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GET
THAT GRADE!
Unit 05 |
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Topic
Task 5
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You
may have to study the ecosystem of one or more world regions. For any
world region that you study you will need to know the following:
•
its location (learn to draw a quick sketch map)
•
its climate
•
its vegetation
•
its soil
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the interlinks between these three
•
the ways in which the ecosystem affects people and people affect the ecosystem
This diagram summarises the links:
Learn it.
It may help you to plan your answers.
Climate
Use the all-purpose revision template from page 32 of your Get
That Grade! book to make notes on the key climate statistics for an
example of your climate type. If you are entered for the Higher Tier paper
you ought to make sure that you know these statistics and could quote
them in the exam if you needed to.
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When
you learn statistics like these you need to find the best way of
learning to suit you. Some people find it easy to learn by
reading the figures on a page several times. Others find it easier
to repeat them out loud to themselves or to a friend. Others find
it best to write them out several times. It depends whether you
have: Experiment to find the learning method that suits you best. |
Temperature
Temperature can be explained by referring to distance from the equator. Learn why places close to the equator have high temperatures and why places far from the equator have low temperatures. The diagram below is a useful one. Label it, and then memorise it. You should also practice drawing it.
The other main factor affecting temperature is distance from the sea.
Remember: places far from the sea usually have an extreme climate - cold in winter and hot in summer. Places close to the sea usually have a moderate temperature - not too hot in summer and not too cold in winter. (You might remember this by imagining being on a beach feeling mellow, laid back and relaxed, and not too warm cold or stressed.)
Precipitation
Precipitation is caused by air being forced to rise.
This makes the air cool.
Cool air cannot hold so much water vapour, so condensation occurs.
Condensation often leads to precipitation.
| But what makes the air rise in the first place? Was it forced to rise because a wind met land or mountains? If so, this is relief rainfall. If this is the type of rainfall affecting your area, learn to draw and label a diagram to explain it. | Was the air forced to rise because warm, low-pressure air met a mass of colder, denser air? This is called cyclonic rainfall and is often associated with depressions. If this is the type of rainfall affecting your area, learn to draw and label a diagram to explain it. |
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| Is the rainfall seasonal in either of these cases? If it is, is that because the prevailing winds blow from different directions in the different seasons of the year? If so you must memorise the directions (e.g. Mediterranean = warm wet winters with westerly winds - summers have easterlies.) |
| Was the air forced to rise because it had been heated intensively by the sun's rays? That is convective rainfall (often called convection rainfall.) If that is the type of rainfall affecting your area, learn to draw and label a diagram to explain it. |
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| If this rainfall is seasonal it will probably be a result of movement of the sun overhead. Label and learn the above diagram to explain that movement. |
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Learn this diagram about the water cycle. It will be useful in your geography, but it will also help you in science. If it can be used twice, that means more efficient learning! |
Vegetation
In order to grow, plants need warmth, moisture and nutrients. The availability of warmth and moisture will depend on the climate. Nutrients come from the soil and from the atmosphere.
Study the following diagram, thinking about your chosen climate region.
| How long is the growing season? |
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it limited by drought? If it is, the plants will be adapted to cope with water shortage. |
Is
it limited by cold? If it is, the plants will be adapted to stop themselves being damaged by the cold. |
If the growing season is not limited by climate the plants will compete with each other to reach the sunlight. |
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| List five ways that the vegetation in your region is adapted to climate. (You might find it easiest to do this by using a diagram, or you might prefer to make a table, as shown below.) |
The
two columns could be headed with different words - describe and
explain.
These are the words that would probably be used in the exam.
Is the vegetation limited by poor soils?
If so, you must know how and why (again this leads to 'describe' and
'explain' type questions).
Soils
Soils are formed as a result of:
Inputs
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weathered minerals from the bed rock
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moisture from the atmosphere
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decaying vegetation
• movement of moisture downwards under gravity
• minerals are leached downwards by the water
• movement of water back towards the surface because of evaporation
• minerals may be deposited at the surface as water evaporates
• decaying vegetation forms humus
• humus is carried into the soil by worms and other organisms
• plant roots take up minerals and moisture from the soil
Which of these processes affect soil in your region?
Human influences on soils and vegetation
Is the soil being affected by human activity?
This question is huge! The ways and amount of human influence on soils
and vegetation are very varied. So is the way they are covered in the
different syllabuses. Therefore you will need to organise and learn
your work on this topic independently, with advice from your teacher.
However, one word that you must remember to use in this context is sustainability.
It has become a very important word for geographers. It is quite difficult
to define. It is perhaps easier to define what is not sustainable. If
you say 'we cannot carry on this way', then something is not
sustainable.
Here is a very good definition of sustainable development:
'a process that uses the environment to give people
a good quality of life now, without damaging the environment for future
generations.'
When you make notes on how soil and vegetation are being affected by
people in your chosen climate region, make sure that you make references
to at least one example of non-sustainable development and one
example of sustainable development. These two case studies can then
provide a very good example for a well-argued answer.
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An
'argued answer' puts forward different points of view: 'On the
one hand this. but on the other hand that . but in conclusion
I think .'. In an argued answer your final conclusion does not
have to be a compromise - you are allowed to express
your own opinion! |
