International Baccalaureate Geography Field Study Courses
These field study courses provide case-study material and data for Part 1: Core, Part 2: Optional Themes and Fieldwork parts of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme.
| Option | Topic | Course Requirement | Field Study Location | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A: Freshwater - issues and conflicts | Drainage basins and flooding; management issues and strategies | 'Discuss the natural and human causes and consequences of a specific river
flood.' 'Evaluate the costs and benefits of alternative stream management strategies.' |
Sant Pere de Ribes & El Vendrell |
| 2 | A: Freshwater - issues and conflicts | Drainage basins and flooding; management issues and strategies | 'Define stream discharge. Examine its relationship to stream flow and
channel shape.' 'Explain the stream channel processes (erosion, transport, deposition) and explain the resultant landforms found on floodplains' |
River Tordera |
| 3 | A: Freshwater - issues and conflicts | Freshwater wetland management | 'Describe the role of wetlands as a water resource. Evaluate the effectiveness of the management strategies that have been adopted in a major wetland.' | Ebro Delta |
| 4 | B: Oceans and their coastal margins | Coastal margins | 'Examine the relationship between coastal processes (tides, wave action,
littoral drift, wind action), lithology, subaerial processes and different
coastal landforms.' 'Identify the major landforms of beaches, dunes and cliffs along advancing and retreating coasts.' 'Describe the conflicting pressures on a particular coastline.' 'Discuss the management strategies adopted to resolve these pressures and evaluate their effectiveness.' |
Sitges
|
| 5 | B: Oceans and their coastal margins | Coastal margins | 'Discuss the conflicts that arise from competing land uses and from attempts
to manage coastal hazards (tsunamis and storm surges, erosion, cliff failure),
pollution, habitat restoration and aquaculture.' 'Describe the conflicting pressures on a particular coastline.' |
Muntanyans |
| 6 | B: Oceans and their coastal margins | Coastal margins | 'Describe the conflicting pressures on a particular coastline.' 'Discuss the management strategies adopted to resolve these pressures and evaluate their effectiveness.' |
Gavà |
| 7 | E: Leisure, sport and tourism | Leisure at the local scale: tourism (urban areas) | 'For one named city or large town describe the distribution and location of primary and secondary tourism resources. Discuss the strategies designed to manage tourist demands, maximize capacity and minimize conflicts between local residents and visitors, and avoid environmental damage.' | Barcelona |
| 8 | E: Leisure, sport and tourism | Leisure at the local scale: tourism (rural areas) | 'Examine the concept of carrying capacities in a rural tourist area. Discuss strategies designed to maximize capacity and minimize conflicts between local residents and visitors, and avoid environmental damage.' | Gavà |
| 9 | E: Leisure, sport and tourism | Leisure at the local scale: sport and recreation | 'Discuss the role of sport and recreation in regeneration strategies of urban areas.' | Cornellà |
| 10 | E: Leisure, sport and tourism | Sustainable tourism | 'Examine the extent to which [sustainable tourism] might be successfully implemented in different environments.' | Sitges and Calafell |
| 11 | G: Urban environments | Urban land use | 'Examine patterns of urban poverty and deprivation (such as slums, squatter settlements, areas of low cost housing and inner city areas).' | El Raval, Barcelona |
| 12 | G: Urban environments | Urban land use | 'Explain the location of residential areas in relation to wealth, ethnicity and family status (stage in life cycle).' | Barcelona |
| 13 | G: Urban environments | Urban land use | 'Examine the causes and effects of the movement of retailing, service and manufacturing activities to new locations, including brownfield sites.' | Poblenou, Barcelona |
| 14 | G: Urban environments | The sustainable city | 'Describe the city as a system in terms of inputs - energy, water, people, materials, products, food, [and] outputs solid, atmospheric and liquid waste, noise and people. Distinguish between a sustainable circular system where inputs are reduced and outputs are recycled and an unsustainable (open/linear) city system with uncontrolled inputs and outputs.' | Barcelona |
IB Geography Field Studies Brochure Download
IB Geography Field Study Courses