GCSE Geography Paper 1
Covers Tectonic Hazards, Weather Hazards, Climate Change and 9 more.
Questions
Question 1 [1 marks]
Development and the Changing Economic World
Name one economic indicator used to measure a country's level of development.
Question 2 [1 marks]
Climate Change
Name one piece of evidence scientists use to study the Earth's climate from thousands of years before instrumental records began.
Question 3 [1 marks]
Resource Management
Define the term 'food security'.
Question 4 [2 marks]
River Landscapes and Processes
State two processes by which a river transports its load, other than solution.
Question 5 [2 marks]
Geographical Skills
State two advantages of using random sampling to select survey sites, compared with the researcher choosing sites themselves.
Question 6 [3 marks]
Weather Hazards
State three types of extreme weather event that can affect the UK.
Question 7 [3 marks]
Urban Growth and Regeneration
Explain one reason why informal (unofficial) jobs are common in the economy of many rapidly growing cities in lower-income countries.
Question 8 [4 marks]
Tectonic Hazards
The Richter scale is logarithmic. Each whole number increase in magnitude represents an earthquake that releases about 32 times more energy.
One earthquake measures magnitude 4. A second earthquake at the same location measures magnitude 6.
Calculate how many times more energy the magnitude 6 earthquake releases than the magnitude 4 earthquake, then state whether a magnitude 8 earthquake would release more or less energy than the magnitude 6 earthquake.
Question 9 [5 marks]
Ecosystems and Biomes
Explain two reasons why removing hedgerows from around fields can reduce biodiversity in a UK farming landscape.
Question 10 [5 marks]
Glacial Landscapes and Processes
Explain how a terminal moraine forms at the end (snout) of a glacier.
Question 11 [5 marks]
Development in Extreme Environments
A national park covering 2.4 million hectares of rainforest lost 180,000 hectares to deforestation over a 15-year period.
Calculate the percentage of the park's area lost to deforestation over this period, then calculate the average annual rate of loss in hectares per year, and explain why this percentage might understate the significance of the loss.
Question 12 [5 marks]
Coastal Landscapes and Processes
Explain the formation of a spit, such as one you have studied on the UK coastline.
Question 13 [5 marks]
Tectonic Hazards
Explain two reasons why volcanic eruptions are difficult to predict precisely, even with modern monitoring.
Question 14 [6 marks]
Development and the Changing Economic World
For a newly emerging economy (NEE) you have studied, assess the extent to which international trade, rather than international aid, has driven its economic development.
Question 15 [6 marks]
Glacial Landscapes and Processes
For an upland glaciated area you have studied, assess the different ways the landscape is used, and evaluate the extent to which these uses conflict with one another.
Question 16 [6 marks]
Development in Extreme Environments
For a hot desert environment you have studied, evaluate the opportunities and challenges that mineral extraction creates for the local population.
Model solutions
| Question 1[1 mark] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| a valid indicator, e.g. Gross National Income (GNI) per head | B1 |
| Final answer: Any valid economic indicator, e.g. GNI per head | |
| Question 2[1 mark] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| a valid source of evidence, e.g. ice cores (or tree rings/pollen analysis) | B1 |
| Final answer: Any valid source, e.g. ice cores, tree rings, or pollen analysis | |
| Question 3[1 mark] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| a valid definition, e.g. having reliable access to enough safe, nutritious food to meet dietary needs | B1 |
| Final answer: Having reliable access to enough safe, nutritious food to meet dietary needs | |
| Question 4[2 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| one valid process, e.g. traction (rolling large boulders along the bed) | B1 |
| a second valid process, e.g. saltation (bouncing small stones along the bed) or suspension (carrying fine sediment within the flow) | B1 |
| Final answer: Any two of: traction (rolling along the bed), saltation (bouncing along the bed), suspension (carried within the flow) | |
| Question 5[2 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| one valid advantage, e.g. it removes the researcher's personal bias in choosing sites | B1 |
| a second valid advantage, e.g. it gives every possible location an equal chance of being chosen, making the sample more likely to be representative | B1 |
| Final answer: Any two of: removes the researcher's personal bias, gives every location an equal chance of selection, tends to produce a more representative sample | |
| Question 6[3 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying a valid extreme weather event, e.g. heatwaves | B1 |
| identifying a second valid event, e.g. heavy rainfall/flooding | B1 |
| identifying a third valid event, e.g. drought, strong winds/storms, or heavy snowfall | B1 |
| Final answer: Any three of: heatwaves, heavy rainfall/flooding, drought, strong winds/storms, heavy snowfall | |
| Question 7[3 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying that rural-urban migration brings people into the city faster than formal jobs can be created for them | B1 |
| developing this, e.g. many migrants therefore create their own informal work, such as street vending or recycling waste, to earn an income | B1 |
| a valid concluding link, e.g. this work needs little money or qualifications to start, unlike a formal job | B1 |
| Final answer: Rural-urban migration brings people into cities faster than formal jobs can be created, so many migrants create their own informal work, such as street vending, because it needs little money or qualification to start | |
| Question 8[4 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| recognising the magnitude difference between magnitude 4 and magnitude 6 is 2 | M1 |
| calculating 32 x 32 | M1 |
| 1024 times more energy | A1 |
| correctly stating a magnitude 8 earthquake would release (much) more energy than the magnitude 6 earthquake | B1 |
| Final answer: 1024 times more energy; a magnitude 8 earthquake would release more energy than the magnitude 6 earthquake | |
| Question 9[5 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying that hedgerows provide habitat and shelter for many species, including birds, insects and small mammals | B1 |
| developing this, e.g. removing them destroys this habitat, so these species lose somewhere to live and breed | B1 |
| identifying that hedgerows act as corridors connecting separate patches of habitat | B1 |
| developing this, e.g. removing them isolates populations in different fields, making it harder for species to move, feed or find mates | B1 |
| a valid concluding link, e.g. both effects make it harder for a wide range of species to survive in the farmed landscape | B1 |
| Final answer: Hedgerows provide habitat for birds, insects and small mammals, which is destroyed when they are removed; they also act as corridors connecting habitat patches, so removing them isolates populations and makes it harder for species to move, feed or breed, reducing biodiversity | |
| Question 10[5 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying that a glacier carries eroded rock debris within and beneath the ice as it flows downhill | B1 |
| developing this, e.g. when melting balances the rate of ice flowing forward, the position of the snout stays roughly the same for a period | B1 |
| identifying that the ice continues to melt at this fixed point, releasing the rock debris it has been carrying | B1 |
| developing this, e.g. this debris builds up as a ridge of unsorted material stretching across the valley at the point where the snout stayed for the longest time | B1 |
| a valid concluding link, e.g. this forms a terminal moraine, marking the furthest point the glacier's snout reached | B1 |
| Final answer: A glacier carries eroded rock debris within and beneath the ice; where the snout's position stays roughly fixed for a period, because melting balances forward ice flow, this debris is continually dumped there as the ice melts, building a ridge - the terminal moraine - marking the furthest point the glacier reached | |
| Question 11[5 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| setting up the percentage calculation, (180,000 / 2,400,000) x 100 | M1 |
| 7.5% | A1 |
| dividing the area lost by the number of years, 180,000 / 15 | M1 |
| 12,000 hectares per year | A1 |
| a valid point, e.g. although 7.5% seems small, this is a substantial and largely irreversible loss of a globally significant habitat over just 15 years | B1 |
| Final answer: 7.5% of the park's area lost; an average rate of 12,000 hectares per year; although the percentage looks small, this is a substantial and largely irreversible loss of a globally significant habitat | |
| Question 12[5 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying longshore drift as the process transporting sediment along the coast | B1 |
| identifying that the coastline changes direction, e.g. at a river mouth or bay | B1 |
| explaining that deposition continues in the same direction beyond the bend, building a ridge out into open water | B1 |
| identifying that a change in wind or wave direction can curve the end of the ridge into a hook | B1 |
| naming a real UK example of a spit, e.g. Spurn Point or Orford Ness | B1 |
| Final answer: Longshore drift transports sediment along the coast; where the coastline changes direction, deposition continues out into open water, building a spit, often with a hooked end | |
| Question 13[5 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying that each volcano behaves differently | B1 |
| developing this, e.g. warning signs, such as seismic activity, that predict an eruption at one volcano may not apply reliably to another | B1 |
| identifying that monitoring equipment is not installed at every active volcano | B1 |
| developing this, e.g. remote areas or lower-income countries may lack the funding for a full monitoring network, so warning signs may be missed | B1 |
| a valid concluding point, e.g. as a result scientists can often say an eruption is more likely, but rarely give a precise date or time | B1 |
| Final answer: Volcanoes behave individually, so warning signs at one may not transfer reliably to another; and monitoring equipment is not installed at every volcano, especially in remote or lower-income areas, so scientists can rarely give a precise date or time for an eruption | |
| Question 14[6 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| Names the NEE studied (1 mark) | 1 |
| Describes a way trade has contributed to development, e.g. growing manufacturing exports have brought in foreign currency and created jobs (1 mark) | 1 |
| Describes a way aid has contributed, e.g. aid-funded infrastructure or education projects (1 mark) | 1 |
| Compares the scale of the two, e.g. trade income is often far larger in value than aid received once a country begins to industrialise (1 mark) | 1 |
| Evaluates a limitation of relying on trade, e.g. dependence on export income makes the economy vulnerable to global price or demand changes (1 mark) | 1 |
| Reaches a supported overall judgement on which has driven development more (1 mark) | 1 |
| Final answer: A named NEE with a described trade contribution and aid contribution, a comparison of scale, an evaluated limitation and a supported judgement on which has driven development more | |
| Question 15[6 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| Names and locates the upland glaciated area studied (1 mark) | 1 |
| Describes one land use in the area, e.g. sheep farming on the valley sides and floor (1 mark) | 1 |
| Describes a second land use, e.g. forestry, water storage (a reservoir), or quarrying (1 mark) | 1 |
| Explains a conflict between two of these uses, e.g. forestry plantations can reduce the grazing land available to farmers (1 mark) | 1 |
| Explains how the conflict might be managed, e.g. zoning different areas for different uses through a national park management plan (1 mark) | 1 |
| Reaches a supported overall judgement on how successfully these competing uses are being managed (1 mark) | 1 |
| Final answer: A named area with at least two described land uses, an explained conflict between them, a management response and a supported judgement on its success | |
| Question 16[6 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| Names and locates the hot desert environment and mineral extraction activity studied (1 mark) | 1 |
| Describes an economic opportunity created, e.g. jobs in the mining industry or associated infrastructure (1 mark) | 1 |
| Describes a second opportunity, e.g. investment in local roads, schools or water supply funded by mining revenue (1 mark) | 1 |
| Describes a challenge or cost created, e.g. water used by the mining operation reduces the supply available to local communities and farming (1 mark) | 1 |
| Describes a second challenge, e.g. pollution or damage to fragile desert ecosystems from the extraction process (1 mark) | 1 |
| Reaches a supported overall judgement on whether the opportunities outweigh the challenges for the local population (1 mark) | 1 |
| Final answer: A named desert and mineral extraction activity with two described opportunities, two described challenges and a supported overall judgement | |