Geographical skills - Controlled assessment in geography

Controlled assessment in geography

Source: https://www.pdx.edu/geography/research-programs

When doing research in geography often times we need to collect primary or secondary data to interpret and answer research questions, that is called the route to geographical inquiry. Its steps are as follows:

1. Identification of issue, question or problem - Formulating a research question
2. Defining objectives of study - selecting methodology and sampling methods that are appropriate to answer the research question.
3. Collection of data - carrying out the methodology and data collection.
4. Selection and collation of data - further selection of the data collected, picking what is relevant to the research.
5. Presentation and recording of the results - Combing through data and representing it visually through graphs, charts, tables, etc. 
6. Analysis and interpretation - Interpreting the data collected in response to the issue identified to reach an answer for the research question.
7.  Conclusion, evaluation and suggestions for further work - Answering the research question, evaluating the research process and pointing out possible further development for the research. 

Source: Cambridge IGCSE Geography 0460. Syllabus for examination in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Inquiry skills to select data

Depending on the issue selected for investigation geographical data may be collected through:

Source: Cambridge IGCSE Geography 0460. Syllabus for examination in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

• Questionnaires 
• Observation 
• Counts 
• Measurements 

Sources: http://starfishenvy.typepad.com/starfish-envy/2010/03/questionnaires-and-answers.html

http://regentcollege.uk.com/geography-fieldtrips/

http://www.pursellmfg.com/tally-counter

http://www.ess-safeforce.com/safety-shop/Survey%20Instruments/Environmental%20Instruments/10.7201/

Sampling methods

Random sampling is the purest form of probability sampling. Each member of the population has an equal and known chance of being selected. When there are very large populations, it is often difficult or impossible to identify every member of the population, so the pool of available subjects becomes biased.

Systematic sampling is often used instead of random sampling. It is also called an Nth name selection technique. After the required sample size has been calculated, every Nth record is selected from a list of population members. As long as the list does not contain any hidden order, this sampling method is as good as the random sampling method. Its only advantage over the random sampling technique is simplicity. Systematic sampling is frequently used to select a specified number of records from a computer file.

Stratified sampling is commonly used probability method that is superior to random sampling because it reduces sampling error. A stratum is a subset of the population that share at least one common characteristic. Examples of stratums might be males and females, or managers and non-managers. The researcher first identifies the relevant stratums and their actual representation in the population. Random sampling is then used to select a sufficient number of subjects from each stratum. "Sufficient" refers to a sample size large enough for us to be reasonably confident that the stratum represents the population. Stratified sampling is often used when one or more of the stratums in the population have a low incidence relative to the other stratums.

Source: http://www.statpac.com/surveys/sampling.htm

Geographical skills - Interpreting photos

Interpreting photos in geography

Photographs are often used by geographers as they are able to portrait most relevant spacial information either related to the natural landscape or human activity. When interpreting a photograph in geography you are able to:

• Identify 
• Describe 
• Interpret 

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hb_xanCGncY

https://www.geography-fieldwork.org/media/2104898/rivers-annotated-photo-meander.jpg 

https://www.geography-fieldwork.org/coast/coastal-management/4-data-analysis.aspx

Geographical skills - Graphs

Graphs

Graphs are a very easy way to represent numerical data in visual form and they are very useful for geography as numerical data (such as indexes) often help making comparisons between countries or regions and identify patterns and trends. 

Common types of graphs used in geography are:

 Line graphs

Source: http://betterevaluation.org/evaluation-options/LineGraph

Pie charts

Source: http://www.essaybuilder.net/PieCharts.html

Bar chart (simple and divided)

Source: https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/~cll/lskills/WN/NumeracyDiagrms.html

Source: https://makanaka.wordpress.com/2014/06/

Climate graphs

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/geographical_skills/graphs_rev4.shtml

When describing a graph you can follow this structure:

P - Pattern (e.g. positive trend)
E -  Extremes (highest and lowest figures)
A - Anomalies (e.g. a point out of the curve) 

Geographical skills - Map skills

Map skills

Source: http://www.tonawandacsd.org/cms/lib/NY01000923/Centricity/Domain/45/library%20websites/Maps.htm

Reading a map means interpreting the information it contains. In order to read a map you need to know how to identify and signify the map elements. They are: 

• Orientation (compass direction)
• Grid reference (latitude/longitude)
• Key
• Title
• Scale 

Orientation

The north arrow in a map shows the orientation of that representation and helps you understand which direction you should be facing when reading that map or which way you should go if you are using it to get from point A to point B. Whenever you are reading a map make sure you know where North is, that way you can locate all elements represented by knowing the compass direction (cardinal and inter-cardinal). They are:

Source: http://lost-theory.org/ocrat/chargif/compass.html

Grid reference

Parallels and Meridians are imaginary lines that cross the Earth's surface horizontally and vertically. We can locate any point on the surface of the planet by identifying the cross-point of a parallel and a meridian in that area. By naming the degrees of those imaginary lines we can figure out the latitude and longitude of that point. 

 

Source: http://www.dauntless-soft.com/PRODUCTS/Freebies/Library/books/AK/8-2.htm

OS maps also have horizontal and vertical lines called Northings and Eastings with numbers which increase towards North and East and allow you to locate points. You can locate points by using 4 or 6 figure references.

• numbers along the bottom of the map come first and the numbers up the side of the map come second
• the four-figure reference 2083 refers to the square to the east of Easting line 20 and north of Northing line 83
• the six-figure reference 207834 will give you the exact point in the square 2083 - 7/10s of the way across and 4/10s of the way up

The six-figure reference on the map below shows a church in Bamford.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/geographical_skills/maps_rev1.shtml

Key

Visual information of any kind can be input on a map through symbols, the key is the meaning reference of those symbols for the map reader to interpret. Symbols usually take form of a poit, line or polygon, depending on the element they represent.

  

Symbol	Meaning
Point	Traffic light
Line	Road
Polygon	Plot

Source: http://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/geographic-information-system-basics/s08-02-vector-data-models.html

Title

Don't take the title of a map for granted. Reading it is the best way to start interpreting a map as it will give you a general idea of the theme the map is representing. 

Scale

Scale is a mathematical relation (ratio) that will help you figure out dimensions in the map. it is mainly used to figure out distances between points but it can also be used to find out height and area. Each unit of distance on the map has an equivalent unit of distance in the real world, all you have to do is measure the distance on the map and figure out the distance in the real world by using the ratio. It may be presented in two ways:

• Numeric 1:25.000
• Graphic 

Source: http://www.aiab.org/index.php/files/407-generic-models/408-generic-models

In the first example 1 cm on the map is equivalent to 25.000 cm in the real world, that would be 250 m. As of the second example, the distance between 0 and 10 in the graphic scale is equivalent to 20 m in the real world. 

Unit 10: Tourism - Tourism case study - Seychelles

Tourism case study - Seychelles

Source: http://seychellesislands.us/beach-seychelles/where-to-stay-seychelles.html

Follow the link below for input on tourism in Seychelles:

http://www.iipt.org/IIPT%20Book/articles/Alain%20St.%20Ange.Seychelles.pdf

Unit 10: Sustainable tourism

Sustainable tourism

Source: https://www.pinterest.com/maxgini/sustainable-tourism/

(From sustainabletourism.net)

Tourism will never be completely sustainable as every industry has impacts, but it can work towards becoming more sustainable.

ISSUE:

As more regions and countries develop their tourism industry, it produces significant impacts on natural resources, consumption patterns,
pollution and social systems. The need for sustainable/responsible planning and management is imperative for the industry to survive as a whole.

FACTS:

TOURISM IMPACTS:

• International tourist arrivals have increased from 25 million globally in 1950, to 278 million in 1980, 527 million in 1995, and 1133 million in 2014. They are expected to reach 1.8 billion by 2030.
• The average international tourist receipt is over US$700 per person and travellers spent over $1.4 trillion
• Travel and tourism represents approximately 9.5% of total global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2014 (if it include tourism related business (e.g. catering, cleaning) (US $7 trillion).
• The global travel and tourism industry creates approximately 11% of the world’s employment (direct & indirect) in 2014.
• At least 25 million people spread over 52 countries are displaced by violence, persecution and/or disasters – tourism receipts in every country are affected by this.
• Leakage in tourism is as high as 80% in the Caribbean (of every dollar earned in tourism-80 cents leaves the country)

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS:

• Although the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas recycles its water – it still uses 12 million litres of water per year in a water scarce region
• Buying local could achieve a 4-5% reduction in GHG emissions due to large sources of C02 and non C02 emissions during the production of food.
• The average Canadian household used 326 liters of water per day….a village of 700 in a developing country uses an average of 500 litres of water per month AND a luxury hotel room guest uses 1800 litres of water per person per night…
• The average person in the UK uses approximately 150 litres of water per day – 3 times that of a local village in Asia
• A species of animal or plant life disappears at a rate of one every three minutes
• 70% of marine mammals are threatened
• The Western world (with 17% of the worlds’ population) currently consumes 52% of total global energy.
• 1 acre of trees absorbes 2. 6tonnes of CO2 per year
• More than 80% of the worlds coral reefs are at risk. Nearly 2/3 of Caribbean reefs are in jeopardy
• 2015 was the warmest year by margin on record
• Seawater is expected to rise 70 cm in the next 10 years
• By 2050 climate change could have directly led to the extinction of 30% of species, the death of 90% of coral reefs and the loss of half the Amazon rainforest.
• Since 1970 a third of the natural world has been destroyed by human activity. Almost 2/3 are degraded by human activity
• Half the world’s population lives in urban areas and this figure is expected to increase. In Latin America and the Caribbean, 76% of the population live in urban areas.
• 10% of the worlds coral reefs are in the Caribbean – most under threat
• 35% of mangroves have been destroyed
• The number of cars on the road surpassed 1 billion in 2010. Today it is 1.2 billion
• A European uses 14x more energy than someone living in India
• For every 1 degree rise in temperature above 34 degrees Celsius, yields of rice, maize and wheat in tropical areas could drop by 10%
• Every day we dump 90 million tons of carbon pollution into our atmosphere.
• Although 70% of the earth’s surface is water, only 3% is potable.

SOLUTION:

Sustainable tourism is about re-focusing and adapting. A balance must be found between limits and usage so that continuous changing, monitoring and planning ensure that tourism can be managed. This requires thinking long-term (10, 20+ years) and realising that change is often cumulative, gradual and irreversible. Economic, social and environmental aspects of sustainable development must include the interests of all stakeholders including indigenous people, local communities, visitors, industry and government.

Source: http://www.sustainabletourism.net/

Unit 10: Tourism - benefits and disadvantages of tourism to receiving areas

Evaluating benefits and disadvantages of tourism to receiving areas

Source: http://hubpages.com/politics/Advantages-and-disadvantages-of-tourism

(From Ibike):

Advantage (depending upon implementation some of these can turn into disadvantages)

• employment (1 emp/1000 tourist) (labor intensive, few administrative positions, little upward mobility.)
• infrastructure development (roads, water, electricity, telecom and cybercom, but not necessarily local priorities.)
• cultural preservation (economic incentives to preserve food, fashion, festivals and physical history, but these tend to be superficial elements of a culture.)
• environmental protection (econ incentives to preserve nature, wildlife and urban cleanliness)
• foreign exchange (generates resources to import food, pharmaceuticals, technology, consumer goods.)
• development of health care services (those these aren't always available to local people.)

Disadvantages (depending upon implementation some of these can turn into advantages)

• cultural destruction, (modernization (world mono-culture), freezes culture as performers, loss: language, religion, rituals, material culture.)
• primary products (sun, sand, surf, safari, suds, ski, sex) (little value added, neo-colonialism)
• environmental destruction (game drives, resorts: golf, ski, beach, desert, world as play ground, SUV.)
• marginal employment (low skill, low wage, menial services, prostitution, drug trade, gambling, hustlers.)
• low benefits (no job security, no health care, no organizing, no work safety rules or enviro standards.)
• development of illegal and/or destructive economic activities (markets for drugs, endangered species, etc.)
• outside hiring (skilled middle and senior management recruited out of the area and transferred in.)
• concentration employment (walled resort enclaves.)
• seasonal employment
• outside decision making (decisions made outside of the area, corporate dollars corrupt government.)
• unrealistic expectations (divert young people from school and brighter futures.)
• anti-democratic collusion (industry support of repressive governments)
• land controlled by the elite (people relocated, agriculture eliminated, prohibited from N.P.)
• negative lifestyle's (STD's, substance abuse, begging, hustling)
• diverted and concentrated development (airport, roads, water, electricity to tourist destinations, development not accessible to locals),
• little forex stays in country (airplanes, vehicles, booze, hot air balloons, generally have foreign owners),
• package programs
• cruises (eat and sleep on board so the economic benefits to the ports-of-call is very thin and limited.)
• unstable market (fickle, affected by local and world events, generally highly elastic)
• health tourism (traveling to get medical procedure at lower cost) has it own set of unique challenges, which include: Determining the credential, skills and quality of the facility and personnel. Language communication challenges on topics requiring a lot of details, sometimes even when both parties seemingly speak the same language. Different cultural issues and expectations around health care and the body.  Post-treatment complications, after the "tourist" has left the facility.

Source: http://www.ibike.org/encouragement/travel/tourism.htm

Unit 10: Tourism - Explaining the growth of tourism

Explaining the growth of tourism

Source: http://www.coolgeography.co.uk/GCSE/AQA/Tourism/Tourism%20growth/Tourism%20Growth.htm

Tourism has grown massively as an industry over the past century for a variety of reasons:

• Advances in travel technology: There are a wider range of ways to travel as a tourist and these methods are widely available.  You can be a tourist using a car, a boat and most importantly an airplane. Motorways have linked places together, whilst Budget airlines such as Easyjet and Ryanair have brought prices down and increased traffic volumes.
• Holiday entitlement in many rich nations has increased over the past century: This means that people can take more holidays during the year and swells the number of tourists.
• People have more disposable income now: This is income that people have to spend on themselves.  This is partly because of salary rises and partly because the price for essential goods such as food and clothing has fallen. Many families now have 2 income earners rather than one; they have fewer kids and often have a car.  All of these factors increase the likelihood of people becoming tourists.
• The availability and type of holiday has increased: mass tourism and package holidays have opened up markets to huge numbers of people.  Extreme and ecological tourism are also becoming popular, further swelling the choice.
• The Media: Extensive coverage of holiday types has increased the demand to travel.  Most newspapers have a "holiday" section, whilst TV shows can show people the enormous choice on offer - shows such as Ray Mears and 71 degrees north can promote extreme tourism for example, whilst "Benidorm" promotes mass tourism.  Gap years have also been pushed by the media and are popular.

Source: http://www.coolgeography.co.uk/GCSE/AQA/Tourism/Tourism%20growth/Tourism%20Growth.htm

Tourist attractions

Source: http://www.slideshare.net/sophie-ee/attractions

Natural attractions are part of the physical landscape, e.g.:

• The Cliffs of Moher, Ireland 
• The great Barrier Reef, Autralia 

Source: http://lallytours.com/blog/travel/cliffs-of-moher/

http://www.businessinsider.com/australias-great-barrier-reef-will-disappear-within-two-decades-with-no-intervention-2014-3

Man-made attractions are part of the human landscape, e.g.:

• The Taj Mahal, India 
• The Big Ben, England 

Source: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/252

http://foundtheworld.com/big-ben-london/

Elements of the physical landscape can be serviced by man-made infrastructure to boost tourist activity, e.g.:

• The Sugar Loaf, Brazil  
• Niagara Falls, USA/Canada 

Unit 9: Settlements - Rapidly growing urban area case study - Mumbai, India

Urbanization in Mumbai, India

Follow the link below for input on urbanization in Mumbai:

http://www.coolgeography.co.uk/A-level/AQA/Year%2013/World%20Cities/Mumbai/Mumbai.htm

Unit 9: Settlements - Urbanization

Urbanization

Urbanization means an increase in the proportion of people living in urban areas compared to rural areas.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/urban_environments/urbanisation_medcs_rev1.shtml

Major causes of urbanization (from civil service India):

 Following are the main causes of urbanization:

• Industrial revolution: Industrial employment catches the attention of people from rural to urban areas. In the urban areas, people work in modern sector in the occupations that assist national economic development. This represents that the old agricultural economics is changing to a new non-agricultural economy. This is the trend, which will build a new modern society (Gugler 1997).
• Emergence of large manufacturing centres.
• Job opportunities: There are ample job opportunities in mega cities therefore village people or individuals from town frequently migrate to these areas.
• Availability of transportation: Due to easy transport, people prefer to stay in big cities.
• Migration: Migration is main cause for rapid growth of mega-cities. Migration has been going on over centuries and it is normal phenomenon. When considering urbanization rural-urban and urban-rural and rural-rural migrations are very important. Urban-urban migration means that people move from one city to another. People may move to the city because they are forced by poverty from rural community or they may be pulled by the magnetism of city lives. Combination of these push and pull factors can force people to migrate to cities (Gugler 1997).
• Infrastructure facilities in the urban areas: Infrastructure has vital role in the process of urbanization in the development of countries. As agriculture becomes more fruitful, cities grow by absorbing workforce from rural areas. Industry and services increase and generate higher value-added jobs, and this led to economic growth. The geographic concentration of productive activities in cities creates agglomeration economies, which further raises productivity and growth. The augments income and demand for agricultural products in cities.
• Growth of private sector.

Source: http://www.civilserviceindia.com/subject/General-Studies/notes/urbanization-their-problems-and-their-remedies.html

Effects of urbanization

Source: http://www.slideshare.net/saiyangoku/5effects-of-urbanization

Squatter settlements/shanty towns (from GDRC)

Source: http://fijione.tv/programme-aims-to-improve-medical-access-for-fiji-squatter-settlements/

A squatter settlement therefore, can be defined as a residential area which has developed without legal claims to the land and/or permission from the concerned authorities to build; as a result of their illegal or semi-legal status, infrastructure and services are usually inadequate. There are essentially three defining characteristics that helps us understand squatter settlement: the Physical, the Social and the legal with the reasons behind them being interrelated.

Physical Characteristics:

A squatter settlement, due to its inherent "non-legal" status, has services and infrastructure below the "adequate" or minimum levels. Such services are both network and social infrastructure, like water supply, sanitation, electricity, roads and drainage; schools, health centres, market places etc. Water supply, for example, to individual households may be absent, or a few public or community stand pipes may have been provided, using either the city networks, or a hand pump itself. Informal networks for the supply of water may also be in place. Similar arrangements may be made for electricity, drainage, toilet facilities etc. with little dependence on public authorities or formal channels.

Social Characteristics:

Most squatter settlement households belong to the lower income group, either working as wage labour or in various informal sector enterprises. On an average, most earn wages at or near the minimum wage level. But household income levels can also be high due to may income earners and part-time jobs. Squatters are predominantly migrants, either rural-urban or urban-urban. But many are also second or third generation squatters.

Legal Characteristics:

The key characteristic that delineates a squatter settlement is its lack of ownership of the land parcel on which they have built their house. These could be vacant government or public land, or marginal land parcels like railway setbacks or "undesirable" marshy land. Thus when the land is not under "productive" use by the owner, it is appropriated by a squatter for building a house. It has to be noted here that in many parts of Asia, a land owner may "rent" out his land for a nominal fee to a family or families, with an informal or quasi-legal arrangement, which is not however valid under law.

Source: http://www.gdrc.org/uem/define-squatter.html

Problems in shanty towns

• Overcrowding - the settlement has a high population density.
• Fires - fires can spread quickly.
• Overpopulation - the area does not have enough resources to support the growing population.
• Competition for jobs - jobs are in short supply.
• Disease - poor sanitation and limited health care can lead to the spread of disease.
• Lack of space - the newest and poorest arrivals may be forced to live on the worst quality land.
• Infrastructure - services are poor, public transport is limited and connections to the electricity supply can be limited and sometimes dangerous.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/urban_environments/urbanisation_ledcs_rev2.shtml

Strategies to reduce the negative impacts of urbanization

Sustainable cities (from bitesize)

Many people are working towards trying to make cities more sustainable. A sustainable city offers a good quality of life to current residents but doesn't reduce the opportunities for future residents to enjoy.

Key features of a sustainable city

• Resources and services in the city are accessible to all
• Public transport is seen as a viable alternative to cars
• Public transport is safe and reliable
• Walking and cycling is safe
• Areas of open space are safe, accessible and enjoyable
• Wherever possible, renewable resources are used instead of non-renewable resources
• Waste is seen as a resource and is recycled wherever possible
• New homes are energy efficient
• There is access to affordable housing
• Community links are strong and communities work together to deal with issues such as crime and security
• Cultural and social amenities are accessible to all
• Inward investment is made to the CBD

A sustainable city will grow at a sustainable rate and use resources in a sustainable way.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/urban_environments/urbanisation_medcs_rev6.shtml