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TEACHING SYLLABUS FOR GEOGRAPHY (SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL 1 - 3)
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TEACHING SYLLABUS FOR GEOGRAPHY (SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL 1 - 3)
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M I N I S T RY O F E D U C AT I O NRepublic of Ghana
TEACHING SYLLABUS FOR GEOGRAPHY
(SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL 1 - 3)
Enquiries and comments on this syllabus should be addressed to:
The Director
Curriculum Research and Development Division (CRDD)
P. O. Box 2739
Accra, Ghana.
Tel: 0302-683668
0302-683651
September, 2010
i
, TEACHING SYLLABUS FOR GEOGRAPHY
(SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL)
RATIONALE FOR TEACHING GEOGRAPHY
Geography studies the inter-relationships of the individual, physical and social environments both in spatial (relating to geographic space) and temporal (historical
times) terms. Issues of the environment are becoming increasingly important and geography, which studies the environment as a system, can and does provide
solutions to environmental problems. Geography thus has a vital contribution to make towards the purpose of education, i.e., solving societal problems and further
providing the critical foundation knowledge in the development of Ghana.
The value of geography lies in helping people to understand and adapt to the dynamics of the environment in which they live. The study of geography therefore
enables us to understand geographic facts without which it becomes impossible to acquire intimate knowledge of the environment we have to utilize toward our
development.
Specifically, geography serves as one of the vehicles or tools for implementing the national educational objectives at the senior high school level by way of the
following:
1. improving the communication skills of students, especially in the areas of describing and evaluating environmental concerns.
2. providing students with knowledge and understanding of their communities, nation and the world.
3. developing in them moral values and attitudes for appreciating nature‟s resources.
4. equipping students with significant skills to enable them contribute towards improving on and sustaining the environment, e.g. landscaping (involving tree
planting and controlling or managing erosion).
5. nurturing a generation of people who can think reflectively of others, respect their dignity and values which we as Ghanaians and members of the world
community live for. Geography offers opportunities for mental training and intellectual development.
6. enabling students to make an honest living in future. This refers to careers in geography that are open to the Senior High School graduate. The study of
geography at this level will lay the foundation in areas such as map-work, human and regional geography. Thus, students who do not opt for higher
education at the tertiary level, would be able to find employment in the public and private sectors of the national economy, where they can serve as
assistants to other professionals- i.e. Agronomists, Cartographers, Economists, Geographers, Regional and Urban Planners, Sociologists, Surveyors,
Teachers etc.
7. producing a generation of citizens imbued with the attitudes of co-operation, self-reliance, industry, self discipline and preparedness to be leaders as well
as followers.
8. fostering national and international unity, better understanding of different geographical environments, cooperation of the various ethnic groups in the
country toward national growth and development as well as reconciling differences among Ghanaians and other nationalities.
9. acquiring skills for effective organization and utilization of space both in urban and rural environments thereby exposing students to the policies and
principles underlying land use practices; recognition of the implications of rapid population growth, urbanization, rural-urban drift of the population and its
associated rural depopulation, resource exploitation and utilization for socio-economic development and relevant measures for dealing with the impact of
population growth on the environment.
In sum, the contribution of geography to the education of the student at the Senior High School level finds expression in the communicative, cognitive (mental
development about environmental resources), affective (caring and protection of the environment) and psychomotor (hands-on-skills for environmental
management) domains.
ii
,GENERAL AIMS
The syllabus is designed to help students to:
1. use knowledge of the spatial relationships and the differences in character of the earth‟s surface in their lives and work
2. recognize the relationship between the life of people, their physical environment and the concepts of individual-environment.
3. develop empathy for people of other environments with different resources, goals and challenges from one‟s own area.
4. acquire the skills of geographic investigation or field study i.e. collecting, classifying, analyzing and interpreting geographic data.
5. acquire the basic knowledge about the nature of the physical and human environment.
6. develop awareness of the nature and functioning of the physical and human elements and their inter-relationships.
SCOPE OF CONTENT
The geography syllabus covers the planetary systems with emphasis on the earth as the planet habitable by humans, plants and animals. The principal issues
concern the physical environments with the prospects and challenges of the human environment-relationships. The issue of understanding and interpreting maps,
the geographical understanding of political divisions, identification and utilization of resources, livelihood activities that are and can be pursued in specific
environments are also dealt with.
ORGANIZATION OF THE SYLLABUS
For purposes of teaching and examining at the Senior High School level, the geography syllabus has been organized into three inter-related branches as follows:
1. Physical Geography (Geomorphology, This is the study of landforms, climate, weather, plant and animal life.
Climatology and Biogeography):
2. Human and Regional Geography: This is the study of human economic activities and their classification on the basis of districts, regions and zones.
3. Practical Geography: This involves the application of skills of map reading, map interpretation, data collection and analysis.
These divisions should help students to acquire a sound basis in the study of geography. The following issues have been specifically considered:
1. geography should be taught and learned with emphasis on interpreting the physical and human aspects of the subject.
2. human and regional geography should be taught through themes.
3. practical geography, involving map reading, analysis and interpretation (including statistical maps and diagrams), should be taught giving examples from
physical, human and regional geography.
The contents selected and the divisions adopted will ensure that students can actively and effectively utilize their knowledge in geography in the important task of
nation building. It is also expected that teachers will take note of the inter-relatedness of the three branches of the subject and make conscious efforts at teaching
the three areas as one, i.e., making references and giving examples that incorporate the three branches of the subject.
The syllabus has been structured to cover the three years of the three-year Senior High School, that is, from SHS1 to SHS3. Each year‟s work comprises three
sections with each section further divided into a number of units.
The structure and organization of the syllabus is presented on the next page.
iii
, STRUCTURE AND ORGANIZATION OF THE SYLLABUS
SHS1 SHS2 SHS3
SECTION 1: PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY - THE EARTH SECTION 1: PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY: LANDFORMS SECTION 1: PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY: VEGETATION,
AS A PLANET (pg. 1-5) SOILS AND ENVIRONMENTAL
(pg. 13-20)
CONCERNS (pg. 28-32)
Unit 1: The Planetary System Unit 1: The Hydrosphere (Lakes, Lagoons, Rivers,
Oceans and Ocean Currents)
Unit 2: The Earth: Rocks and Minerals Unit 1: Vegetation (Types, Deforestation and
Conservation)
Unit 3: The Earth‟s Atmosphere: Structure and Unit 2: Landforms of the Earth‟s Crust resulting from:
Composition
a) Faulting and Earthquakes Unit 2: Soils (Types, Erosion and Conservation)
Unit 4: Elements of Weather and Climate
b) Folding
Unit 3: Environmental Concerns
c) Vulcanicity
Unit 3: External Sources of Landforms (Weathering and
Mass Wasting)
Unit 4: Agents of Denudation and Associated Landforms
SECTION 2: HUMAN AND REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY: SECTION 2: HUMAN AND REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY: SECTION 2: HUMAN AND REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY:
POPULATION AND DISTRIBUTION (pg. ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES (pg. 21-24) GHANA AND AFRICA (pg. 33-39)
6-9)
Unit 1: Economic Activities (Primary, Secondary and Unit 1: Ghana: Size, Location, Physical and Economic
Unit 1: Population: Size, Structure and Distribution
Tertiary) Environment
Unit 2: Settlements: Rural and Urban
Unit 2: Renewable and Non-renewable Energy Unit 2: Africa including West Africa: Size, Location,
Resources Physical and Economic Environment
Unit 3: Regional groupings in Africa
SECTION 3: PRACTICAL GEOGRAPHY – USING SECTION 3: PRACTICAL GEOGRAPHY: READING SECTION 3: PRACTICAL GEOGRAPHY: MAP
MAPS (10-12) MAPS (pg. 25-27) INTERPRETATION AND MAP USE
Unit 1: Elements of Map Reading Unit 1: Principles of Geographic Investigation (pg. 40)
Unit 2: Principles of Elementary Surveying Unit 2: Statistical Maps and Diagrams Unit 1: Elements of Map Interpretation and Map use
Unit 3: Principles of Map Reading
REFERENCES (pg. 41)
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