Geography, too much effort for nothing?

ThatFancyChap

Hey guys, my first topic here. Doing my leaving this year, and Geography is the only subject I'm having trouble concentrating on. It just seems like it requires a lot of work, particularly the essays, and just comes down to remembering a mountain of tiny details.
So, I'm wondering. Is my teacher just over-stressing how much is needed to be written for the exam (about 15-18 SRP's for each Long Question, and 40 for the essay) or is that really the standard expected for the exam?

traymad

My teacher says the same, the essays should be about an A4 page and a half at least with 16(ish) SRPS

citizen_p

my theacher says 15 SRPs
2 marks for each one.
also dont forget your box and title on diagrams, seems to set my teacher mad otherwise.

i never minded geography, its all common sense stuff and is fairly easy to remember once you learned it.

ThatFancyChap

Mousey- wrote: »

my theacher says 15 SRPs
i never minded geography, its all common sense stuff and is fairly easy to remember once you learned it.

I don't mind some of the stuff, but the economics and the essays (I'm looking at you, soil) is just plain annoying, and uninteresting. My teacher doesn't help to make the class any more bearable either though.

DaveMur1

A typical leaving cert long question in geography should contain .
15 SRP's!
These can be broken down though.
1 SRP- Naming region/action.
1 SRP-Identifying process what's happening.
1 SRP- Draw diagram,(takes alot of time wouldn't recommend unless asked for in question!)
12 SRP's-this is where you explain everything!

The essay question has a different layout pick 3 or 4 core regions!
Must be noted though that it is better to do a detailed description of 2 regions than a superficial treatment of 4.
Whichever way you pick there needs to be 24 SRP's,
3 Regions = 8 SRP's each !
4 Regions = 6 SRP's each !

Layout & timing are everything in geography don't make a balls of them!

PictureFrame

ThatFancyChap wrote: »

I don't mind some of the stuff, but the economics and the essays (I'm looking at you, soil) is just plain annoying, and uninteresting. My teacher doesn't help to make the class any more bearable either though.

Am I the only person in the world that loves the Geoecology section?. Ha I love it so much. I'm in 5th year and we finished it before Christmas and I miss it already! It's really easy to learn to be honest, I got 100% in my Geoecology Christmas exam! People think i'm a freak! :L. How many soils did you study for it?. We did Brown soils and Latosols.. Is this enough?..

Carl Sagan

Geography is very easy to get a high mark in so put in a little effort. The essays don't really have to be any more than an A4 page if what you wrote is of a decent quality. And remember that if you're stuck, throw in a few statistics and percentages that sound half realistic and you'll probably get a mark for them.

dambarude

Carl Sagan wrote: »

Geography is very easy to get a high mark in so put in a little effort.

I'd have to disagree there, it takes an awful lot of work to do well in Geography. A lot of people were very disappointed with their grade in the subject last year- apparently it was marked very harshly.

scoll

I did Geography for the 2009 LC. Studied my ass off for it, probably did a bit of the subject everyday. It's not a subject you can just wing. Each question has a specific structured answer that they are looking for. Once you know these, it's a lot easier. There is a lot to be written though, your teacher is not exaggerating. It's such an interesting subject, got an A1 so I did! I actually miss it

PictureFrame

Carl Sagan wrote: »

Geography is very easy to get a high mark in so put in a little effort. The essays don't really have to be any more than an A4 page if what you wrote is of a decent quality. And remember that if you're stuck, throw in a few statistics and percentages that sound half realistic and you'll probably get a mark for them.

Agreed. However the timing is probably the worst thing.. You only have 12 minutes to think and write an essay A4 page with diagrams in the exam..

Bbbbolger

But in fairness its not like English where it has to be well worded and cohesive. You just write out a minimum of 15 points out on a page. They don't even really have to be linked. And a diagram isnt necessary; their just nady if you dont think you've written enough points and you want to ensure you've got enough!

Victoria.

I took Geography last year as my extra subject outside school and got an A2 and got that much easier than I would have in HL Irish *shudder*

I was under time pressure and had to focus on the stuff that really mattered and it worked out. Geography is pretty manageable but its one of those ones that you need some sort of a plan for.

You need to get yourself a file if you already haven't done and start writing up A standard sample answers and then on the page beside it in the folder write up the bullet points in that essay without the waffle.

Do a really good field study and put some effort into it coz without a doubt I wouldn't have gotten an A without that. The average mark in that is great like 18% out of 20 or something like that so they're pretty generous so you get a good return on your effort.

Start targeting specific sections of the paper like geoecology is worth a shocking amount for what you have to learn. Biome question is always there. I did 2 soil questions for back up too. I learnt about 10 pages for that section. Nothing compared to what you'd have to do to be safe in something like regional.

In regional culture was a good one I did Belgium and India. They always ask an Irish region so know your west and greater Dublin and the sketch maps are worth loads of marks. Changing borders over time. Know a core and peripheral region in Europe for primary, secondary and tertiary industry. Paris and Dublin lots of info can be changed very little to suit both. I did a bit of India too just in case it was non European.

In physical know every diagram and simple labels coz thats always part A. Humans interacting with the rock cycle (oil and gas) or natural processes (dam on river) is always there. Landform development is always there. Sedimentary and resulting landscape is a good one and if you're stuck you can even use a limestone feature for landforms development so you get a question free. Volcanoes and earthquakes.

I didn't do the economic elective so I don't know what you should do with that one.

Best revision book I had for it was called Rapid Revision was brilliant, just all top quality sample answers

Good luck and hope this helps you out

Screaminmidget

PictureFrame wrote: »

Agreed. However the timing is probably the worst thing.. You only have 12 minutes to think and write an essay A4 page with diagrams in the exam..

yes, but you can answer in bullet points, which is sooooo much easier.

Also,i found the geoecology is better if you learn off the key words and structure the answers around this. I did my leaving last year and the Geoecology is still in my head :P

Sm4shbox

Screaminmidget wrote: »

yes, but you can answer in bullet points, which is sooooo much easier.

Also,i found the geoecology is better if you learn off the key words and structure the answers around this. I did my leaving last year and the Geoecology is still in my head :P

From what I know they prefer if you don't write your long questions in bullet points but rather an essay style format.
Bullet points are okay for notes and revision but not for the real exam :cool:

Screaminmidget

Sm4shbox wrote: »

From what I know they prefer if you don't write your long questions in bullet points but rather an essay style format.
Bullet points are okay for notes and revision but not for the real exam :cool:

The only question you have to answer in essay format is the essay (geoecology)
You can write the long Q's in bullet points, they will give you the marks as long as it is an S.R.P .

Maher08

Sm4shbox wrote: »

From what I know they prefer if you don't write your long questions in bullet points but rather an essay style format.
Bullet points are okay for notes and revision but not for the real exam :cool:

Bullet points are preferred in the exam as examiners would rather read factual points than a page of waffle.

Always try and get in 1/2 extra S.R.Ps in on every question just to make sure, each S.R.P. should be 2/3 lines btw, depending on your writing.

Dougal.Maguire

is there anywhere you can find out if you CAN actually answer in bullet points? my teacher told us we definitely cant..? would be so much easier if we could!

toodleytoo

ThatFancyChap wrote: »

Hey guys, my first topic here. Doing my leaving this year, and Geography is the only subject I'm having trouble concentrating on. It just seems like it requires a lot of work, particularly the essays, and just comes down to remembering a mountain of tiny details.
So, I'm wondering. Is my teacher just over-stressing how much is needed to be written for the exam (about 15-18 SRP's for each Long Question, and 40 for the essay) or is that really the standard expected for the exam?

that actually is the standard expected!

cocoshovel

To be honest I'm finding it hard to come up with more than 10 SRP's for most topics.

DaveMur1

Chief examiner's report includes that it is ok for students to write in bullet point format, for every long question which is why there's a seperate essay style question that requires such a format.
It does also make it easier for the corrector,as he/she can see what you consider to be an SRP.
Another usefull point worth mentioning on the SRP's is that the format is 15 SRP's for every long question & the essay question is actually only 24 SRP's ,because marks go for punctuation,clarity & grammar!
Everyone struggling to think of 15 SRP's should also take note that;
Naming a region,
Saying what your going to discuss,
Drawing a diagram & identifying process,
Are all equal to an SRP & as these are basic formalities to answering questions they massively reduce the general learning involved!

BrenosBolts91

There's a book out there by Sue Horan I think? Or Sue Moran? I can't remember I have it somewhere in the house. Anyway, she has loads of sample questions done out and breaks down the marks allocated etc etc. Trust me, it's well worth the buy. Especially if you're struggling with Geography.

DaveMur1

BrenosBolts91 wrote: »

There's a book out there by Sue Horan I think? Or Sue Moran? I can't remember I have it somewhere in the house. Anyway, she has loads of sample questions done out and breaks down the marks allocated etc etc. Trust me, it's well worth the buy. Especially if you're struggling with Geography.

Sue Honan , yes , this is easily the best revision book gives full sample answers & is completely exam focused!
Costs around 13 euro.

FreshTillDeath

If a person could impregnate a sedimentary rock, my teach would have the pants dropped in a shot!

But i do agree that the constant steam of sample answers and essays to learn off are a pain. We have written out ( Approximately ) 40 sample answers with all the sections included( Regional, Physical, Economic Geography & Global interdepence) Yet i'm still not confident on the exam. I also find that the test is quite unpredictable but maybe thats just me ?

PictureFrame

toodleytoo wrote: »

that actually is the standard expected!

My teacher is an examiner and she said that for a question worth 30 marks the breakdown of points goes as follows..

Eg: A regional Geography question "Give 2 factors which influence the development of agriculture in a region you have studied" [30 marks]

2 Marks: Naming Region
4 Marks: Naming 2 factors
6 SRP'S Per factor= 12 (x2)

That equals 2+4+12+12 = 30 marks 100%

irish_man

Carl Sagan wrote: »

Geography is very easy to get a high mark in so put in a little effort. The essays don't really have to be any more than an A4 page if what you wrote is of a decent quality. And remember that if you're stuck, throw in a few statistics and percentages that sound half realistic and you'll probably get a mark for them.

I think its really hard. All the learning off for nothing. How can 15 srps on isotacy help you in your future profession?? Its boring, tedious and repetitive!! I really regret doing it. They really need to revise the syllabus.
I might sound a tad radical but should geography even be a subject after junior cert? And if so it should be modernised with less of an emphasis on physical and more on the human. Who needs to know about meanders and such but learning about the culture of the Chinese or other countries might lead to less racism and a decline in general xenophobia. Just a thought. Anyone else think the same??

Aifric1

Does anybody know anything about the Culture and Identity option? I'm doing it outside class, and I was wondering what you're meant to do with the chapter on Switzerland? Should/can it be mentioned in any question?

fulhamfanincork

Really struggling with Regional Geography, any tips?

_sparkie_

scoll wrote: »

I did Geography for the 2009 LC. Studied my ass off for it, probably did a bit of the subject everyday. It's not a subject you can just wing. Each question has a specific structured answer that they are looking for. Once you know these, it's a lot easier. There is a lot to be written though, your teacher is not exaggerating. It's such an interesting subject, got an A1 so I did! I actually miss it

i did the 2009 leaving too and out of all my subjects i gave the least amount of time to geography and it turned out to be my best results. then again i am good at learning things off by heart, thats why i found it so much easier then languages. just write out good notes, learn them off by heart and then thrown them back up on the page.

The Windhover

DaveMur1 wrote: »

Chief examiner's report includes that it is ok for students to write in bullet point format, for every long question which is why there's a seperate essay style question that requires such a format.

Looked for this but couldnt find it. Somepeople say you can answer in bullet point format and others say you cant. If someone could put down a deffinate answer that'd help so much.

ChristinaIndigo

with geography, I'm just really conscious of the fact that so many other LC students are doing it too. There are 4 full classes alone in my school doing it - the field work is a nightmare trying to keep individual.

There is A LOT of material to cover, so, you really do have to be selective with your studying. The essays are easy enough to get high marks in - provided to know the material.

It'll be a case of hoping for the best in my mock on Tuesday that the material I happen to know off-hand comes up, because there's no way you can know it all.

meathawk

Ask an A1 leaving cert geography student anything!

RMD

irish_man wrote: »

I think its really hard. All the learning off for nothing. How can 15 srps on isotacy help you in your future profession?? Its boring, tedious and repetitive!! I really regret doing it. They really need to revise the syllabus.
I might sound a tad radical but should geography even be a subject after junior cert? And if so it should be modernised with less of an emphasis on physical and more on the human. Who needs to know about meanders and such but learning about the culture of the Chinese or other countries might lead to less racism and a decline in general xenophobia. Just a thought. Anyone else think the same??

Physical is by far the easiest part of Geography. Why should anything be a subject after the junior by your logic? I want to go into a Business course after the leaving, what relevance does Biology, Chemistry or Geography hold in Business none? The "it wont apply to me in the future" logic is incredibly stupid when it comes to the Leaving, change the LC format in general, then change the subjects.

F1f1

If you study everything else for physical geography is it safe enough to leave rocks out??

Ash_M

F1f1 wrote: »

If you study everything else for physical geography is it safe enough to leave rocks out??

Odds are you won't be asked on rocks in all three questions - but the formation of sedimentary/igneous rocks is a pretty popular Q, and it's not too difficult to learn. You'd probably be okay but for the sake of learning those answers.. You don't want to be caught with an awkward question because you left them out.

BrenosBolts91

Just get on with it and stop making excuses.

double GG

A little hint for anyone doing geography who is running into trouble with time keeping.

This happened to me last June, only had 5 minutes to complete a question. One of the shorter long ones, if you understand me. It was about Metamorphic rocks. Anyhow I left this question till last 'cos I wasn't that fond of it and I decided I would come back to it at the end.

So anyhow I had around 5 minutes to complete the question, hardly enough time? But since the marking scheme is all about SRP's these days, I simply wrote as many short bullet points I could remember on the rocks. Very simple yet effective. Although I doubt I got full marks on the question, but I am pretty sure it got me 75% of the marks for the question in around a quarter of the time allotted.

I got an A2, if anyone is interested.


As said countless times, the Practical write is up important. Think about it this way. How many hours do you spend studying for the real thing? So take your time with the write up and try to get it perfect, get your graphs neater, get your pictures and diagrams flawless. An extra hour on it can go a long way.

Practice Practice Practice the last question. 25% of the marks go for coherency. English will come into play a lot in Geography and how you are able to tie all your answers together etc.

If anyone has any questions, PM me, I'd be happy to help.


Double GG

Bugz24

Don't forget FEED for the Physical Geography. I am a NQT Geography teacher so wont preach about SRP's to those of you in the middle of exams but I will say it is a much easier course than it was 7 years ago especially in terms of the fieldwork being handed in before exam.

Follow your teachers instructions is the best advice I as a teacher but more so as someone who did the old Leaving Certificate course which in fairness was more difficult than the new course!!
9 times out of 10 the teachers themselves correct mock and state papers and are very clear on what gets you the marks and what doesn't.

Concise and Clear is what they want even if it means you use a crazy amount of booklets.:)

makes everything easier to identify and read.

Wolfe Tone

I loved geo, got an A1, my biggest difficulty was getting all I knew written down in the time allowed!