Wednesday 31st January

Sorry that I am missing today's lesson. You will have an opportunity to complete your 'expert cards' for topics covered in the trial exams & to otherwise 'dot the i's & cross the t's'. There will be paper cards available & 'virtual' ones can be found on the previous post. If you look on the latest posts on the Geobytes blog you will find some fantastic resources on earthquakes -you could use San Fransisco as an MEDC example (instead of Kobe). It was featured on the 'Ring of Fire' DVD that you watched at the beginning of the unit. Friday pd 3 is planner period so see you next week! If you have any questions, just post them as 'comments' on this post & I will get back to you as quickly as I can.

Expert cards

If you wish to make additional 'expert cards' or produce them on the PC, you can download the Publisher document from here. If you do not have Publisher then there are copies on this powerpoint, plus a list of the 'expert cards' needed for the trial exam material. Please make sure that you complete the cards correctly & in an appropriate amount of detail.

feedback ready!

Expect to receive detailed feedback on both papers & to take action! Please bring all exercise books & textbook to the lesson.

An Inconvienient Truth

For more information on the DVD we watched today go to this website. National Geographic News checked with Eric Steig, an earth scientist at the University of Washington in Seattle, who saw An Inconvenient Truth at a preview screening to assess the validity of the claims made in the film.

Paper 2!

The final words of wisdom....... watch the time! Assume 20 minutes reading & planning the 1 mark per minute! 4 mark bit.... 4 minutes, 9 marks..... 9 minutes! Make sure that your language is precise & that you use the correct case studies. Read back over the 'command words' post & the Paper 2 case studies post. Rehearse the key details & check that you know what they are examples of! Do the questions we have studied i.e. Managing hazards & Managing Tourism! Do NOT attempt the other two questions!!!!!! Good Luck to you all!

From the examiners report... about case studies.

This is a quote from the Examiners Report for the 2006 June Exam for paper 3H (Paper 1, Higher tier): "
The examiner states "A typical C candidate would be expected to write several level two responses for Q1(d), Q2(c), Q4(b)(iii) and Q4(d) but it was my experience that this was not often the case. Many of the answers are very general without any specific case study material andhave remained at level one even when their theory has been good." The examiner goes on to write "Similarly the typical A candidate would be expected to write several level three responses but this is not always the case."

I have been careful to teach & highlight the case studies required in the specification. Make sure that you recognise the opportunities to use this knowledge & understanding. You will have seen this school based GCSE site during lessons. If you click here it will take you to their revision site, which is great (wish I could do this-but at least I found it!). This will remind you again where the case studies are & give you some additional material to help you review your learning.

Rio de Janerio

We spent quite a while today reviewing the patterns of land use in an MEDC city, especially in relation to Leeds but made little reference to Rio de Janeiro as the LEDC case study. Whilst revising Rio you may want to look at the Wikepedia entry for Rio & to follow the link to Favelas. It is pretty good on the different zones within Rio although lacks a detailed map.

Case Study: Tropical Forests

Additional information on Paupa New Guinea & a host of support information specifically for Edexcel Specification A can be found following this link. Most of the information appears to relate to case studies in the text book but not all! It looks to be really valuable. Have a good look.

Have you considered having your own blog to record or reflect on your learning in Geography? You can create a blog that only you can read if you prefer. Follow the instructions when you log in to Blogger. Its not just for geeky types -I have manged so far!

Dyson: An example of a transnational company

Until 2002, the Dyson vacuum cleaner company was widely regarded as a rather unusual British business. Its owner, James Dyson, had resisted moving operations abroad, despite the fact that labour and land costs would certainly be cheaper elsewhere. Choosing instead to keep his manufacturing plant in the UK, Dyson was often portrayed by the media as a patriotic figure, given that his reluctance to relocate was increasing the firm’s operating costs and reducing potential profits.

Why did Dyson change his mind?
In 2002, Dyson announced that he was relocating the production wing of his business to Malaysia. As a result, 800 semi-skilled UK assembly workers lost their jobs, although 1200 head office (tertiary) and research (quaternary) employees have remained in place at the firm’s Wiltshire headquarters. The sackings led to accusations of hypocrisy being levelled against James Dyson by workers and Trade Unions. He quickly became “a symbol in the debate over globalisation and outsourcing” (The Independent on Sunday, 27 February 2005). However, this year’s record profit of £102.9m - representing a 137% increase on previous figures – seems to vindicate his decision to move. Dyson products have even overtaken those of the Hoover firm to become the number one best-seller in the US. It appears the new locational strategy is working!

Who benefits?
There are benefits for Malaysia, as this inward investment helps the development of that country. Workers’ earnings help to boost Malaysian consumer markets. There are benefits for the UK economy also, as Dyson’s profits increase. Increased corporate taxes mean more money is available for public services in the UK, such as health and education. There are new opportunities for scientists to work for Dyson.
However, the manufacturing workers sacked in Wiltshire in 2002 may have a differing view of events and some will have struggled to find new work. There are always losers and winners whenever firms relocate.

The Dyson story can provide an up-to-date look at the globalisation of industry (in this case the global electronics industry), including the winners and losers of the relocation processes involved. It is a specific example of a trans national corporation. Important themes in the Dyson story for GCSE include:
· Changing features of employment as a country develops and industry evolves from secondary to tertiary and quaternary and its geographical causes and consequences.
· Many countries which are rapidly industrialising are known as NICs: Newly Industrialised (or Industrialising) Countries, and they include places such as Taiwan and Malaysia. These countries are also part of the Pacific Rim giving industries located there easier access to North American markets.
· LEDCs emerging as the 'least cost location' for a number of industries, notably in manufacturing. Also, many call centres (tertiary industries) are being moved to countries other than the ones in which the companies headquarters are based. Manufacturing examples are the move of companies like Dyson to Malaysia and Dr. Martens to China.

The textbook example of a TNC in an LEDC is Fiat in Brazil. Learn at least one of these case studies! Part of Fridays lesson will be reviewing 'Economic World'.

Montserrat volcano increases activity levels

The island of Montserrat was put on a high level of alert as the Soufriere Hills volcano vented ash along its western flank.
Hundreds of people living at the base of the volcano were evacuated as a lava dome grew to dangerous levels late in the week.
Scientists at the Montserrat Volcano Observatory warned that the latest activity could cause the dome to crumble, sending pyroclastic clouds of superheated gas and debris cascading down the slope of the mountain. Look at the National Geographic 'Photo in the News' site for more pictures and details.

Exam Command Terms

The following list of command terms may be useful in more than your Geography exam! Its clearly important to do what the examiner requires inorder to gain maximum marks. A useful tactic in the exam is to highlight command terms in one colour. Its also useful to highlight key geographical terms in another colour, making sure that you demonstrate understanding of the key terms in your answers where appropriate.

Annotate:Add notes of description or explanation to labels.
Comment:On the basis of your knowledge and understanding, give views on…
Compare:To write what is similar and what is different between two areas or two ideas. Two descriptions do not make a comparison.
Describe:To write about what something is like, without attempt to explain.
Explain:To write how or why things appear.
Give reasons for:To write two or more points about why or how things happen.
Identify:‘Pick out’
Justify:Make out a case for.
Label:Pick out name feature(s) required.
List:A number of one word or one line facts or ideas.
Locate:To write or mark accurately where something is in relation to other places.
Predict:To look at the evidence and suggest what might happen next.
Select:Choose
State:Write in a short, clear way.
Study:Look carefully at the resource.
Suggest:On the basis of your knowledge and understanding, to write down how and why you think things happen
Summarise:Write down the main points.
Use:This means that you must get information from the resources provided.

Case Studies for Paper Two (so far!)

Managing Tourism:
Coastal Tourism includes Ayia Napa & Majorcia as examples in an MEDC & Bali in an LEDC. For Mountain Tourism in an LEDC we studied the Himalayas especially the areas around Annapurna & Mt Everest. The textbook examples are Malham (MEDC) & Machu Picchu (LEDC). To understand the sustainable management of tourism the examples of The Maldives & Yosemite (both in the textbook) were studied.
Managing Hazards (only studied Tectonic hazards so far):
Volcanic Hazard case studies are Mt St Helens (MEDC) & Mt Pinatubo (LEDC). Earthquake harzards are Kashmir & Kobe. The videos on the Kashmir earthquake that I found on U Tube are here and here. The whole powerpoint can be downloaded from 4 shared.com by clicking here. Follow the link & then click 'download file here'. Let me know if you have any problems with this. If it works a few times then I can use this to host other files that may be useful for you as we complete the course.

Case Studies.... what case studies?

As promised, a list of the specific named examples that you need to know:
Paper One ........Physical World = none! Human World = Leeds & Rio de Janerio. Practice sketching & explaining the land use patterns. You could use images from Google Earth as a starter for learning these examples. If you are a Google Earth novice help sheets can be found here, along with lots of other useful information about using Google Earth! In Economic World the agriculture case studies are Bradley Farm, as an example of agricultural change within the EEC and of course, Intensive Rice Farming in South East Asia! For the industrial location examples we studied the M4 corridor (with Swindon in detail) & Fiat in Brazil. The Forest example for Natural World is the one in the text book (Paupa New Guiniea) for the moment but I will work out an example from the Amazon rainforest that develops the range of causes of deforestation. Watch this space! That is it for Paper One!

I will post on Paper 2 examples tomorrow.

Specification

Link here to go the Edexcel A specification. Pages 12 to 23 are the important bits, as they list the content. Remember that in Paper 2 the options that we study are Managing Hazards and Managing Tourism. The contents of our course are also laid out in your yellow booklet.

Friday 5th January 2007

Today's lesson is really a chance to go over any issues arising from your holiday exam preparation and to look at your Geog PDSA's.

To give a focus I set the following objective for part of the lesson. They were to use a range of revision techniques to ensure that these learning objectives could be met:

• You will know what factors characterise the tropical and boreal forests & will be able to describe & explain their distribution around the globe.
• You should be able to describe and explain how the vegetation has adapted to the environment in both types of forest.
• You should also be able to describe and explain the conflicts of interest within a named area of tropical rainforest.

The following resources may also be useful to you
S-Cool is good, as usual. Look on both the GCSE & A level section.
For more detail on forest biomes look at The Blue Planet Biomes website.
Worth looking for details of specific projects that e.g. the Rainforest Foundation is working on.

Remember to make sure that your revision is focused, specific and active, practice drawing the diagrams, labelling maps, mind mapping case studies........ Check that you understand key terms and command words Know it All takes a fresh look at study techniques. Not seen this one before but it looks interesting. See you next Friday. I will post another blog before then. Good Luck!

Good Luck!

The trial exams are nearly here! By the end of the exams this blog should be up and running. I intend to post materials to support each weeks lessons. This may take the form of web links, additional information or a review of the lesson. Hope it helps. Add the blog to your bookmarks & visit often