Option E: Leisure, tourism and sport

DP 2 – Fall Semester (August – October)

From the IB DP Geography Course Guide:

“This optional theme focuses on ways in which people in a growing number of global contexts make use of their leisure time. As more people join the “global middle class”, they have disposable incomes allowing participation in tourism, including international travel and different types of sport. Sport can also be an important use of leisure time for people on low incomes who cannot afford to participate in tourism.

While tourism often has an urban focus, rural areas provide another important geographical setting for touristic activities, including walking, enjoying wilderness, doing extreme sports or visiting heritage sites. The uses made of places vary greatly, depending on physical geography, history and level of economic development.

Through study of this optional theme, students will develop their understanding of processes, places, power and geographical possibilities. They will additionally gain understanding of more specialized concepts including consumption (of landscapes), carrying capacity and threshold (in relation to environmental stress) and sustainability (in relation to long-term management of touristic resources).”

Resources: Primary resources will be shared via the Edublog (links, articles and additional documents); supplemental resources and readings can be found in the Oxford text (pages referenced in each section)

Geographic Inquiry + Lessons

PROCESSES  How have human development processes given rise to leisure activities?

Week 2 (Aug. 19 and Aug. 21)

Week 3 (Aug. 26, 27, 28, 29) 

PLACES How do physical and human factors shape places into sites of leisure?

Week 4 (Sept. 2, 5 and 6) 

Week 5 (Sept. 9, 10, 12)

POWER What is the varying power of different countries to participate in global tourism and sport?

Week 6 (Sept. 18, 19, 20)

Week 7 (Sept. 23, 25) 

POSSIBILITIES What are the future possibilities for management of and participation in tourism and sport at varying scales? 

Week 8 (Oct. 8, 9, 10)