The SKILLS exam

Learning Objectives

Understand what is required for the skills exam Review and practise some of these skills.

On TUESDAY morning at 10.45am, 24th MAY 2011, you will have to sit the following exam:

1 hour50 marksWorth 30% of AS (and 15% of A level)

2 sections

Answer ALL questions on the paper

YOU WILL NEED

• Calculator• Protractor• Pair of compasses• Pencil• Rubber• Ruler• Pencil sharpener• Black pen

QUESTION 1½ hour; 25 marks

Geographical skills questions based on either RIVERS or POPULATION

You will need some knowledge of BOTH core topics but designed to test skills over knowledge e.g. can you draw a graph from a table of data?

QUESTION 2½ hour; 25 marks

Geographical skills questions based on FIELDWORK

You will need to describe and explain what you did on your river field trip and how you analysed the data afterwards.

There are many different skills you need to be able to do:

Basic Skills Investigative Skills Cartographic Skills Graphical Skills ICT Skills Statistical Skills

These are some of the skills we have already covered at least once in class: You will also have covered many of these skills in GCSE Maths and Geography

Annotating diagrams, sketches, photos, graphs etc Overlays Literacy and numeracy skills Risk assessing Data presentation Atlases Field sketches OS maps (incl. isolines) Maps with located proportional symbols Flow line maps Choropleth maps Line, bar and scatter graphs Pie charts Triangular graphs Radial diagrams Logarithmic scales Use of databases Use of GIS Presentation using ICT Mean, mode median Interquartile range Standard deviation Spearmans’ rank

You will not be expected to name any of these skills

You will be expected to interpret/complete

graphs/maps/diagrams etc and to perform simple calculations

Understanding command words is essential; for

example, a common pitfall is explaining when the question

asks for description.

Basic Skills

Literacy (using good English and geographical language)

Annotations (labels that describe and explain; they may be on sketches, diagrams, maps, photos etc)

Using overlays

Investigative Skills

Identifying aims and geographical questions

Collecting data (using appropriate sampling techniques from both primary and secondary sources)

Analysing, presenting and interpreting data

Drawing conclusions (and showing awareness of their validity)

Evaluating your research

Risk assessment

Cartographic Skills

Atlases

51°30’

51°00’

50°30’

50°00’02°30’

02°00’

01°30’

01°00’

Degrees and Minutes

Cartographic Skills

Atlases, base maps, sketch maps, OS maps (you need to be able to find and give grid references, sketch areas from atlas maps, identify the shape of the land using contours, measure distances, describe patterns etc.

Maps with located proportional symbols (these could include squares, circles, semi-circles or bars)

Maps showing movement (flow lines, desire lines and trip lines)

Choropleth, Isoline and Dot maps

Graphical Skills

Line graphs (simple, comparative, compound and divergent)

Bar graphs (simple, comparative, compound and divergent)

Scatter graphs (and use of best fit line)

Pie charts & Proportional divided circles Triangular graphs Radial diagrams Logarithmic scales Dispersion diagrams

ICT Skills

Remotely sensed data (photos and images captured by satellite)

Databases (e.g. national statistics website, environment agency website, meteorological office data)

GIS (e.g. google earth/maps, mapzone)

Presentation using ICT (producing text, maps, images, graphs etc on the computer)

Statistical Skills

Measures of Central tendency (Mean, Mode, Median)

Measures of Dispersion

(Range, Interquartile Range, Standard Deviation)

Statistical Tests

(Spearman's Rank)

Unit 2 Geographical Skills

River Harbourne1. Location (+)

2. Theory/Aims

3. Methods

4. Results displayed and statistical tests

5. Conclusions linked to theory

6. Evaluation and improvements

Location Make sure that you can draw an annotated sketch map of the

drainage basin showing the location

Description of the location

• River Harbourne is located in South Devon and is a small tributary of the Dart river system

• Source is located on Dartmoor at 350m above sea level on granite outcrop.

• River flows in a south easterly direction for 22 km along the long profile before discharging into the Dart estuary.

Describe the location of your fieldwork and explain why it was suitable for your

investigation.

PAST PAPER

Theory

Theory

Explain the geographical concept,

process or theory that underpinned

your enquiry

What is the difference between an aim and a hypothesis?

How did you carry out your risk assessment?

width depth Wetted perimeter

Scatter diagrams

Beenleigh Harbourne

Head

Bow Bridge

Harbourneford

Harbourne Estuary Rolster Bridge

Palmer Dam

Stage Points to consider

AIM

What is the aim of the study? What are you trying to find out? What was the underpinning theory?

HYPOTHESES What hypotheses can be tested? Which variable can be correlated against each other or in. relation to some other variable such as distance down steam or distance from CBD etc.

DATA COLLECTION

What methods can be used to collect data for each of your hypotheses? Why were they the best? What equipment will be required to carry out the investigation? What were the risks associated, and how do you respond to them?

DATA PRESENTATION

What method(s) would be suitable to test relationships between the variables being tested? Why is this method suitable? Illustrate this technique.

DATA ANALYSIS What method(s) could be applied to analyse the data? Is there any correlation between the variables? What are the advantages of using this method?

RESULTS

What did you learn? Were there any anomalous results? What/how did it contribute to your understanding?

IMPROVEMENTS

What could you do to improve it?

Fieldwork plan – Homework due March 4th