Skills you learn from Geology (Year 11)

This is one of three lesson plans designed for Year 11 Geology teachers:

• Jobs that use Geology (Year 11)
• Skills you learn from Geology (Year 11)
• Why study A-Level Geology? (Year 11)

These lesson plans will help you show students how Geology connects to their future careers.

We recommend using this lesson plan at the end of the autumn term. By this point Year 11 students have over a year of GCSE Geology behind them and are beginning to weigh post-16 options. Recognising the skills they've built - and seeing where the same skills are developed in other subjects - helps them choose a complementary set of A-Levels, T-Levels, or training routes.

A-Level Geology doesn't require GCSE Geology, so this lesson is also useful for any Year 11 student considering it as a fresh start - including students whose school doesn't offer GCSE Geology. Many of the skills Geology builds will also have been developed through GCSE Geography, particularly fieldwork, observation, and reasoning about landscapes, processes, and hazards.

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Learning objectives

• Students will name specific skills they've built through GCSE Geology, with examples.
• Students will recognise other subjects that build the same skills.
• Students will consider how that shapes their post-16 choices.

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Before the lesson

• You will need a computer connected to the internet and a classroom screen.
• Open the What can you do with Geology? page and have it ready on the screen.
• Review the Skills that Geology builds section and think of recent teaching examples for each one - field trips, rock and mineral identification, structural mapping, and practical work students will recall.

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During the lesson

1. What have we studied over GCSE? (5 mins)

• Ask students to call out topics, fieldwork days, or practical work they've covered in GCSE Geology - or in GCSE Geography, for students whose school doesn't offer GCSE Geology.
• Write the suggestions on the board and highlight any patterns.

2. Skills that Geology builds (15 mins)

• Bring up the What can you do with Geology? page on the classroom screen.
• Review the contents of the page with students so that they understand what it covers.
• Scroll to the Skills that Geology builds section and work through each skill in turn.
  • Ask students which topic, field trip, or practical from the board involved that skill - whether from GCSE Geology or GCSE Geography.
  • Share your own teaching examples if students are stuck.

3. The same skills in other subjects (10 mins)

• Ask students to think about where else they've built these same skills.
  • Which other subjects ask you to identify things by careful observation?
  • Which other subjects involve fieldwork and recording what you see?
  • Which other subjects involve drawing conclusions from incomplete or uncertain evidence?
  • Which other subjects involve reading 2D representations of 3D structures, or thinking across very long timescales?
• Go round the class, asking each student to name one skill and one other subject they've built it in.
• Close by reminding students that choosing a good set of post-16 subjects isn't just about which ones they enjoy - it's about which ones compound the skills they want to take into work or further study.

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After the lesson

• Share the What can you do with Geology? page with students and their parents/carers:
  • www.coffeewith.xyz/subjects/what-can-you-do-with-geology
• Encourage parents/carers to explore the page with their child and to discuss the contents.
• Use the School Tools / Activities feature to record the lesson activity:
  • Activity name: Year 11 - Skills you learn from Geology
  • Activity type: Linking curriculum learning to careers
• Read the follow-on lesson plan:
  • Why study A-Level Geology? (Year 11)