Geographical skills

You are required to develop and demonstrate a range of geographical skills — cartographic, graphical, numerical and statistical — throughout your study of the specification.

Two things follow from that, and both matter for revision. Skills are assessed in all three written exams, not in a paper of their own; and Ordnance Survey maps or other map extracts may be used in any of the three. So a map or a graph can appear attached to any topic, and skills marks are available throughout rather than in one predictable place.

Cartographic skills relate to a variety of maps at different scales.

Atlas maps. You should be able to use and understand coordinates — latitude and longitude; recognise and describe distributions and patterns of both human and physical features; identify and describe significant features of the physical and human landscape, such as population distribution, population movements, transport networks, settlement layout, relief and drainage; and analyse the inter-relationship between physical and human factors on maps, establishing associations between observed patterns on thematic maps.

That last one is the highest-value skill here: putting two maps side by side and saying what the link between them is — for example, that settlement is concentrated in the lowlands and sparse in the uplands, because building and farming are easier on flat land.

Ordnance Survey maps. You should be able to use and interpret OS maps at a range of scales, including 1:50 000 and 1:25 000.

Scale matters for measuring: on a 1:50 000 map, 2 cm represents 1 km; on a 1:25 000 map, 4 cm represents 1 km.

Coordinates — four and six-figure grid references. The rule is always the same: read along the bottom first, then up the side. Four figures identify a whole grid square; six figures identify a point within it by imagining each square divided into tenths.

You should also be able to:

• Use and understand scale, distance and direction — measuring straight and curved line distances using a variety of scales. For a curved distance such as a road or river, lay a piece of string or the edge of paper along it in short straight sections, mark each turn, then measure the total against the scale bar. • Use and understand gradient, contour and spot height. Contours join points of equal height; the closer together they are, the steeper the slope. Contours far apart mean gentle slopes or flat land. • Use numerical and statistical information given on or with the map. • Identify basic landscape features and describe their characteristics from map evidence. • Identify major relief features and relate cross-sectional drawings to relief features. • Draw inferences about the physical and human landscape by interpretation of map evidence, including patterns of relief, drainage, settlement, communication and land-use. • Interpret cross sections and transects of physical and human landscapes. • Describe the physical features as they are shown on large scale maps of two of the following landscapes — coastlines, fluvial and glacial landscapes. These will be the two you studied in 3.1.3. • Infer human activity from map evidence, including tourism. Campsites, car parks, viewpoints, picnic sites, information centres and footpaths on a map together indicate an area used for tourism, and saying so with the symbols as evidence is exactly what is wanted.

Maps in association with photographs. You should be able to compare maps; draw, label, understand and interpret sketch maps; use and interpret ground, aerial and satellite photographs; describe human and physical landscapes — landforms, natural vegetation, land-use and settlement — and geographical phenomena from photographs; draw sketches from photographs; and label and annotate diagrams, maps, graphs, sketches and photographs.

A label names a feature; an annotation adds a sentence of description or explanation. Questions asking you to annotate want more than one word, and marks are lost by labelling when annotation was asked for.

You should be able to select and construct appropriate graphs and charts to present data, using appropriate scales, and to suggest an appropriate form of graphical representation for the data provided.

That second skill is examined more often than students expect, so it is worth being able to justify a choice rather than only draw what you are told to.

You should be able to complete a variety of graphs and maps — choropleth, isoline, dot maps, desire lines, proportional symbols and flow lines — and to use and understand gradient, contour and value on isoline maps.

• Choropleth — areas shaded by value, with darker shading for higher values. Good for showing regional patterns; its weakness is that it implies a sudden change at boundaries and hides variation within each area. • Isoline — lines joining points of equal value, such as contours or isotherms. Where lines are close together the value changes rapidly. • Dot map — one dot represents a fixed quantity, showing distribution. • Desire line — a straight line from origin to destination showing movement, ignoring the actual route. • Proportional symbols — the size of the symbol is proportional to the value. • Flow line — an arrow whose width is proportional to the volume moving along a route.

You should also be able to plot information on graphs when axes and scales are provided, and interpret and extract information from different types of maps, graphs and charts, including population pyramids, choropleth maps, flow-line maps and dispersion graphs.

Numerical skills. You should be able to demonstrate an understanding of number, area and scales, and the quantitative relationships between units; design fieldwork data collection sheets and collect data with an understanding of accuracy, sample size and procedures, control groups and reliability; understand and correctly use proportion and ratio, magnitude and frequency; and draw informed conclusions from numerical data.

Statistical skills. You should be able to use appropriate measures of central tendency, spread and cumulative frequency.

You should also be able to calculate percentage increase or decrease and understand the use of percentiles.

percentage change = (change ÷ original value) × 100

Use the original value as the denominator, not the new one — that is the single most common error in these calculations.

Describing relationships in bivariate data: sketch trend lines through scatter plots, draw estimated lines of best fit, make predictions, and interpolate and extrapolate trends.

• A positive correlation means both variables rise together; a negative correlation means one rises as the other falls; no correlation means the points are scattered with no trend. • Interpolating means estimating a value within the range of the data — reasonably reliable. • Extrapolating means extending the trend beyond the data — less reliable, because the trend may not continue.

And you should be able to identify weaknesses in selective statistical presentation of data. Things to look for: a vertical axis that does not start at zero, exaggerating differences; a scale chosen to flatten or steepen a trend; a small or unrepresentative sample; a time period chosen to show a particular result; and averages quoted without any measure of spread.

Use of qualitative and quantitative data from both primary and secondary sources to obtain, illustrate, communicate, interpret, analyse and evaluate geographical information.

• Quantitative data is numerical — counts, measurements and percentages. It is objective and easy to compare, but it does not capture opinions or reasons. • Qualitative data is descriptive — interviews, photographs, sketches and written accounts. It captures people's views and experience, but it is subjective and harder to compare. • Primary data is collected first-hand by you; secondary data was collected by someone else.

The types of data named in the specification: maps; fieldwork data; geo-spatial data presented in a geographical information system (GIS) framework; satellite imagery; written and digital sources; visual and graphical sources; and numerical and statistical information.

Formulate enquiry and argument. You should be able to identify questions and sequences of enquiry; write descriptively, analytically and critically; communicate your ideas effectively; develop an extended written argument; and draw well-evidenced and informed conclusions about geographical questions and issues.

The difference between those three kinds of writing is what separates grades on the longer questions:

• Descriptive writing says what something is like — "the settlement is concentrated in the valley". • Analytical writing says why, and what it means — "the settlement is concentrated in the valley because the land is flatter and the soil deeper, making building and farming easier". • Critical writing weighs the evidence and reaches a judgement — "although relief explains most of the pattern, the cluster in the uplands suggests that the quarry has been a stronger influence there".

Literacy. Most communication is through the written word, raising the importance of good literacy skills, and you should be able to communicate information in ways suitable for a range of target audiences.

Spelling, punctuation and grammar are assessed separately on some questions, so it is worth spelling geographical terms correctly — and using them, since precise vocabulary is itself part of what is being marked.