China 高三 Geography

1. Sel.3 Ch.1 Environment and society

Ecosystem services · Natural resources and use · Environmental problems

• Ecosystem Services: The Free Work Nature Does for Us – Ecosystem services are the benefits people get from nature. There are four kinds. Provisioning services give things we take (food, water, wood). Regulating services control conditions (clean air and water, flood control, pollination, climate). Supporting services are the base work that keeps everything running (soil formation, nutrient cycling, photosynthesis). Cultural services give beauty, recreation, learning and spiritual meaning. These services have real value: if an ecosystem is damaged we must pay for dams, filters, fertiliser or hand pollination to replace them, and often cannot replace them fully. Protecting ecosystems is usually cheaper than repairing the loss.
• Natural Resources – Natural resources are useful things we take from nature: sunlight, wind, water, soil, forests, minerals, oil, gas and coal. Renewable resources come back in a human lifetime; non-renewable ones took millions of years to form and run out when used. Resources are spread unevenly because they form only where certain geological processes happened in the past (old seas, volcanoes, mountain building). Using them brings benefits such as energy, jobs and materials, but also costs such as pollution, habitat loss and hazards, so societies weigh costs against benefits and try to use them sustainably.
• Environmental Issues: Causes, Effects and Solutions – Environmental issues are harmful changes to air, water, land, climate and living things, mostly caused by human activity. The big ones are air pollution, water pollution, land pollution and waste, climate change, deforestation and loss of biodiversity, and overuse of resources. They grow with the number of people and how much each person uses (the ecological footprint). We can reduce them with clean energy, saving and recycling, treating waste water, protecting forests and good laws, at home, in the city, in the country and across the world.

2. Sel.3 Ch.2 Resource security

Resource security · Energy security · Farmland and food security · Marine space resources

• Resource Security and Sustainable Use of Land and Water – Natural resources are things from nature that people use: water, soil, forests, fish, minerals and energy. Non-renewable resources (coal, oil, metal ores) are stocks that run down; renewable ones (water, forests, fish) refill, but only at a limited speed. Resource security means having enough of a resource, reliably and at a fair price. Shared resources often suffer the tragedy of the commons: each user takes a little more and the resource collapses. Water security and energy security are the two biggest worries; farming uses about 70% of fresh water, and about 80% of world energy still comes from fossil fuels. Sustainable methods, such as drip irrigation, integrated pest management, selective forestry, careful aquaculture, fishing quotas, mine restoration and reducing urban runoff, let us use resources today while leaving enough for the future. The ecological footprint measures how much land and water our lifestyle needs.
• Energy Resources: Use, Global Mix and a Sustainable Future – Societies need energy to grow food, make goods, move people and run homes. Richer countries use far more energy per person. About 80% of the world's primary energy still comes from fossil fuels (oil, coal, gas), which are non-renewable and release CO₂. Renewable sources (solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, biomass) are flows that keep returning; nuclear is non-renewable but low-carbon. Each source differs in cost, reliability, location and pollution. Energy resources are unevenly spread, so countries work for energy security by diversifying sources, trading, storing energy, saving energy and investing in new technology such as hydrogen and fuel cells.
• Food Security: Feeding Everyone, Every Day – Food security means every person, at all times, can get enough safe and nutritious food for an active, healthy life. It rests on four pillars: availability (food is produced or imported), access (people can afford and reach it), use (good nutrition, clean water, safe cooking) and stability (supply does not collapse in bad years). Food supply is uneven across the world. Demand keeps rising with population, incomes and changing diets, while climate change, water shortage, soil loss, conflict and waste limit supply. Food insecurity causes hunger, malnutrition, high prices, migration and unrest. Supply can be raised by irrigation, better seeds, new technology and cutting waste, but long-term answers must also be sustainable and fair.
• Oceans: The Sea Floor, Moving Water and Life – Oceans cover about 71% of the Earth. Their floor has a shallow continental shelf, a steep slope, a deep plain, underwater ridges and very deep trenches. Water moves in three ways: waves (made by wind), tides (made by the Moon's pull) and currents (rivers in the sea, warm and cold). Oceans give fish, salt, oil, gas and trade routes, and millions of people earn their living from them. Cyclones and tsunamis are ocean hazards; early warning saves lives. International rules (UNCLOS) set how far a country's sea rights reach: 12 nautical miles of territorial sea and a 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone.

3. Sel.3 Ch.3 Environmental security

Pollution and security · Ecological protection · Global climate change

• Pollution: Air, Water, Land and Noise – Pollution is the release of harmful substances or energy into air, water or land faster than nature can remove them. Main air pollutants are particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and ozone; they cause acid rain and smog. Water pollution by nutrients, sewage and toxins causes eutrophication and biomagnification. We reduce pollution by cutting emissions at the source, cleaning waste before release, and the 3Rs.
• Ecological Security: Invasive Species and Protecting Nature – Ecological security means keeping ecosystems healthy so they keep giving us clean water, food and air. Invasive species, which arrive from another place and spread fast because they have no natural enemies, are a big threat. We protect nature in its home (reserves, parks: in-situ), away from home (seed banks, zoos: ex-situ) and by laws against hunting and trade in wild species.
• Climate Change and the Greenhouse Effect – Climate is the average weather of a place over about 30 years. Greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane trap some of the heat the Earth gives off. Humans have added a lot more of these gases by burning fossil fuels and cutting forests, so the Earth is warming. This causes melting ice, rising seas and more extreme weather. We can cut emissions (mitigation) and prepare for changes (adaptation).

4. Sel.3 Ch.4 Strategies and action

Ecological civilisation; national strategies; international cooperation

• Environment and Sustainable Development – The environment gives us resources, soaks up our waste, supports life and gives beauty. When we take resources faster than nature renews them, or throw waste faster than it can absorb, we cross its carrying capacity and face an environmental crisis. India faces land degradation, air and water pollution, forest and biodiversity loss. Burning fossil fuels traps heat and causes global warming; CFCs thin the ozone layer. Sustainable development meets today's needs without harming the ability of future generations to meet theirs, using clean energy, less waste and traditional knowledge.

5. Electives 1–9 (standard)

Astronomy basics · Marine geography · Natural hazards and prevention · Environmental protection · Tourism geography · Urban and rural planning · Political geography · Applied geographic information technology · Geographic fieldwork

• The Solar System – The Solar System is the Sun and everything its gravity holds: 8 planets, their moons, dwarf planets, asteroids, comets and dust. The inner four planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars) are small and rocky. After the asteroid belt come the giants: gas giants Jupiter and Saturn, ice giants Uranus and Neptune. Gravity pulls planets towards the Sun while they move sideways, so they travel in orbits; closer planets move faster and have shorter years. It all formed about 4.6 billion years ago from a spinning cloud of gas and dust.
• Oceans: The Sea Floor, Moving Water and Life – Oceans cover about 71% of the Earth. Their floor has a shallow continental shelf, a steep slope, a deep plain, underwater ridges and very deep trenches. Water moves in three ways: waves (made by wind), tides (made by the Moon's pull) and currents (rivers in the sea, warm and cold). Oceans give fish, salt, oil, gas and trade routes, and millions of people earn their living from them. Cyclones and tsunamis are ocean hazards; early warning saves lives. International rules (UNCLOS) set how far a country's sea rights reach: 12 nautical miles of territorial sea and a 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone.
• Natural Hazards – A natural hazard is a natural event that can harm people and property, such as an earthquake, volcano, landslide, flood, drought or cyclone. It becomes a disaster when it hits people who are not ready. Geological hazards come from inside the Earth; meteorological (weather) hazards come from the air and water. Risk = hazard × vulnerability ÷ capacity to cope, so warning systems, strong buildings and trained people cut the damage.
• Environmental Stewardship: Caring for the Planet as We Use Technology – Environmental stewardship means using the Earth's resources carefully so they last, and fixing harm where we can. Every product, from a phone to a hospital machine, has a life cycle: raw materials, making, transport, use and end of life. Each stage uses energy and makes waste. Good stewards keep products longer, choose efficient machines, follow the waste hierarchy (refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle, then dispose), send e-waste to proper recyclers and support laws and company practices that protect nature. Technology can harm the environment, but it can also help: solar panels, LEDs and smart sensors cut waste.
• Tourism Geography: Resources, Types, Impacts and Planning – Tourism is travelling away from home for at least one night for leisure, business, health or visiting friends. Tourism geography asks where people go, why, and what tourism does to places. Places attract visitors with natural resources (mountains, beaches, wildlife) and cultural resources (heritage, festivals, food). People are pushed from home and pulled to destinations. Tourism can be domestic or international, and there are many types: eco, adventure, cultural, medical and marine. Resorts often follow a life cycle from exploration to stagnation and then decline or renewal. Tourism brings jobs and money but can harm nature and local culture if visitors exceed the carrying capacity, so good planning aims at sustainable tourism.
• Urban Planning and the Quality of Urban Life – Urban planning means deciding in advance how land in a town or city will be used, where roads, homes, jobs, parks and services go, and how the place will grow. Without planning, cities sprawl over farmland, traffic jams grow and slums lack water and drains. Planners use land-use zoning, public transport, the right density and green space to raise the quality of life. They measure it with factors such as housing, jobs, clean air, services, transport and safety. Modern ideas include the liveable city, the 15-minute neighbourhood, smart cities and city branding. Villages and small towns are planned too, as a shared social task.
• Political Geography: How Land, People and Power Fit Together – Political geography studies how people divide and govern space. A state needs four things: land (territory), people, a government and sovereignty (no outside master). Boundaries can follow nature (rivers, mountains) or be drawn as straight lines. Inside a country, power is shared across levels: national, regional, district and local. Countries cooperate through organisations and trade blocs, but they can also clash over land, water, minerals or identity. Good rules and talks turn many conflicts into cooperation.
• Spatial Information Technology: GIS (Class 12 Geography Practical) – A Geographical Information System (GIS) is a computer system that stores, links, analyses and shows data about places. It keeps the world in layers. It needs hardware, software, data, people and methods. Spatial data come in raster (grid of cells) and vector (points, lines, polygons) formats. Data are entered by digitising, scanning, GPS or satellite images and linked to attribute tables. Overlay combines layers to find where conditions meet; buffer draws a zone of fixed distance around a feature.
• Geographical Enquiry and Fieldwork – A geographical enquiry is a small research project about a real place. It follows clear steps: ask a question and write a hypothesis; collect primary data (your own measurements and surveys) and secondary data (census, maps, websites) using a fair sampling method; process and present the data in suitable graphs and maps; analyse the pattern and reach a conclusion; then evaluate how reliable the results are. The same skills are used to make decisions: weigh options using evidence and justify the best one. Older students write a longer independent investigation with their own question, primary and secondary data, analysis and conclusions.

6. 高考 review

Comprehensive review

Coming soon