GCSE: Terminal examination on Tuesday 2nd June

This post will contain any further resources or pieces of advice that might be useful for Tuesday's exam.

Examiners tips (from 2007 and 2008 Examiners reports)
a) Where two suggestions/ideas are asked for, use two paragraphs. Remember the framework, write your first idea followed by a detailed explanation. Then, in a new paragraph, write your second idea followed by a detailed explanation.
b) Use PEE (Point, Evidence, Explanation) paragraphs for parts c, d and e of each question.
c) Practise diagram skills - can you draw sketch maps or diagrams to show volcanoes, regional differences, how global warming is caused, types of rainfall etc? Remember labels!
d) Use the first 5-10 to carefully select the best 4 questions to answer (remember, 2 questions from Section A, 1 question from Section B and 1 question from Section C).
e) Don't stereotype or generalise and have some idea of where places are - the South of Italy is NOT an LEDC, Africa is NOT a country. Know where your case studies are and be able to use the correct geographical area example.
f) Know key vocabulary, for example, economic activity, climate, physical processes. Remember that the Ozone layer is nothing to do with global warming!
g) Short and snappy answers for 2 mark questions - not paragraphs!
h) Look at command words and target the precise wording - son't just regurgitate all you know about a particular case study.
(Thanks to Mr Gurney for putting this list together)

Bearing in mind that natural hazards always appears in both Section A and Section B, make sure that you revise it in detail. Check the tectonic activity section of Bitesize. Pay special attention to the diagrams of volcanoes as we did not cover that very much in the lesson time. Make sure you know the diagrams of the plate boundaries and labels to go with them. You are often asked to explain in your labels, so they need to be good quality! Also, check the section on managing tectonic activity.

Use of your green revision guides for OCR C Geography. Not one question will be a surprise tomorrow if you have made good use of the revision guide!

To remind yourself of the layout of the exam paper and see some example questions, there is a higher tier paper here.

Some of you were requesting more of the case study templates last week. Although we had no more photocopied, don't forget that you can download a copy from here...
Case Study Template for GCSE

Publish at Scribd or explore others: School Work How-to-Guides & Manu english resume

GCSE: DME on Tuesday 9th June

Another teacher has shared a huge volume of resources to help prepare students for the DME exam. You can find them on 4shared in the folder named DME June 2009.

Tony Cassidy's pop up model of a hurricane

On Monday morning (before we were all sent home because of the snow!), my year 11 class had a go at Tony Cassidy's hurricane model.

Pop-Up Hurricane Cross-Section

View more presentations from TonyCassidy. (tags: hurricane geography)

I took the opportunity to try our my Flip video and digital camera! Check out the following footage to see the results. Students do have their coats on due to the sub zero temperatures we were faced with on Monday morning, before my heating kicked in! At the end of the lesson, students explained the formation of a hurricane to the person next to them as no one would volunteer to be videoed explaining their models. Fortunately, I managed to catch Jack's explanation!



I also photographed Rudi's and Ness's as examples of the finished article...

With thanks to Tony Cassidy for sharing this lesson.

Kung Fu Plate Boundaries

A fun and energetic way to revise the plate boundaries!!



Thanks to Odblog and Adam Brewer.

GCSE Case Study Template

Here's the case study template that we will be using in lessons and as homework activities to help you prepare for the summer exams for Year 11. For Year 10 students, we will be using these templates as part of an on-going processes of revision for end of unit exam questions and to start building up a bank of case studies as the course progresses.


Case Study Template for GCSE

Publish at Scribd or explore others:

It would be a good idea for you to download an electronic copy as you can then edit it to suit specific case studies. Paper copies will also be available from your geography teacher.

Case Study template now available to download from Okehampton College's new Frog VLE!!

Students click here to go directly to the Frog login.

Good Luck Year 11 and 13!

Monday is a big exam day for our great geographers! Wishing you all luck...



Year 11
Don't forget that the DME PowerPoint was posted on here a little while ago if you need it. Think sustainable or unsustainable!!!

Year 13
When discussing the effectiveness of hazard management, remember that their success depends on a number of factors...

• Type of hazard - eg hurricane, earthquake, tsunami, flooding, tornado
• Frequency - how often the hazard happens
• Magnitude - the size of the hazard event
• Spatial/areal reliability - how reliable the management is over a particular space and area
• Speed of Onset - how quickly the hazard starts e.g. earthquakes have a quick speed of onset whereas volcanic eruptions are slower
• Technology available
• Education - is the population aware of what to do in the event of a hazard?
• Preparedness - is the region and its population prepared for the event?
• Economic resources - MEDC? LEDC?
• History - have they learnt any lessons from previous events?

If you need to ask any questions about either exams, add them to the comments at the end of this post and I'll answer them!!!

Year 11: Problems with downloading the DME guide

It would seem that there are a few problems downloading your copies of the DME task booklet. If you go to my 4shared space it will allow you to download it without having to sign up for anything! The one that we have used in lesson time is called 'Final DME'.

Year 11 Decision Making Exam January 2009

Here is the Task Booklet that we will be using in lessons alongside the Resource Booklet (from the exam board) to help prepare for you DME on Monday 26th January. We have only 3 weeks to use the booklets to prepare for this exciting event! You will receive a paper copy of this bumper book, but it would be a good idea for you to download a copy as well as there are many useful links that can easily be used from a electronic version.

Miss Blackmore's DME Presentation!

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own.

Urban Earth

A geography teacher, Dan Raven-Ellison, has been creating short films of a number of cities, including Mumbai, Bristol, Mexico City and London. They have been created by walking across these large cities, taking a photo every 8 steps! Here's an example...


To see the rest, go to Urban Earth.

Stop Disasters Game

This simulation is based on the idea of Sim City, but instead you have to manage a region prior to a natural hazard. You get a certain amount of time to prepare for the hazard before it hits. Then when disaster strikes you can see how effective your hazard management has been! Click on the image to take you to the game...

Mr Gurney and myself used this with classes ranging from year 10 to year 12 on Thursday and it went down a storm. It is clear we are in the presence of the hazard managers of the future! If you haven't tried it yet...have a go!

River Exe flood prevention scheme - a Google Earth Tour

On another blog, Digital Geography, there's a link to a kmz file that overlays a tour on Google Earth of the flood prevention scheme on the lower River Exe. Here's a couple of screen shots to show you what's in store!


If you do not have Google Earth, download it here. Thanks to Noel Jenkins for creating this excellent tour!