Using This Issue for Edexcel AS and A-Level Geography

Volume 30, Number 3, February 2017

Exam links

Using this issue for Edexcel AS and A-level geography

The table below shows the structure of the Edexcel AS and A-level geography courses

A-level / AS / Topic 1 Tectonic processes and hazards
Topic 2 Landscape systems, processes and change* (2A Glaciated landscapes or 2B Coastal landscapes)
Topic 3 Globalisation
Topic 4 Shaping places* (4A Regenerating places or 4B Diverse places)
*AS assessed fieldwork
Topic 5 The water cycle and water insecurity
Topic 6 The carbon cycle and energy security
Topic 7 Superpowers
Topic 8 Global development and connections (8A Health, human rights and intervention or 8B Migration, identity and sovereignty)
Independent investigation (coursework)

This table shows the relevance of each of the articles and columns in this issue of Geography Review to the Edexcel specification

Article / Page numbers / Links to specification content
Holistic coastal management: the SMP for the east Norfolk coast / 2–6 / Topic 2 Landscape systems (2B Coastal landscapes)
Question and answer Understanding the Assessment Objectives / 7–9 / All topics
Visual research on changing places: an example from Hackney / 10–12 / Topic 4 Shaping Places (both options)
Geographical skills Studying local places / 13–15 / Topic 4 Shaping Places (both options)
Land grabbing in Laos and Cambodia: understanding why it happens / 16–19 / Topic 8 Global Development (8A Health, Human Rights & Intervention or 8B Migration, Identity and Sovereignty)
Centrepiece Electricity from UK tidal energy / 20–21 / Topic 6 Carbon cycle and energy security
Fracking in North Dakota: a case study with lessons for the UK / 22–26 / Topic 6 Carbon cycle and energy security
Geographical ideas Feedback / 27–29 / Physical topics (1,2, 5 and 6)
Glacial landsystems: modelling glacial processes and landforms / 30–34 / Topic 2 Landscape systems (2A Glaciated landscapes)
Climate change update The global warming pause / 35–37 / Topic 6 Carbon cycle and Energy security
Topic 2 both options
Topic 5 Water cycle and water Insecurity
Superpower without empire: how the USA achieved global dominance / 37–41 / Topic 7 Superpowers

Holistic coastal management: the SMP for the east Norfolk coast

· Use this article as a case study within Topic 2B Coastal landscapes.

This case study makes the key point that coastlines in the UK today are managed in a holistic, rather than piecemeal, way. This means that the big picture is taken into account just as much as the views of individual settlements, homeowners and businesses. Increasingly this includes global issues like contemporary climate change as well as local pressures. The resulting Shoreline Management Plans are therefore a balancing act that does not always please everyone and indeed can lead to conflict. It’s essential that students understand the complex range of interacting factors that have to be taken into account when drawing up a SMP.

Question and answer Understanding the Assessment Objectives

· Use this article as part of revision and exam preparation, for all examinations.

This article has been designed to help students understand the new regime of Assessment Objectives. It focuses particularly on the demands of higher-order command words, such as ‘evaluate’ or ‘assess’ and attempts to show how these can be addressed. The idea of making supported judgements by using evidence is very important going into the first series of exams in 2017 and 2018. As you get further into the new A-level, it will be useful to do some group peer-marking in class. Students themselves are often very good a spotting whether their peers have met assessment criteria — even if they don’t always meet the criteria themselves.

Visual research on changing places: an example from Hackney

· This articles links to Topic 4 Shaping places (4A Regenerating places or 4B Diverse places)

· It is very useful forf AS fieldwork and/or the independent investigation.

This article is a good starting point for thinking about how data on Shaping places might be collected. Many of the Shaping places themes do not lend themselves easily to the collection of hard, statistical data so other more qualitative approaches and sources are needed. Some of these approaches might seem a little woolly. However, remember that a key assessment criterion is a student’s ability to assess the success (reliability, repeatability, validity etc.) of different data collection techniques. This means that some techniques with obvious ‘issues’ are potentially useful. It is helpful to see this article and the one starting on page 13 as a pair.

Geographical skills Studying local places

· This articles links to Topic 4 Shaping places (4A Regenerating places or 4B Diverse places)

· Use it alongside the previous article.

This article makes some practical suggestions about place studies that could be used as a basis for data collection. Tables 1 and 2 can be used as a starting point for thinking about types of data that could be collected and how this might be done. It’s just as important to access secondary data: there are obvious sources like the census, but some less obvious ones that can also be explored.

Land grabbing in Laos and Cambodia: understanding why it happens

· Use this article within Topic 8 Global development (8A Health, human rights and intervention or 8B Migration, identity and sovereignty)

The article links most strongly to the idea of sovereignty within Topic 8B and the question of who has rights to land in an increasingly globalised world. There is also a strong link to human rights in Topic 8A in terms of the diplacement of people whose land has been taken. This is a useful case study that can be applied to both of the option topics.

Centrepiece Electricity from UK tidal energy

· Links to Topic 6 Carbon cycle and energy security, and to some extent the idea of regenerating rural places in topic 4B.

Tidal energy is a renewable source that seems to have been a long time coming. The focus has shifted from very large-scale plans to more local ones in recent years. These schemes have the potential to provide low-carbon energy in isolated locations and perhaps be the focus for economic regeneration in some places were traditional industries have declined.

Fracking in North Dakota: a case study with lessons for the UK

· Use this article as a case study in Topic 6 Carbon cycle and energy security

Fracking has transformed USA energy security and has huge potential worldwide, including some potential in the UK. It is a divisive topic, pitching environmentalists against those focused more on economics. Like any energy source, fracking has a complex set of costs and benefits that students need to understand in depth. Fracking cannot simply be dismissed but neither can it be allowed without question. It’s the sort of topic that can help students understand the need to evaluate a range of evidence, from both sides of the argument, in order to come to a substantiated judgement e.g. about whether it should be allowed in the UK.

Geographical ideas Feedback

· This article links to the physical topics.

Feedback is one of the specialist geographical concepts in our specification. It is most likely to be encountered (as here) in the physical topics, especially climate change and the carbon cycle. Understanding feedback within a physical system is important because feedback can affect the nature and speed of change. Fears of positive feedback within the carbon cycle and climate system are very real.

Glacial landsystems: modelling glacial processes and landforms

· Use this article for Topic 2 Landscape systems (2A Glaciated landscapes)

The first part of this article is a good introduction to glaciated landscapes in general, in terms of their components and the geographical terminology used to describe them. The second part of the article considers two case studies: the active glacial landscape of Iceland and reconstructing ice cover in the now relict landscape of the Lake District. The link between contemporary studies and reconstructions of the past is explored in detail.

Climate change update The global warming pause

· This article is useful background for a number of topics.

The issue of global warming is woven into many of our topics including coasts, glaciated landscapes, water, carbon and energy. It is important that students have an up-to-date understanding of trends in global warming and this includes recognition of the ‘pause’ and explanations of it. In addition, the complexity of the climate system and natural variations within it need to be recognised. This needs to go beyond a ‘newspaper headline’ recognition and include understanding of some aspects of climate complexity. The role of the oceans as a heat sink is highlighted in this article. It’s essential background for all students.

Superpower without empire: how the USA achieved global dominance

· This article is useful for Topic 7 Superpowers.

Superpowers maintain their power using a number of mechanisms. This article is a useful summary of the different ways the USA maintains its power economically, culturally, militarily and politically. As such it can be used a case study. Students might like to move on to consider the extent to which some emerging powers share the characteristics of the USA.