GeographyQ&A by dot point

Fieldwork and data-gathering techniques, the difference between primary and secondary data, sampling methods, and choosing and justifying techniques for a geographical investigation.

The processing of geographical data, choosing and interpreting graphs and diagrams, simple statistics such as averages and percentages, and drawing conclusions from data.

The use of Ordnance Survey maps including four- and six-figure grid references, scale and distance, direction and bearings, height and gradient, and the interpretation of relief and land use.

The Higher Geography assignment as the added value component, including choosing a geographical topic and aim, gathering primary and secondary data, processing and presenting it, analysing the results, reaching a conclusion and evaluating the methods, marked out of 30.

The physical and human causes of climate change, the local and global effects, and the management strategies and their limitations.

Indicators of development and their validity, the reasons for differences in development between and within countries, and a study of a disease including its causes, impact, management and strategies.

The reasons for the changing global demand for energy, the effectiveness of renewable and non-renewable approaches, and the suitability of renewable approaches in a chosen area.

The causes of selected environmental hazards (earthquakes, volcanoes and tropical storms), their effects on people and the environment, and the strategies used to predict, prepare for and respond to them, with their limitations.

The characteristics of a selected natural region (climate, soils, vegetation and wildlife), the human use of that region, the conflicts and changes that result, and the strategies used to manage them sustainably.

The physical and human factors in selecting a dam and reservoir site, the need for water management, and the social, economic and environmental consequences of a multi-purpose scheme.

The patterns of world trade and why they are unequal, the causes and consequences of global poverty and inequality, and the types and effectiveness of aid, including their limitations.

Methods of population data collection, the demographic transition model, the causes and consequences of population change and structure, and the causes and consequences of migration.

Rural land use conflicts and their management in a rainforest or semi-arid area, and the causes, impacts and management of rural land degradation.

The need for management of recent urban change in a developed-world city such as Glasgow and in a developing-world city, including housing, transport and the environment.

The global heat budget, the causes of the surplus of energy in low latitudes and the deficit at high latitudes, and the redistribution of energy by atmospheric circulation, ocean currents and the inter-tropical convergence zone.

The formation and properties of soil, the soil-forming factors, the soil profile and horizons, and the characteristics of the podzol, brown earth and gley soils.

The drainage basin as an open system with inputs, stores, transfers and outputs, the components of the hydrological cycle and the hydrograph, and the processes of erosion, transport and deposition that create fluvial landforms.

The processes of glacial erosion and deposition and the resulting upland landforms, and the processes of coastal erosion and deposition and the resulting features of erosion and deposition.