Geographical Investigation Skills - PDST

Geographical Investigation Skills‘

What is an Investigation?

• Active learning

• First hand study of the environment

• Apply theories to reality

• Students observe, record,

• Analyse in the real world

• Experiential learning

Geographical investigations - Why?

• Develop skills– observation, measuring, mapping

• Apply knowledge to real situations

• Learn the process of scientific investigations

• Develop positive attitude to environment

• Co-operative learning

• Syllabus requirement – Core Unit 3

In A Geographical Investigation

• . Learn by doing

Hands on activities

Questioning approach

Padlet

03 May 2019This is the slide footer and goes here5

https://padlet.com/siobhainmccann/investigate

• Syllabus – Pgs. 17 & 18

• Guidelines – Pgs. 15 - 19

• List of topics - Autumn 5th Year

• Reporting booklet

• SEC circulars on coursework

• Marking schemes annually

• Chief Examiner’s report 2012

Essential official sources on process of GI

curriculumonline.ie

exam

inat

ion

s.ie

A few statistics from Chief Examiner’s Report

• Geographical Investigation

• 84% average mark

• 92% complete a physical topic

• Paper

• Short Questions – 83% average mark

• Physical – 53% average mark

• Regional – 52% average mark

• Elective – 55% average mark

• Option – No comparable stats due to small sample • Chief Examiner’s Report 2012

Stages of a Geographical Investigation

Preparation

Work in the field

Processing

Stages of a Geographical Investigation

• Title

• Aims

• Planning

• Investigative tasks

• Results, Conclusions, Evaluation

• Presentation of results

Geographical Investigation

Introduction

• Pose a question or hypothesis

• Outline your aims for the day

• Should link with tasks in the field

Planning

• Be very specific when referencing revision

• Qualify all statements

• No need to draw all equipment

• Don’t mention any teacher planning here

• Reference any websites properly

• Good time to use Scoilnet maps

Gathering information

• Must describe activity carried out

• Secondary sources can generate primary data

• Diagrams illustrating activities

• Don’t give results here

• Don’t explain why you are doing the activity

• As much detail as possible - step by step

River processes and landforms

Structure G.I. around 2 Tasks

• .

Task 1

Aim & Plan

Gathering

Results etc

Task 2

Aim & Plan

Gathering

Results etc

Aims Planni

ng

Gathering Results Conclusions Evaluation Presentati

on

Task 1

Task 2

Planning a geographical investigation template

Presentation of results

Results conclusions evaluations

GatheringPlanningAims

A Task exemplar



Gathering Planning

Hypothesis:

Lugduff Brook is eroding the

landscape.

Aim:

To measure the discharge of

Lugduff Brook to investigate its energy to

erode

Aims 5%



Gathering

Task 1

Measuring discharge

Research by reading Cpt 6

etc.

Gather equipment and

practice or make

equipment

Planning 5%

Hypothesis:


landscape.

Aim:



erode

Aims 5%



Task 1

Describe in detail how I

measured velocity, width

and depth of Lugduff brook

Gathering 40%

Task 1

Measuring discharge


etc.


practice or make

equipment

Planning 5%

Hypothesis:


landscape.

Aim:



erode

Aims 5%


Task 1

Results:

Velocity, width average depth,

discharge

Conclusion

Velocity fast enough to pick

up and transport

pebbles so abrasion can

take place etc.

Evaluation

Orange getting stuck so etc. ----

Results conclusions

evaluations 30%

Task 1




Gathering 40%

Task 1

Measuring discharge


etc.


practice or make

equipment

Planning 5%

Hypothesis:


landscape.

Aim:



erode

Aims 5%

Task 1

Presentation

Diagram showing cross sectional area

Bar chart showing

discharge at different sites

Presentation of results 20%

Task 1

Results:


discharge

Conclusions


up and transport


take place etc.

Evaluation


Results conclusions

evaluation 30%

Task 1




Gathering 40%

Task 1

Measuring discharge


etc.


practice or make

equipment

Planning 5%

Hypothesis:


landscape.

Aim:



erode

Aims 5%

One task exemplar

A second task should also be completed

Introducing Glendalough

https://ieschoolpch.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?appid=1cc86e1ac5924a54bc24ac0bd1d55099

DISCOVERY RELIEF & SHADE

Sources of Local Information

• Scoilnet Maps – OS Discovery maps– Historical maps 1836, 1936– Aerial photographs

• Geology

• Ordnance Survey – osi.ie

• Geological Survey of Ireland – gsi.ie

• Local studies section of library

Field Study Techniques

Use

Equipment

• Width etc.

• Depth etc.

• Map orientation

• Measuring angles

• Timing

• Slope marking etc.

• Random sampling

• Grain size

Equipment

• Measuring tape

• Metre stick

• Magnetic compass

• Clinometer

• Stopwatch

• Ranging poles

• Quadrat

• Pebbleometer

Made from

Homemade Equipment

• Marked rope

• Protractor & twine

• Phone

• Brush handles

• Made in technology

• Cardboard & twine

• Shoe box

Equipment

• Measuring tape

• Clinometer

• Stopwatch

• Ranging poles

• Quadrat

• Viewfinder

• Pebbleometer

Field Sketching

Left background Right backgroundCentre background

Left middleground Centre middleground Right middleground

Left foreground Centre foreground Right foreground

Photo-grid

Homemade Viewfinder

Recording Work Done in Field

• Brainstorm

• Worksheet

• Group work

• Padlet

Record Activity As You Go

• Puts emphasis on written record

• Action words only

• Assists recall later

• Gives immediate feed back on students understanding

• Problems identified and tackled

• Helps with write up

.

River Width, Depth, Velocity

.

Measuring Width

Equipment – measuring tape

• Homemade• Shop bought

.

Depth

M M M

Speed - VelocityC throws oranges - A shouts ‘go’ - D starts watch

B shouts stop - E records time

.Stop!

!Go!

Seconds

Seconds

Seconds

10 Metres A

D

C

B

E

Measuring Discharge

• To calculate discharge of a river you need the following information:

• - the width

• - the average depth

• - the distance the river travels in a

• second

• The above measurements should all be in meters

.

Measuring Slope

Angle of the Slope is Measured With a Clinometer

Measuring River Slope

Using a clinometer with a ranging pole

.

Valley Profiling

• Observe the valley carefully• Identify the break of slope points• Mark the break of slope points with students of equal height or ranging

poles or brush handles• Draw a sketch of the slope sections• Measure the angle of slope and the length of each of the sections of slope• Record these on your record sheet

Break of slope points

Valley Profile

Sketch of Slopes

Right Bank

D E F GAB

C

Left Bank

Ranging poles in place

Foresight

Backsight

River bank

Cliff

Break of slope

Right BankLeft Bank

Load Analysis

.

Load Analysis• Wade into the river

• Throw a quadrat randomly onto the bed

• Lift the grains which touch the corners of the quadrat

• Bring them to the bank

• Measure their long axes in the pebbelometer or calipers if they are smaller than 1cm

• Repeat the process until you have measured 30 grains

.

Getting a random sample of load

1

2

3

4

Using the pebbleometer

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 70

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

01

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Measuring Long Axis

Callipers with digital display

Powers Roundness Index

Mica Schist

Granite

Sinuosity Measures The Curvature of a River Channel

• Identify where the direction of the curve changes

• Mark these points with ranging poles

•

• or

• Get 2 students to stand at the points to mark them

• Measure the straight line distance between the points

• Measure the curved distance between the points

• Measurements can be paced where the curves are large

A

B

Remember During Fieldtrip

• Check that all activities have been completed

• Do calculations while moving between sites or on the bus

• Keep all worksheets and record sheet for processing and proof of work no matter how worn, dirty or damaged!

• Gather up record sheets and fieldsketches

• Evaluate the fieldwork as you go

• Make observations while on site.

• Note any issues encountered.

Issues to Consider

• What problems did you face doing the fieldwork?

• Did all the equipment work?

• Had you prepared yourself well enough?

• What did you do well?

• What could be improved?

• What needed further study?


Task 1

Results:


discharge

Conclusion


up and transport


take place etc.

Evaluation


Results conclusions

evaluations 30%

Task 1




Gathering 40%

Task 1

Measuring discharge


etc.


practice or make

equipment

Planning 5%

Hypothesis:


landscape.

Aim:



erode

Aims 5%

.

Processing and presenting results

Field Sketching

• Redraw the field sketch

• Use the 9 part grid as a guide

• Annotate the sketch

• Colour and title the sketch

• Ask students questions on the sketch to help them identify results and draw conclusions

• Always take a photograph to allow you to redraw back in class.

Completed Sketch of Dargle

Results and Conclusion

.

Calculating Discharge

Work out the cross-sectional area of the river in metres squared

average depth x width e.g. 0.38m x 3.14m = 1.19m2

Work out the average distance travelled in a second in metres

10 metres ÷ average number of seconds e.g. 10 ÷ 15.3 = 0.65m

Work out the discharge in cubic metres per second (CUMECS)

cross-sectional area x distance travelled in a second

e.g. 1.19m2 x 0.65m = 0.77 cumecs

Plotting Discharge - Put in Graph

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

Site A Site B

Constructing a Valley Profile

• Use graph paper

• Add up the length of each section of slope

• Decide on a scale which will fit the profile onto one sheet of graph paper

• Begin by drawing a rectangle to represent the river

• Use a protractor to get the slope angles

• Draw the angles in pencil

• Colour the profile

Calculating Sinuosity

• Sinuosity is a measure of the curvature of a river

• Sinuosity compares the straight line distance with the curved distance

• The sinuosity ratio tells us if a river is meandering or not

• The ratio is expressed as

Straight Distance : (is to) Curved Distance

Sinuosity

For example:28 paces : (is to) 35 paces

Always express a ratio as 1: (is to) something Divide both side of the ratio by 28

28 divided by 28 is 1 and 35 divided by 28 is 1.25So the sinuosity ratio is 1 : (is to) 1.25

• When the curved distance is more than one and a half times (1.5) the straight distance the river is meandering

• So in this example the river is not meandering it has a sinuous channel

Sinuosity Bar Chart

Site 1 Site 2

2.0 Times

1.5 Times

1.0 Times

Curved to straight distance

Sites

Bedload Grain Size

• Extract the long axes of the grains for each site from the record sheet

• Get the average of the long axes for each site

Total of long axes ÷ The number of grains

• Draw a scatter graph of the average grain sizes

Grain Size of Bedload

• Grain size decreases downstream

• The grains are worn down by the process of attrition

• The grains become more rounded downstream because of the process of attrition

• Use a rock key to identify the type of rock

• Record while you are doing the length

• Calculate % frequency of each rock type

no. of granite pebbles

total no. of pebbles sampled

• Draw a pie chart showing the geology of the bedload

Geology of Bedload

Pie Chart of Bedload Geology

Evaluation

• Evaluate all phases of the investigation including planning, fieldwork and processing

• Evaluation can be stimulated through a questioning approach e.g.

Which activities worked?How did the equipment work?Which activities didn’t work?What did you do well?What did you feel needed to be improved?What questions were raised by your investigation?

.

.

Results, Conclusions & Evaluations

• Tie all these to aims and activities

• Results could be table or statement

• Draw conclusions from results

• Evaluation can be forward thinking as well as reflective

Recommendations in Chief Examiner’s Report

• Use the structure and headings provided

• Make sure you present information under the correct

heading

• Concentrate on 2 methods

• Describe and discuss each task in detail

Key Circulars

• S68/08 – general instructions for all subjects with a practical coursework component including geography

• S85/09 – defines a ‘significant relevant point’ (SRP)

• S43/16 – Instructions on the reporting booklet

• List of Topics for 2020.

04 September 2019

Questions?

96

Documents

Geographical Investigation Skills - PDST