The natural environment

Topics

Choose a topic to revise

Sample objectives

What this unit covers

• Earthquakes and volcanoes: Students should be able to: Describe the primary types and characteristics of volcanoes, including strato-volcanoes (composite cones) and shield volcanoes, as well as their features such as craters, vents, and magma chambers. Explain the characteristics of earthquakes, including their epicentres, foci, and magnitudes. Discuss the global distribution of earthquakes and volcanoes, including an understanding of tectonic plate structures and movements, subduction zones, and the effects of different types of plate boundaries: constructive/divergent, destructive/convergent, and conservative. Identify the causes of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions and their impacts on human populations and the environment. Recognize that while volcanoes can pose hazards, they also provide opportunities for communities. Discuss strategies to mitigate the effects of earthquakes and volcanoes. Case studies should include one earthquake and one volcano.
• Rivers: Students should be able to explain the key hydrological features of rivers, such as their width, depth, flow speed, and discharge, as well as the characteristics of drainage basins, including watersheds, tributaries, and confluences. They should understand the processes occurring within a drainage basin, including interception, infiltration, throughflow, groundwater flow, evaporation, and overland flow. Students must demonstrate knowledge of how rivers erode, transport, and deposit materials, and describe the formation of landforms associated with these processes, including river valleys, long profiles, cross-sections, waterfalls, potholes, meanders, oxbow lakes, deltas, levees, and floodplains. Additionally, they should recognize the hazards posed by rivers, such as flooding and erosion, and the opportunities for human settlement on floodplains or deltas. Students must explain management strategies for mitigating the impacts of river flooding. A case study is required to illustrate the opportunities and hazards related to rivers and their management.
• Coasts: Students should be able to demonstrate knowledge of how the sea and wind contribute to the processes of erosion, transportation, and deposition. They should describe and explain how various landforms such as cliffs, wave-cut platforms, caves, arches, stacks, stumps, bay and headland coastlines, beaches, spits, and coastal sand dunes are formed through these processes. Additionally, students should describe coral reefs and mangrove swamps, including the conditions necessary for their development. They must also understand that coasts can pose hazards, such as coastal erosion and tropical storms, while also providing opportunities for human activities. Students should explain management strategies for mitigating the effects of coastal erosion. A case study is required to illustrate the opportunities, associated hazards, and their management in a specific coastal area.
• Weather: Students should be able to: Describe the methods used to gather weather data. Explain the features, placement, and functions of various weather instruments including the Stevenson Screen, rain gauge, maximum-minimum thermometer, wet-and-dry bulb thermometer (hygrometer), sunshine recorder, barometer, anemometer, and wind vane, as well as basic digital tools for weather observation; observe different types and amounts of cloud. Perform calculations based on data from weather instruments. Utilize and analyze graphs and diagrams that present weather and climate information.
• Climate and natural vegetation: Students should be able to describe and explain the features of two different climates, focusing on temperature aspects such as the average temperature of the hottest and coolest months, and the annual temperature range. They should also cover equatorial climates and precipitation patterns, including convection and relief rainfall, as well as the characteristics of hot desert rainfall, including its quantity and seasonal distribution. Additionally, students must identify the factors that affect these climate characteristics, such as latitude, pressure systems, winds, proximity to the ocean, altitude, and ocean currents. They should be able to interpret climatic graphs that illustrate the key temperature and rainfall features of the two climates. Furthermore, students should describe and explain the interrelationship between natural vegetation, soil, wildlife, and climate in tropical rainforest and hot desert ecosystems. They must also discuss the causes and consequences of deforestation in tropical rainforests, including its local and global impacts on the environment and on human populations. A case study is required for this objective, focusing on one area of tropical rainforest and one area of hot desert. Refer to the guidance on case studies for planning options and note the use of the term 'including' in the further guidance.