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IB geography SL
Hi guys,
I'm close to finishing my IGCSEs and am about to start IB in August. I have chosen to do IB geo SL, but the thing is I haven't chosen to do geo for my IGCSEs. So I haven't done geo for the past two years and basically i can remember nothing of the geo that i last did in yr 9. I've decided to do some serious prep work over the summer... so are there any really useful websites/books which you guys would recommend?
thanks a lot!
I'm close to finishing my IGCSEs and am about to start IB in August. I have chosen to do IB geo SL, but the thing is I haven't chosen to do geo for my IGCSEs. So I haven't done geo for the past two years and basically i can remember nothing of the geo that i last did in yr 9. I've decided to do some serious prep work over the summer... so are there any really useful websites/books which you guys would recommend?
thanks a lot!
Really you don't need previous experience/study in Geog to do IB Geog. I didn't do IGCSE Geog either but was forced into it at IB. If you're doing it at SL, it's so easy that it's not even funny. A lot of common sense stuff. Don't worry about it, you'll catch up in no time.
I hadn't done any geo for a year an a half before I started HL Geo, and I have found it very easy and have gotten continous A+, and I hadn't done any work to prepare and I have **** teacher. So you don't have to worry, but if you want to do it anyway you could download the syllabus from the syllabus sticky, and maybe try and get your textbook early.
Yeah might be worth having a look at the syllabus, a document that till now I still have no idea what it looks like. 
geography HL - one of my best choices of ib subjects, the other one is chemistry SL. so i recommend it 
geo SL is really easy, there is very little of theory, the rest is just life
take a look at ib exam, i'm sure you can already answer few questions, without studying.
geo SL is really easy, there is very little of theory, the rest is just life
take a look at ib exam, i'm sure you can already answer few questions, without studying.geog SL is like your sleeping class. Stay up late doing IAs the night before, catch up on sleep during geog.
it's really weird everyone saying that geo is easy, cos my geo teacher, who is a moderator/examiner, says that she has only given more than 20/25 a few times. Most people in the 2008 class failed geo, and my class isn't doing too well. any tips to help improve marks?
We didn't get to choose our own options. if you can choose, the less theory you do the better, although Lithospheric Processes is extremely easy. Topographic mapping is good as well.
Annyi
What options should I take in Geo SL? I am mainly a science person and I want my options to be a bit more scientific. lol
We didn't get to choose our own options. if you can choose, the less theory you do the better, although Lithospheric Processes is extremely easy. Topographic mapping is good as well.
I thought topographic mapping was removed? Or that might be for 2010. All I know is that they're going to integrate it into other physical geography topics soon and remove it as an option.
Just to continue on kiwigrad's point, if you're being taught by a teacher just let them teach you the topics they teach best. I was going to self-teach myself coasts and deserts for the fun of it but it's a lot of material and I had a lot of trouble finding strong case studies on my own.
Re: difficulty, geography isn't that easy People who think it's a 'doss' subject simply have good teachers or are just really good at it. Academically it's one of the harder subjects out there - obviously the content itself is easy, but you are rarely going to see an extremely straightforward and easy exam question. Please don't give people the wrong idea by telling them to take geography for 'an easy 7'- if it was so easy then why are only 9% of Geography SL students getting a 7 (with the average being 5) 
?
For the Internal Assessment I may be able to give you some tips soon. I'm going to pick up my IB subject breakdown paper soon and I'm not sure if I either a) did really really well on exams and mediocre on the assignment or b) did above average in both - if it's the latter I will give you my advice
For examinations: Obviously you're going to have to memorise case studies. But in geography, you study smart, not hard - yes, it helps to memorise statistics, but pay more attention to location. Similarly, when you review a case study, continue with thinking about possible environmental, socioeconomic or physical characteristics. Put yourself in a position where you can see yourself 'evaluating' the costs and benefits. For physical geography that's less of a case, but it's good to review costs and benefits despite the fact they're just common sense.
Paper 1 is notoriously difficult. The human geography section of IB Geography is extremely large and demands knowledge of a lot of material. Because you only get to choose out of 3 questions, and each one is structured, there are so many varieties of questions they can ask - the 8 - 10 mark final questions of each structured question are basically hit or miss. Sometimes they're easy, sometimes they're not. At that point you have to know how to structure an 'essay' or a proper question, what case studies to apply, relevant parts of a case study and possible evaluative points.
Paper 2 is notoriously much easier, as structured physical geography questions are like a science exam, i.e., define x, explain y, describe and explain graph z's trends, etc. The essay questions are good if you really know your stuff - sometimes they'll be on pure physical geography, which can be very straightforward or very difficult, and other times (more commonly) it will be 'Discuss the effects of [environmental process A] on people' etc, in which case your exam technique and essay writing skills are key to a good mark out of 20.
As you are a higher level student, Paper 2 will probably be more difficult, however - this is because it's a very long 2h30min exam where you have to answer four questions. Again, getting a good mark is up to exam technique. The problem with geography is that there is so much to say and so little time - that's why, despite all that memorisation, you need to know how to compact your knowledge and how to quickly pick bits of it to throw in your answer and to keep it concise. Depending on the options your teacher chooses you might end up with 3 phys geog and 1 human geog qs or 2 phys geog and 2 human geog qs. The paper 2 human geography questions are slightly easier than paper 1 questions, but the content itself is SLIGHTLY more complex.
To ensure you're prepared for the final examinations which make up the bulk of your geography grade, be sure to regularly practice past exam papers. Granted, they take a while as the questions are quite large, but even jotting down what you think on a piece of paper could help. Also, take a look at the markschemes as they give a clearer indication of what an examiner wants - subsequently, this will help you to keep your answers concise so you don't run out of time like students so often do!
Just to continue on kiwigrad's point, if you're being taught by a teacher just let them teach you the topics they teach best. I was going to self-teach myself coasts and deserts for the fun of it but it's a lot of material and I had a lot of trouble finding strong case studies on my own.
Re: difficulty, geography isn't that easy
People who think it's a 'doss' subject simply have good teachers or are just really good at it. Academically it's one of the harder subjects out there - obviously the content itself is easy, but you are rarely going to see an extremely straightforward and easy exam question. Please don't give people the wrong idea by telling them to take geography for 'an easy 7'- if it was so easy then why are only 9% of Geography SL students getting a 7 (with the average being 5) ?09kiwigrad
Most people in the 2008 class failed geo, and my class isn't doing too well. any tips to help improve marks?
For the Internal Assessment I may be able to give you some tips soon. I'm going to pick up my IB subject breakdown paper soon and I'm not sure if I either a) did really really well on exams and mediocre on the assignment or b) did above average in both - if it's the latter I will give you my advice
For examinations: Obviously you're going to have to memorise case studies. But in geography, you study smart, not hard - yes, it helps to memorise statistics, but pay more attention to location. Similarly, when you review a case study, continue with thinking about possible environmental, socioeconomic or physical characteristics. Put yourself in a position where you can see yourself 'evaluating' the costs and benefits. For physical geography that's less of a case, but it's good to review costs and benefits despite the fact they're just common sense.
Paper 1 is notoriously difficult. The human geography section of IB Geography is extremely large and demands knowledge of a lot of material. Because you only get to choose out of 3 questions, and each one is structured, there are so many varieties of questions they can ask - the 8 - 10 mark final questions of each structured question are basically hit or miss. Sometimes they're easy, sometimes they're not. At that point you have to know how to structure an 'essay' or a proper question, what case studies to apply, relevant parts of a case study and possible evaluative points.
Paper 2 is notoriously much easier, as structured physical geography questions are like a science exam, i.e., define x, explain y, describe and explain graph z's trends, etc. The essay questions are good if you really know your stuff - sometimes they'll be on pure physical geography, which can be very straightforward or very difficult, and other times (more commonly) it will be 'Discuss the effects of [environmental process A] on people' etc, in which case your exam technique and essay writing skills are key to a good mark out of 20.
As you are a higher level student, Paper 2 will probably be more difficult, however - this is because it's a very long 2h30min exam where you have to answer four questions. Again, getting a good mark is up to exam technique. The problem with geography is that there is so much to say and so little time - that's why, despite all that memorisation, you need to know how to compact your knowledge and how to quickly pick bits of it to throw in your answer and to keep it concise. Depending on the options your teacher chooses you might end up with 3 phys geog and 1 human geog qs or 2 phys geog and 2 human geog qs. The paper 2 human geography questions are slightly easier than paper 1 questions, but the content itself is SLIGHTLY more complex.
To ensure you're prepared for the final examinations which make up the bulk of your geography grade, be sure to regularly practice past exam papers. Granted, they take a while as the questions are quite large, but even jotting down what you think on a piece of paper could help. Also, take a look at the markschemes as they give a clearer indication of what an examiner wants - subsequently, this will help you to keep your answers concise so you don't run out of time like students so often do!
@trm90: thank you so much!! that was such a detailed answer...I am finding that my biggest problem is understanding the question. Most questions, if you look closely, have two meanings, one really obvious one, and one that is not so obvious. I tend to notice the not so obvious one...meaning that i basically misunderstand the question.
Another problem that I seem to have - if you can call it a problem - is that usually when I answer a question and get a bad mark, and then look at the criterion, I feel that I have mentioned everything in the marking scheme - I therefore assume that my teacher just doesn't understand what I write...but then I have the problem of if the marker doesn't understand me. If you wondering how my english is, I'm getting a 7 in Eng HL, and am predicted >90%
Another problem that I seem to have - if you can call it a problem - is that usually when I answer a question and get a bad mark, and then look at the criterion, I feel that I have mentioned everything in the marking scheme - I therefore assume that my teacher just doesn't understand what I write...but then I have the problem of if the marker doesn't understand me. If you wondering how my english is, I'm getting a 7 in Eng HL, and am predicted >90%
09kiwigrad
@trm90: thank you so much!! that was such a detailed answer...I am finding that my biggest problem is understanding the question. Most questions, if you look closely, have two meanings, one really obvious one, and one that is not so obvious. I tend to notice the not so obvious one...meaning that i basically misunderstand the question.
No problem
And yes, question interpretation is a part of exam technique, and is the one thing you need to nail down if you want to guarantee yourself a 6. One reason why people who BS tend to score easy 5s/6s is simply because they already knew what the question wanted.
As you practice more and more past papers you will start to become more confident in your answers. Don't feel too stressed if you misinterpret a question - it happens all the time. I was almost sure I misinterpreted a paper 1 question which was worth 6 marks. Okay, so even though I did get a 7 it doesn't mean I interpreted it correctly after all, but still
Over time, you will definitely improve. Command words will come to you naturally.Another problem that I seem to have - if you can call it a problem - is that usually when I answer a question and get a bad mark, and then look at the criterion, I feel that I have mentioned everything in the marking scheme - I therefore assume that my teacher just doesn't understand what I write...but then I have the problem of if the marker doesn't understand me. If you wondering how my english is, I'm getting a 7 in Eng HL, and am predicted >90%
That's also another problem a lot of people have. As I previously mentioned, it's so easy to just 'babble' on in geography. The material is so simple that sometimes you just know TOO much. Again, it's exam technique - you will eventually learn to be concise with your answers. It takes a lot of practice but you can do it, trust me. I was predicted a high 5/low 6 for geography, only got one 7 during our entire two years of geog on an in-class essay which we already discussed before and I came out of the exam with a 7, simply because I'd used all the advice I'm giving you now. There is a big difference between a 6 and 7 in geography!
As for language, well, I don't think it would be your grammar or vocabulary etc. Lots of ESL students tend to take geography over history or economics because it's easier to understand and they still get some pretty above average marks.
please don't do IB geog.
Totally screws your life
Totally screws your life
rawkingpunkster
geog SL is like your sleeping class. Stay up late doing IAs the night before, catch up on sleep during geog.
Maybe you should have paid more attention...
I can't offer information anywhere near as detailed as trm90 :P But I did GCSE geography and I was awful at it and hated it. Infact I got a C and it was my worse grade. I had to do it for IB and I'm actually really enjoying it. As long as I take the time to go over case studies and main facts/figures I usually do pretty well on exam practise.
Here are some websites you may find useful:
http://www.geographyalltheway.com/ib_geography2011.htm
http://www.nelsonthornes.com/wps/portal/geofile
this is an A level site but my teacher gets some great articles from it, good for reading through and noting key points.
www.bbc.co.uk/news
I love getting case studies from here. It's all up to date and you can usually find some relevant artices on there. Also, it has all the latest info on things like famine, oil etc.
Also, you might want to google for the geography syllabus. If you can't find it I can dig mine out and let you know the main topics for it. And if you wanted to get a revision guide, I guss that would give you a head start before you start in september.
Here are some websites you may find useful:
http://www.geographyalltheway.com/ib_geography2011.htm
http://www.nelsonthornes.com/wps/portal/geofile
this is an A level site but my teacher gets some great articles from it, good for reading through and noting key points.
www.bbc.co.uk/news
I love getting case studies from here. It's all up to date and you can usually find some relevant artices on there. Also, it has all the latest info on things like famine, oil etc.
Also, you might want to google for the geography syllabus. If you can't find it I can dig mine out and let you know the main topics for it. And if you wanted to get a revision guide, I guss that would give you a head start before you start in september.
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