Topic 3

We take account of the following skill areas in your examination papers:

• your knowledge (what you remember) and understanding (how you use what you know and apply it to new situations)
• how you interpret and analyse information, e.g. data, graphs, diagrams, photographs
• how you make judgements and decisions, including conclusions, based on information.

These skills are called assessment objectives. They are explained in the sections below. Your teacher will be able to give you more information about how each of these is tested in the examination papers.

What does the AO mean?

Remembering facts and applying these facts to new situations

What do you need to be able to do?

Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• the wide range of processes, including human actions, contributing to the development of a. physical, economic and social environments and their effects on the landscape b. spatial patterns and interactions which are important within these environments
• the relationships between human activity and the environment
• the importance of scale (whether local, regional or global)
• the changes which occur through time in places, landscapes and spatial distribution

What does the AO mean?

How you select information and apply geographical understanding to explain the information

What do you need to be able to do?

• Interpret and analyse geographical data
• Use and apply geographical knowledge and understanding to maps and in numerical, diagrammatic, pictorial, photographic and graphical form
• Use geographical data to recognise patterns in such data and to deduce relationships
• Select and show understanding of techniques for observing and collecting data
• Select and use techniques for organising and presenting data.

What does the AO mean?

Being able to make judgements based on information and recognise possible decisions

What do you need to be able to do?

Use your geographical training to:

• reason and make judgements and decisions, including evaluation and conclusions, which demonstrate, where appropriate:
  • an appreciation of the attitudes, values and beliefs of others in issues which have a geographical dimension
  • an awareness of the contrasting opportunities and constraints of people living in different places and under different physical and human conditions
  • a willingness to review their own attitudes in the light of the views of others and new knowledge acquired
• make judgements and decisions and recognise how these are made within a geographical context as affected and constrained by:
  • the physical and human contexts in which decisions are made
  • the values and perceptions of differing groups or individuals
  • the choices available to decision makers
  • the increasing level of global interdependence and the need for sustainable development.