Advanced Higher Geography Project Ideas

Instructor Shanna Fox Show bio Shanna has been an educator for 20 years and earned her Master of Education degree in 2017. She enjoys using her experience to provide engaging resources for other teachers.

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Advanced Higher Geography projects play an essential role in ascertaining whether students can apply the knowledge they've gained in your course. These projects require students to research, analyze, and present information related to course objectives.

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Advanced Higher Geography Projects

Advanced Higher Geography projects are necessary because students must be given an opportunity to synthesize and apply knowledge in a hands-on fashion. The subject matter lends itself to practical application and real-world scenarios. These projects utilize research methodology, analysis techniques, and multimedia presentations to ensure that students have gained the necessary knowledge. Best used as individual projects, these ideas can help you guide students on their journey to understanding geography on a deeper level.

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Urban and Rural Land Use Mapping

In this project, students analyze urban and rural land use in selected areas and how it has changed over time, use mapping strategies to visualize what they find, and present their results to the class. You may use maps that already exist or ask that students create their own based on research and data they find.

  1. Provide students with the guidelines and rubric for the research, mapping, and presentation portions of the project.
  2. If students need additional support, engage them in an activity that requires the application of the necessary skills in a team environment.
  3. Provide students access and guidance to research resources and the research graphic organizers to support the process.
  4. Provide an opportunity for students to investigate the urban and rural land use in a selected area and how it has changed over time.
  5. Provide an opportunity for students to analyze existing land use maps or create maps based on data.
  6. Provide students time to create a slide presentation demonstrating their conclusions.
  7. Consider partnering students so they can run through their project before presentation day and make any necessary adjustments.
  8. On presentation day, provide the audience with comment forms to provide meaningful feedback.
  9. After the presentation, provide students with reflection questions to identify their experiences with the project process and any changes they would make based on audience feedback.

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Historical Photo-Map Comparisons

In this project, students will compare historical photographs with physical maps of a selected area. They will draw conclusions about how the two connect, identify any inconsistencies, and predict future growth in the area. To wrap up, students will present this information to classmates in a multimedia format.

  1. Provide students with the guidelines and rubric for the research and presentation portions of the project.
  2. If students need additional support, engage them in an activity that requires photograph and map comparisons in a team setting.
  3. Provide students access and guidance to research resources and research graphic organizers to support the process.
  4. Give students adequate time to procure and analyze photographs and maps of a selected area. For additional support, consider providing students a list of analysis questions.
  5. Engage students in the process of drawing conclusions to connect the maps and photographs.
  6. Require students to identify any inconsistencies they notice in their analysis.
  7. Ask students to predict future change in the area they chose to study.
  8. Provide students access to multimedia creation software so they can build a video presentation showing their conclusions and predictions for future change in their selected area.
  9. Consider partnering students so they can review their project and make any necessary adjustments.
  10. On presentation day, provide the audience with comment forms to provide meaningful feedback.
  11. After the multimedia presentation, provide students with reflection questions to identify their experiences with the project process and any changes they would make based on audience feedback.

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Soil, Slope, and Stream Analysis

In this project, students will select an area and complete a soil, slope, and stream field study and analysis. Alternatively, they can find existing data to analyze and draw conclusions. For an added challenge, you may want to require both a field study portion, data analysis, and a comparison of the two. At the culmination of the research, field study, and analysis, students will create documentation showing the soil quality, slope changes, and health of the stream.

  1. Provide students with the guidelines and rubric for the research, analysis/field study, and document creation portions of the project.
  2. If students need additional support, engage them in an activity that requires soil, slope, and stream analysis in a team setting.
  3. Provide students access and guidance to research resources, field study locations, and research graphic organizers to support the process.
  4. Give students time to either conduct field work or procure data for analysis.
  5. Provide adequate time and support for students to complete a thorough analysis of the data. Require that they draw meaningful and logical conclusions about soil quality, slope changes, stream health, and potential environmental impacts on each.
  6. Provide students access to publishing software so they can create documentation showing their analysis and conclusions.
  7. Consider partnering students so they can review their project and make any necessary adjustments.
  8. Showcase student work by rotating the documents around the classroom so each classmate has a few minutes to review it. Provide comment forms to encourage meaningful feedback.
  9. Provide students with reflection questions to identify their experiences with the project process and any changes they would make based on peer feedback.

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