Gcse Geography Revision Guide

The exam papers are worth 75% of the GCSE. The exam is split into TWO papers, each sat on different days. 1) Physical Environment:

Geographical Skills (25 marks) Tectonic Activity (15 marks) Glacial Landforms and Processes

(15 marks) Coastal Landforms and Processes (15 marks)

2) Human Environment: Population (25 marks) Industry (25 marks) Development (25 marks) There will be a choice of these and other units in the exam papers. Make sure you answer the CORRECT sections! Make sure you have looked at past exam papers to become familiar with the layout of each exam and the units and questions within them. TIMINGS Paper 1: 1 hour 45 mins A good guide is approx 30 mins for the skills section, then 20-25mins for each unit. This leaves you up to 15 mins to review and check all your answers. Paper 2: 1 hour 30 mins A good guide is approx 25-30 mins for each unit. This leaves you up to 15 mins to review and check all your answers.

Geography Revision Strategies Ten ideas for ways to revise…

1) Post it! Prepare a set of small revision postcards, colour coded for different units or topics. You have to get all the key points about the topic on the postcard. 2) Test Me Work in pairs, pick a topic to become the ‘expert’ in your partner becomes the ‘expert’ in a different topic. Then bombard each other with questions on their topic. You get a point for each question you get right and keep answering questions until you get one wrong. Then it’s your turn to be the questioner! 3) Picture it Make a series of revision notes using only pictures. It has to be obvious what you are showing as your buddy has to explain it back to you. 4) All in the mind Produce mind maps of the different topics. Use colours and images as much as possible. 5) Word association With a buddy play a word association game. Pick a theme, then you have to associate as many words as you can, of a geographical nature, around that theme. No hesitation or repetition!!! 6) Bite Size it Reduce the topic to a ‘Bite sized’ format – i.e. chunk it down! Summarise the key points, case studies etc. You could use a visual format for each. For example, draw a big mouth – the lips can have the topic title; teeth can have key words on them; the tongue can have case studies. 7) Just a minute Work in two’s or fours and work through a revision topic. Then somebody selects a theme within it. You then have to talk for a minute (as the panel game) without repetition, hesitation or deviation. An example would be the Unit ‘Settlement’ and the theme, map skills; you then have to talk about map skills. 8) Taboo You have to describe a key word, but are not allowed to use certain words. For example, describe the word ‘earthquake’ but you cannot use ‘shaking, plate margin, vibration’. Use a point system in teams to make it more fun! 9) Red Pen, Black Pen When writing out revision notes, spider diagrams or mind maps, use a red pen to write the parts that you are less sure of or have trouble remembering. Your brain will be more likely to recall these parts in the future. Have another go at it a day or week later and see if you can reduce the amount of red pen on the sheet. 10) Pictionary Work in teams of two. You have to draw a key word selected from a topic by the opposite team. Your partner has to work out what word or key term you are trying to draw. To add to the challenge, use a time limit as well!

Exam Technique Examination success depends not only upon how well you know your geography but also being able to use this to give the examiners the information they are asking. Examiners help you give the correct information by using ‘command words’. Some common commands are below. Give exactly what is asked and you should do well.

Be prepared! There are no secrets to success in exams. Providing you have revised effectively and are well organised, you should do as well in the exams as your geography ability will allow.

1. Revision  start early  ask if there is anything you don’t understand – don’t leave it to hoping it won’t come up in the exam!  attend any extra lessons offered  work out a realistic revision timetable  find a space where you are happy to revise  make your revision active, don’t just read  follow up a period of effective revision with a reward  2. On examination days  arrive in plenty of time  know your centre and candidate numbers  make sure you are fully equipped  take two pens, two pencils… it’s much easier if the one you’re using runs out or breaks.

COMMAND WORDS: Know what they are asking. Write what you’re being asked to, not what you want to! Compare: Write what is similar and different between two pieces of information. Use the word ‘whereas’ to help you compare. Describe: Just write what you see. You may be asked to describe what you see on a photo, graph or map. Do not explain if you are only asked to describe. Explain/give reasons: You are now being asked to say why something you have already described is happening. Use ‘because’ to help you answer these questions. There are often two marks awarded for giving just one reason. Where this happens you will be expected to give a simple statement and its elaboration. Ask yourself ‘so what’ to find the elaboration. Justify: You could be asked to justify a decision. Explain the choice(s) in terms of why they are better than other options available. You may also include ways in which the choice is not perfect, but highlight the bad points of the other options. Measure: You may be asked to measure on a map or graph. Don’t guess – measure accurately using the scale provided. Suggest: This is similar to explain but tells you that you are expected to bring in ideas and understanding of our own and is not provided on the paper. What is meant by?: You are being asked to give a definition of a geographical term. You must know the main terms for each of the four Units. When asked for a definition, giving an example is not

The World of Case Studies Case study questions have the largest proportion of marks, so it is very important that you revise case studies in detail and are able to use them to answer questions. Remember to use them whenever you can, even if they don’t specifically ask you to! DEVELOPMENT – Example exam question. Explain the causes of an environmental hazard you have studied and how it may affect the development of a country. (6)

Africa is a place that is affected by drought and desertificaction.

The Case Study: Getting it right

 This is too broad an area. Which places/areas were exactly affected? Name countries or a physical area like the Sahel.  What crops and animals were affected? How

It has affected both crops and many? Did the person mean ‘malnutrition’ - should it animals. They have little not be drought? Or if malnutrition is correct they must water and suffer from explain the processes in between that lead to this. malnutrition because of this. What diseases did the plants and animals suffer from? What happened to the soil – erosion by wind and This has meant that they have water? Finally, when asked about the effects on suffered from diseases and people, it is not enough to state that they will have no died. food. It has also effected the soil and because of this little will grow. This means people will  Too little rain when? Give a specific year. How might global warming have affected the climate patterns? It have no food. didn’t rain for a long time- So what? The point needs to be developed. What rivers were low? Name them. African countries are LEDCs so washing cars/watering gardens are inappropriate.

The causes were there was too little rain and rivers were low probably because of global warming. It didn’t rain for a  Finally, there is not enough specific detail throughout. long time. People were also N.B can be either land or sea pollution but must be linked to industry. Do not credit both land and sea pollution. If done both, credit the best. Level 1 Basic (1-2 marks) Simple statements Slag heaps / derelict buildings / dumping waste / poisonous fumes Level 2 Clear (3-4 marks) Linked or elaborated statements. Oil tankers delivering oil for industry can spill oil which can contaminate beaches and destroy wildlife/ Industrial waste such as chemicals can be dumped in the sea / In coal mining areas the waste materials are left as slag heaps which are unsightly and can be unstable / When deindustrialisation takes place the area can be left with derelict buildings and industrial waste. Level 3 Detailed (5-6 marks) Linked elaborated statements with reference to at least one example of a specific form of pollution or location where the pollution has taken place. The inland sea of Japan has become heavily polluted because waste materials from oil refineries, chemicals and steel works and engineering plants in Kobe and Hiroshima have been dumped there. Mercury escaped from a chemical plant at Minamata, which killed many fish and sea birds.The area in the Ruhr industrial area of Germany became unsightly and dangerous because of the mining in the area. Lakes and marshes were caused by mining subsidence. Slag and waste heaps were left over from the derelict steel works and coal mines.

Getting case studies right needs practice. Write an answer to the Case Study below and mark it using the scheme on the left. Work with a partner to write notes like the ones above to show how you might get your answer to a higher level. Then, practise with more past questions.

INDUSTRY Using one or more examples, describe the effects of industrial pollution on either the land or the sea. (6)

Geographical Skills Checklist You should be able to… Basic Skills

• Label and annotate diagrams, maps, sketches, graphs, photos. • Draw sketches from photos. • Use and interpret aerial, oblique and satellite images and photos. Cartographic • Recognise and describe distributions and (map) skills patterns on Atlas and OS maps. • Draw label and interpret sketch maps. • Recognise OS map symbols. • Use four and six figure grid references. • Calculate and measure straight and winding distances using a scale. • Give accurate directions using 8 compass directions. • Draw cross sections using contour lines. • Describe shapes and patterns of settlement considering physical features e.g. rivers, relief. • Use maps in association with photos. Graph skills • Construct line, bar, compound, pie and scattergraphs. • Complete numerical elements on a map e.g. choropleth, isoline, proportional symbols. • Interpret graphs, including those located on maps. • Read and interpret graphs to describe patterns, trends and changes.

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♥ Case Studies!!

Tectonic Activity Earthquake - MEDC

Kobe, Japan. 17th Jan 1995

Volcano - MEDC

Mt. Pinatubo, Philippines. 8-15th June 1991

Fold mountains

Alps – Europe

Uses of tectonic activity / human activity

Alps – HEP, forestry, sheep farming, tourism. Mount Pinatubo, Mount St Helens: tourism, fertile soils, cheaper land, mineral resources.

Glaciation Erosion landforms

Industry

UK: Snowdonia, Lake District Europe: Matterhorn, Switzerland Cannock Chase & Eden Valley, Lake District. Lake District – walking, watersports Alps – Skiing Alps - HEP, farming, tourism, forestry

Geothermal energy

Iceland

Deposition landforms Tourism

Coasts Hard rock erosion Soft rock erosion Deposition Problems of Longshore Drift Coastal protection Issues (Human activity affects natural processes AND natural processes affect human activity) Human activity on the coast

Dorset, UK: Old Harry, Lulworth Cove Mappleton, Holderness coast, NE Eng. Spit – ‘Spurn Point’- southern point of the Holderness coast, NE Eng. Mappleton, Holderness coast, NE Eng. Swanage, Dorset Mappleton, Holderness coast, NE Eng.

Tourism in Dorset: Swanage Problems in Blackpool.

Population Aging populations in MEDCs Rural to Urban Migration - LEDC Problems of over-population Overcoming problems of overcrowding LEDC Overcoming problems of overcrowding MEDC Problems of under-population Solving problems of under-population

Eastbourne - UK Brazil, rural areas to the coast: Rio de Janeiro Sahel - desertification - Self-help schemes, Rocinha, Brazil - Sustainable farming – Machakos, Kenya - One Child Policy - China Land reclamation – Tokyo (Teleport Town) & Kobe, Japan. Western Isles, Scotland, UK. Incentives schemes to encourage migration to the islands.

Development Obstacles to development (reasons for the development gap) Solutions to the drought hazard

Aid

Trade imbalance Trading Bloc Fair Trade

Drought and desertification - Sahel Appropriate technology: Machakos – Kenya Sustainable (long-term) aid: WaterAid, Ethiopia Short term- e.g. Band Aid, Ethiopia; DEC – Disaster Emergency Committee, Sumatra (Tsunami) Long term – WaterAid, Ethiopia Japan (cars) and Kenya (coffee) EU – inc. UK, France, Germany, Spain Traidcraft Coffee – Kenya

Industry Heavy industry

Manufacturing

UK – Coal mining, Bridgend, South Wales. Feeds into: Steel-making industry, Port Talbot, South Wales. EU - Fiat car factory – S. Italy

High-tech/Footloose industry

Cambridge Science Park, M4 motorway, UK

MNC/TNC

LG – South Korean company, offices in Newport, South Wales (after decline of coal-mining) ‘Tiger economies’ – Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand.

NIC