6GEO2 Unit 2 Geographical Investigations – Student Guide: Crowded Coasts - Part 2

1.Overview 2.Requirements of the specification 3.What are crowded coasts? 4.Investigating crowded coasts 5.Ideas for fieldwork 6.Research on crowded coasts 7.Making it work for the exam CONTENTS Click on the information icon to jump to that section. Click on the home button to return to this contents page In Part 1

What could you do for fieldwork? Partly will depend on choice of examples and fieldwork locations….

Thinking about fieldwork and research When preparing notes for revision don’t just list what you did. Add depth with places and examples of EQUIPMENT, NUMBER of surveys, details of LAND USE MAPS, even talk about SAMPLING. The best answers often to refer to real fieldwork and real places Competition for coasts Land use surveys, questionnaires, oral histories, services mapping, beach quality. Coping with pressure Range of quality surveys, e.g. landscape quality, pollution, ecosystems condition. Increasing risks Cliff + beach surveys, perception, questionnaires, old maps. Coastal management Assessing coastal defence schemes, e.g. photos, bi-polar surveys. Key fieldwork + research focuses – the ‘Strands’ ‘In the field’ can mean a variety of things. ‘Top- up’ from other sources if necessary to give coverage Investigating crowded coasts….more detail

Some general and generic fieldwork + research activities Try to create a ‘sense of place’ – use various ways to create ‘picture portrait’. These will always be useful for the exam, no matter what fieldwork and research option is chosen

Example – Competition for coasts: fieldwork (Strand 1 within the specification) Classifying + mapping tourist facilities Age of buildings Shows importance of tourism in resort Spatial pattern of resorts growth Car parking patterns + visitor sphere of influence See where visitors originate from; build up a picture of tourism This is 1 of the 4 possible fieldwork strands. The exam might ask about this or any of the other three strands. The exam will only ever be able to assess about 25% of the fieldwork you might have done. Above are suggestions for possible fieldwork – there is no need to do them all. Remember that you can ‘top-up’ by virtual fieldwork, although its best to do this at the same location.

One day at the coast. What realistically could be done? ONE LOCATION ONLY 1 – Land use map + tourist facilities (~ 6 groups + zoned) 4 – Evaluating coastal defences (~ 2 groups / comparison of locations) 2 – Ecosystem evaluation (2x contrasting locations – groups) 3 – Coastal retreat – photo evidence, cliff surveys + questionnaires (perceived risk) ‘In town – am’ ‘At beach– pm’ In the exam you need to think about what type fieldwork and research is relevant to the focus of the of the question. You would have to ‘work smart’ to cover all this in one day

Two days at the coast. A more relaxed experience! Day 1 – crowded resort location Day 2 – more rural coast 1 – Land use map + tourist facilities, questionnaire (sphere of influence etc), age of buildings. Maps of change. Two days allows a greater range of techniques and probably a visit to two contrasting locations along the same stretch of coast 4 – Evaluating coastal defences – bi-polar, photos, questionnaires of effectiveness (COULD REPEAT + COMPARE AT DAY 2) 2 – Ecosystem evaluation, e.g. transect + ACFOR scale, modified Blue Flag criteria for beach quality 3 – Coastal retreat – photo evidence, field sketch, cliff surveys, beach profiles

Old photos and other documentary evidence (e.g. coastal flood reports, photos, specialist books etc) can help reveal the scale and impact of floods. You may also find evidence of ways in which coastal erosion is trying to be managed (e.g. SMPs etc). Opportunities for research

Witness accounts and blogs The impacts of coastal erosion, flooding and conflict are often best documented through online reports and blogs (see example below). YouTube and similar sites may also be a rich source of documented evidence. Websites such as Wordle can be used to analyse the text in documents and reports – the most frequently used words are displayed using the largest font. Within your school or college it may be useful to look back at data that was collected by students a few years ago. This is most likely available in an electronic form.

A range of fieldwork follow-up options may be appropriate in order to better prepare for the exam. The most important activities are in the light green boxes. These link to possible questions exploring the ‘route to enquiry’. ACTIVITY 1 – METHODOLOGY WRITE-UP. Give a focus on the techniques and approaches used, how the sites were selected, justification etc. Remember to include both fieldwork and research ideas. ACTIVITY 2 – PRESENTATION and ANALYSIS. Give a focus on the range of techniques used to present the data and say why you used them. Also include a description of how and why data was analysed (including qualitative, e.g. Annotation of photographs etc). ACTIVITY 3 – RESULTS, CONCLUSIONS and EVALUATION. Give a focus on what you found, including some locational detail. You should also give details of selected results, and provide an evaluative framework, e.g. limitations, reliability of results etc. Peer review of other modeled exam responses. Use highlighting, annotation etc to learn from other peoples work. This could be linked to a mark scheme, A fieldwork glossary...very useful to help with technical language in the exam. This could be linked to a techniques matrix (see next slide). A GIS / Google Earth map showing the locations visited as place marks. Mock exam questions completed under timed conditions, linked to each of the three activities above. A PowerPoint presentation, to focus on giving a ‘virtual tour’ of the locations / and or findings. Following-up the coastal fieldwork?

A revision glossary could be important for coasts Revision glossaries could include lists of words and linked definitions, diagrams and mind maps or event throughout auditing of your fieldwork. Combine this with practise of writing under timed conditions, i.e. 10 or 15 minutes

Summary

Now see part 1 for the Introduction to Crowded Coasts