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Help with general revision on Geography

Hi

I just wanted to ask how do you study for AS geography? I am struggling currently and i am doing the exam board : WJEC

I will appreciate any help at all

Thanks :smile:
Reply 1
Avatar for Kaneki
Kaneki
12
Hi, I did the WJEC exam last year, so although the spec's changed (if i'm right) I may still be of help.

I would start by making flash/fact file cards for all your case studies, since this is your main set of knowledge for AS.

Learn all the information on the cards and then practice essay questions. You don't have to fully answer them as long as you're okay for timing already, just write a plan of what you would put in the question with key facts.

Hope this helps and good luck!
Reply 2
Avatar for Junaid12
Junaid12
OP
14
Original post by Kaneki
Hi, I did the WJEC exam last year, so although the spec's changed (if i'm right) I may still be of help.

I would start by making flash/fact file cards for all your case studies, since this is your main set of knowledge for AS.

Learn all the information on the cards and then practice essay questions. You don't have to fully answer them as long as you're okay for timing already, just write a plan of what you would put in the question with key facts.

Hope this helps and good luck!


Thanks mate! That may become useful. the spec is the same it starts in september 2016 so i think thats a relief. And is there a structure of answering the 10 mark essays? just because i struggle with them on occasion.
thanks for the help :smile:
Hello, I did WJEC A Level Geography, so hopefully I can help.

For the 10 mark questions, you don't need to bother with an introduction and conclusion, they aren't necessary. Also, aim to write around 500 words, but try not to make your answers too long as the timing in the exams is quite tight. Make sure you use lots of examples and case study material to expand your answers, and focus on what the question is asking, try not to go off on a tangent! Also make sure that you fully explain any specialist geographical terms. For example, you won't get marks just for writing 'surface run off', you need to explain what it means as well.

For each paragraph of your essay, your general structure should be something like:

Example question: "Describe and explain how two strategies have been used to manage the flood hazard within drainage basins. [10 marks]"

Start with one main point, e.g. "One strategy used to manage flooding in drainage basins is the use of hard engineering."

Then expand on it, e.g. "Hard engineering involves building structures which protect against flooding, including embankments and flood walls. Embankments and flood walls both work by raising the height of the river banks to increase the channel capacity (the amount of water the river channel can hold), in order to contain the water as it rises during a flood. Flood walls and embankments also work by increasing a river’s bank full discharge (the amount of water that a river is capable of holding without flooding), to reduce the risk of flooding."

And finally, add in some examples/case study material to demonstrate the point, e.g. "Flood walls and embankments have been used in Hereford’s flood defence scheme, along the River Wye, to protect the residential and commercial property, as well as transport routes around the river from flooding."

Then repeat for the next paragraph, which could talk about soft engineering methods, for example.

I hope that helps (the above paragraph isn't complete by the way, it just gives you an idea of how to structure it) :h:
(edited 8 years ago)
Reply 4
Avatar for Kaneki
Kaneki
12
Original post by Junaid12
Thanks mate! That may become useful. the spec is the same it starts in september 2016 so i think thats a relief. And is there a structure of answering the 10 mark essays? just because i struggle with them on occasion.
thanks for the help :smile:


As for 10 markers, it really depends on the question, do you struggle on a particular type, such as Pros & Cons ones or? :smile:
Reply 5
Avatar for Junaid12
Junaid12
OP
14
Original post by Leviathan1741
Hello, I did WJEC A Level Geography, so hopefully I can help.

For the 10 mark questions, you don't need to bother with an introduction and conclusion, they aren't necessary. Also, aim to write around 500 words, but try not to make your answers too long as the timing in the exams is quite tight. Make sure you use lots of examples and case study material to expand your answers, and focus on what the question is asking, try not to go off on a tangent! Also make sure that you fully explain any specialist geographical terms. For example, you won't get marks just for writing 'surface run off', you need to explain what it means as well.

For each paragraph of your essay, your general structure should be something like:

Example question: "Describe and explain how two strategies have been used to manage the flood hazard within drainage basins. [10 marks]"

Start with one main point, e.g. "One strategy used to manage flooding in drainage basins is the use of hard engineering."

Then expand on it, e.g. "Hard engineering involves building structures which protect against flooding, including embankments and flood walls. Embankments and flood walls both work by raising the height of the river banks to increase the channel capacity (the amount of water the river channel can hold), in order to contain the water as it rises during a flood. Flood walls and embankments also work by increasing a river’s bank full discharge (the amount of water that a river is capable of holding without flooding), to reduce the risk of flooding."

And finally, add in some examples/case study material to demonstrate the point, e.g. "Flood walls and embankments have been used in Hereford’s flood defence scheme, along the River Wye, to protect the residential and commercial property, as well as transport routes around the river from flooding."

Then repeat for the next paragraph, which could talk about soft engineering methods, for example.

I hope that helps (the above paragraph isn't complete by the way, it just gives you an idea of how to structure it) :h:


Wow i cannot thank you enough. Thanks for the help. This will help me so much. That was my problem, that I would always go away from what the question wants

Thanks a lot this has and will help me further :smile: :smile:
Reply 6
Avatar for Junaid12
Junaid12
OP
14
Original post by Kaneki
As for 10 markers, it really depends on the question, do you struggle on a particular type, such as Pros & Cons ones or? :smile:


I think it's mainly just staying on topic and answering the question. The teacher said my knowledge was fine. But I get carried away with the facts. :smile:
Reply 7
Avatar for Kaneki
Kaneki
12
Original post by Junaid12
I think it's mainly just staying on topic and answering the question. The teacher said my knowledge was fine. But I get carried away with the facts. :smile:


Yeh, that's the big jump from GCSE to A level, since GCSE was literally how many facts can you cram in..

Try to remember, you don't need to use a fact all of the time, only if it's to support your answer, but you'll find through doing mocks if you use facts/figures to support everything you'll simply run out of time.
Original post by Junaid12
Wow i cannot thank you enough. Thanks for the help. This will help me so much. That was my problem, that I would always go away from what the question wants

Thanks a lot this has and will help me further :smile: :smile:


You're welcome, best of luck with your exams :h:
Reply 9
Avatar for Junaid12
Junaid12
OP
14
Original post by Leviathan1741
You're welcome, best of luck with your exams :h:


Thank you mate. appreciate the help :smile:
Reply 10
Avatar for Junaid12
Junaid12
OP
14
Original post by Kaneki
Yeh, that's the big jump from GCSE to A level, since GCSE was literally how many facts can you cram in..

Try to remember, you don't need to use a fact all of the time, only if it's to support your answer, but you'll find through doing mocks if you use facts/figures to support everything you'll simply run out of time.


Yeah thats true. Now im going to try and stick to the topic and answer the question properly not just a bunch of facts.

do you have any other tips?

Thanks for all the help though it is really helpful
Reply 11
Avatar for Kaneki
Kaneki
12
Original post by Junaid12
Yeah thats true. Now im going to try and stick to the topic and answer the question properly not just a bunch of facts.

do you have any other tips?

Thanks for all the help though it is really helpful


No worries, glad I can help someone!

In the exam if you go over the 12 minutes per 10 marker you'll regret it later on. So once the 12 minutes is up simply stop your answer and move onto the next question
I do CCEA geography but the main principles still apply I suppose!
Past papers will always play a big part in revision, so complete each one at least twice, and ask your teacher to mark them in their spare time.
Read examiners reports to find common mistakes made each year. Chances are that if these mistakes commonly occur then they'll appear on every single paper, and so you can predict a few of the questions that will appear on your paper this summer!
Make notes on file paper, then flash cards to condense the content down. Make your own, buy cheap ones from a stationary shop or use quizlets for digital ones
Facts and figures for essays are an important factor, learn them for your case studies! My physical teacher is an examiner, and he says "by writing down as many facts and figures as you possibly can you are daring the examiner to NOT give you full marks" show the examiner that you know exactly what you're talking about by reinforcing statements with evidence
I'm not certain of the course content on WJEC but I know that in CCEA examiners are strict, and when speaking of erosion give an example, and EXPLAIN the example by giving a definition of it. This again is proving to the examiner how well you have prepared for the exam.
Definitions are always a big part of any exam, so use mark schemes to identify certain phrases that will gain you marks in the exam, as they show exactly what the examiner is looking for in your definition
Good luck, I hope this was helpful!
Original post by Junaid12
Hi

I just wanted to ask how do you study for AS geography? I am struggling currently and i am doing the exam board : WJEC

I will appreciate any help at all

Thanks :smile:


I did AS last year, but OCR, however general stuff can be applied to all exam boards!

I did flashcards for all my case studies + flash cards for definitions etc.

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