GCSE Geography Short Paper A
Covers Tectonic Hazards, Weather Hazards, Climate Change and 3 more.
Questions
Question 1 [1 marks]
Development in Extreme Environments
Name one plant adaptation that helps a cactus survive in a hot desert.
Question 2 [1 marks]
Tectonic Hazards
Name the type of plate boundary found along the San Andreas Fault in California.
Question 3 [2 marks]
Weather Hazards
State two conditions needed for a tropical storm to form.
Question 4 [2 marks]
Ecosystems and Biomes
State two roles that decomposers play in an ecosystem.
Question 5 [2 marks]
River Landscapes and Processes
State two processes by which a river transports its load, other than solution.
Question 6 [3 marks]
Tectonic Hazards
Explain one reason why deaths from volcanic eruptions are, globally, much less common than deaths from earthquakes.
Question 7 [3 marks]
Climate Change
Explain one way that melting Arctic sea ice can accelerate further global warming.
Question 8 [3 marks]
River Landscapes and Processes
A river falls from a height of 340m at its source to 20m where it reaches the sea, over a horizontal distance of 64km.
Calculate the average gradient of the river in metres per kilometre.
Question 9 [3 marks]
Development in Extreme Environments
Explain one challenge that extreme temperatures create for developing a hot desert environment.
Question 10 [4 marks]
Ecosystems and Biomes
A hedgerow survey recorded 850 metres of hedgerow around a farm in 1980. By 2020, only 340 metres remained.
Calculate the percentage of the hedgerow that had been lost by 2020.
Question 11 [4 marks]
Tectonic Hazards
A pyroclastic flow travels 9km from a volcano's vent in 3 minutes.
Calculate its speed in kilometres per hour, then state whether a person could outrun it if the fastest a person can sprint is approximately 35 km/h.
Question 12 [6 marks]
Ecosystems and Biomes
An ecological survey recorded the number of plant species in two 100m squared plots of grassland.
Plot A (grazed by sheep): 8 species Plot B (ungrazed for 10 years): 3 species
Calculate Plot A's species count as a percentage of Plot B's species count, then discuss why grazing might result in higher plant species diversity than leaving the land ungrazed.
Question 13 [6 marks]
Weather Hazards
A coastal town spent 1.8 million pounds building a storm surge barrier.
In the ten years since, it has prevented an estimated 3 flooding events, each of which would otherwise have caused approximately 900,000 pounds of damage. Calculate the total damage avoided over the ten years, then evaluate whether the barrier represents good value for money.
Model solutions
| Question 1[1 mark] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| a valid adaptation, e.g. a thick waxy stem to store water, or spines instead of leaves to reduce water loss | B1 |
| Final answer: Any valid adaptation, e.g. a thick waxy stem for water storage or spines to reduce water loss | |
| Question 2[1 mark] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| conservative (transform) plate boundary | B1 |
| Question 3[2 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| one valid condition, e.g. sea surface temperature above 26-27 degrees C to a depth of at least 50m | B1 |
| a second valid condition, e.g. low wind shear, or a location 5-30 degrees north or south of the Equator | B1 |
| Final answer: Any two of: sea surface temperature above 26-27 deg C; low wind shear; location 5-30 deg from the Equator; a pre-existing area of low pressure | |
| Question 4[2 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| one valid role, e.g. breaking down dead plants and animals | B1 |
| a second valid role, e.g. releasing nutrients back into the soil for producers to reuse | B1 |
| Final answer: Any two of: break down dead organic matter, release nutrients back into the soil for producers to reuse, prevent a build-up of dead material | |
| Question 5[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 6[3 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying that volcanoes can usually be monitored for warning signs, e.g. seismic activity or ground deformation | B1 |
| developing this, e.g. this gives time for the surrounding area to be evacuated before the eruption happens | B1 |
| a valid concluding link, e.g. earthquakes generally strike with little or no warning, giving people no time to reach safety | B1 |
| Final answer: Volcanoes can usually be monitored for warning signs, e.g. seismic activity or ground deformation, allowing evacuation before an eruption; earthquakes generally strike without this warning | |
| Question 7[3 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying that white sea ice reflects most incoming solar radiation back into space | B1 |
| developing this, e.g. as ice melts it exposes darker ocean water, which absorbs more solar radiation instead of reflecting it | B1 |
| a valid concluding link, e.g. this warms the ocean further, melting yet more ice in a positive feedback loop | B1 |
| Final answer: White sea ice reflects most solar radiation, but as it melts it exposes darker ocean water that absorbs more heat instead, warming the ocean further and melting yet more ice in a positive feedback loop | |
| Question 8[3 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| finding the fall in height, 340 - 20 = 320m | M1 |
| dividing the fall by the horizontal distance, 320 / 64 | M1 |
| 5 metres per kilometre | A1 |
| Question 9[3 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying a challenge, e.g. very high daytime temperatures make outdoor working conditions dangerous | B1 |
| developing this, e.g. workers and machinery need extra cooling or must work shorter hours, raising costs | B1 |
| a linked impact, e.g. this can slow down construction and development projects | B1 |
| Final answer: Extreme heat makes outdoor work dangerous and raises costs through cooling and shorter hours, slowing development | |
| Question 10[4 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| finding the loss, 850 - 340 = 510 | M1 |
| setting up the percentage calculation, (510 / 850) x 100 | M1 |
| 60% | A1 |
| a valid comment, e.g. this represents a major loss of habitat for hedgerow species such as birds and small mammals | B1 |
| Final answer: 60% of the hedgerow was lost, representing a major loss of habitat for hedgerow species such as birds and small mammals | |
| Question 11[4 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| finding the rate per minute, 9 / 3 = 3km per minute | M1 |
| converting to kilometres per hour, 3 x 60 | M1 |
| 180 km/h | A1 |
| correctly stating no, a person could not outrun it, since 180 km/h is far faster than a top sprint speed of about 35 km/h | B1 |
| Final answer: 180 km/h; no, a person could not outrun it, since 180 km/h is far faster than a top sprint speed of about 35 km/h | |
| Question 12[6 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| setting up the percentage calculation, (8 / 3) x 100 | M1 |
| 266.7% (accept 266-267%) | A1 |
| correctly stating Plot A has more than two and a half times as many species as Plot B | B1 |
| a valid reason grazing can increase diversity, e.g. grazing prevents a small number of vigorous, fast-growing species from dominating and shading out others | B1 |
| a linked point, e.g. this allows a wider range of smaller or slower-growing plant species to survive alongside the dominant ones | B1 |
| a valid limitation or counterpoint, e.g. very heavy grazing can instead reduce diversity by removing too many species entirely | B1 |
| Final answer: 266.7%, so Plot A has over two and a half times as many species as Plot B; moderate grazing can prevent dominant species from shading out others, though overgrazing can reduce diversity instead | |
| Question 13[6 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| multiplying 900,000 x 3 | M1 |
| 2,700,000 pounds of damage avoided | A1 |
| correctly comparing this to the 1.8 million pound cost, noting the damage avoided is greater than the construction cost | B1 |
| a valid point on value, e.g. it has already saved more than it cost, and will keep protecting the town in future | B1 |
| a valid limitation, e.g. this estimate assumes each prevented flood would have caused the same amount of damage, which may not be accurate | B1 |
| a supported overall judgement on whether the barrier was worth building | B1 |
| Final answer: 2.7 million pounds of damage avoided; since this is more than the 1.8 million pound cost and the barrier will keep protecting the town in future, it very likely represents good value for money, although the damage estimate for each prevented flood may not be fully accurate | |