© VCAA 2016 – Version 3 – April 2016
VCE Geography 2016–2020
Written examination – End of year
Examination specifications
Overall conditions The examination will be sat at a time and date to be set annually by the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA). VCAA examination rules will apply. Details of these rules are published annually in the VCE and VCAL Administrative Handbook.
There will be 15 minutes reading time and 2 hours writing time.
The examination will be assessed by a panel appointed by the VCAA.
The examination will contribute 50 per cent to the study score.
Content The VCE Geography Study Design 2016–2020 is the document for the development of the examination. The study design includes a section on ‘Cross-study specifications’ (pages 9–13). All outcomes in Units 3 and 4 will be examined.
All of the key knowledge and skills that underpin the outcomes in Units 3 and 4 are examinable.
Format The examination will be in the form of a question and answer book.
The examination will consist of short-answer and/or extended-answer questions, which may include sub-parts.
Questions may be based on stimulus material presented in a separate data book. Students will be presented with a range of data formats. These formats will be drawn from the full range of accepted geographical media that students may encounter in the course of their study, such as the following:
• tables • graphs • sketches • statistics • photographs
• satellite images • topographic maps • aerial photographs • 3D representations • other accepted data representations
All questions will be compulsory. The total marks for the examination will be 80.
GEOGRAPHY (SPECIFICATIONS & SAMPLE)
© VCAA 2016 – Version 3 – April 2016 Page 2
Approved materials and equipment • normal stationery requirements (pens, pencils, highlighters, erasers, sharpeners and rulers) • coloured pencils, water-based pens and markers
Relevant references The following publications should be referred to in relation to the VCE Geography examination:
• VCE Geography Study Design 2016–2020 • VCE Geography – Advice for teachers 2016–2020 (includes assessment advice) • VCAA Bulletin
Advice During the 2016–2020 accreditation period for VCE Geography, examinations will be prepared according to the examination specifications above. Each examination will conform to these specifications and will test a representative sample of the key knowledge and skills from all outcomes in Units 3 and 4.
Teachers and students should be aware of the cross-study specifications, including key geographical concepts, geographical skills and fieldwork report, as described on pages 9–13 of the study design.
The following sample questions provide an indication of the types of questions teachers and students can expect until the current accreditation period is over.
The VCAA does not publish answers for sample questions.
GEOGRAPHY (SPECIFICATIONS & SAMPLE)
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Sample questions
Question 1 (4 marks)Using specific examples, define• land use change
• land cover change.
Use Figure 1 on pages 2 and 3 of the data book when responding to Question 2.
Question 2 (4 marks)The area outlined in red in Figure 1 is suitable for a fieldwork investigation into the processes of land use change.Consider the following list of investigative methods:• interviews with existing site owners and workers• a series of ground photographs taken every two weeks• constructing annotated transects before and after the start of land use changes • conducting research for the site on the internet• use of a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) to record site characteristics
Which investigative method would you find most suitable for this task? Explain your choice.
GEOGRAPHY (SPECIFICATIONS & SAMPLE)
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Question 3 (9 marks)Name the location and the land use change for the selected area of fieldwork that you conducted during the year.
a. Describe one strength and one weakness of the main technique that was used to collect the primary data for your selected area of fieldwork. 4 marks
b. Discuss how one geographical characteristic of your selected area of fieldwork has influenced the change in land use. 5 marks
GEOGRAPHY (SPECIFICATIONS & SAMPLE)
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Question 4 (10 marks)
Trop ic o f Capr icorn
Equator
Trop ic o f Cancer
0 2000 km
N
a. Use the outline map above to map the distribution of the process of desertification at the present period. 3 marks
b. Indicate and name on the outline map above a place where the process of desertification is presently occurring. 2 marks
c. Describe the distribution of the process of desertification with reference to world regions and the specific location you have indicated in part b. 5 marks
GEOGRAPHY (SPECIFICATIONS & SAMPLE)
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Use Figure 2 on page 4 of the data book when responding to Question 5.
Question 5 (10 marks)a. Describe the global distribution of forests. 5 marks
b. Explain why deforestation is occurring at one location shown in Figure 2. 5 marks
GEOGRAPHY (SPECIFICATIONS & SAMPLE)
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Use Figure 3 on page 5 of the data book when responding to Question 6.
Question 6 (10 marks)a. Describe the overall trend in the change in global glacier thickness between 1960 and 2005. 5 marks
b. To what extent do volcanic eruptions, such as El Chichón in March 1982, appear to have had an impact on the overall trend in global glacial thickness? 5 marks
GEOGRAPHY (SPECIFICATIONS & SAMPLE)
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Question 7 (8 marks)a. For one location, describe the impacts of either melting glaciers or melting ice sheets on the
local environment. 4 marks
b. Using an appropriate criterion, evaluate the effectiveness or likely effectiveness of a global response to the impacts described in part a. 4 marks
GEOGRAPHY (SPECIFICATIONS & SAMPLE)
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Question 8 (6 marks)Describe how a spatial technology has been used to assess changes in land cover using a specific location experiencing one of the following processes:• deforestation• desertification• melting glaciers and ice sheets
GEOGRAPHY (SPECIFICATIONS & SAMPLE)
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Use Figure 4 on pages 6 and 7 of the data book when responding to Question 9.
Question 9 (10 marks)‘The global distribution of the human population is uneven and is likely to remain so in the future.’
Discuss the statement above.
GEOGRAPHY (SPECIFICATIONS & SAMPLE)
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Use Figure 5 on pages 8 and 9 of the data book when responding to Question 10.
Question 10 (11 marks)‘There is a strong spatial association between the source and destination of China’s internal migrants and the level of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita.’
a. To what extent do you agree with the statement above? Justify your answer. 5 marks
b. Apart from GDP per capita, outline one push factor and one pull factor that could help explain rural-to-urban movements. Use specific examples from at least one other part of the world in your answer. 6 marks
Push factor and locational example
Pull factor and locational example
GEOGRAPHY (SPECIFICATIONS & SAMPLE)
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Question 11 (12 marks)Name a country whose population dynamics you studied during the year.
a. Describe one major change to the total fertility rate that has occurred in the country named above since the 1950s. 3 marks
b. Discuss one major factor that has contributed to the change in the total fertility rate described in part a. 3 marks
GEOGRAPHY (SPECIFICATIONS & SAMPLE)
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c. Outline one issue and the related challenges that have developed as a result of the major change in the total fertility rate described in part a. 6 marks
Use Figure 6 on pages 10 and 11 of the data book when responding to Question 12.
Question 12 (4 marks)Identify where Country A and Country B would be on the Demographic Transition model. Explain your choices.
Country A
Country B
GEOGRAPHY (SPECIFICATIONS & SAMPLE)
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Question 13 (10 marks)Assess the relevance of Malthus’s ideas in meeting the challenges of a rapidly growing population today.
S A M P L EGEOGRAPHY
Written examination
Day Date Reading time: *.** to *.** (15 minutes) Writing time: *.** to *.** (2 hours)
DATA BOOK
Instructions
• Aquestionandanswerbookisprovidedwiththisdatabook.• Refertothedatainthisbookforeachquestionasindicatedinthequestionandanswerbook.• Thedatacontainedinthisbookisdrawnfromcurrentreal-worldcasestudies.
Students are NOT permitted to bring mobile phones and/or any other unauthorised electronic devices into the examination room.
© VICTORIAN CURRICULUM AND ASSESSMENT AUTHORITY 2016
Version3–April2016
Victorian Certificate of Education Year
2
Figure 1
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4
Figure 2
Source: © FAO 2010 (www.fao.org/forestry/fra/80298/en/)
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Figure 3
–0.71960 1970 1980
year
annualthickness
change(vertical metres)
cumulativeglacierthicknesschange(vertical metres)
1990 2000 2010–14
–12
–10
–8
–6
–4
–2
0
–0.6
–0.5
–0.4
–0.3
–0.2
–0.1
0
0.1
Mt Agung,Feb. 1963
Mt St Helens,summer 1980
El Chichón,Mar. 1982
Mt Pinatubo,June 1991
annual change cumulative changes
Global glacier thickness change
Source: Mark Dyurgerov, Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, Boulder; in J Salinger, B Fitzharris, T Chinn, ‘New Zealand’s Southern Alps have lost a third of their ice’,
The Conversation (website), 29 July 2014
6
Figure 4
Key to map
Figure 4a: World population distribution
Trop ic o f Capr icorn
Equator
Trop ic o f Cancer
Arc t i c C i rc le
0 2000 km500 1000 1500
N
EUROPE NORTHAMERICA
SOUTHAMERICA
ASIA
AUSTRALIA
AFRICA
MIDDLEEAST
Pac i f i c
Ocean
At lan t i c
Ocean
Arc t i c Ocean
Ind ian
Ocean
100 and over
Number of persons per square kilometre (km2)
50–100 10–50
river lake international boundary
1–10 less than 1
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Figure 4b: Percentage of world population by region
Trop ic o f Capr icorn
Equator
Trop ic o f Cancer
Arc t i c C i rc le
0 2000 km500 1000 1500
N
EUROPE NORTHAMERICA
SOUTHAMERICA
ASIA
AUSTRALIA
AFRICA
MIDDLEEAST
Pac i f i c
Ocean
At lan t i c
Ocean
Arc t i c Ocean
Ind ian
Ocean
1900
5.0%
2000
5.2%
North America
2050
4.8%
1900
57.4%
2000
60.5%
Asia
2050
57.3%
1900
8.1%
2000
13.4%
Africa
2050
21.7%
1900
24.7%
2000
11.9%
Europe
2050
7.2%
1900
4.5%
2000
8.5%
Latin America and the Caribbean
2050
8.4%
1900 2000
Australia and the Pacific
2050
0.4% 0.5% 0.5%
8
Figure 5
over 2 500 000
1 000 000–2 500 000
150 000–1 000 000
major city
administrative boundary
name of administrative region
areas not included
SICHUAN
Key to map
Beijing
Tianjin
Shanghai
GuangzhouShenzhen
SICHUAN
N
0 500 km
Data: National Bureau of Statistics ChinaFigure 5a: China, number of internal migrants
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Figure 1
over 15 000 administrative boundary
name of administrative region
areas not included
YUNNAN10 000–15 000
7500–9999
5000–7499
under 5000
Key to map
BEIJING
TIANJIN
SHANGHAI
HONG KONGSARMACAU
SAR
GUANGDONG
HAINAN
XINJIANG UYGHURAR
TIBETAR
QINGHAI
SICHUAN
NINGXIA HUIAR
JIANGSU
LIAONING
HEILONGJIANG
JILININNER MONGOLIA
AR
YUNNAN
GUIZHOU
HEBEI
SHANXISHANDONG
HENAN
ANHUI
ZHEJIANG
FUJIAN
JIANGXIHUNAN
HUBEI
SHAANXIGANSU
GUANGXIZHUANG
AR
CHONGQING
N
0 500 km
Data: IMF WEOFigure 5b: China, GDP per capita, US dollar, 2014
10
Figure 6
0 0.6 1.2 1.8 2.4 300.61.21.82.43
population (in millions) age group population (in millions)
0–45–9
10–1415–1920–2425–2930–3435–3940–4445–4950–5455–5960–6465–6970–7475–7980–8485–8990–9495–99100+
Country A – 2015
male female
Source: US Census Bureau International Data Base
Figure 6a
11
0 3 6 9 12 1503691215
population (in thousands) age group population (in thousands)
0–45–9
10–1415–1920–2425–2930–3435–3940–4445–4950–5455–5960–6465–6970–7475–7980–8485–8990–9495–99100+
Country B – 2015
male female
END OF DATA BOOK
Source: US Census Bureau International Data Base
Figure 6b