Course Guide

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to your Wolsey Hall Guide to the Cambridge IGCSE Environmental Management course. Please take the time to read carefully through this guide. It will explain how the course is structured, how to get the most out of the course and how your work will be assessed. At the end of this guide you will find the Programme of Study for the course which shows how the course links to the CAIE syllabus.

IGCSE Environmental Management is a great course to study for so many reasons:

Cambridge IGCSE Environmental Management is accepted by universities and employers as proof of knowledge and understanding of issues concerning sustainable development and how the Earth’s resources are used.
Learners studying this syllabus draw upon a wide range of disciplines such as biology, Earth science, geography, economics and demographics and explore ways in which we may change the nature of future development to make it more sustainable.
Study is linked to the areas of new thinking in environmental management, environmental economics and the quest for alternative technologies. A core principle of the syllabus is that sustainability will only be achieved by changes in the ways in which people think and make decisions. A course in Environmental Management therefore calls upon learners to be participants in defining the future of their world.

We hope you’ll enjoy your IGCSE Environmental Management course and studying with Wolsey Hall. The main thing to remember is your tutor is always here to help, so please contact them whenever you have a question, no matter how big or small, and we will do our very best to help you do your very best!

SYLLABUS AND EXAMINATION

This Wolsey Hall course has been written by a specialist tutor to prepare you for the Cambridge IGCSE IGCSE Environmental Management 0680 (A* to G grading) course and final examination.

Please see syllabus here.

The IGCSE Environmental Management syllabus is divided into 9 themes (number in brackets show suggested study hours):

Rocks and minerals and their exploitation (14 hours)
Energy and the environment (19 hours)
Agriculture and the environment (24 hours)
Water and its management (18 hours)
Oceans and fisheries (9 hours)
Managing natural hazards (29 hours)
The atmosphere and human activities (20 hours)
Human population (9 hours)
Natural ecosystems and human activities (39 hours)

At the end of your course, you will sit a final exam, at a local/national exam centre which is administered by Cambridge Assessment International Education.

In your exam, you will sit 2 papers:

Paper 1 Theory: This paper lasts 1hr 45m and is worth 50% of your final grade. Paper 1 is divided into two sections. Section A consists of short-answer and structured response questions worth 20 marks. Section B consists of short-answer and extended response questions based on source material worth 60 marks (Total: 80 marks).
Paper 2 Management in Context: This paper also lasts 1hr 45m and is worth 50% of your final grade. Paper 2 paper consists of short-answer, data processing and analysis, and extended response questions based on source material. Candidates will be expected to make use of information from the source material to help illustrate issues of environmental management (Total: 80 marks).

YOUR COURSE BOOK AND RESOURCES

Wolsey Hall offers a unique model of offline and online resources to our homeschooling students – a model which we have developed based on our many years’ experience of providing home schooling courses to students.

Course Book

Each subject specialist team carefully selects the best course book from which you will study. The course book for your IGCSE Environmental Management course is:

Cambridge IGCSE and O Level Environmental Management (2017), by Gary Skinner et al; Cambridge University Press; ISBN 978-1-316-63485-1

Each of the nine themes in the previous section is broken down into smaller topics which have their own sub-chapter in your course book. Some chapters are much longer than others so please make sure that you are aware of how many pages you need to complete before your next assignment is due.

Throughout the course as well as knowledge of general environmental management theory, you will also need to learn case studies. There are many useful case studies throughout your textbook and in the other online resources we have provided you with, however the curriculum gives you the opportunity to select your own case studies so please feel free to make notes and collect information on other areas that relevant to where you live, things you have read about in the papers etc. You can keep track of all your case studies in the document ‘IGCSE Environmental Management Case Study File’ which you can find on Canvas under General Resources.

Between them, the Programme of Study (below) and the Modules (on Canvas) will give you the following information for each chapter:

The concepts and ideas you should understand by the end of the chapter.
The case studies that you need to learn.
The additional resources available on Canvas.

Throughout the course, we recommend that you try all the questions in the course book – the Programme of Study (POS, see below) will highlight which pages you should read for each Module.

HOW YOUR WOLSEY HALL COURSE IS STRUCTURED

All the files required for your Course are uploaded onto our Learning Management System, Canvas. Once you have read through this guide and downloaded a pdf of the POS then you are ready to begin the course.

The Course is divided into nine Modules which cover one section of the syllabus at a time. These IGCSE Environmental Managaement Modules will help you to get the most out of your Course Book. Each Module is subdivided into Topics so that you can study the course in manageable chunks. Each Topic is set out as follows:

Reading– this section will include both the page references and required activities from your course book.
Tasks/Links/Downloads– there will be links to documents and online resources that will enhance your understanding of key concepts and will give you an opportunity to apply your knowledge.
Extension– this section is for those students who would like to extend their knowledge and understanding of that topic material. We would encourage those students aiming for high grades to work through all our extension exercises.

At the end of each Module, you should complete the End of Module Quiz to test your understanding of material covered in the module. This is a multiple-choice activity that can be completed as many times as you wish to ensure that you have achieved all the learning goals for the Module.

HOW YOUR WORK IS ASSESSED

Your progress will be assessed throughout your Wolsey Hall course by completing assignments.

We recommend NOT looking at the assignments until you've studied all the topics in the module. This will ensure that you focus on everything you need to know. The assignments allow you to think critically about what you have learned and will enable your tutor to see how well you are progressing. Your tutor will mark these and provide you with detailed feedback. Once you have had your marked assignment returned you will be able to access the Mark Scheme. You should consider your feedback carefully, reflect on it and apply it in your future assignments.

We ask that you do not submit multiple assignments at the same time. It is very important that you reflect on your tutor’s feedback before beginning each new assignment, so that you can incorporate their tips for improvement into each new piece of work.

The assignments have been designed to help you prepare for your final examination – all the questions are based on past exam papers. You should read the questions carefully and answer them to the best of your ability, providing relevant examples (where necessary). If you do not do well in your assignment – don’t worry! Your tutor will be able to recommend extra work that will improve your understanding.

There are 9 assignments throughout this course. Each one begins with guidance on how to complete and submit each piece of work.

All assignments are submitted via Canvas – you should consult the Canvas Guide for more information.

HAPPY TO HELP

When you study a Wolsey Hall course, you are never alone! There are lots of people who are willing to help you. Everyone is on your side!

Tutors: At Wolsey Hall, all our tutors are friendly and knowledgeable. They are subject experts and you should not be shy about asking them questions about your course. You will meet your tutor via a video call and you should contact them if you have any questions.
Student Progress Managers: You have already been assigned a Student Progress Manager who can help with your assignment schedule.
Exams Officers: Wolsey Hall’s Exams Officers are here to help students with any queries regarding exam centres.
Canvas Help Desk: Canvas is a great virtual learning environment, but we understand that sometimes, even the best things can go wrong! If you have any problems with Canvas (e.g. uploading assignments or unable to access resources) you should submit a Canvas Help Ticket.

For information about how to create and submit a Help Ticket, please refer to the Canvas Guide.

We hope you’ll enjoy your course and studying at Wolsey Hall. We wish you the best of luck in your studies and success in your examination.

The Wolsey Hall Team

DOWNLOAD YOUR PROGRAMME OF STUDY