Edexcel B - A2 Hazards (Global futures)

OP

yeahyeahyeahs

good idea. my first A2 geo lesson starts next week. =/

Do a bit of background research on Boscastle flooding - even a few newspaper articles and causes / factors influencing / comparison to Lynmouth. You are bound to be doing something on Hazards or flooding soon and that will be getting ahead of the game (and shock your teacher to boot!)

Reply 3

Do you teach the AS spec as well??

I got:

Unit 1 - 96/100
Unit 2 - 78/100
Unit 3 - 99/100

Do you find the unit 2 is harder?? Also i am doing unit 4 global challenge in jan....is this a hard paper??

Reply 4

steve1

unit 4 is the hardest of them all, get revising now and your be sorted for an A though :smile:

Reply 5

OP

Dynamite

Do you teach the AS spec as well??

I got:

Unit 1 - 96/100
Unit 2 - 78/100
Unit 3 - 99/100

Do you find the unit 2 is harder?? Also i am doing unit 4 global challenge in jan....is this a hard paper??

Well done on the units 1 and 3! The reason many students dipped out on unit 2 is because (I suspect) it is taken immediately after the unit 1 and thus by the end of 3 hours you are, frankly, knackered!. Getting 78 is quite respectable, but with the marks you have for the others it looks as though you could retake JUST unit 2 next summer and (as a 1.5 hour exam), I bet you'd do better!
Unit 4 is THE hard paper - its one you may well want to retake in June! (At least you can do that!)The easier ones are 5 (coursework essay and short exam) on Global Futures and the Issues Analysis (Sophisticated DME). Last summer I set up a thread specifically for the Issues Analysis on Cliffe Airport proposal and lots of people contributed - I've had lots of emails since telling me that people got really high marks on the Synoptic, partly due to the support and help online!
I will probably do the same for next summers's Synoptic too. So if you want to start an Edexcel B Unit 4 thread, that would be helpful and I'd be happy to pop in from time to time and help out.

Reply 6

Geogger

Well done on the units 1 and 3! The reason many students dipped out on unit 2 is because (I suspect) it is taken immediately after the unit 1 and thus by the end of 3 hours you are, frankly, knackered!. Getting 78 is quite respectable, but with the marks you have for the others it looks as though you could retake JUST unit 2 next summer and (as a 1.5 hour exam), I bet you'd do better!
Unit 4 is THE hard paper - its one you may well want to retake in June! (At least you can do that!)The easier ones are 5 (coursework essay and short exam) on Global Futures and the Issues Analysis (Sophisticated DME). Last summer I set up a thread specifically for the Issues Analysis on Cliffe Airport proposal and lots of people contributed - I've had lots of emails since telling me that people got really high marks on the Synoptic, partly due to the support and help online!
I will probably do the same for next summers's Synoptic too. So if you want to start an Edexcel B Unit 4 thread, that would be helpful and I'd be happy to pop in from time to time and help out.

We do unit 4 and the synoptic paper in jan.......my teacher said if i retake unit 2 in jan as well then i should have an A before i even do unit 5!! Is that realistic??

I'm suprised unit 4 is the hard one, i am finding it really interesting and to be honest not to difficult

Reply 7

OP

Dynamite

We do unit 4 and the synoptic paper in jan.......my teacher said if i retake unit 2 in jan as well then i should have an A before i even do unit 5!! Is that realistic??

I'm suprised unit 4 is the hard one, i am finding it really interesting and to be honest not to difficult

It is possible to get an A if you have done really well in 5 units. If you have 273 at the moment, you need 480 to get an A ie you need 207 out of 300 for the 3 A2 units. If you get 120 (possible, but unlikely first time round) for the synoptic you will need 87 out of 90 for unit 4. THUS it is actually JUST possible, but unlikely given that units 4 and 6 can be tricky.
The reason many find unit 4 tricky is not the standard Population/Econ/ Ecosystems/Weather questions but the fact that you have to choose one cross-modular question (worth more marks) - these are much harder to answer, especially in a tight time frame. Lots of practice beforehand should help. Certainly you might do sufficiently well in units 4 and 6 so that you only need to get a relatively low mark for unit 5 in the summer to assure you of the A. Sounds a good plan if you have done enough techniques work on the synoptic to allow you to score highly - don't forget, its not like a gcse DME!

Reply 8

Geogger

It is possible to get an A if you have done really well in 5 units. If you have 273 at the moment, you need 480 to get an A ie you need 207 out of 300 for the 3 A2 units. If you get 120 (possible, but unlikely first time round) for the synoptic you will need 87 out of 90 for unit 4. THUS it is actually JUST possible, but unlikely given that units 4 and 6 can be tricky.
The reason many find unit 4 tricky is not the standard Population/Econ/ Ecosystems/Weather questions but the fact that you have to choose one cross-modular question (worth more marks) - these are much harder to answer, especially in a tight time frame. Lots of practice beforehand should help. Certainly you might do sufficiently well in units 4 and 6 so that you only need to get a relatively low mark for unit 5 in the summer to assure you of the A. Sounds a good plan if you have done enough techniques work on the synoptic to allow you to score highly - don't forget, its not like a gcse DME!

Have you got past synoptic and esp Unit 4 paper which you could post up here?? So i could have a go at them thankx!

Reply 9

OP

Dynamite

Have you got past synoptic and esp Unit 4 paper which you could post up here?? So i could have a go at them thankx!

No, but if you go on to edexcel's website - go into qualifications / gce/geography/A2 and then there are a series of reading lists, specimen papers etc. There is the Cliffe Airport resource from last summer - I can see if I have the paper to hand - but I suspect it's at school, so won't be able to get the actual question set until Mon. At some stage this term i will try to get some past questions posted, both on the Hazards and on Paper 4 (but it's sometimes difficult as the resources are often useful too - and my scanner is not really up to much at the moment!)

Reply 10

Carreh

2

www.reliefweb.int is good for both upto date info on disasters and has info on past events to help make ur case studies. Basically full of articles form aid agencies governments etc.

could be useful :smile:

Reply 11

Geogger, I am going to apply for Geography at Cambridge this year. I was wondering if you could give me any interview hints or good resources to read for the interview.

Thanks - Dynamite x

Reply 12

OP

Dynamite

Geogger, I am going to apply for Geography at Cambridge this year. I was wondering if you could give me any interview hints or good resources to read for the interview.

Thanks - Dynamite x

I'll look some out for you - I think I have a reading list somewhere from last year that could be helpful. Which college are you applying to?... look on the Cam website, see which Geog tutors are at that college and perhaps look at something that is indirectly linked to their interests. I wouldn't do something as obvious as read their latest book, but you could read something on that topic... from Geo Review, from original texts eg 'Small is Beautiful' by Schumacher or 'The Making of the British Isles' by Hoskins (Cam do a Historical Geog module in Year 1)

Reply 13

~ o ~

2

Geogger

No, but if you go on to edexcel's website - go into qualifications / gce/geography/A2 and then there are a series of reading lists, specimen papers etc. There is the Cliffe Airport resource from last summer

Oh the memories. :rolleyes:

I've just finished my Geog A Level Edexcel B so if you want any help just ask. I should have plenty of time - b/c I am on a gap year.

Reply 14

OP

[QUOTE="Imtiaz" Misbah="Misbah"]

Geogger

No, but if you go on to edexcel's website - go into qualifications / gce/geography/A2 and then there are a series of reading lists, specimen papers etc. There is the Cliffe Airport resource from last summer QUOTE]

Oh the memories. :rolleyes:

I've just finished my Geog A Level Edexcel B so if you want any help just ask. I should have plenty of time - b/c I am on a gap year.

You can be my locum!!

Reply 15

~ o ~

2

Geogger

You can be my locum!!

yeah!

Reply 16

abam48

Misbah Imtiaz

yeah!

Hi all,

Thought I would make a comment on the thread since I was passing thorugh. I did the Edexcel Geog couse last yr and ended up with an A in the end. I found the workload heavy going because there is a lot of material to cover.
Unit 4 is probably the most difficult in terms of the content you have to learn and the nature of the paper you are given. However for me it was the most enjoyable course content because being a resident physicist and the only one in my class I really enjoyed the meteorology particularly.

As already mentioned the cross modular question is the one which is just given to you in the exam so you have to be pretty good at thinking on your feet with it.

Our college decided to have us sit units 4 and 6 together and I was also resitting unit 1 as well at the same time so I had a lot on in Geography; as well doing lots and lots for Maths and Physics and Philosophy. I decided to only revise Weather and Population with a bit of Economy for the exam. This meant I didn't revise for Ecosytems. This could be a risky manouver but it really depends on how much you know and can remember.

I thought unit 6 was the best module though, the synoptic was the proper geography paper because it allows you to pull together all your geography knowledge and show the examiners what you know; it separates the sheep from the goats so to speak.

Incidently this was my final breakdown for geog:
Unit 1 : 96/100 (after resit) 67/100 (first time)
Unit 2 : 90/100
Unit 3 : 85/100
Unit 4 : 71/90
Unit 5 : 65/90
Unit 6 : 111/120 (my finest hour!!!)

btw, I would also like to thank you for your help Geogger with the synoptic, I used your resources and advice and also chipped in on the site. It must have worked because I really enjoyed the paper in the end; probably shows cuz of my result.

Good luck to everybody sitting this yr and for future success, I need to get ready now for going to Lancaster Uni on Sunday!

Best Wishes,
Adam Bamford

Reply 17

OP

Well done Adam - glad to know all the hard work people put into that synoptic topic really worked... we will definitely have another one next summer.
Congrats on your results too - very impressive..... and have a great time at Lancaster. :biggrin:

Reply 18

Geogger

Well done Adam - glad to know all the hard work people put into that synoptic topic really worked... we will definitely have another one next summer.
Congrats on your results too - very impressive..... and have a great time at Lancaster. :biggrin:

Can we have one for Jan?? Thats when i'm doing my synoptic! :frown:

Reply 19

OP