Title: JANUARY EXAMINATION FEEDBACK
1JANUARY EXAMINATION FEEDBACK
- The examination does not give candidates a choice
of questions. - The questions set are of an open style, designed
to give candidates the opportunity to display
their knowledge and understanding. - The first section of each question has a skills
focus that required the candidate to use
resources as a central element of their answer. - The assessment of geographical enquiry is
integral to G1 and G2
2JANUARY EXAMINATION FEEDBACK
- G1 GENERAL ISSUES
- There were some excellent papers seen by
examiners and the questions set seemed to
differentiate the candidates well. - There was little evidence of misinterpretation of
questions, particularly in Questions 1 and 2.
3JANUARY EXAMINATION FEEDBACK
- G1 GENERAL ISSUES
- Question analysis in some cases candidates did
not respond to the command words and as a result
their knowledge was not applied in a directed
manner. - Q2 (b) Explain the processes that cause two
hazards - associated with tectonic activity.
- The question has a focus on the cause of the
hazard rather than the impact of the hazard.
There will be a wide variety of hazards
identified and explained which could be the
result of earthquakes or volcanic activity, or a
combination of both. Hazards may be primary or
secondary.
4JANUARY EXAMINATION FEEDBACK
- G1 GENERAL ISSUES
- The use of examples is highlighted on the front
of the examination paper and constitutes one
element of assessment within the mark scheme. - Level 1 0-3marks
- Only one hazard addressed.
- Superficial understanding of processes that
produce selected hazards - Little use of examples.
- Level 2 4-7 marks
- Two hazards addressed but there may be an
imbalance. - Understanding of process has some depth and is
well linked to the hazard produced. - Examples are evident and enhance the explanation
- Level 3 8-10 marks
- Two hazards addressed in detail.
- Detailed understanding of process and integrated
link to hazard produced. - Good examples.
5JANUARY EXAMINATION FEEDBACK
- G1 GENERAL ISSUES
- The new approach to the assessment of enquiry
means that candidates need to have completed a
study in all stages of a geographical study - Time allocation was a problem with a number of
candidates.
6JANUARY EXAMINATION FEEDBACK
Candidates generally displayed good mastery of
the skills required
7JANUARY EXAMINATION FEEDBACK
KAMCHATKA Why go? Banished at the far eastern tip
of Siberia, Kamchatka is a rough, tough, bearded
Cossack of a place. Two hundred volcanoes, 29 of
them active, one road for a peninsula the size of
the UK What is there to do? Get seismic.
Kamchatka is a geothermic hotspot sooner or
later, youll be climbing a volcano. The easiest
one to knock off is Avachinskaya (2,741 metres),
which looms above the regions capital. If its
sulphur youre after, nowhere is more
spectacularly bursting in the noxious stuff than
the Valley of the Geysers. It has the second
highest concentration of geysers on earth. Some
200 geysers gurgle and spew along the banks of
the Geysernaya River (85F even in winter).
Perhaps the most spectacular of Kamchatkas
volcanic clusters is the area around Mount
Mutnovskaya, which erupted in 1994 thermal
rivers run off its slopes, hot springs bubble at
its base and fumaroles are everywhere camping in
its ominous shadow is an eerie but magnificent
experience. Getting around helicopters and
vezdekhods (half tank, half personnel carrier)
not a rental car in sight. Tour operators Exodus
(www.exodus.co.uk) has 19 days in Kamchatka for
2,995pp, full-board, with 13 days of moderate
trekking in the Kronotsky Reserve, the Valley of
the Geysers and Uzon Valley. Pioneer tourist
rating 9/10 The identification and analysis of
different groups was an element where candidates
lost credit
8JANUARY EXAMINATION FEEDBACK
- Q1 (b) Explain how one environmental factor and
one - human factor may lead to climate
change. - Characteristics of good answers
- Balanced address both environmental and human.
- Direct response to the question explanation of
the process with link to climate change. - Examples specific event such as volcanic
eruption or regional approach such as El Nino in
the Pacific. - Avoidance of impact description as a focus this
what the Little Ice Age was like, this is the
impact of global warming in the Arctic.
9JANUARY EXAMINATION FEEDBACK
- Q1 (c) Outline the impacts of climate change on
- one society you have studied.
- Characteristics of good answers
- Identification of the society selected could be
a particular group of people such as Inuits or
people who occupy a region such as Tuvalu,
Bangladesh etc. - Reference to the climate change sea level rise,
extreme weather, shifting climate bands. - The most frequently referred to impacts were
identified on the economy, demographic changes
and migration, disease and culture. - Reference to flood events was carefully applied
to extreme weather
10JANUARY EXAMINATION FEEDBACK
- Q2 (b) Explain the processes that cause two
hazards - associated with tectonic activity.
- Characteristics of good answers
- Specific hazards identified lahars, tsunami,
liquefaction etc. Those that took the earthquake
and volcano route needed to be aware of the
hazard element of the question. - Focus on process rather than impacts.
- Use of examples.
11JANUARY EXAMINATION FEEDBACK
- Q2 (c) Outline the demographic and economic
impacts - of tectonic activity.
- Characteristics of good answers
- Direct reference to the required impacts
question analysis evident - Development of factual knowledge
- Popular reference was made to Kobe, the Indian
Ocean tsunami, Mt St Helens, Unzen, Montserrat,
Sichuan and Kashmir. - Comparison of required impacts using examples of
events in locations at different stages of
development
12JANUARY EXAMINATION FEEDBACK
- Question 3
- Not as successful
- - time management,
- - lack of preparation,
- - lack of understanding,
- - need to be flexible in thinking, especially
for 3(b) - - restricted understanding of the enquiry
- method
13JANUARY EXAMINATION FEEDBACK
14JANUARY EXAMINATION FEEDBACK
- Candidates should come to the examination
appreciating - that the whole process of conducting an enquiry
is in - stages
- the initial planning stage where the main
question and / or hypothesis is created and
thorough preparations are made to collect primary
and / or secondary data - the actual process of data collection
- data refinement and display
- description analysis and interpretation and
- conclusion and evaluation.
- 3 (b) and 3 (c) can address any part of this
sequence
15JANUARY EXAMINATION FEEDBACK
- Good answers made comment on ease by which
patterns - of extreme weather could be identified.
Limitations were - general more detailed and displayed a critical
awareness - of lack of actual figures on the amount of
precipitation, - inconsistent shading intervals and the shortness
of the - collection period.
- Not expected that candidates will cover a formal,
critical - analysis of every technique cited in the
specification. - Candidates should be prepared to think in (b)
exposure - to a variety of techniques during teaching is a
help. - Candidates could be asked to identify good and
bad - points of a graph, map questionnaire, sampling
method - etc during lessons.
- 3 (b) will be developed from the content of 3(a)
16JANUARY EXAMINATION FEEDBACK
- Examiners reported that it was evident that
- candidates had either completed a
- geographical investigation or had not gained
- the knowledge, understanding and skills that
- resulted from such an exercise.
- 3 (c) will require candidates to report on, or
- evaluate, an enquiry they have completed. The
- five stages are really the basis of the questions
- set.
17JANUARY EXAMINATION FEEDBACK
- Successful studies had been carried out on
- infiltration rates across a slope,
- variations in discharge down a stream,
- the perception of flood hazards and
- methods used by individuals to combat climate
change. - There were also investigations that used
secondary information to examine flooding and the
factors that impacted on the amount of damage
caused by earthquakes but these were less
confident in an assessment of the methods of data
collection.
18JANUARY EXAMINATION FEEDBACK
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