Task: Coastal landscapes – investigation of coastal processes through landscape evidence — Edexcel GCSE Geography A
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Task: Coastal landscapes – investigation of coastal processes through landscape evidence explained
Task: Coastal landscapes – investigation of coastal processes through landscape evidence covers 5 specification points, including Students must have an opportunity to develop… and One quantitative fieldwork method to measure….
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Open a point below for its explanation and revision guidance.
Students must have an opportunity to develop understanding of the kinds of question that can be investigated through fieldwork in coastal environments. Students must have an opportunity to develop a question(s) based on their location and the task.
This statement asks you to understand which kinds of question fieldwork in coastal environments can investigate, and to develop your own question(s) from your location and the task. A fieldwork question must be answerable with evidence you can collect on site, such as beach width, sediment size or cliff profile, rather than with general opinion about coastal management. For example, 'How does beach width change between two points along this stretch, and what wave or sediment evidence relates to that change?' can be tested with measurements, whereas 'Is coastal management effective?' cannot. Begin by listing the landforms and processes visible at your site, then narrow them to one or two focused questions that connect to the task. Finally, check each question against your planned methods to confirm you can gather evidence that addresses it.
Fieldwork data collection must include at least: one quantitative fieldwork method to measure beach morphology and sediment characteristics; one qualitative fieldwork method to record landforms that make up the coastal landscape.
This statement requires your fieldwork data collection to include at least one quantitative method that measures beach morphology and sediment characteristics, and at least one qualitative method that records the landforms making up the coastal landscape. A quantitative method produces numerical data, such as a beach profile measured with a ranging pole and clinometer, or the size of sediment clasts measured across a set of samples. A qualitative method records observations in words or sketches, such as an annotated sketch of a cliff, wave-cut platform or spit, with labels describing its form. Your data collection must contain both types, so two quantitative measurements or two sketches do not satisfy the requirement. Record where each method was used, so that your evidence can be linked back to your investigation question.
Human interaction: students must develop their understanding of the implications of coastal processes for people living in the coastal environment.
This requirement asks you to build understanding of the implications of coastal processes for people living in coastal areas. Coastal processes such as erosion, transport and deposition shape the shoreline, and implications are the consequences these processes have for people, homes, farmland, roads and livelihoods. The label 'Human interaction' signals that the human dimension is central to the task. Teach this by starting with a named process, such as hydraulic action undercutting a cliff, then tracing the chain: waves remove material, the cliff retreats, a house becomes unsafe, and residents face loss of property or costly defences. Keep the focus on the people affected rather than on landforms alone.
A geology map e.g. BGS Geology of Britain viewer.
This statement introduces a geology map as a source of landscape evidence for coastal investigations. A geology map shows the rock types across an area, so you can link bedrock to the shape of the coast. The example, the BGS Geology of Britain viewer, is an online tool from the British Geological Survey; the 'e.g.' means it is one suitable option, not a required resource. Use it by identifying the rock beneath a headland or bay and judging whether it is resistant, such as chalk or limestone, or less resistant, such as clay. Explain how this affects erosion and landforms, and note the limits of a map at one scale.
One other secondary source.
This statement asks for one further secondary source in the coastal investigation, used alongside the primary evidence you gather in the field. Secondary sources are data collected by others, such as Ordnance Survey maps, geological maps or tide tables. A strong choice explains a coastal process you can observe: a geological map showing a headland of harder rock, for example, helps explain why it stands out from a bay cut into softer rock. Use the source to support or test a field finding, and record its date and origin so its reliability can be judged. Select one well-chosen item rather than a list.
Your focus
- Identify whether a coastal question can be answered through fieldwork data.
- Write a focused question linked to a named coastal location and the task.
- Explain why a fieldwork question needs measurable variables to be answered.
Show all 15 objectives
- Identify one quantitative method for measuring beach morphology and sediment characteristics.
- Describe one qualitative method for recording coastal landforms.
- Explain why coastal fieldwork data collection needs both method types.
- Describe a coastal process and the specific impact it has on a named group of residents.
- Explain the sequence linking a coastal process to a human consequence.
- Use a named coastal example to support an argument about the implications of coastal change for people.
- Identify the rock type beneath a named coastal feature using a geology map key.
- Explain how differences in rock resistance affect erosion and landform shape.
- Evaluate a limitation of a geology map as evidence for coastal processes.
- Identify a secondary source that is distinct from the primary data collected in the field.
- Explain how a chosen source relates to a coastal process or landform.
- Evaluate the reliability of a secondary source using its date and origin.
Task: Coastal landscapes – investigation of coastal processes through landscape evidence exam tips
Marking Points
- Distinguishes questions that fieldwork can answer with on-site data from questions that need opinion or wider policy evidence.
- Links the question to the named coastal site where the fieldwork takes place.
- Frames the question so that measurable variables, such as beach width or cliff profile, could address it.
- Relates the question to the requirements of the task rather than to a general coastal topic.
- Identifies a quantitative method that produces numerical data on beach morphology and sediment characteristics.
- Describes a qualitative method that records the landforms making up the coastal landscape in words or sketches.
- Keeps the two method types distinct so that each requirement is met separately.
- Links each method to the coastal landforms or processes named in the investigation question.
- Identifies a specific coastal process, such as erosion, transportation or deposition, and states how it acts on the shoreline.
- Links the process to a consequence for a named group, such as homeowners, farmers or local businesses.
- Explains the chain from process to consequence in a clear sequence of cause and effect.
- Uses a named UK coastal location to support the point with evidence such as cliff retreat or property loss.
- Considers the responses to coastal change, such as management decisions, and their costs or benefits for residents.
- Identifies the rock type beneath a named coastal feature by reading the map key rather than relying on memory.
- Classifies rocks as more or less resistant and gives a reason, such as hardness, jointing or permeability.
- Links the rock type to an observed landform, such as a headland of resistant rock or a bay cut into weaker rock.
- States a limitation of the map, such as its scale or that it shows bedrock rather than fine shoreline detail.
- Identifies one secondary source that is additional to the primary data the student collected in the field.
- Names the source and its origin, such as the organisation or publisher that produced it.
- Links the source to a specific coastal process or landform observed in the investigation.
- Uses the source to support, challenge or extend a field finding rather than simply listing it.
- States the date of the source or a limitation that shows how reliable it is.
Examiner Tips
- 💡Test each draft question by listing the data you would collect to answer it, and discard any question without a measurable link.
- 💡Write one or two focused questions tied to your site, using local landforms as the starting point.
- 💡Check that each question matches the wording of the task before you begin collecting data.
- 💡Plan your data collection with separate sections for quantitative and qualitative methods so both requirements are visible.
- 💡Name each method and state what it records, for example a beach profile or an annotated cliff sketch.
- 💡Check that your recorded data includes both method types before you leave the site.
- 💡Build each answer as a process-to-consequence chain so the link to people is explicit.
- 💡Use a named coastal example with specific evidence rather than general statements about the sea.
- 💡Where relevant, include both the costs to residents and the responses that affect them.
- 💡Read the map key first and match each colour to a rock name before drawing conclusions about the coast.
- 💡Write linked sentences in the form: this rock is resistant because..., so the headland has formed.
- 💡Check the map's scale and state whether it is suitable for the detail you are describing.
- 💡Choose a source you can explain in terms of what it shows about one named coastal feature.
- 💡Write down the date and producing organisation of the source before you use its data.
- 💡Check your task brief for how many sources you must use and keep your choice to that number.
Common Mistakes
- Writes a broad question about coastal management that fieldwork at one site cannot answer; narrow it to processes visible locally.
- Phrases the question so it can be answered yes or no without evidence; reword it to ask how or why a feature varies.
- Chooses a question that needs data the group did not collect, such as wave energy at the site without any wave measurements; select variables measurable on site.
- Treats two quantitative measurements as satisfying the qualitative requirement; add an observational method that records landform descriptions.
- Records landforms only by counting them, which gives numbers rather than descriptions; keep an annotated sketch or written description for the qualitative method.
- Collects sediment samples without stating how clasts were measured, leaving the quantitative method unclear; state the measurement taken and the unit used.
- Describes the physical process only, such as wave erosion, without stating its effect on people; add a specific human consequence.
- Makes a general claim about 'people' without naming who is affected; name the group and the way they are affected.
- Lists several consequences without explaining how the process causes them; state the sequence from process to impact.
- Treats the BGS viewer as the only acceptable source; the 'e.g.' marks it as an example, so any suitable geology map can be used.
- Describes the rock types without linking them to erosion; add the process involved and the landform it produces.
- Assumes all rock types erode at the same rate; compare their resistance and state the reason for the difference.
- Lists several secondary sources when the statement asks for one; choose a single source and develop it fully.
- Treats a secondary source as if it were primary evidence from the student's own fieldwork; label its origin correctly.
- Describes what the source contains without connecting it to a coastal process; state what it shows about the landscape.