vulnerability and resilience; compare responses; close the Paper 2 assessment cycle.

6 weeks

Global Resource Consumption and Security

Consumption patterns; water, food and energy security; stewardship; nexus thinking.

5 weeks

Option E, Part 1

Changing participation, tourism systems, impacts, carrying capacity, Central Florida connections.

2 weeks

Cumulative synthesis

Paper 2 skills, case study retrieval, unfamiliar data, end-of-year assessment.

Year 2 · Semester 1

4 weeks

Option E, Part 2

Management strategies, sustainability, stakeholder conflict, Paper 1 response.

7 weeks

Option ? — chosen by class vote

Seven weeks reserved. The class votes on which theme fills them; see the Option ? page.

1 week

Fieldwork preparation

Question, context, methods, sampling, risk assessment, data collection instruments.

1 day

Fieldwork data collection

Shared class methods, individual responsibility for the report. Contingency date protected.

5–6 weeks

Internal assessment

Data presentation, analysis, conclusion, evaluation, one round of permitted feedback, revision.

Year 2 · Semester 2

3 weeks

Option ? completed

Final comparisons for the chosen theme and its Paper 1 assessment.

3 weeks

Paper 1 synthesis

Option case studies, essay planning, resource interpretation, timed practice.

3 weeks

Paper 2 synthesis

Core connections, unfamiliar resources, structured responses, evaluation.

2 weeks

Geographic skills

Maps, graphs, statistics, photographs, diagrams, source evaluation.

2 weeks

Mock examination cycle

Timed papers, markscheme review, feedback, individual action plans.

Remaining

Targeted revision

Reteaching driven by evidence, case study recall, writing conferences.

Not yet fixed

Exact calendar dates go in once the school calendar and the fieldwork date are confirmed. The second optional theme is still open — see Option ?.

§ 03

Protected milestones

Tools that run alongside these

Match the Concept ↗ Reading thematic maps ↗ Case Study Explorer ↗ All twelve tools

These do not move when a unit runs long. Later units absorb the overrun instead.

Milestone	Placement	Why it is protected
Monday reflection and synthesis	Every week	Retrieval and correction only work if they happen on a schedule, not when there is spare time.
Iran formative response	Session 6	Establishes the standard for argument and evidence before the first unit begins.
Population assessment cycle	Sessions 25–26	Assessment plus revision. The revision half is the part that teaches.
Fieldwork day	Year 2 Semester 1	One date plus a contingency date, both booked in advance.
Six weeks of Year 2 review	Semester 2	The IA is not allowed to eat the exam preparation window.