Source: https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/teacher-cpd/cpd-organising-a-ks3-geography-curriculum/1-2-2-what-are-geographys-key-concepts

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# What are Geography's Key Concepts?

CPD: Organising a KS3 Geography Curriculum (by Kate Stockings), topic 1.2.2

## Key Concepts in Geography

It is clear that thinking about key concepts in a Geography curriculum can be incredibly useful in curriculum making. However, the debate as to what the key concepts of geography are rages on and there is no clear consensus.

### Agreement at school level

![Agreement at school level](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2018-09/9e36a63c-40eb-4c06-b8d9-867770cf3ce0/agree-1728448_1920.jpg)

- There is unlikely to ever be complete agreement on which concepts are the most important for a young person’s progression in geography (Taylor, 2018).

### Scale

![Scale](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2019-04/14fdc3bc-71d2-4a6e-821a-3af28e47b4ac/landscape-nature-grass-horizon-cloud-plant-1407864-pxhere.com.jpg)

- What the key concepts of geography are will, of course, differ with the scale of thinking too: 
 - Are we referring to the key concepts of the whole discipline? 
 - Are we thinking about the key concepts for students to develop an understanding of at Key Stage 3?

### Complexities

![Complexities](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2019-06/921f5939-41f5-46d8-810b-533fa5b75d66/roads-birds-eye-landscape-africa.jpg)

- Finally, many of the concepts that are important for ‘thinking like a geographer’ are used with different meanings. Examples include sustainability, globalisation and development (Roberts, 2017).

### End goal

![End goal](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2019-04/a09783bf-2aa2-4952-b10c-ad8220af7dfd/landscape-pampas-bioma-brazil.jpg)

- The most important thing is that whichever concepts you are studying in your curriculum should be studied in such a way that student’s understanding is deepened and embedded over time.

## Test yourself on What are Geography's Key Concepts?

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- Previous topic: [1.2.1 The Value of Using Concepts in Curriculum Making](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/teacher-cpd/cpd-organising-a-ks3-geography-curriculum/1-2-1-the-value-of-using-concepts-in-curriculum-making.md)
- Next topic: [1.2.3 More Key Concepts](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/teacher-cpd/cpd-organising-a-ks3-geography-curriculum/1-2-3-more-key-concepts.md)

## CPD: Organising a KS3 Geography Curriculum (by Kate Stockings) contents

### 1 Organising a KS3 Geography Curriculum
- 1.1 Introduction
  - [1.1.1 Organising a Key Stage 3 Geography Curriculum](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/teacher-cpd/cpd-organising-a-ks3-geography-curriculum/1-1-1-organising-a-key-stage-3-geography-curriculum.md)
  - [1.1.2 Regional Vs Systematic Geography](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/teacher-cpd/cpd-organising-a-ks3-geography-curriculum/1-1-2-regional-vs-systematic-geography.md)
- 1.2 Concepts in Curriculum Making
  - [1.2.1 The Value of Using Concepts in Curriculum Making](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/teacher-cpd/cpd-organising-a-ks3-geography-curriculum/1-2-1-the-value-of-using-concepts-in-curriculum-making.md)
  - [1.2.2 What are Geography's Key Concepts?](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/teacher-cpd/cpd-organising-a-ks3-geography-curriculum/1-2-2-what-are-geographys-key-concepts.md)
  - [1.2.3 More Key Concepts](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/teacher-cpd/cpd-organising-a-ks3-geography-curriculum/1-2-3-more-key-concepts.md)
  - [1.2.4 Further Considerations](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/teacher-cpd/cpd-organising-a-ks3-geography-curriculum/1-2-4-further-considerations.md)