Geography Common Entrance Revision

Geography Common Entrance Revision Information

The exam has 7 Sections:

Global Location
OS Map Work
Geomorphology: Rivers and Coasts
Weather and Climate
Plate Tectonics
Transport and Industry
Population and Settlement

There is a lot of theory for each section but you must know your CASE STUDIES as well.

Global Location

You must be able to locate the following places:

Continents

Africa
Antarctica
Asia
Oceania
Europe
North and South America

Mountain ranges

Alps
Andes
Himalayas
Pyrenees
Rockies

Desert

Sahara

Oceans / Seas

Arctic
Indian
Atlantic
Pacific
Southern Oceans
Red Sea

Rivers

Amazon
Mississippi
Nile
Rhine
Yangtze (Chang Jiang)
Ganges

Other global features

Arctic Circle
Antarctic Circle
Equator
International Dateline
North Pole
Prime Meridian
South Pole
Tropic of Cancer
Tropic of Capricorn

British Isles

Countries

UK
Republic of Ireland

Sea areas

English Channel
Irish Sea
North Sea

Rivers

Severn
Thames
Trent
Clyde
Shannon
Mersey
Tyne
Rhine
Amazon

Upland Areas

Grampians
Lake District
Pennines
Snowdonia

Islands

Anglesey
Jersey
Guernsey
Isle of Man
Orkneys
Shetlands
Isle of Wight

Major cities

Belfast
Birmingham
Cardiff
Dublin
Edinburgh
Glasgow
Liverpool
London
Manchester
Newcastle
Plymouth
Bristol
Southampton

Other cities and city states

Dubai
Kolkata
Shanghai
Los Angeles
New York
Rio de Janeiro
Sao Paulo
Sydney
Vancouver

Countries and Capitals

Europe

Belgium (Brussels)
Denmark (Copenhagen)
Netherlands (Amsterdam)
France (Paris)
Germany (Berlin)
Greece (Athens)
Iceland (Reykjavik)
Italy (Rome)
Poland (Warsaw)
Portugal (Lisbon)
Russia (Moscow)
Spain (Madrid)
Norway (Oslo)
Switzerland (Bern)

Africa

Egypt (Cairo)
Ethiopia (Addis Ababa)
Kenya (Nairobi)
Nigeria (Abuja)
South Africa (Pretoria)
Ghana (Accra)
South Africa (Pretoria)

Americas

Brazil (Brasilia)
Chile (Santiago)
Canada (Ottawa)
Mexico (Mexico City)
USA (Washington DC)
Argentina (Buenos Aires)

Asia

Afghanistan (Kabul)
Bangladesh (Dhaka)
China (Beijing)
India (New Dehli)
Indonesia (Jakarta)
Iran (Tehran)
Iraq (Baghdad)
Israel (Jerusalem)
Japan (Tokyo)
Pakistan (Islamabad)
Saudi Arabia (Riyadh)
South Korea (Seoul)
Thailand (Bangkok)
Turkey (Ankara)

Oceania

Australia (Canberra)
New Zealand (Wellington)
Papua New Guinea (Port Moresby)

Time remaining until the Geography Exam 2022

Days

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Get the geography Exam Practice Questions

OS Map Work

You must be able to use an OS map to do the following:
Locate places using 4 and 6 figure grid references
Understand contour lines and spot heights
Produce a cross section of a map (Top Form only)
Calculate distance and scale
Use a key and map symbols
Understand and give compass direction
Calculate the size of an area e.g. woods

Rivers and coasts

You need to understand

Processes of weathering
- Physical (freeze thaw/frost shattering, onion-skin)
- Chemical
- Biological
Processes of erosion and how they create landforms
- Hydraulic action
- Abrasion (corrasion)
- Solution (corrosion)
- Attrition
You must know how each of these processes work:
- Solution
- Suspension
- Traction
- Saltation
- Swash
- Backwash
- Longshore Drift
You must be able to draw annotated diagram of the formation of the following:
- Waterfall and Gorge
- Meander and Ox Bow lake
- V Shaped Valley
- Caves, Arches, Stacks, Stumps
- Spits
Flooding
- The causes of floods, their effects on people, economy and environment and how people and organisations respond to floods
CASE STUDY: Boscastle
- Causes, effects, responses
- Impact on people
- Impact on Environment
- Lessons learnt from Boscastle
- Know some key facts and figures – Date, deaths, cost, rescue effort.

Earthquakes and volcanoes

You should know:

Where earthquakes are located
Where Volcanoes are located
Ring of Fire
How to annotate a diagram of destructive plate boundary and be able to name the plates.

CASE STUDY: Japanese Earthquake 2011

What plates were involved?
What was the magnitude?
Human Impacts
Environmental Impacts
Human Responses

CASE STUDY: Mount Etna

What plates were involved?
What were the dates and places involved?
Human Impacts
Environmental Impacts
Human Responses

Weather and climate

You should know

The differences between weather and climate microclimates
Microclimates: Aspect, shelter, buildings, surface and natural features affect
The water cycle including the terms evaporation, transpiration, condensation, precipitation, interception, surface run-off, infiltration and through flow.

3 Types of rainfall – You must be able to draw an annotated diagram of each of these:

Relief (and draw diagram)
Convectional (and draw diagram)
Frontal (and draw diagram)

British Isles Weather

The causes of temperature and rainfall variation from place to place in the British Isles
The main temperature and rainfall patterns in the British Isles
The influence of latitude, altitude, relief, prevailing winds, distance from coast on weather
The impact of the North Atlantic Drift

Transport and Industry

You should know:

How transport routes link settlements and industries.
How transport links can affect quality of life.
Advantages and Disadvantages of transporting people and goods by road, rails, air, and sea.

The different sectors of economic activity

Primary
Secondary
Tertiary
Quaternary
What percentage of people work in each sector in a LEDC
What percentage of people work in each sector in a MEDC
The benefits and problems which economic activities (Industry) bring to areas
Explain the following terms
Living Standards
Exploit
Protect
Conserve
Manage
Stewardship
Sustainable Development

CASE STUDY: HS2

Where the line is due to be located
Figures: Cost of the project, journey times.
Arguments for HS2
Arguments against HS2

CASE STUDY: Nike

Why they manufacture in LEDC’s
Where labour comes from
Where Raw Materials come from
Where their market is
Where their communication links are
Why sweatshops can occur
Benefits it brings to local community
Disadvantages to local community
Nike Inputs, Throughputs, Outputs

Population and Settlement

You should know:

Why some areas are over crowded and others are relatively empty

The meaning of

Birth rate
Death rate
Natural Increase
Migration
The factors which early settlers considered when choosing sites for new settlements
Reasons why some settlements grew and others did not
The relationship between the provision of goods and services and settlement size

CASE STUDY: Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park