ATTENTION YEAR 11 - important information

You don't have much time before the final exam (Weds 12th June 2013). This exam is worth 50% of your final grade and it is really important that you revise properly for it. You must remember that only 3 out of the 4 topics you have studied will be tested in this exam. In January you sat the SDME exam on the Population & Settlement theme and this will NOT be tested in the final exam - you will only face questions on the following units:
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
RIVERS & COASTS
NATURAL HAZARDS

So, you must revise these topics and the case studies that go with them carefully. This blog has lots of useful revision tips and links (search for them). The Geography dept page on the school VLE aslo has lots of really useful materials on it.
This website, designed by a teacher in another school,  is also an excellent source for revision and you really should visit it

Follow these links to be taken to pages of case studies produced by a Geography teacher called Richard Briggs. They are not the same case studies that you would have studied in your lessons but are good if you have misplaced case study sheets or just some some additional information to revise from.
Rivers and Coasts
Natural Hazards
Economic Development

For those of you who are re-sitting the SDME exam, you should be aware that this time the exam will be on Natural Hazards. The pre-release booklet is available here. Make sure you download a copy and go through it.

Revision Guides for Year 11

The department has ordered revision guides for GCSE students which should be in school soon. Your teacher should issue you with a letter which explains that each guide costs £4. You should show this letter to parents and return the reply slip, along with the money, to school as soon as possible (either to your Geography teacher or Mr Bains).

The revision guides are published by CGP. They are tailored to our syllabus (OCR B) and are good value (the retail price is higher than £4). This blog does have useful links for revision that can also be used. You should make sure that your exercise books from Year 10 are kept safely somewhere as you will obviously revise from them. You should also ensure that your case study folder is kept up to date and your work is printed off the computers.

Last minute Unit 3 revision for Yr13!

Take a look at this website for some great information on Unit 3 (all topics). Fantastic for some last minute revision! Good luck for tomorrow.

If you're stuck and not sure how to revise.....

....try some of these ideas:

Flashcards: On small cards, summarise a case study into one (or both) sides of the cards and refer to it regularly. Make sure that you include key facts and number as you condense the case study to fit the card.

Colour coding: colour code large pieces of text into sections. For example, it could be the social, economic and environmental impacts of the Cardiff Bay redevelopment

Memory tests: You could look at an important diagram (erg the cross section of a meander) for 20 seconds, then cover it over and draw what you remember. Then give yourself another 20 seconds to see what you missed and add it in. Eventually, you will be able to draw the sketch without looking at a copy.

Key words test: You could ask someone to read out 10 definitions and you have to say what the key word is. Then you could try it the other way around which is harder with someone giving you a key word to define.

Spider diagrams (mind maps): Write a key theme in the centre of an A3 piece of paper. Write the sub-themes around it with important ideas and case studies to back them up. Stick your finished spider diagram somewhere visible where you will be able to refer to it often (e.g. fridge door, bedroom wall).

Practice exam questions: Look at the examples of past case study questions. Practice writing responses to these questions using the flashcards or colour coded case studies you have created. There are some past papers and mark schemes under the Year 11 panel on the left hand side of the blog.

Summarising: Condense a section of text into a set number of bullet points.

Reading aloud: Read a case study summary aloud, then try to say aloud all the facts and figures you remember without the summary. You could also read your keyword lists aloud.

Repeated writing: Copy out pieces of information more than one time (five times would be appropriate). The repetition will help you to fix the facts in your memory, which is obviously important with case studies.

Look at the STUDY SKILLS section on the left hand side panel for more ideas and search for "mind maps" to see some examples.

Year 11 Revision material

Two more revision presentations for Year 11 have just been added - look on the left hand panel under the Year 11 banner.

GCSE students

Year 10 - information about May's controlled assessment can be found now on the left hand panel. Please take a look at it.

Year 11 - Two items have been added for your revision. One is a powerpoint, produced by the exam board which is well worth a look. The other is a 47 page document that has revision tips and case studies in it. Some of the case studies are different to the ones you have studied, but some are the same. It is worth getting hold of this document and printing it out.

Revision - Mind Maps

Year 11 - see if you can use the mind map technique to help you revise for your mock exams. Mr Bains' Year 10 group - remember you have a piece of homework to draw a mind map about Coastal Defences.

Look at the example provided here and remember the key ideas:

1. Use different colours for the arrows - a different theme should have a different colour (in the example you can see the light blue arrows are all to do with things that can be done in the home to reduce global warming, the green arrows are things that people can do as individuals and the black arrow is all about transport and climate change)

2. Have different size writing - make the more important information larger in size than the less important information

3. Use pictures and few words - only have the key facts and key words on your mind map. They should trigger memories and thoughts and help you remember the important information

How can I revise?

• Flashcards: On small cards, summarise a case study into one (or both) sides of the cards and refer to it regularly. Make sure that you include key facts and number as you condense the case study to fit the card.
• Colour coding: colour code large pieces of text into sections. For example, it could be the social, economic and environmental impacts of the Cardiff Bay redevelopment.
• Memory tests: You could look at an important diagram (eg the cross section of a meander) for 20 seconds, then cover it over and draw what you remember. Then give yourself another 20 seconds to see what you missed and add it in. Eventually, you will be able to draw the sketch without looking at a copy.
• Key words test: You could ask someone to read out 10 definitions and you have to say what the key word is. Then you could try it the other way around which is harder with someone giving you a key word to define.
• Spider diagrams (mind maps): Write a key theme in the centre of an A3 piece of paper. Write the sub-themes around it with important ideas and case studies to back them up. Stick your finished spider diagram somewhere visible where you will be able to refer to it often (e.g. fridge door, bedroom wall).
• Practice exam questions: Look at the examples of past case study questions. Practice writing responses to these questions using the flashcards or colour coded case studies you have created.
• Summarising: Condense a section of text into a set number of bullet points.
• Reading aloud: Read a case study summary aloud, then try to say aloud all the facts and figures you remember without the summary. You could also read your keyword lists aloud.
• Repeated writing: Copy out pieces of information more than one time (five times would be appropriate). The repetition will help you to fix the facts in your memory.

For more revision and study skills tips use the links on the left hand panel.