Developing your study (Part 3)
Marjorie Henry, Contributor

After spending several weeks discussing aspects of the field study report, the requirement for your school-based assessment (SBA), today I would like to change focus to another area of the syllabus: practical skills. For this, the geography syllabus states that students must develop the ability to:

(i) Use scale for measurements

(ii) Read maps

(iii) Collect and collate data in geographical analysis

(iv) Select techniques and methodologies appropriate to different practical contexts

(v) Draw maps, diagrams and sketches

(vi) Construct graphs using simple statistical data

(vii) Read and interpret maps, photographs, diagrams and tables.

By now, students who are in grade 11 (fifth form) should have acquired most, if not all, these skills. Well, how are these skills tested? Let me discuss some of the ways in response to this.

You who are in grade 11 would have employed some of them already when compiling your SBA. For example, the drawing of maps, sketches, tables and the construction of graphs. You are well aware, I am certain, that in addition to the SBA which is done external to the examinations, you must write two papers in the examinations. In a much broader sense, practical skills are tested in question one, the map-reading question given on Paper 02. Let me remind you that this is the only compulsory question on this paper. Many practical skills are tested here. The frequently tested ones include measurements, directions, cross sections, map interpretation, descriptions and explaining relationships among the patterns of relief and vegetation, for example.

This compulsory question is allotted the most marks - 28 - on Paper 02. The other questions are given 24 marks. Since this is so, my advice to you is to ensure that you are competent at each skill. Keep practising them even when your teacher has not given you an assignment to do. In the actual examination, work accurately and carefully. Take a geometry set with you to the examinations since it is quite likely that the instruments will be needed to compute some of the answers. Have sharp-pointed pencils, the soft ones, to use. You invariably have to draw lines on the given map extracts and you need to ensure that this is done accurately. The duration of the examination for Paper 02 is two and a half hours. Of that time, spend about 40 minutes working through question one.

In addition to question one on Paper 02, part (a) of all the remaining questions is testing a practical skill. Let me pause here to explain that each question has three profile dimensions, namely practical skills - Profile 1 (P1); knowledge and comprehension - Profile 2 (P2); and use of knowledge - Profile 3 (P3). Part (a) of each question then, is satisfying the requirements for Profile 1. There are different approaches to this.

• You are sometimes given stimulus materials in the form of maps, sketches, charts, tables and graphs. You must study these carefully to find the answers to the questions given on them. You are often asked to outline and shade areas on a map, for example, different climatic types. After you have identified and outlined each area asked for, you must use different kinds of shading for each. You must draw a key to identify the different climatic types you have indicated on the map. Where you are given graphs and tables, remember to include the unit of measurement in your answers. If not, that answer will not have any meaning and you will not be awarded any points.
  

• Photographs are sometimes given for you to identify features and, maybe, changes occurring over a period of time or after a natural disaster, for example, a volcanic eruption or earthquake. It is only through careful study of this that you are able to arrive at the correct answers.

The discussion continues in the next lesson.

Marjorie Henry is an independent contributor. Send questions and comments to kerry-ann.hepburn@gleanerjm.com