GCSE CASE STUDIES
OCR Spec 'A'
As revision time approaches, out come the 4 little booklets which have been prepared for the use of GCSE students. Each booklet is an A5 format: an A4 folded sheet basically. Each one is a different colour. Each one contains a blank outline of the UK and the World, and each one is a different colour. Over the course of a couple of lessons, along with a showing of an excellent video which follows a group of students through their revision and exam time, we fill in the case studies that we have prepared. Here, for the benefit of my students and others, are the case studies that we tend to use. These are subject to change as the years go by...
When I get the time I'll add Hyperlinks to the relevant sections of Geography Pages - in the meantime, go back to the GCSE page and follow the links from the CASE STUDIES section. There are some new case studies which get added from time to time.
Also check ROB CHAMBERS' GEOBYTES for more on the case studies that he uses, which are relevant to our specification.
Unit 1 : People and the Physical Environment
RIVERS
River flooding: Rhine (1995) and Bangladesh (1991 et al)
Boscastle (2004) (contrast to Lynmouth (1952))
Mississippi (1993) - flooding and levees - did they 'cause' the flood ?
River Great Ouse - river management
COASTS
Stretches of coastline which are prone to erosion.
Purbeck Coast, Dorset and Holderness coast, East Yorkshire
Spurn Point
Happisburgh (Heartbreak Homes)
TECTONIC HAZARDS
Volcano: Mount St. Helens (1980), Mt. Ruapehu (1995), Mt. Pinatubo (1991)
Earthquake: Kobe, Gujarat, Loma Prieta (San Francisco), Bam
Unit 2 : People and Places to Live
POPULATION
UK Population Density: be able to suggest why NW Scotland and SE England have contrasting density
Structure: be able to talk about the factors affecting the shapes of Population pyramids for MEDCs and LEDCs. Use website from Population page to produce a selection for your revision.
Strategies to influence Population Growth: China's 'One Child' Policy / Japan and Germany's PRO natalist stance
Causes and consequences of International Migration: USA/Mexico, 'Gastarbeiten' into Germany
SETTLEMENT
LEDC: Rural to Urban migration: Calcutta, Sao Paulo - bustees/favelas
Land Use Zones in a UK Town or City: King's Lynn, London, Leicester, Cambridge - be able to identify and locate key land uses and house types / ages / tenures / occupancy
Transport problems and measures taken to reduce them: Glasgow, Introduction of CONGESTION CHARGING in London.
Shops and services in and around a town or city: Development of Don Valley, Sheffield and Meadowhall (or Bluewater)
UK: Urban to Rural migration: Second Homes in Norfolk - pros and cons
Unit 3 : People and their needs
ENERGY
Consequences of meeting people's needs for energy: Fuelwood crisis in the Sahel region of Africa, closure of Coalmines in South Wales and Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire coalfields, need for RENEWABLE energy - windfarms
Also links to Effect on Communities as energy budget changes: decline in coal, 'dash for gas' - decline in coalmining areas
Arguments for and against NUCLEAR POWER
QUALITY OF LIFE
Indicators: be able to define the key indicators of development: Social and Economic
Use GAPMINDER and WORLDMAPPER to explore these further in your own time - it will be worth it !
Rapid Economic Growth: Tiger Economies: South Korea, Taiwan and PACIFIC RIM (not sure whether this will stay in the syllabus for long as all these are changing their rate of growth..) - I suggest you remember the work we did about SINGAPORE
ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES
Primary, Secondary and Tertiary examples are needed, although less are needed now than before.
Primary: Commercial Dairy Farming on the Cheshire Plain: Gilbert Hitchen, compared with subsistence farming in Kenya: the Shamba - this can also be compared with commercial estates which are involved with cattle ranching or tea growing (Brooke Bond)
UK Industry: Toyota - location of car plant at Burnaston, Derbyshire
Footloose industries: Cambridge Science Park
Distribution industries: Argos, warehouse location, Amazon distribution warehouse
Tourism: UK tourism - West Norfolk, National Parks ('honeypot' locations such as Castleton and Bowness on Windermere) and the benefits and problems for LEDC locations: Kenya and The Gambia
Economic change and effects on communities: 'multiplier' and 'demultiplier' effects of industrial change
Unit 4 : People and the Environment
LOCAL ENVIRONMENT and the Development of RESOURCES
UK Extracting Raw Materials: Limestone quarrying in the Peak District: Doreen Quarry Queen, Blue Circle cement works near Castleton - Karst scenery is found around Castleton - Hope Valley
MANAGEMENT OF ENVIRONMENTS
UK: Land use conflicts in National Parks: Peak District - traffic, farming, landscape, water, energy, tourism etc.
Water Pollution: The North Sea - marine pollution issues (also link with Aral Sea...)
GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT
UK and EU: Causes and consequences of Acid Rain - a 'forgotten' environmental issue
Effects of Global Warming - we will be using 'AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH' as key resource here