Exam Answer Guide - Homework help

http://www.4shared.com/file/10115534/7639ddfd/GCSE_Exam_Answer_Guide.html

The above link will take you to the Geography GCSE exam answer guide. I created the exam answer guide to go with past paper questions you get for homework. It is vital that you spend 45 minutes to an hour completing every homework that you get, using the exam answer guide to model your answer. Click on the link, go halfway down the page, wait for around 5 seconds and you will see a underlined link saying download file underneath a URL box. Click the download file link, press open and the exam answer guide will be on your screen to save wherever suits you.

Spits

The above diagram and picture show how longshore drift has formed Spurn Head Spit on the Holderness Coast. The following website has an excellen animation to show the formation of a spit http://www.school-portal.co.uk/GroupDownloadFile.asp?file=21605

This website has a full panorama of the view aorund Spurn Head Spit http://www.panoramic-imaging.com/eastriding/spurn/spurnframe.htm

This website is for holidaymakers who regularly visit the spit and lists the activities they can do there http://www.totaltravel.co.uk/travel/north-england/yorkshire-wolds/spurn-head/guide/Spurn-Head

Longshore Drift

Longshore drift is the main process of transport of material on the coast. The diagram above shows how it works. Basically, waves approach the shore at an angle, taking the sand up the beach at that angle. When the wave goes out, the sand follows the backwash of the wave back to the sea in a straight line. The result is that sand particles have moved a short distance down the beach. Look at the following animation for more information http://www.school-portal.co.uk/GroupDownloadFile.asp?GroupId=12426&ResourceID=40403

Caves, Arches and Stacks

You may recognise the above photo as being the basis for the memory map we did about cave, arch and stack formation. Basically they form on headlands, where a weakness in the rock is eroded initially to form a cave. The cave gets eroded through to form an arch. Eventually the arch cannot support itself and collapses, leaving a stack. The stack gets undercut, developing a wave cut notch, that will cause the stack above it to collapse leaving a stump. The following website has an animation showing the process http://www.sln.org.uk/geography/Documents/animations/Stack%20formation.ppt#264,1,Cave Arch and Stack Formation

Headland and Bay Formation

The above photo shows a headland with a bay behind it. Headlands and bays are formed when you get a column of hard rock alongside a column of soft rock. Obviously the softer rock erodes a lot faster than the hard rock. Where the column of soft rock is you get a bay (often with a beach) and where the column of hard rock is you get a headland. This link explains the idea in a lot more detail- http://www.georesources.co.uk/leld.htm

Cliff Formation

Cliffs form when you have one section of hard resistant rock running alongside the sea. Erosion takes place at the bottom of the cliff, forming a wave cut notch. The photo to the right is a classic example of a wave cut notch. You can clearly see where the erosion has taken place at the bottom of the cliff. Eventually the rock above the wave cut notch will collapse, leaving the whole process to start again!

Coastal Processes

Don't reinvent the wheel! Follow the link to the BBC Bitesize website for explanations, and animations, of coastal processes.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/coastal/coastalprocessesrev4.shtml

The Grand Canyon

Your presentation about the formation and uses of the Grand Canyon were wonderful. Most groups ended up teaching me something that I did not know, which is how it should be with independent research. The beautiful photo to the right, taken from www.geographyphotos.com which the school subscribes to shows the Grand Canyon at dawn. I think everyone will agree that it is a wonderful spectacle!

This link (http://www.nps.gov/grca/) is for the Grand Canyon National Park website. It will have loads of information about how the Grand Canyon is used, the threats that it currently faces and the solutions to the problems.

http://www.kaibab.org/geology/gc_geol.htm is a good website for information about how the Grand Canyon was formed.

???Rivers Task???

Can you explain why the features a river creates change as move from the upper to middle to lower courses?

Lower Course Features - Deltas, Levees and Floodplains

The lower course of a river is when its energy levels are low. This is due to the fact that the river is no longer flowing downhill at a steep angle. The lack of energy causes deposition to take place.

The above photo shows the delta of the Mississippi River in the USA. A delta is formed when a river meets the sea and the river deposits material faster than the sea can remove it. Thus many smaller channels are formed as the river winds its way around the material it has depsoited as it no longer has the energy to transport or erode it.

Middle Course Features - Meanders and Oxbow Lakes

This link (http://www.school-portal.co.uk/GroupDownloadFile.asp?file=21606) has an excellent explanation of how meanders and oxbow lakes are formed through erosion and deposition in the middle course of a river. Watch it and then go to the link for the BBC bitesize website which gives all of the detail you need about meander formation. http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/riverswater/riverfeaturesrev3.shtml

Upper Course Features of a River

River features in the upper course include- waterfalls, rapids and interlocking spurs. The picture to the left shows the typical start to a river (www.geographyphotos.com). It is literally a place where water gathers together and begins to flow downhill. The erosion that takes place here is vertical. The excellent animation http://www.school-portal.co.uk/GroupDownloadFile.asp?file=55027&Groupid=12426 show a river's source.




















The wonderful photo above shows a waterfall in the UK. Waterfalls form when you have a band of hard rock and soft rock, with vertical erosion. http://www.school-portal.co.uk/GroupDownloadFile.aspGroupId=12426&ResourceID=29560 is an excellent animation showing the process.

River Transport

River transport is obviously how a river moves the material it has eroded. Again, there are 4 types of transport. Can you remember them? If not, go to the excellent BBC Bitesize website link here to refresh your memory http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/riverswater/riverprocessesrev3.shtml

Look at the animation on the above website of how rivers transport material.

Erosion

Erosion is the wearing away of land as water flows over the bank or past the bed of a river. There are 4 processes of river erosion. Can you remember them? If not go to this link to remind yourself. The link also has an animation showing how the processes of erosion work.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/riverswater/riverprocessesrev2.shtml

River Processes

The following website is an excellent introduction to how rivers work. I used it with my AS class, so it may be a bit advanced but give it a try and feel free to email me any questions you have.

http://www.sciencecourseware.org/VirtualRiver/Files/page01a.html

Welcome Back

Can I take this chance to apologise for the lack of updates to the blog over the last two months. I can blame technical problems, such as me forgetting the password to access the site, and also my laziness in not getting in contact with google to sort the issue out sooner.

Anyway, the blog will resume by giving a list of internet sites that go with each lesson you study in class, and seeing how much some of you got out of the Grand Canyon enquiry some additional research tasks which you can complete if you want to.

Please feel free to email me links to sites you find that are interesting and relevant to topics we have studied.