Key term
OCR GCSE Geography A J383
Ecosystems of the Planet
Topic overviewAbiotic and biotic components, and how ecosystems interactThe world’s biomes: where they are and what they are likeWhere the tropical rainforests are, and what they are likeWhere the coral reefs are, and what they are likeRainforest processes and nutrient cyclingTwo threatened ecosystems: a rainforest and a coral reef
Environmental Threats to Our Planet
Topic overviewClimate change through the Quaternary, and since 1000ADThe evidence for climate changeNatural causes of climate change, and the enhanced greenhouse effectThe consequences of climate changeThe world’s climatic regions and global atmospheric circulationHow global circulation produces extreme weatherTropical storms: causes, distribution and frequencyA drought caused by El Niño or La Niña
Fieldwork Skills
Geographical Skills
Topic overviewConstructing maps, and reading cross-sections and transectsCoordinates, scale, distance and reading information from a mapGradient, contours, spot heights and GISChoosing, constructing and presenting graphs and chartsReading and interpreting the main graph and chart typesNumber, area, scale and the relationships between unitsProportion and ratio, and measures of central tendency and spreadPercentages and percentiles, and designing data collection sheetsReading tables, and describing relationships in bivariate dataTrend lines and lines of best fitPredicting from data, and spotting weak statistical presentationDrawing and justifying conclusions from dataInterpreting images and written sources, and recognising biasJudging the limits of maps, graphs, statistics and images
Landscapes of the UK
People of the Planet
Topic overviewDefining and measuring developmentThe global pattern of development: ACs, EDCs and LIDCsWhy development is uneven, and the role of aidA developing or emerging country: its context and economyRostow’s model and the country’s path of developmentCities, megacities and world citiesWhy urban growth rates differ around the worldRapid urbanisation in poorer countries: causes and effectsA major city in a poorer or emerging country
People of the UK
Topic overviewThe UK’s trade, media and cultural links with the worldThe UK’s geographical diversity and its inequalitiesUneven development within the UK, and the effects of economic growthHow the UK’s population structure has changed since 1900Immigration into the UK in the twenty-first centuryUrban trends in the UK and their effectsA major UK city: its people, challenges and ways of life
UK Environmental Challenges
Topic overviewAir masses, the North Atlantic Drift and the UK’s extreme weatherA UK flood event: causes, effects and responsesHow people use, modify and change UK ecosystemsThe UK’s renewable and non-renewable energy sourcesChanging UK energy supply and demand, and sustainable useRenewables in the UK, and the future of fossil fuelsWhat shapes the UK’s energy choices
Geographical Skills
Judging the limits of maps, graphs, statistics and images
- 3 things to know
- Component 03
Overview
The limits of old maps, choropleth against proportional symbol maps, graphs without keys, a mean on its own, single photographs, sketch maps, mismatched graph types, small surveys, and percentages from small populations.
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
Key term
How could a graph that has no key be improved?
Evaluation
How could the evidence from a single photograph be strengthened?
Questions from this subtopic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
Why might an old map be a poor guide to an area today?
Model answer
New housing, roads and land uses appear after it was printed, so it no longer matches what is on the ground.
- 2
When is a proportional symbol map a better choice than a choropleth map?
Model answer
When the values belong to points such as towns rather than to whole areas, since shading a whole region would then be misleading.
- 3
How could a graph that has no key be improved?
Model answer
Add a key naming what each colour or bar stands for, together with a title and units on both axes.
- 4
Why is a mean on its own a weak summary of a set of readings?
Model answer
It hides the spread, so quoting the range or the interquartile range beside it shows how varied the readings were.
- 5
How could the evidence from a single photograph be strengthened?
Model answer
Use several photographs taken from the same spot, record the date and time of each, and pair them with measurements.
- 6
What is the drawback of using a sketch map as evidence?
Model answer
It is simplified and not to scale, so any distance or area taken from it is only approximate.
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