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Practical
skills
Marjorie Henry, Contributor
In
the last two lessons I gave an overview
of the requirements for practical
skills as outlined in the syllabus.
I also made reference to the many
ways in which these are tested in
the examinations, that is, in the
school-based assessment, the Paper
01 and the Paper 02.
As
promised, this week I will begin a
series of discussion on some of the
more frequently tested practical skills.
Checks on the question papers over
the last four years indicate that
the following have been tested every
year - directions, measurements and
grid references. Other skills that
have been tested more than one time
are gradient, cross section and identifying
landforms. In addition, some form
of description is always given. The
focus this week is on directions.
In
reference to your geography syllabus,
you will note that specific objective
1. 3 states that you should be able
to 'give direction in terms of compass
bearing and the 16 points of the compass'.
The information from this is that
the direction of one point from another
may be expressed by reference compass
points or in terms of angular bearings,
and you must be able to state both.
Each will be discussed separately,
beginning with the compass direction.
The
compass, as you know, is an instrument
for showing direction. It has a needle
that points north. North is shown
on the map by an arrow which is drawn
parallel or nearly parallel to the
edge of the map. The Ordnance Survey
Maps with which you are given to work
in the examination are usually drawn
with the north at the top. This is
quite visible. The four main points
of the compass are called the cardinal
points. These are north, south, east
and west. These are shown in the diagram
below.
Note
the positions of the points in relation
to each other. Remember always that
the position of west and east spells
'WE'.
There
are several other points in addition
to the cardinal points. The first
group of points are located halfway
between the cardinal points as follows:
- North
East (NE) is halfway between north
and east
- South
West (SW) is halfway between south
and west
- North
West (NW) is halfway between north
and west
- South
East (SE) is halfway between south
and east.
These
points are shown in the diagram.
Halfway
between these eight points is another
set of points as follows:
- North
North East (NNE) is halfway between
north and east
- East
North East (ENE) is halfway between
east and north east
- East
South East (ESE) is halfway between
east and south east
- South
South East (SSE) is halfway between
south and south east
- South
South West (SSW) is halfway between
south and south west
- West
South West (WSW) is halfway between
west and south west
- West
North West (WNW) is halfway between
west and north west
- North
North West (NNW) is halfway between
north and north west.
Notice
that in each group, the cardinal point
is named first. The two groups along
with the cardinal points account for
the 16 points of the compass that
you must know. Make sure that you
do not confuse them. Their positions
are shown on the diagram below.
Homework
Here
is an exercise for you to do. Indicate
the missing points in the following
diagram:
More
on compass directions in the next
lesson.
Source
for diagrams
Skills
in Geography in Secondary School
by V.A. Rahil
Marjorie
Henry is an independent contributor.
Send questions and comments to kerry-ann.hepburn@gleanerjm.com
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