What is desertification?

Teacher notes

This lesson is adaptable for KS3 and KS4 by selecting the relevant objectives applicable to your class below. You may want to split the lesson to explore the themes more fully - we'd suggest extending the section on desertification as part 2. Meet Ambassador Kwon, planting one billion trees in the deserts of northwest China to mitigate the destructive effects of desertification. Students will learn about the causes of desertification, why it is a global problem, which places are most at risk and how we can prevent it becoming even more of a problem. **Lyfta core themes:** Natural Environment, Professions and Entrepreneurship.** **Lyfta core skills and values**: Active Citizenship & Political Awareness, Coaching & Mentoring, Collaboration & Teamwork, Creativity & Innovation, Decision Making, Environment & Sustainability, Leadership, Organisation and Planning, Resourcefulness & Learning from Failure, Responsibility & Accountability, Self-Motivation, Taking Initiative, Work Ethic. **SDGs:** 2,6,13,15. **National Curriculum objectives:** KS3 Geography - Physical geography relating to: weathering and soils; weather and climate and hydrology - Human geography relating to: population and urbanisation and the use of natural resources - How human and physical processes interact to influence and change landscapes, environments and the climate; and how human activity relies on the effective functioning of natural systems - Understand the processes that give rise to key physical and human geographical features of the world, how these are interdependent and how they bring about spatial variation and change over time - Extend locational knowledge and deepen spatial awareness of the world’s countries to focus on Africa, Russia, Asia (including China and India), focusing on their environmental regions, including polar and hot deserts, key physical and human characteristics, countries and major cities. KS4 Geography - Global ecosystems and biodiversity. - Interdependence of climate, soil, water, plants, animals and humans; the processes and interactions that operate within them at different scales; and issues related to biodiversity and to their sustainable use and management KS4 examination boards: AQA: - Areas at risk of desertification - Causes of desertification - Strategies to reduce risk of desertification - Hot desert ecosystems - Plants and animal adaptation. Eduqas: - Key processes of ecosystems at different scales - Concept of biodiversity - How people use ecosystems and environments - How human activities modify processes and interactions within ecosystems - How ecosystems can be managed sustainably.