Task: River landscapes – investigation of change in a river channel. — Edexcel GCSE Geography A
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Task: River landscapes – investigation of change in a river channel. explained
Task: River landscapes – investigation of change in a river channel.
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covers 5 specification points, including Students must have an opportunity to develop… and One quantitative fieldwork method to measure…. Open a point below for its explanation and revision guidance.
Students must have an opportunity to develop understanding of the kinds of questions that can be investigated through fieldwork in river environments. Students must have an opportunity to develop a question(s) based on their location and the task.
This statement asks you to understand the kinds of questions fieldwork in river environments can investigate, and to develop your own question(s) from your location and task. A useful fieldwork question is testable: it asks whether something changes, by how much or in which direction, so data can answer it. For a river channel study, you might ask whether channel width or bedload size changes between two downstream sites. Your question must suit the location you visit and the task set, so use features you can really measure there. Practise sorting example questions into testable and untestable groups.
Fieldwork data collection must include at least: one quantitative fieldwork method to measure river discharge; one qualitative fieldwork method to record landforms that make up the river landscape.
This statement sets two compulsory fieldwork methods for river landscapes. One quantitative method must measure river discharge, and one qualitative method must record the landforms making up the river landscape. 'At least' allows extra methods, but neither required method can be replaced. Discharge is the volume of water passing a cross-section each second. One example is the velocity-area method: measure width and depth at regular intervals to find cross-sectional area in m², time a float for velocity in m s⁻¹, then multiply to give discharge in m³ s⁻¹. For the qualitative method, sketch and annotate landforms such as riffles, pools and point bars. Keep each method's data separate.
Human interaction: students must develop their understanding of the implications of river processes for people living in the catchment area.
This statement focuses on human interaction with river processes. Students must understand the implications of river processes, such as erosion, transport and deposition, for people living in the catchment area. The catchment is the whole area drained by a river, so effects can occur upstream and downstream. For example, bank erosion may undermine a path or house near the channel, while flooding may damage farmland lower down. Link each effect to evidence from your own investigation, not the landform alone. Name the process, the affected group and the place where the effect occurs.
A flood risk map e.g. Environment Agency flood risk map.
This statement asks you to use a flood risk map, such as an Environment Agency flood risk map, as a secondary source in your river channel investigation. Secondary data are collected by someone else, so state who produced the map and when. Read its legend carefully: river flood zones are defined by annual probability. Flood Zone 3 means a 1 in 100 (1%) or greater chance of flooding in any given year, while Flood Zone 2 means a chance between 1 in 100 (1%) and 1 in 1000 (0.1%). Locate your study reach against these zones and describe the pattern you observe. Evaluate the map's limits, including its date and the fact that it models risk rather than recording past floods. Connect the map to your channel evidence instead of presenting it alone.
One other secondary source.
This statement asks for one other secondary source, used in addition to the flood risk map named in the same section. Secondary sources are data gathered by others, such as existing maps, records, reports or datasets, rather than collected by you in the field. The statement does not specify which source to use, so select one that bears on change in the river channel and check that its scale and date suit your question. Explain what the source shows, who produced it, when, and what it cannot tell you about the channel. Use it alongside your own primary fieldwork data, comparing the two so that you can say where they agree, where they differ and why.
Your focus
- Distinguish testable fieldwork questions from questions that site data cannot answer.
- Write a question about river channel change that is linked to a named site and task.
- Justify the choice of question by referring to measurable variables and site features.
Show all 15 objectives
- Select one quantitative method that measures river discharge from a set of options.
- Identify one qualitative method that records landforms of the river landscape.
- Explain why discharge requires a combination of cross-sectional area and velocity measurements.
- Identify a river process and a human consequence it causes in a catchment.
- Explain how an effect may occur both upstream and downstream within a catchment.
- Select the option that links river process evidence to a specific group of people.
- State the annual probability represented by Flood Zone 2 and Flood Zone 3 in both fraction and percentage form.
- Describe where a named study reach lies relative to flood zones shown on a flood risk map.
- Evaluate the date and modelling limits of a flood risk map in a short written response.
- Identify one secondary source and state who produced it and when.
- Explain one limitation of the chosen source for an investigation of river channel change.
- Compare findings from the secondary source with primary fieldwork data in a short written response.
Task: River landscapes – investigation of change in a river channel. exam tips
Marking Points
- Recognises that a fieldwork question in a river environment must be testable with data collected on site.
- Identifies a measurable change in the channel, such as width, depth or bedload size, as a basis for a question.
- Frames a question that is linked to the chosen location and the investigation task.
- Explains why the chosen question suits the available time, equipment and site features.
- Identifies one quantitative method that produces a numerical measure of river discharge.
- Explains how the measured variables combine to give discharge in m³ s⁻¹.
- Names one qualitative method that records landforms through description, sketches or annotation rather than numbers.
- Links each landform record to its position within the channel at the study site.
- Keeps quantitative and qualitative data separate and clearly labelled.
- Identifies a river process, such as erosion, transport or deposition, and its effect on people.
- Explains a specific implication for residents, such as property at risk from bank erosion.
- Places the implication within the catchment area, distinguishing upstream and downstream effects.
- Evaluates the size or significance of the impact using evidence from the investigation.
- Recognises that human land use can alter river processes and therefore their consequences.
- Identifies the flood risk map as a secondary source, not as primary fieldwork evidence.
- Reads the legend to explain flood zones in terms of annual probability, such as 1 in 100 (1%) or 1 in 1000 (0.1%).
- Locates the study reach within the flood zones and describes the spatial pattern shown.
- Evaluates the map's date, purpose and modelling limits, including that it shows modelled risk rather than records of actual floods.
- Connects the map evidence to the channel change evidence rather than presenting it in isolation.
- Identifies a source as secondary by stating who collected the data and when it was produced.
- Selects one further source that bears on change in the river channel rather than repeating the flood risk map.
- Explains what the chosen source shows and what it cannot tell the investigation, such as its scale, date or coverage.
- Compares the source with primary fieldwork data, stating where the two agree or differ and offering a reason.
- Uses the source as a distinct piece of evidence rather than restating the flood risk map.
Examiner Tips
- 💡Test each draft question by asking which measurement would answer it and whether you can take that measurement at your site.
- 💡Phrase the question as a comparison, such as between upstream and downstream sites, so that the answer can show change.
- 💡Write your question before choosing methods, then check that each method matches the question.
- 💡Check the stem for 'must' and 'at least' before selecting an option, because these words define the requirement.
- 💡Match each option to the method type: numerical measurement for discharge, descriptive recording for landforms.
- 💡Eliminate any option that uses a qualitative method to produce discharge values or a quantitative method alone to record landform features.
- 💡Identify the process, the affected people and the location in each option before choosing an answer.
- 💡Prefer options that name a specific consequence and place over those that make broad statements about rivers.
- 💡Eliminate options that describe only physical features without any reference to people.
- 💡Write the probability in both forms, 1 in 100 and 1%, so the reader can see you understand the scale.
- 💡State the map's producer and date in your first sentence about the source.
- 💡Use the map in a sentence that compares it with your own channel data, not as a standalone description.
- 💡Name the source type, producer and date in the first sentence about the source.
- 💡Compare the second source directly with the flood risk map or your fieldwork results.
- 💡Check that the scale of your chosen source matches the study reach before you rely on it.
Common Mistakes
- Asks a question that needs opinion rather than measurement; reframe it so that data collected at the site can answer it.
- Writes a general question about rivers that could apply anywhere; tie the question to the specific site and task.
- Proposes a question the chosen site cannot answer, such as one needing data from another catchment; limit it to variables measured at the site.
- Treats the statement as optional and submits fieldwork with only one method; include both required methods.
- Uses a sketch of the river as the discharge method; measure width, depth and velocity to produce discharge data.
- Reads 'at least' as a ceiling and stops at the minimum without checking the requirements; extra methods are allowed, but neither required method can be replaced.
- Records discharge from a single width or depth reading; multiply cross-sectional area by velocity to obtain m³ s⁻¹.
- Describes a river landform without stating any consequence for people; add the human implication.
- Restricts the implications to the river channel and ignores the wider catchment; include effects on land further upstream or downstream.
- Makes general flooding claims without naming a place or citing evidence; anchor each claim to the study site.
- Describes Flood Zone 3 as a flood that happens once every 100 years; corrects this to a 1 in 100 (1%) chance in any single year.
- Presents the map as primary data collected by the learner; corrects this to labelling it as secondary data produced by an external body.
- Assumes the map's date matches the fieldwork period without checking; corrects this by stating the publication or update date before comparing it with other evidence.
- Describes a fieldwork measurement made by the learner as a secondary source; corrects this to classing it as primary data.
- Describes a source without stating its date or origin; corrects this by naming who produced it and when.
- Chooses a source unrelated to channel change and uses it as filler; corrects this by selecting a source that answers part of the enquiry.