Unit 1 Section B: extended writing Unit 1, Section B – extended writing skills Cameron Dunn Chief Examiner

Unit 1 Section B: extended writing What do I have to do? One question from a choice of 4 – you should spend minutes on this Each question is worth 25 marks The 25 marks is split into a 10 mark part ‘a’ and 15 mark part ‘b’ There is a stimulus resource for the 10 mark question

Unit 1 Section B: extended writing Choice of Question Questions will be based around 4 key themes you can expect to have a genuine choice:

Unit 1 Section B: extended writing Very importantly you should read all 4 questions look at all four accompanying Figures before you make a decision. In January 2009 the choice of question was heavily biased towards questions 7 and 8.

Unit 1 Section B: extended writing The Resource question, part ‘a’ Notice that the question states ‘such as the one shown’. This is indicating a need to move beyond the stimulus material provided and into a discussion of other drought examples and their impacts: Ongoing Australian drought the ‘big dry’ Drought in Niger Drought in Sudan and Ethiopia

Unit 1 Section B: extended writing There is also a structure provided in the question i.e. ‘people and the environment’ answer needs to cover both in order to be balanced. Importantly the question is not ‘what are the impacts of drought?’ but actually ‘why do drought have such severe impacts?’ Just describing the impacts of drought lacks the explanation the question is looking for.

Unit 1 Section B: extended writing Description of impact Explanation of severity Forest firesUncontrolled burn devastates wildlife and ecosystems; difficult to manage Farm production down Direct reliance on irrigation; scarce water resources diverted to people Low river flowsMade worse by human abstraction for water supply Fall in tourist numbers Fear, danger, intense uncomfortable heat DeathsVulnerable groups (elderly) ‘silent’ killer Use the resource, but don’t copy it out.

Unit 1 Section B: extended writing The Open questions, part ‘b’ a 15 mark question which will be quite open. There is no Figure to look at -you are ‘on your own’. good idea to do a very quick plan just to organise your thoughts and help structure your answer. The plan should take less than 1 minute

Unit 1 Section B: extended writing Mark schemes for the 15 mark question they use 4 levels. Like a flight of sets which you are trying to climb. To go up a step, you need to add something new into your answer.

Unit 1 Section B: extended writing Ticking the mark scheme boxes can be a real challenge, but there are various tricks you can use to help write an impressive answer. This question is from January 2009 (Question 10b): typical. It uses the command word ‘explain’ and is ‘open’. The question does not directly ask for examples to be used, but you should just assume you should use them!

Unit 1 Section B: extended writing

Top Tips for extended writing Structure  Organisation; logical order and sequencing  Consider a summative statement / very brief conclusion. Depth  Issues, problems, factors, explanations etc. need to be examined and discussed in some depth Examples  Need to be used as a matter of course, don’t wait to be asked! Case Studies  If the question refers to a compulsory case study then considerable detail is expected Up-to-date  Contemporary knowledge always shines more brightly than the tired and dated Range  Narrow answers, around one factor or explanation will rarely attain the top level of the mark scheme Facts  Factual data support – numbers, facts and figures, always impress. Terminology  Use of the correct geographical terminology increases your answers currency Evaluative style  Some recognition that geographical issues are now always black and white, combined with some evaluative language. Balance  Especially in human geography, a recognition of costs and benefits, positives and negatives etc.