Geography EPQ ideas

Original post by 08ravena1172

I'm a year 14 (doing an extra year) sixth form student and I need to fill my timetable with an EPQ as I'm only doing 2 subjects this year. I am the first (and only) person in my sixth form to do an EPQ so there aren't many/any people with specialist knowledge... My geography teacher is going to mentor me.

I was wondering if I should base my EPQ on local issues etc related to Geography so that I can do some physical research such as questionnaires, samples, images and so on... Or, should I base it on a topic that I just research on the internet and collect images online?

I want to study Geography at university next year so I need my EPQ based on Geography. Should I look at some of the modules for the geography degrees I've been considering and base my EPQ on one of those?

I've seen some suggestions on basing it on Geology as that is a similar subject but I'd rather focus on Geography.

If it helps with suggestions I live in the Lake District, Cumbria (NW England)

Thanks a lot for your help!

Hi

You can do your EPQ using both primary research (questionnaires, samples etc), and secondary resources (Internet, books, documentaries etc), or only using secondary resources. Most people only use secondary resources as it's generally easier and less time-consuming, but if you do incorporate primary research then it will definitely make your EPQ more impressive!

As for what topic to focus on, definitely choose something that you are interested in, as you'll be spending a lot of time researching and writing about it. As a starting point, do you prefer physical geography or human geography? It's easier to narrow down a topic after deciding which side of geography you like more.

Also, I got an A in my EPQ (geology-based), so if you have any general questions on structure etc as well, then feel free to ask :smile:

Reply 2

OP

Original post by Leviathan1741

Hi

You can do your EPQ using both primary research (questionnaires, samples etc), and secondary resources (Internet, books, documentaries etc), or only using secondary resources. Most people only use secondary resources as it's generally easier and less time-consuming, but if you do incorporate primary research then it will definitely make your EPQ more impressive!

As for what topic to focus on, definitely choose something that you are interested in, as you'll be spending a lot of time researching and writing about it. As a starting point, do you prefer physical geography or human geography? It's easier to narrow down a topic after deciding which side of geography you like more.

Also, I got an A in my EPQ (geology-based), so if you have any general questions on structure etc as well, then feel free to ask :smile:

Hi

I think it would be more interesting to use primary resources so I intend to do that if possible.

I was potentially considering basing my research around a charity and it's geographical impact then possibly organising a fundraiser for that charity based on my research. Have you seen anyone else do this type of EPQ successfully?

Another idea I had was basing my EPQ around Iceland and some physical features as I'm going there with my sixth form next year. However, my main concern with this is that I would be limited in how much I could research due to resources available to me as a Geography Alevel Student rather than an Undergraduate.

As for choosing between human and physical I'm not sure which one to choose because I generally like both equally.

Also, I'm aware that there is a 5000 word limit but in English we are able to go 10% above the maximum word limit, is this the same for an EPQ or is 5000 the final limit?

Thanks :smile:

(well done for the A! hopefully I do as well on mine :smile:

)

Reply 3

Original post by 08ravena1172

Hi

I think it would be more interesting to use primary resources so I intend to do that if possible.

I was potentially considering basing my research around a charity and it's geographical impact then possibly organising a fundraiser for that charity based on my research. Have you seen anyone else do this type of EPQ successfully?

Another idea I had was basing my EPQ around Iceland and some physical features as I'm going there with my sixth form next year. However, my main concern with this is that I would be limited in how much I could research due to resources available to me as a Geography Alevel Student rather than an Undergraduate.

As for choosing between human and physical I'm not sure which one to choose because I generally like both equally.

Also, I'm aware that there is a 5000 word limit but in English we are able to go 10% above the maximum word limit, is this the same for an EPQ or is 5000 the final limit?

Thanks :smile:

(well done for the A! hopefully I do as well on mine :smile:

)

I've never heard of anyone doing an EPQ that was similar to your first idea, so unfortunately I'm not sure whether it would work or not. I guess that it would, however you'd need to find a way to narrow down your title into something quite specific, and I'm not sure how you could do that for the impacts of a charity, apart from selecting one or two potential impacts and then researching them? When I did my EPQ, I was encouraged to choose a title question for which I could write arguments for and against in my essay, as EPQs aren't meant to be purely descriptive (just something to bear in mind!). Also, in addition to your primary resources, I'd suggest using at least a few secondary resources, as you get marks for having a variety of resources.

I'm super jealous that you're going to Iceland next year, I've always wanted to go there! My sixth form geology department used to run a trip to Iceland every year, but then the year I was supposed to go they changed it to Morocco :unimpressed:

(which was subsequently cancelled due to the threat of terrorism - ha, serves them right for changing it!). Your Iceland EPQ idea sounds interesting, but again, you'd ideally need to find some way to use arguments etc so that your EPQ isn't just descriptive.

I'm fairly sure that the 5000 word limit is just a guide rather than a limit, although I wouldn't go to far over it just in case. At my sixth form, they said that the absolute minimum word count was 3500 words and the maximum was 6000. I think I only did around 4300 words, and I still managed to get an A, so you don't actually need 5000 words to get a good grade. I'd check with your sixth form though as I think each college interprets the 5000 word limit differently :smile:

Reply 4

OP

Original post by Leviathan1741

I've never heard of anyone doing an EPQ that was similar to your first idea, so unfortunately I'm not sure whether it would work or not. I guess that it would, however you'd need to find a way to narrow down your title into something quite specific, and I'm not sure how you could do that for the impacts of a charity, apart from selecting one or two potential impacts and then researching them? When I did my EPQ, I was encouraged to choose a title question for which I could write arguments for and against in my essay, as EPQs aren't meant to be purely descriptive (just something to bear in mind!). Also, in addition to your primary resources, I'd suggest using at least a few secondary resources, as you get marks for having a variety of resources.

I'm super jealous that you're going to Iceland next year, I've always wanted to go there! My sixth form geology department used to run a trip to Iceland every year, but then the year I was supposed to go they changed it to Morocco :unimpressed:

(which was subsequently cancelled due to the threat of terrorism - ha, serves them right for changing it!). Your Iceland EPQ idea sounds interesting, but again, you'd ideally need to find some way to use arguments etc so that your EPQ isn't just descriptive.

I'm fairly sure that the 5000 word limit is just a guide rather than a limit, although I wouldn't go to far over it just in case. At my sixth form, they said that the absolute minimum word count was 3500 words and the maximum was 6000. I think I only did around 4300 words, and I still managed to get an A, so you don't actually need 5000 words to get a good grade. I'd check with your sixth form though as I think each college interprets the 5000 word limit differently :smile:

I might go and ask my teacher about that then :smile:

I've asked one and she said it's a really good idea to do the charity thing but she has very little knowledge of EPQ's so it's probably best to check.

I had no idea what style to write in for my EPQ, I guess it makes sense that's it's about the pros and cons as well as research and so on :smile:

I guess I'll understand it better when I actually start seeing my teacher about it as I only have limited knowledge due to my school not doing it as part of the curriculum. Also I planned to use both primary and secondary resources as most of the information I would need is probably on the internet anyway.

I'm so excited for Iceland :biggrin:

it sucks that you never got to go :/ I was thinking of maybe discussing the tourism side of Iceland and how it's affecting the ecosystems and landforms etc (still in the rough plan phase) Do you think that would make it easier to argue for and against?

I'll ask about the word limit then thanks :smile:

It's mainly an issue because I usually tend to go over the word count, for example my literature coursework was double the word limit and I had to do hours of editing xD

What's the EPQ mark scheme like? Is it hard to get a good grade or fairly easy if you're good at writing and putting your point across? :smile:

Reply 5

Original post by 08ravena1172

I might go and ask my teacher about that then :smile:

I've asked one and she said it's a really good idea to do the charity thing but she has very little knowledge of EPQ's so it's probably best to check.

I had no idea what style to write in for my EPQ, I guess it makes sense that's it's about the pros and cons as well as research and so on :smile:

I guess I'll understand it better when I actually start seeing my teacher about it as I only have limited knowledge due to my school not doing it as part of the curriculum. Also I planned to use both primary and secondary resources as most of the information I would need is probably on the internet anyway.

I'm so excited for Iceland :biggrin:

it sucks that you never got to go :/ I was thinking of maybe discussing the tourism side of Iceland and how it's affecting the ecosystems and landforms etc (still in the rough plan phase) Do you think that would make it easier to argue for and against?

I'll ask about the word limit then thanks :smile:

It's mainly an issue because I usually tend to go over the word count, for example my literature coursework was double the word limit and I had to do hours of editing xD

What's the EPQ mark scheme like? Is it hard to get a good grade or fairly easy if you're good at writing and putting your point across? :smile:

Yeah, I think discussing the impacts of tourism on the ecosystem and landforms would definitely make it easier to discuss the pros and cons, perhaps in your conclusion you could write about whether you think the benefits of the tourism outweigh any negatives? Also, if you get halfway through the essay and find you're struggling to find more to write about, you can change your title to allow more scope, for example if you were to go with the impacts of tourism, maybe you could expand your title to include something else as well like the production of geothermal energy, which I believe is another important industry in Iceland.

The annoying thing about the EPQ is that the majority of the marks come from the Log Book which you have to fill in, rather than the essay and presentation. So even if your essay is grade A standard, if your Log Book isn't filled in thoroughly then your overall grade may only be a B, for example. The mark scheme itself is quite useful, however each criterion is marked in bands, e.g. 1-3, 4-6, 7-10, which I personally found to be annoying as it was difficult to judge how much detail was needed for each band. Basically, just make sure that in addition to writing a great essay, you fill in the Log Book as thoroughly as you can as it carries a large chunk of the marks :smile:

Reply 6

OP

Original post by Leviathan1741

Yeah, I think discussing the impacts of tourism on the ecosystem and landforms would definitely make it easier to discuss the pros and cons, perhaps in your conclusion you could write about whether you think the benefits of the tourism outweigh any negatives? Also, if you get halfway through the essay and find you're struggling to find more to write about, you can change your title to allow more scope, for example if you were to go with the impacts of tourism, maybe you could expand your title to include something else as well like the production of geothermal energy, which I believe is another important industry in Iceland.

The annoying thing about the EPQ is that the majority of the marks come from the Log Book which you have to fill in, rather than the essay and presentation. So even if your essay is grade A standard, if your Log Book isn't filled in thoroughly then your overall grade may only be a B, for example. The mark scheme itself is quite useful, however each criterion is marked in bands, e.g. 1-3, 4-6, 7-10, which I personally found to be annoying as it was difficult to judge how much detail was needed for each band. Basically, just make sure that in addition to writing a great essay, you fill in the Log Book as thoroughly as you can as it carries a large chunk of the marks :smile:

I think I'm going to attempt to make plans for each of my ideas and choose the one that I can do the easiest :smile:

What kind of things do you have to put in the log book and how much information? Can I get a copy of it online or is it something you make yourself? I've kinda started one with a table for date, progress and any sources I used? Will that be good enough if I have to make one myself? What do I need in it?

Reply 7

Original post by 08ravena1172

I think I'm going to attempt to make plans for each of my ideas and choose the one that I can do the easiest :smile:

What kind of things do you have to put in the log book and how much information? Can I get a copy of it online or is it something you make yourself? I've kinda started one with a table for date, progress and any sources I used? Will that be good enough if I have to make one myself? What do I need in it?

Good idea

You can get the Log Book here (I assume you're doing it with AQA?):

http://filestore.aqa.org.uk/admin/crf_pdf/AQA-7993-W-CRF-16.PDF

You fill in the Log Book (also called the Production Log) at various stages during your EPQ, at the start, middle and end of the project. Inside the Log Book there is guidance on what to include, but I found it very vague, so basically at each stage you’ll write about 1) what has gone well and what has gone badly, 2) any changes you have made to the project e.g. the title, structure etc, 3) what you plan to do next, and 4) any recommendations from your EPQ mentor/supervisor. You also need to write about your presentation, but again, the Log Book will have instructions on what you need to include.

At the end of the Log Book there is a section titled ‘Reflection’. Don’t be tempted to skimp on this section, as it’s worth A LOT of marks – they give you an entire page of answer space for a reason!

It's a great idea to keep a note of all your sources like you are doing now, so that you can easily create your bibliography at the end. The bibliography should include sources for all images and quotes you use in your essay. Keep a note of the date when you found each source as well and add them in square brackets after each source. If I remember correctly, you need at least three different types of sources of information, for example a book, a website and a TV programme – you get marks specifically for doing this.

I hope this is helpful, and I'm not just confusing you further! :smile:

Reply 8

OP

Original post by Leviathan1741

Good idea

You can get the Log Book here (I assume you're doing it with AQA?):

http://filestore.aqa.org.uk/admin/crf_pdf/AQA-7993-W-CRF-16.PDF

You fill in the Log Book (also called the Production Log) at various stages during your EPQ, at the start, middle and end of the project. Inside the Log Book there is guidance on what to include, but I found it very vague, so basically at each stage you’ll write about 1) what has gone well and what has gone badly, 2) any changes you have made to the project e.g. the title, structure etc, 3) what you plan to do next, and 4) any recommendations from your EPQ mentor/supervisor. You also need to write about your presentation, but again, the Log Book will have instructions on what you need to include.

At the end of the Log Book there is a section titled ‘Reflection’. Don’t be tempted to skimp on this section, as it’s worth A LOT of marks – they give you an entire page of answer space for a reason!

It's a great idea to keep a note of all your sources like you are doing now, so that you can easily create your bibliography at the end. The bibliography should include sources for all images and quotes you use in your essay. Keep a note of the date when you found each source as well and add them in square brackets after each source. If I remember correctly, you need at least three different types of sources of information, for example a book, a website and a TV programme – you get marks specifically for doing this.

I hope this is helpful, and I'm not just confusing you further! :smile:

Thanks a lot!! :biggrin:

This has been really helpful and not confusing at all :smile:

I think I'm doing it with AQA (forgot to ask >.< ) hopefully it all goes to plan once I get going with it properly :smile:

Reply 9