Water & Carbon Skills
- Geographical skills are working skills essential to developing a synoptic approach to answering questions but also observing the 'bigger picture' in geography
Key terms
- Quantitative data is measurable and can be expressed by numbers or placed into specific categories
- Often used to test and prove previously specified concepts or hypotheses
- Quantitative data is objective as it provides specific values
- E.g. Barton-on-Sea beach in Dorset, UK is a short 1.75km, 20m wide, shingle and rock beach, backed by high, clay cliffs of between 5-10m
- Qualitative data is descriptive information, usually written and presents features (quality) in an intuitive way
- Often used to formulate theories and hypotheses
- Qualitative data is subjective because it 'describes' from the angle of the viewer
- E.g. The river is fast and dangerous or the wood is dark and feels dangerous
- Primary data is data collected first-hand usually during fieldwork
- It is real-time data specific to the investigation
- E.g. Photograph taken of flood defences or species count using a quadrat
- Secondary data is data collected by others and is used in support of primary data
- It allows for studies of changes over time - census data collected by the government and compared
- E.g. Maps, textbooks, websites, journals etc.
- Big data are large datasets that need computational manipulation
- Used to show trends, patterns and subsequent links
- E.g. Geolocation, geospatial data, GIS (geographic information systems), Google Earth, satellite navigation etc.
- Continuous data
- Numerical data that can take any value within a given range
- E.g. heights and weights
- Discrete data
- Numerical data that can only take certain values
- E.g. shoe size
Line graph
- One of the simplest ways to display continuous data
- Both axes are numerical and continuous
- Used to show changes over time and space
Table Showing Relative Strengths and Limitations of Line Graphs
Strengths | Limitations |
Shows trends and patterns clearly | Does not show causes or effects |
Quicker and easier to construct than a bar graph | Can be misleading if the scales on the axis are altered |
Easy to interpret | If there are multiple lines on a graph it can be confusing |
Anomalies are easy to identify | Often requires additional information to be useful |
- A river cross-section is a particular form of line graph because it is not continuous data, but the plots can be joined to show the shape of the river channel
Flow lines
- Useful for showing the strength of interaction between variables
- Shows direction and volume along a specific path
- E.g. the water and carbon cycle use flow lines
- The lines can also be displayed to show proportion or importance using size or colour to highlight differences
Image showing carbon cycle proportional flow lines
Compound or divided bar chart
- The bars are subdivided to show the information with all bars totalling 100%
- Divided bar charts show a variety of categories
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They can show percentages and frequencies
Table Showing Relative Strengths and Limitations of Compound Graphs
Strengths | Limitations |
A large amount of data can be shown on one graph | A divided bar chart can be difficult to read if there are multiple segments |
Percentages and frequencies can be displayed on divided bar char | Can be difficult to compare sometimes |
Image showing data presented on a compound graph
Triangular graph
- Have axes on three sides all of which go from 0-100
- Used to display data which can be divided into three
- The data must be in percentages
- Can be used to plot data such as soil content, employment in economic activities
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Read each side carefully so you are aware of which direction the data should go in
Exam Tip
In the exam, you will not be asked to draw an entire graph. However, it is common to be asked to complete an unfinished graph using the data provided. You may also be asked to identify anomalous results or to draw the best fit line on a scatter graph.
- Take your time to ensure that you have marked the data on the graph accurately
- Use the same style as the data which has already been put on the graph
- Bars on a bar graph should be the same width
- If the dots on a graph are connected by a line you should do the same
Mass balance
- Mass balance is the input, output, and distribution of the water or carbon cycle between its flows/transfers within each stage of the system
- It accounts for all the material in a process and can be measured locally (a single system) or globally
- E.g. a student conducted a mass balance on a drainage basin and they concluded that approximately 84% of the water was directly recycled back to the river while 15% was indirectly returned via plant and sub-surface flows, with the final 1% being removed from the water cycle by deep aquifers
- A balanced carbon cycle is the outcome of different components working in dynamic equilibrium with each other
- The atmosphere's carbon composition is partly regulated by ocean and terrestrial photosynthesis
- Soil health is maintained through decomposition, combustion and carbon storage which is important for ecosystem productivity etc.
Scatter graph
- Points should not be connected
- The best-fit line can be added to show the relations
- Used to show the relationship between two variables
- In a river study, they are used to show the relationship between different river characteristics such as the relationship between the width and depth of the river channel
Table Showing Relative Strengths and Limitations of Scatter Graphs
Strengths | Limitations |
Clearly shows data correlation | Data points cannot be labelled |
Shows the spread of data | Too many data points can make it difficult to read |
Makes it easy to identify anomalies and outliers | Can only show the relationship between two sets of data |
Scatter graph to show the relationship between width and depth on a river X's long profile
Types of correlation
- Positive correlation
- As one variable increases, so too does the other
- The line of best fit goes from the bottom left to the top right of the graph
- Negative correlation
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As one variable increases the other decreases
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The line of best fit goes from the top left to the bottom right of the graph
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- No correlation
- Data points will have a scattered distribution
- There is no relationship between the variables
Exam Tip
Always check when making calculations what the question has asked you to do. Is it asking for units to be stated or calculate to the nearest whole number or quote to 2 decimal places.
Worked example
Making predictions from a set of data
Study Figure 1 below, which shows the cost against distance travelled
Figure 1
Predict what the cost at would be at 1.75km
[1 mark]
- You may be asked to make a prediction for the next step in given data (either table or graph form) in your exam
- Study the data carefully
- Look at the direction in which the data is going
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- Are the numbers increasing or decreasing?
- Is there a clear pattern forming?
- E.g. does the data point value change by 3, 4, 6 etc. each time
Answer:
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To predict the cost at 1.75 km, find the cost at 1.5 km and 2.0 km
- Produce a line of best fit to predict the value at 1.75 km
- Cost would be £1.3 [1]
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Percentage and percentage change
- To give the amount A as a percentage of sample B, divide A by B and multiply by 100
- In 2020, 25 out of 360 homes in Catland were burgled
- What is the percentage (to the nearest whole number) of homes burgled?
- A percentage change shows by how much something has either increased or decreased
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- In 2021 only 21 houses were burgled. What is the percentage change in Catland?
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- There has been a decrease of 16% in the rate of burglaries in the Catland area
- Remember that a positive figure shows an increase but a negative is a decrease
Worked example
Study Figure 1 and analyse the data presented.
[6 marks]
- The best answers will use and manipulate the data; spot trends and anomalies, and make clear connections between different aspects of the data and evidence
Answer:
- Figure 1 shows that high income countries are still the biggest contributors to GHG production [1] but that there has been little growth between 1990 and 2010 in particular (0.4 Gigatonnes of CO2) [1]. It is upper-middle income countries that have seen the fastest rates of growth of the time periods [1]. For instance, there has been an almost doubling from 98 to 18.3 gigatonnes of CO2 produced. Industry appears to have more than doubled in its contribution to GHG in this group of countries (from approximately to 2 to around 5 gigatonnes) [1d].
- Low and low-middle income countries contribute relatively little to the overall GHG emissions [1], with LICs emissions appear to be shrinking. For instance, combined in 2010 they produced only 11.3 gigatonnes [1], 7.4 gigatonnes less than high income countries [1]. These countries greatest contribution comes through agriculture (especially for low income countries) with very little through energy use and transport [1].