Using This Issue for Edexcel AS and A-Level Geography s1

Volume 30, Number 1, September 2016

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
Forced migrants in the UK / 2–5 / A-level topic 8B Migration, identity and sovereignty
Geographical skills What is a geographical enquiry? / 6–8 / A-level independent investigation
Geographical ideas Mitigation or adaptation? / 9–11 / AS and A-level topic 1 Tectonic processes and hazards, AS topic 2A and 2B, and A-level topic 6 Carbon cycle
Changing urban places: a case study of Wollongong / 12–17 / AS and A-level topic 4A Regenerating Places
Climate change update Understanding the 2015 Paris Agreement / 18–19 / A-level topic 6 Carbon cycle
Centrepiece 30 years of Geography Review / 20–21 / -
Question and answer Tectonic hazards / 22–25 / AS topic 1 Tectonic processes and hazards
Energy matters Cheap oil: is it a good thing? / 26–27 / A-level topic 6 Carbon cycle and energy security
Geographical ideas Understanding our place in the world / 28–29 / AS and A-level topic 4A Regenerating places and 4B Diverse places
Tornadoes in the British Isles / 30–34 / -
Natural flood management: what solutions does it offer? / 35–39 / A-level topic 5 Water cycle and water security
Geographical ideas OpenStreetMap: a new way of mapping the world / 40–41 / A-level independent investigation
AS level fieldwork
The big picture Blood Falls, Antarctica / 42 / AS and A-level topic 2A Glaciated landscapes

Forced migrants in the UK

· This article is most relevant to A-level topic 8B Migration, identity and sovereignty.

Within this topic students are required to understand a range of different types of migration. In other AS and A-level topics migration appears, but the focus is usually on economic migrants. This article focuses on the issue of forced migration and asylum seekers. Traditionally students, rather like the media, have struggled to define different groups of migrants clearly. This article is a useful detailed investigation into what it means to be a refugee or asylum seeker. It could be used to broaden out a discussion into different types of migrant and how they differ in terms of legal status and motives for leaving their place of origin as well as the forces that influenced their final destination location.

Geographical skills What is a geographical enquiry?

· This article is relevant to the A-level individual investigation

This article provides an useful introduction for students to the expectations of the individual investigation. This is new to A-level geography of course, but for many experienced teachers it is a return to something we delivered in the past. You could use this article at the start of planning the individual investigations to give students a clear idea of where they are heading and the expectations on them.

Geographical ideas Mitigation or adaptation?

· This article is most relevant for AS and A-level topic 1 Tectonic processes and hazards, and Topic 2A and 2B, and to A-level topic 6 The carbon cycle.

Mitigation and adaptation are two of the ‘specialist geographical contexts’ on page 9 of the specification and form part of the synoptic themes that run through the spec. We are most used to using the terms in the context of global warming. In the new specification the terms are used in a much broader sense so also appear in tectonics and the topic 2 options. This article usefully broadens the scope of the terms adaptation and mitigation by considering them in the context of coastal management. You could discuss with your class how the terms might be applied to managing tectonic hazards.

Changing urban places: a case study of Wollongong

· This article links to the AS and A-level topic 4A Regenerating places

Many places in the developed world have experienced painful economic restructuring since the 1970s with the loss of traditional heavy industry — a major employer — often pulling the rug out from under once proud, prosperous communities. Examples such as Sheffield and Detroit are well known, but Wollongong in Australia has undergone a similar process and had to decide which way to turn in terms of regeneration. The article can be used to explore the meaning of terms like regeneration, rebranding and reimaging in the non-UK context, providing a useful case study of the issues thrown up by attempts to regenerate.

Climate change update Understanding the 2015 Paris agreement

· This update links most strongly to A-level topic 6 The carbon cycle.

There have been many attempts at a ‘universal’ climate-change agreement in the past. In Copenhagen in 2009 there was much fanfare but the post-conference reckoning showed that only limited progress had been made. Paris was different, as this article makes clear. Agreements were made and the COP21 pledges to reduce emissions stand to make a difference. The question for students to consider is whether they will make enough of a difference — assuming the agreement can hold together and countries work to meet their targets.

Question and answer Tectonic hazards

· This Q&A is from the AS Sample Assessment Materials for our specification, Paper 1.

You can use this question in class as part of revision. One approach would be to set the question for homework or timed in a lesson, then use the article to help mark and review student answers. Box 1 on page 22 indicates the key changes to AS questions you should expect in 2016. While the exam paper may look similar to 2008 spec Unit 1 there are important differences to command-word use, mark schemes and question types – especially the inclusion of ‘skills’ questions. Focus on student understanding of the command word ‘assess’. This is new to AS so students need to be clear what it demands in terms of an answer.

Energy matters Cheap oil: is it a good thing?

· This Energy Matters links to A-level topic 6 The carbon cycle and energy security

In the new specification, the carbon cycle is linked to the topic of energy security. The latter is familiar territory to those who taught the 2008 specification. The issue of supply and demand of oil is important as – despite the work of OPEC – the oil price rises and falls as a result of changes to supply and demand. Since 2007 oil prices have been very volatile operating in a range from below $30 per barrel to close to $150. As the world still runs on oil, its price can affect all sectors of the economy not only ones – like transport – that appear to be directly related to it. Understanding why prices change is important, as is understanding the relationship between price and investment in new sources of oil e.g. tar sands, Arctic exploration etc.

Geographical ideas Understanding our place in the world

· This article relates to AS and A-level topic 4A Regenerating places and 4B Diverse places

Of all of the new themes for 2016, the idea of ‘place’ is perhaps the most challenging. It is such a familiar word that it seems to have a slippery meaning. This article is a very good place to start in terms of getting students to understand what is meant by place. It is clear that the meaning of the ‘place’ they are in when they read the article has changed over time. Many students may not recognise the ‘internalist’ view of place at all because their own perception of place is likely to be much more globalised and ‘borderless’.

Natural flood management: what solutions does it offer?

· This article can be used within A-level topic 5 The water cycle and water insecurity

River systems do appear in the 2016 specification. In Topic 5, key idea 5.3 focuses on hydrographs and key idea 5.5 on flood causes and flood management. For many of you, this will be the first time you have taught rivers in an A-level context for some time. This article is quite useful in terms of considering the causes of flooding and reintroducing the language of river systems and hydrographs to students. The focus of types of flood management in the specification is not large but it does imply that natural management — discussed here — is better than hard engineering. The spec focuses on drainage basin/catchment scale processes as does this article.

Geographical ideas OpenStreetMap: a new way of mapping the world

· Use this article as background for the A-level independent -nvestigation and AS fieldwork

· The disaster management element of the article links to topic 1 Tectonic hazards

OpenStreetMap is an easy to access, free online map. Its benefit lies in the level of detail achieved on the maps, which is similar to OS maps. OSM comes in a variety of flavours. The standard OSM map is a detailed street map, quite suitable for use during fieldwork. OpenCycleMap is a contour map with less detail about buildings but more at the level of terrain. It is an amazing feat of collaborative work, well worth exploring. As the article points out it was been used in a humanitarian context because it is free and available to anyone to use.