Key term
Edexcel GCSE Geography A 1GA0
Changing Cities
Topic overviewGlobal urbanisation trends and ratesThe UK’s urban population and why urbanisation varies by regionThe chosen UK city: site, situation, connectivity and structureUrbanisation, suburbanisation and migration in the chosen UK cityPopulation change and deindustrialisation in the chosen UK cityInequality and changes in retailing in the chosen UK cityMaking the chosen UK city more sustainableThe chosen developing or emerging city: site, situation and structurePopulation growth and migration in the chosen developing or emerging cityInequality and quality of life in the chosen developing or emerging cityRapid urbanisation: challenges, and bottom-up and top-down responsesGovernment policy and quality of life in the chosen city
Coastal Landscapes and ProcessesLandscape option
Ecosystems, Biodiversity and Management
Topic overviewThe world’s large-scale ecosystems and what controls their distributionThe biosphere as a resource, and its commercial exploitationUK terrestrial and marine ecosystemsTropical rainforest characteristics and the nutrient cycleRainforest biodiversity and plant and animal adaptationsRainforest goods and services, and the causes of deforestationSustainable management of a named rainforestDeciduous woodland characteristics and the nutrient cycleWoodland biodiversity and plant and animal adaptationsWoodland goods and services, and the causes of deforestationSustainable management of a named deciduous woodland
Energy Resource ManagementResource option
Geographical Investigations – Fieldwork
Topic overviewRiver fieldwork: enquiry questions, methods and secondary dataCoastal fieldwork: enquiry questions, methods and secondary dataUrban fieldwork: enquiry questions and methodsUrban fieldwork: secondary data sourcesRural fieldwork: enquiry questions and methodsRural fieldwork: secondary data sourcesThe enquiry process: asking questions and choosing methodsThe enquiry process: presenting, analysing and concludingThe enquiry process: evaluating fieldwork
Geographical Investigations − UK Challenges
Geographical Skills
Topic overviewAtlas and map skills: distributions, patterns and sketch mapsDescribing the site, situation and shape of settlementsInterpreting diagrams, sketches and photographsUsing online census sourcesHypotheses, sampling and risk assessmentCollecting, recording and presenting dataWriting about findings and building an argument
Glaciated Upland Landscapes and ProcessesLandscape option
Topic overviewGlacial processes and the processes at work on relict landscapes todayPast climate and present UK weather in glaciated uplandsGlacial landforms of erosion and depositionCrag and tail, and drumlinsHuman activity and development in glaciated uplandsA named distinctive glaciated upland landscape in the UK
Global Development
Topic overviewDefining and measuring developmentThe global pattern of development and why it is unevenThe consequences of uneven development for quality of lifeStrategies to reduce uneven development: aid, top-down and bottom-upThe chosen country: location, context and internal unevennessEconomic change, trade, aid and investment in the chosen countryPopulation and social change in the chosen countryGeopolitics and technology in the chosen countryThe impacts of rapid development and how they are managed
Mathematics and Statistics Skills
Topic overviewCartographic skills: contours, transects, scale and distanceUsing GIS and geo-spatial dataChoosing, constructing and interpreting graphs and chartsNumerical skills: number, scale, proportion and ratioDrawing conclusions from numerical dataStatistical skills: averages, spread, percentages and correlationSpotting weaknesses in how data is presented
Resource Management
River Landscapes and ProcessesLandscape option
The Changing Landscapes of the UK
Water Resource ManagementResource option
Topic overviewThe global distribution of fresh water, and water surplus and deficitChanging water supply and demandHow water use differs between countriesWater supply problems in the UK and in developing countriesStakeholder attitudes to water, and desalinationSustainable management of water resources
Weather Hazards and Climate Change
Topic overviewGlobal atmospheric circulation and the transfer of heatNatural climate change and the evidence for itThe enhanced greenhouse effect and the effects of climate changeThe climate of the UK and how it variesHow tropical cyclones form, and where they occurWhy tropical cyclones are hazardous, and their impactsResponses to tropical cyclonesThe causes of drought and why some places are more vulnerableThe impacts of drought and responses to it
Mathematics and Statistics Skills
- 7 subtopics
- 21 things to know
- All three papers
What Mathematics and Statistics Skills covers
Mathematics and Statistics Skills is examined in all three papers, as a skills element of every question paper. It covers cartographic skills: contours, transects, scale and distance, using GIS and geo-spatial data, choosing, constructing and interpreting graphs and charts, numerical skills: number, scale, proportion and ratio, drawing conclusions from numerical data, statistical skills: averages, spread, percentages and correlation and spotting weaknesses in how data is presented.
Where it is assessed
All three papers
Geographical, mathematical and statistical skills are assessed within every question paper.
Check the Pearson Edexcel specification ↗The 7 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- Cartographic skills: contours, transects, scale and distanceContour lines, spot heights and the lines on weather and sea-floor charts, working out gradient, cross sections and transects, four- and six-figure grid references, converting map distance to the ground, and recognising physical and human features and settlement functions on 1:25 000 and 1:50 000 OS maps.Open →
- Using GIS and geo-spatial dataGeographical information systems and geo-spatial data, layers and flood risk, interactive and online flood maps, satellite data, describing the pattern on a digital risk map, the main limitation of such systems, and using them to plan new housing.Open →
- Choosing, constructing and interpreting graphs and chartsWhen to use bar charts, pie charts, pictograms, line charts and histograms, suitable axis scales, triangular and radial graphs, wind roses, proportional symbol maps, population pyramids, choropleth maps and flow-line maps.Open →
- Numerical skills: number, scale, proportion and ratioUnits of length and area, map scale, checking units, data collection sheets, accuracy and reliability, sample size, systematic and random choice of sites, control groups, flood return periods, magnitude against frequency, and logarithmic scales.Open →
- Drawing conclusions from numerical dataWhat a conclusion is and the figures it needs, describing against concluding, anomalies, using averages, comparing means alongside sample sizes, stating confidence, mistaking a link for a cause, summing up a trend and returning to the original question.Open →
- Statistical skills: averages, spread, percentages and correlationMean, median, mode and modal class, range and interquartile range, running totals of frequencies, percentage increase and decrease, percentiles, bivariate data, lines of best fit, rising and falling relationships, prediction, interpolation and extrapolation.Open →
- Spotting weaknesses in how data is presentedSelective figures, axes that start above zero or use uneven intervals, short runs of records, unchecked sources, misleading pictorial symbols, averages without spread, percentages without totals, small samples and shading bands.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
Key term
What makes a sound conclusion from numerical data, and how does concluding differ from describing or over-claiming?
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How are the mean, mode, modal class and range of a data set found, given depths from 0.4 m to 1.6 m?
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What kind of information do satellites supply to a geographical information system (GIS)?
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What is a spot height?
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How is the gradient of a slope worked out from two points on a map?
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What is a geographical information system?
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When is a bar chart the right way to show a set of figures?
Numbers
How many metres are there in a kilometre, and how many square metres in a hectare?
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A rectangular field measures 20 m by 15 m. What is its area?
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What is a conclusion in a piece of data analysis?
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What is the mean, and how is it worked out?
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What is meant by a selective presentation of figures?
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How can the vertical axis of a chart be used to mislead?
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A footpath climbs 30 m over a horizontal distance of 600 m. What is its gradient?
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What makes a set of data geo-spatial?
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What does a pie chart show better than any other chart?
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What does a scale of 1:25 000 mean, and what does one centimetre represent on such a map?
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What must every conclusion be backed up with?
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What is the mode?
Evaluation
What weakness follows from a small sample?
Take Mathematics and Statistics Skills further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Mean vs Median
Mean: the arithmetic average found by adding every value and dividing by their number. Median: the middle value once the figures are put in order.
Mode vs Modal class
Mode: the value appearing more often than any other in the set. Modal class: the group holding more readings than any other once the data is grouped.
Interpolation vs Extrapolation
Interpolation: an estimate taken from inside the range that was measured. Extrapolation: continuing a trend beyond the readings collected to estimate a value.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What do all the points along a single contour line have in common?
Model answer
They are all the same height above sea level.
- 2
What is a spot height?
Model answer
A single dot with a number beside it giving the exact height of that one point above sea level.
- 3
On a weather chart and on a chart of the sea floor, what do the joining lines each represent?
Model answer
On a weather chart they link places of equal air pressure, and on a chart of the sea floor they link points of equal water depth.
- 4
How is the gradient of a slope worked out from two points on a map?
Model answer
Divide the difference in height between them by the horizontal distance between them, then express the answer as one in so many.
- 5
A footpath climbs 30 m over a horizontal distance of 600 m. What is its gradient?
Model answer
One in twenty, because 30 ÷ 600 = 0.05, or one metre of climb for every twenty metres walked.
- 6
What does a cross section of a landscape show?
Model answer
A side-on slice through the ground along a chosen line, showing how the height rises and falls from one end to the other.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Mathematics and Statistics Skills revision questions
- What does Mathematics and Statistics Skills cover in Edexcel GCSE Geography A?
- 7 subtopics: cartographic skills: contours, transects, scale and distance, using gis and geo-spatial data, choosing, constructing and interpreting graphs and charts, numerical skills: number, scale, proportion and ratio, drawing conclusions from numerical data, statistical skills: averages, spread, percentages and correlation and spotting weaknesses in how data is presented. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Mathematics and Statistics Skills organised?
- By the Edexcel 1GA0 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Mathematics and Statistics Skills, on a schedule.
Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.
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