Edexcel AS Geography Unit 1: Global Challenges Wednesday 18th January 2012

I agree - the Edexcel site is tragic. Not only is it difficult to navigate, the material on there is quite poor... I can't find any information on past UMS marks for it.

I did the same past paper as you and got an A. Seventy two marks, and the mark scheme said 65/90 was an A grade. I'm not particularly happy with 72 but I think this backs up the 'low percentage for A' thing. Roughly 73% in this case...

My teacher said that in past exams, 70-80% would get an A grade - but she emphasized that she wasn't so sure now because the papers have changed. Besides, UMS tends to boost grades at the higher end, making an A easier. I want at least 90% though! How about you?

Anyway, regarding questions... again, my teacher says she 'wouldn't be surprised at all if the physical essays were on the Arctic or Africa' which makes me very happy! She says she used to be exceptionally good at guessing in advance what would come up on papers, but this time she isn't so sure because apparently the papers have changed in the last two years or so.

That's all I have to add really - what's your revision strategy? I'm reducing the compulsory case studies down to hard facts and learning those, while reading up on exam technique by reading mark schemes... :smile:

Reply 2

I would love to get full UMS lol but it would be nice to know what approx mark im aiming for because my teacher doesnt seem to know but I dont think full raw marks are needed to get full UMS

That is random that you got 72/90 lol thts the same score as me :P I did question 9 on the mock and got 11/15 because i didnt put enough specific facts in but hopefully I will have learnt more facts by wednesday.

As for revision I re-wrote all of my case studies to 1 page each ( as most were like 4+ pages long) and im focussing on learning the main facts of each case study. My teacher suggested learning 9 facts for each case study ( 3 enviro 3 social 3 economic) but i dont know if im gunna manage that many. Also tip for writing the essay questions, try to categorise impacts and stuff to those categories to get to level 4 (i think that was the level) I always forget to categorise impacts when im in an exam and rushing to finish essay questions but thats just me :P

I havent done any revision for a couple of days now though so I will spend a few hours tomorrow revising then monday and tuesday doing past papers i think. I want to do well in geography because I am hoping to do a geog related course at uni and i just generally enjoy geog.

I wonder how many other people are doing this exam because i cant find anyone else talking about it, maybe im missing something :P

Reply 3

Yeah, I was thinking the same - as far as I can tell, it's just me and you..!

That is a coincidence, haha. I did question 8 - I'm only in it for the physical stuff... and I missed one climate forcing out of seven on my answer and she docked me three marks for it! But anyway, teachers eh.

I've been given a lovely A3 revision sheet on which every main topic is included in a box. Into the box goes raw facts, which I find to be a great way of remembering things. Africa, Tanzania, Mt Kilimanjaro, Rebmann Glacier, 82% retreat in past century? :wink:

On the level four thing, I've found reading the mark schemes and model answers is the best way to go; even more so since it's level marked. The point marked short questions are really easy by comparison, since we're given a mark for individual points, but can get extra marks for expanding them. In theory, you could ace a three marker with just one point...

I hope you do well too then! I'm sure you will - and UMS helps out lots anyway. Though it's only vaguely related, I worked out that on average, 64/70 raw marks gives 100% UMS on physics papers... 90% for 100%! I just hope it's the same for Geography...

Anyway, have a good weekend, since you're the only other person posting..

Reply 4

Hey again

Good luck to you too :biggrin:

I actually have 2 teachers for AS geog (1 for physical side and another for human side) and they are both awesome and gave me a total of 8 A3 revision sheets lo0o0l. Its like split into sections for each topic/case study that I could possibly need for the exam and the sections are partially blank so I need to add notes and stuff to make it complete.

Its a really good way to revise imo as it allows you to briefly look over everythin you could potentially need and just write a few notes like facts and figures that would be useful in the exam.

Tomorrow (well today i suppose since it just gone midnight) I am gunna fill in these sheets and do some general revison.

So do u enjoy geog? and are u thinking of doing anythin geog related at uni if you are planning on going? annd are u prepared for the exam?

Reply 5

could any one be so kind to post their a3 revision sheets?

Reply 6

I can post my 4 A3 sheets from human side of the course but remeber my case studies may be slightly different to yours.

I dont have a digital copy of my physical geog revision sheets though sorry.

AS_Geog_Unit_1_for_print.ppt

I think ive attached the right thing? if it doesnt work someone let me know and i will try again lol i have never tried to attach something to a post before :tongue:

Edit: i have just clicked the link and it seems to work. Hopefully someone finds this useful but i wish i had a digital copy of the physical revision sheets so i could show you those too.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 7

Those are the exact revision sheets that I have been given...! My physical teacher said she made them herself; this casts some doubt upon that...

I agree - I was actually wondering why we aren't given sheets like this at the start of terms, to complete as we go along :P

I'm starting revision now and I think I'll be doing it all day. I'm going to fill out the human sheets then see if I can't start remembering some of it...!

I do enjoy Geography... one of my favourite subjects :smile:

I'd like to do Astrophysics at Cambridge or somewhere similar so no; not exactly - but it ties in strongly with my interests. I'm all for global warming and hurricanes and volcanoes etc! I think I'll be very well prepared by Tuesday - I'll have learnt all the facts by the end of today then I'll probably focus on exam technique tomorrow :smile:

Yourself?

Reply 8

Lmao i genuinely thought that my teachers made these revision sheets lol nevermind :P i guess if a lot of people are using the same revision sheets it means everyone is on more of an equal ground for the exam i suppose.

I am just in the middle of some human geog revision right now. Im reading through all of my work in my folder then filling in some of my revision sheets then hopefully doing some past questions if i get time today.

I really enjoy geog, probably the human side more as i like the 'current affairs' kind of side to it. I think i want to do a combined Geog and Economics course at uni, i was looking at UCL but lots of places seem to do the kind of course i am lookin for so I should be ok hopefully.

Also to anyone else feel free to discuss what you are revising etc for the exam next week...no one seems to be doing this exam lool :P

Reply 9

Original post by ReviseAlex

Edit: i have just clicked the link and it seems to work. Hopefully someone finds this useful but i wish i had a digital copy of the physical revision sheets so i could show you those too.

Thanks very much. Sorry I don't have any for the physical side to upload.

Reply 10

Original post by volvicstar

Thanks very much. Sorry I don't have any for the physical side to upload.

No probs i hope you find the revision useful :smile:

Dont worry I do have revision sheets on the physical side but i just dont have a digital copy to upload and I cant scan in A3 sheets with my printer :tongue:

Reply 11

Can someone help me fill in some gaps on my a3 sheets....

Another factor for accelerating globalisation already got media,tics,transport links and technology.
How modern tncs are structured to maximise profit?
Why is the human development index a good measure of globalisation?
Political groupings?

Early connection in the 1990s

Advantages and disadvantages of globalisation

Reply 12

Original post by ReviseAlex

No probs i hope you find the revision useful :smile:

Dont worry I do have revision sheets on the physical side but i just dont have a digital copy to upload and I cant scan in A3 sheets with my printer :tongue:

Oh right okay!
I am pretty good on the physical side because I have done unit 4 on tectonic activity I am resisting this paper and really need an a in it

Reply 13

Original post by volvicstar

accelerating globalisation: new markets eg china, international organisations eg world trade organisation, trade blocs eg EU and NAFTA, General population increase, greater disposable income

modern TNCs: they maximse profits by manufactoring goods in LICs with cheap labour costs. This allows them to produce things cheaply and sell for high prices in HICs and only need manger jobs/ r&d jobs in HICs

HDI: it is an average of Literacy rate, GDP, and Life expectancy. It allows you to see an average for the development of a country and gets rid of anomolies of countries that have a lot of money (eg saudi arabia) but do not have good social services like education and healthcare.

Political groupings: ex soviet states, trade blocs etc

Earlyconnections: British, french, Dutch empires etc pre 1900s, in the 1990s i think that is referring to the EU

pros and cons of globalisation: its allows the world to become more interconnected and increase in trade/culture/other links. And it also promotes exploitation of cheap labour in LICs and slave trade was made because of globalisation. plus many other positives and negatives

Reply 14

Onkar-M

Hey everyone!

I've got this exam on Wednesday too.

Kind of dreading it because I did awfully in my mock but I've been revising over Christmas so hopefully it goes well.

Has anybody's teachers predicted the essay q's?! That's what I'm most stressed about!

Ooo and what are the usual grade boundaries out of 90 for an A?

Thank you!

Reply 15

Original post by Onkar-M

personally my teachers said to revise all case studies but i would say the arctic and africa have a high chance of comming up, make sure you learn some facts for each case study.

as for grade boundaries they are usually 65ish/90 for an A so just over 2/3rds which seems really low to me for an A but there you go.

Also for anyone that is interested past papers/mark schemes/examiner reports can be found here:

http://www.edexcel.com/quals/gce/gce08/geography/Pages/default.aspx

Reply 16

Onkar-M

Thank you!!

I'm hoping for Arctic then!
So easy to write about and I actually enjoy that case study.

Someone take me back to GCSE geography where I was able to learn 2 whole unit's in 2 weeks (and get A*s) :frown:

.
Haha. The jump from GCSE to a level geo was pretty immense.

Reply 17

Can anyone go over any tips/anything specific to mention to get an a?

Reply 18

Original post by volvicstar

Can anyone go over any tips/anything specific to mention to get an a?

You could look at mark schemes on the website which should give you an idea of what they are looking for, for higher marks:

http://www.edexcel.com/quals/gce/gce08/geography/Pages/default.aspx

I would say make sure you include examples in your shorter questions like 2-4 marks and make sure you explain your points. You can usually get full marks in a 4 mark question by explaining 2 points in detail with a named example.

Make sure you know what the question is asking you. Don't answer every question in the same way. Look at the command words. Sometimes it will ask you to explain, sometimes describe, sometimes it will ask to what extent (pros and cons)

For the essay questions make sure you know some facts from each case study you have done. You obviously need to know the general idea of each case study but facts that make it relevant can really up your marks and get into the 'level 4' category.

Personally I find the physical side harder to learn just because of how many facts there are and I find it hard to pick out which facts I should remeber in each case study so i would say make sure you know your case studies well and pick some facts that you think you will be able to remeber for each. To test yourself you could list all of the case studies and try to list some facts for each to see what you can remember, which will help you to know what you need to do last minute revision on.

Hope it helps. :smile:

Reply 19