Unit 1 - Geographical Skills and Challenges



Skills for GCSE Geography A Unit 1

This revision handout refers to questions from papers which are available with their marking scheme on Geography is easy Facebook page and blog. Textbook/booklet pages mentioned are essential.

A- Basic skills : Textbook pages 2 and 3

January 2011

Describe the distribution of rainfall shown in Figure 2a. Use data in your answer. (5)

Relief affects the amount of rainfall received by different parts of the UK. Outline how. Only use evidence from Figure 2a and Figure 2b in your answer. (4)

June 2011

Describe the section of the River Browney and its valley which is shown on the sketch map. Use map evidence in your answer. (4)

June 2011

(Question based on a table and scattergraph) Describe how the width and depth of the River Browney change as it flows from site 1 to site 10. Use data in your answer. (4)

January 2012

Study the OS map extract and Figure 1b (photograph) of Slapton Ley in the Resource Booklet. Photograph 1b was taken in grid square 8241. Figure 1c is an incomplete sketch of the photograph.

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B- Cartographic skills OS maps will be 1:50 000 only.

The Figure below shows the main lines of latitude and longitude. If you don’t know them, time to learn them!!! And read Booklet page 2 how to give a location using latitude and longitude.

Major line of latitude:

Arctic Circle (66° 33′ 44″ N)

Tropic of Cancer (23° 26′ 16″ N)

Equator (0° latitude)

Tropic of Capricorn (23° 26′ 16″ S)

Antarctic Circle (66° 33′ 44″ S)

Major line of longitude: Prime (Greenwich) Meridian: 0°

|1- Recognise symbols using a key (no need to memorise the symbols b/c they are always provided in the exam) e.g. June 2010 |

|Mark the following onto Figure 1b. Use the key on the OS map to help you. (4) |

|1. Two tourist information features |

|2. Two water features |

|3. The route of the A1068. |

|January 2011 |

|In the background of the photograph there is a road. What is the number of the road in the background of the photograph? (1) |

|Ross-on-Wye is a town which many tourists visit. State two pieces of map evidence to justify this statement. (2) |

|June 2011 |

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|The road network on the sketch map is incomplete. Complete the road network by adding the A road. (1) |

|2- Complete four and six figure references (Booklet on skills- page 3) e.g. June 2010 |

|Study Photograph C in the Resource Booklet. The photograph was taken at grid reference 272049. Mark with an X on Figure 1b the location of the lighthouse|

|shown on Photograph C. (1) |

|January 2011 |

|Figure 1a was taken at grid reference 597241 facing north-west. 1. Name the river that can be seen in the photograph. (1) |

|January 2012 |

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|3- Calculate straight line distance (Booklet on skills- page 4) |

|4- Calculate winding distances (Booklet on skills- page 4) |

|e.g. June 2010 What is the distance to the nearest kilometre along the railway line from the railway station in Alnmouth (grid square 2311) to the |

|railway station in grid square 2201? |

|5- Understand direction, using an eight-point compass (Textbook page 5) |

|January 2012 |

|Study the Ordnance Survey (OS) map extract. A family who are staying at Torcross (8242) wish to drive to Salcombe (7338). Plan their route using only |

|settlement names, road numbers and directions. You may use a sketch map in your answer. (3) |

|6- Understand how cross-sections are constructed (Textbook pages 6 and 7) |

|7- Complete and annotate cross-sections (Textbook pages 6 and 7) |

E.g. January 2011

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|8- Describe patterns of vegetation – woodland. (Textbook pages 6 and 7) |

|e.g. June 2010 Describe the distribution of woodland shown on the map. Use map evidence in your answer. (4) |

|9- Describe patterns of land use. (Textbook pages 6 and 7) |

|10- Describe patterns of communication networks (Textbook pages 6 and 7) |

|In examination questions you might be asked to describe a whole range of physical and human features on a map. The technique is exactly the same as the |

|description of any other pattern. |

|If you are asked to describe the distribution of settlements on a map extract imagine them as simple dots. Take no notice of their size. Go to textbook |

|page 7. |

|11- Describe and understand using evidence from an OS map the site and situation of a settlement. (Textbook pages 214,215,216) |

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|June 2011 |

|Describe the site and situation of Durham. Use map evidence in your answer. (3) |

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|12- Describe and understand using evidence the shape of settlements. (Textbook page 217) |

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|e.g. January 2011 |

|Look again at the OS map extract. Find King’s Caple in grid square 5628 and grid square 5629. Describe the site and shape of King’s Caple. (4) |

|C- Graphical skills: Complete graphs and describe data , evaluate skills. |

|1- Line graph Booklet page 16 |

|(i) Simple line graph |

|It is a simple but highly effective way of showing continuous data. The x-axis is usually used to show change over time. The y-axis is used to display |

|data such as population. Line graphs are useful because they can suggest trends over time and can be used to estimate future patterns based on present |

|trends. See Figure 1 page 13 (TB). |

|(ii) Compound line graph |

|A compound line graph shows more than one piece of information. |

|(iii) A comparative line graph shows different sets of data to allow comparisons to be made. The DTM is a very specialised comparative line graph which |

|looks at how changing birth and death rates impact upon the total population. See TB page 234. |

|2- Bar chart Booklet page 17 |

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|Comparative bar graphs |

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|Divergent bar graphs |

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|Compound bar graphs Booklet page 21 |

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|Advantages (Bullet points 1 and 2)/disadvantages of bar graphs |

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|3- Histograms Booklet page 23 |

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|Disadvantages of histograms |

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|5- Flow lines Booklet page 24 (used to show movement as either arrows or lines) |

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|Disadvantage of flow lines: Choosing either the wrong scale of map or the wrong scale for your arrows/lines will make your map look very unclear. |

|6- Rose / ray diagrams Booklet page 35 (radial diagrams) |

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|Advantages(bullet points 1 and 2)/ Disadvantages |

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|7- Pictograms Booklet page 25 |

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|Disadvantages: |

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|8- Pie diagrams Booklet page 26 |

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|Advantages(bullet points 1 and 2)/ Disadvantages |

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|9- Scattergraphs Booklet page 32 (To be learned from booklet) |

|June 2011 |

|Complete the scattergraph (Figure 2) for sites 7 and 8. Use the data in the table below. |

|Give one reason why a scattergraph is a good way of displaying this type of data. (2) |

|10- Pyramid graphs (Divergent bar graph) Textbook page 248 |

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|e.g. June 2010 Complete the population graph for Warkworth and England (Figure 2a). |

|Use the data in the table below. |

|Comment on the age structure of Warkworth compared to England. |

|Use population data in your answer. |

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|11- Triangular graphs Booklet page 37 |

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|Look at Booklet page 38 which shows how to identify values on a triangular graph. |

|Advantage( 1st bullet point)/ Disadvantage |

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|12- Choropleth maps Booklet page 40 |

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|Disadvantages |

|- The technique can only be applied where clear boundaries exist between places, e.g. countries, counties. |

|- Variations within each zone are hidden. |

|- Impression given is that abrupt changes have occurred at each boundary. The reality is probably that changes is much more gradual. |

|January 2012 |

|Study Figure 2. It shows the population densities of some parishes in South Devon. |

|Complete Figure 2. Use the data in the table below. |

|Describe the pattern of population density shown on Figure 2. Use population density data in your answer. (4) |

|Figure 2 is a choropleth map. State one advantage and one disadvantage of using a choropleth map to display data. (2) |

|13- Isoline maps Texbook page 9 |

|Lines which represent the same value along their whole length, e.g. contour lines. |

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|14- Dispersion graph Booklet page 42 |

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|Advantage: |

|This technique is a useful visual representation of the dispersion in a data set. |

|Disadvantages: |

|- Dispersion diagrams usually display only one set at a time. |

|- If you want to compare many different data sets, it is quite a time-consuming technique. |

|15- Proportional symbols such as pie diagrams on maps |

|Symbol varies its size in proportion to the quantities it represents. |

|In proportional divided pie diagrams on maps, the area of the circle is proportional to the overall values in the data set. |

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|16- Topological diagrams (Simplifying maps) Booklet page 44 |

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|Disadvantages: |

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|D- GIS skills booklet page 46 |

|Capture and represent geographical information in systems such as Aegis. Use web mapping such as Google Earth and Multimap. |

|What is GIS? |

|A geographical information system (GIS) integrates hardware, software, and data for capturing, managing, analyzing and displaying all forms of |

|geographical information. |

|e.g. Using the census data to generate a choropleth map of the population density of different counties within the UK. More example page 47 in the Key |

|points box. |

|GIS layering: Data layers are the individual layers of spatial data that can be used in a GIS. Typically, each data layer shows one type of feature (such|

|as roads, rivers, states, or altitude) See example Booklet page 46. |

|What is AEGIS 3? |

|It is a piece of educational GIS software that has been specially developed to allow secondary pupils to work with GIS. A student can work with his own |

|maps of his local area and add various types of geographical data to display specific information. Use of interactive worksheet Booklet page 49 |

|June 2010 |

|Study Figure 2b. It shows one use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS). |

|Describe what is meant by layering information. You may use Figure 2b to help you. |

|Suggest one group of people who might use the information shown in Figure 2b. |

|January 2011 The maps in Figure 2a and Figure 2b could have been created using GIS. |

|State two advantages of using GIS compared to looking at the maps separately. (2) |

|June 2011 |

|Describe one way that ICT can be used to prepare for fieldwork or to collect fieldwork data. (3) |

|January 2012 |

|Geographical Information Systems (GIS) could be used to display the population data in Figure 2. |

|(i) What is meant by the term Geographical Information Systems (GIS)? (2) |

|The population densities for some South Devon parishes is shown on Figure 2. State one other piece of information that could be added using GIS to make |

|the map more useful. (1) |

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