Revision: Economic World

What does the specification say?

Characteristics of farm systems:

• intensive/extensive

• commercial/subsistence

• arable/pastoral

• organic.

The broad physical, economic, political and human factors affecting a farmer’s choices.

students should - Classify farms using the terminology in the content. Explain the factors that influence farmer’s choices.

case study: A study from the EU to consider changes affecting farm systems.

students should - Recall specific information about a study of a farming system in the EU, to include the affect of government policies and scientific advances

case study: Rice farming in the Philippines

students should - Recall specific information about a study of intensive wet rice farming, to include any advances that have taken place.

Population: What does the specification say?

Population:The balance between birth and death rate. Change due to migration.

Students should be able to recognise the global change in population over the past 2000 years and the contribution that birth and death rates make to this change and identify differences between the birth and death rates of MEDCs and LEDCs and the effect of migration.
Check out this website:
Institut national d'études démographiques. The animations and diagrams are excellent.

Geography in Bitesizes!

Set the VCR, DVD or Sky+ box:

Bitesize Revision
BBC TWO
Age 14 - 16
GCSE Bitesize Geography
Global Issues
27 MAR '07 04.00 - 06.00 120 minutes
28 MAR '07 04.00 - 06.00 120 minutes
Human geography
28 MAR '07 02.00 - 04.00 120 minutes
29 MAR '07 02.00 - 04.00 120 minutes
Physical geography
28 MAR '070 4.00 - 06.00 120 minutes
29 MAR '07 4.00 - 06.00 120 minutes

and if you miss them then...

Bitesize Revision
BBC TWO
Age 14 - 16
GCSE Bitesize Geography
Global Issues 26 APR '07 02.00 - 04.00 120 minutes
Human geography 25 APR '07 02.00 - 04.00 120 minutes
Physical geography 25 APR '07 04.00 - 06.00 120 minutes

Change of layout: An explanation!

As we enter the final phase of the course, posts may be getting longer & a wider text box is easier to read. I may tweek it a little over the next few days. Hope you like it!

Programa Favela-Bairro: Urban Improvement in Rio de Janeiro

Between 1994-2000 Programa Favela-Bairro has followed the basic approach of the local authority to increasing access to the legal city offered by urbanising “favelas” and at the same time promoting social health and education programmes. It does not cover the construction of housing units – except in cases of re-settling due to works – and it is focused on the improvement of the place with the final aim of including it socially in the local neighbourhood. It has completed the urbanisation of 119 “favelas” of average size from 1994 to 2000.

An overall evaluation shows that the programme attains many of the objectives it has set, especially those of social-physical integration and the strengthening of citizenship ties and social inclusion. Although it has been successful in improving the image of the favelas, the problems of illegality and irregularity still remain without solution, and they continue to constitute enclaves in the city, dominated by marginal activities. From the point of view of the individual houses, although it has innovated in the acknowledgement of the potential of auto-construction and community initiatives, the programme has failed to provide support for the improvement of the dwelling conditions.

Rio de Janeiro -wish I had found this earlier!

Land use map of Rio



Model of Brazilian cities

The problems of Rio de Janeiro include:

Shanty towns often located on unsuitable & often hazardous sites.
Residents lack tenure of the land they live on – most squatter settlements are built illegally.
High concentrations of the poorest people in society.
High levels of unemployment & very low incomes.
Unsanitary living conditions – no access to clean water supplies of sewage disposal.
Very poor access to medical services & high rates of disease (eg cholera) & high mortality rates.
High endemic levels of crime and violence as a result of poverty & lack of economic opportunities.
Poor locked into a downward spiral of poverty & poor health.
Many different schemes have bee tried to solve the shanty town problem, with varying degrees of success:

Post on schemes to improve conditions in the Favelas will follow soon!

How to revise!

Exams looming? No need to panic, just get organised!

Find somewhere quiet to work, somewhere that you feel comfortable.
Take frequent breaks, work in short bursts. Every 30 minutes or so, change topic or subject.
When you're revising, the trick is to be active.
That means not simply reading your books and hoping that it'll sink in, but
actually doing something with the information.
But what should I actually do?

You may find some of these links useful!
Think carefully about the questions that are asked - How will you manage your time? Where is the best place to revise? What do you need to revise? What are the different techniques that can be used for revision? How can I concentrate when I am revising?

The first link is to the Aston University student support site. Don't be put off by this - the issues are the same for University Students. The second link is to 'Know it all' which is a site that I mentioned for the trial exams.

What are the stages of revising a topic?

Stage 1 - get your material together. Make sure you have all the course handouts and copies of all the key readings, and that you know where the notes you took during the course are
Stage 2 - get a feel for the course. Read over the handouts and your own notes
Stage 3 - look at previous exam papers (see Student information)
Stage 4 - select your topics for revision (see above)
Stage 5 - the solid work


Remember what type of learner you are & work to your strengths.

Use different techniques

Make it stick -go over stuff
Look ,cover, write, check
Fill diagrams in from memory
Use highlighters
Make 'expert cards'
Make jigsaws -separate terms & meanings then match them up
Practice exam questions
Use online revision sites
listen to podcasts (eg on Biitesize), record your own
Teach a topic to someone else

Post other techniques that work as a comment to this blog!
Visit this (and other) Geog Blogs..... Often!

Welcome a new Boston Spa Geography blog

Check out the latest Geog blog 'Mr White does Geography'

The beginning of the end......Revision Lesson 1

Settlement: There are two parts to this part of the course.

What the specification says:
1. The siting of settlements Physical and economic factors affecting the location, shape and growth of settlements- Students should be able to describe and explain the physical and economic factors that affect the location, shape and growth of settlements.

2. Urban structure - a comparison between two cities. A study of one urban area in an MEDC and one in an LEDC to describe and explain the characteristics and locations of the CBD, twilight zone, industrial areas and different residential zones.Students should -be able to recall and explain the characteristics and locations of the CBD, twilight zone, industrial areas and different residential zones in one named MEDC city.

Our chosen case studies are Leeds & Rio de Janeiro. The text book examples are Reading and Bangalore.



You need to be able to draw an annotated sketch map of the two cities, showing different land use zones & explaining how the zones have developed.

This is a detailed account of the Urban Geography of Leeds

For a description of the different zones in Rio de Janeiro click on this link.

You need to know the theory of urban land use & a knowledge of bid rent theory would be good.


The Barcalona Field Studies Centre website provides a useful summary, along with the usual Bitesize & S Cool websites.

Bid rent theory is a geographical theory that refers to how the price and demand on land changes as the distance towards the CBD (Central Business District) increases.

It states that different land users will compete with one and other for land close to the city centre. This is based upon the idea that retail establishments wish to maximise their profitability, so they are much more willing to pay more for land close to the CBD and less for land further away from this area. This theory is based upon the reasoning that the more accessible an area, the more profitable it is going to be.

The different land users all compete with one and other for the more accessible land. The amount that they are willing to pay is called Bid Rent. As a direct result of this, a pattern of concentric rings of land use develops. It could be assumed that, according to this theory, the poorest houses and buildings will be on the very outskirts of the City (the suburbs), as that is the only place that they can afford to occupy. However, in modern times this is rarely the case, as many people prefer to trade off the accessibility of being close to the CBD, and move to the edges of the settlement, where it is possible to buy more land for the same amount of money (as Bid Rent states). Likewise, lower income housing trades off greater living space for greater accessibility to employment. For this reason low income housing is found in the inner city, and high income housing is at the edges of the settlement (from Wikipedia)

View of Rio de Janeiro

Landing & Land Use in Leeds

Can you recognize the different land use zones? How? What are their characteristics?

Mt St Helens erupting!

No,not now,but in 1981! I have found a new 'toy' for the blog that should enable some of the good Youtube movies to be viewed from within the blog.

Synoptic Charts

The Revision Programme outline

Anticyclones

There is a great website that summarises all you need to know about anticyclones. It is important that you realise that different weather conditions are associated with these systems according to the season, so follow the buttons for WINTER and SUMMER on the website. Make appropriate notes in your exersise book & summarise on EXPERT cards. The website can be found by following this link

Coursework in need of a 'tweek'

Click on the map to look at the movement of the jet stream over the next few days & link into the Metcheck website. Snow & really low temperatures forecast for the French Alps early next week. There will be a corresponding cooling of temperatures in Leeds with a possibility of snow on Monday! Honestly -check it out!

Coursework is ready for that final tweek now that the course content is more or less covered. Pop your work onto a memory stick or attach it to an email for a bit of final mark extraction on Friday! You could create an account on http://www.4shared.com/ & upload it. Follow the instructions & use the 'free' option -I do!

Introduction to the unit: Powerpoint

You can now watch my PowerPoints without downloading them first!

Postman Pat does Depressions

To watch the wonderful 'Postman Pat does Depressions' again, you can download it from this site. Tony Cassidy is a legend!

Atmospheric circulation

There were a few 'glazed' faces in class last week The topic of atmospheric circulation always seems to have that effect on my classes! Its not a huge part of this topic, but a look at this stunning animation might help!

Don't forget to do the hazards quick quiz!

Deadly earthquake hits Indonesia

A powerful earthquake has struck the Indonesian island of Sumatra, killing at least 70 people and flattening hundreds of buildings. See the Beeb website for more details.

Quick Quiz on Tectonic Hazards

Follow the link & complete a quick quiz on Tectonic Hazards. This is part of the ILA from Friday 2nd's lesson. Please complete as soon as possible as I would like to assess the use of 'Survey Monkey' in conjunction with the blog.