Geographical skills: maps, graphs and statistics
Skills marks are scattered across all three papers and are the easiest marks on the course to secure — if you practise the mechanics until they are automatic.
Lesson overview
What you'll learn in this lesson
Plan enquiries, select sampling and presentation methods, analyse data and evaluate conclusions.
Key learning points
- • Cartographic skills
- • Graphical skills
- • Statistics
- • Describing data in exam language
This lesson at a glance
- 30 minutes
- 20 parts to scroll through
- 4 quick checks
- Marked quiz at the end
- Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses
Words to know
Scroll down — the lesson carries on below
Watch & discover
Part 1 of 20
Visual introductionPicture this
Geographical skills: maps, graphs and statistics
Skills marks are scattered across all three papers and are the easiest marks on the course to secure — if you practise the mechanics until they are automatic.
In a nutshell
Plan enquiries, select sampling and presentation methods, analyse data and evaluate conclusions.
Learning cycle
Part 2 of 20
Learning cycle 1 of 2
Part 1 · Cartographic skills
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 3 of 20
Learn
Cartographic skills
Four and six-figure grid references, scale and distance, compass direction and bearings, contour patterns, cross-sections, and reading aerial and satellite images. Practise describing a distribution using both a direction and a named feature.
Reset break
Part 4 of 20
Pause
That's sitting 1 of 5 done
Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Explore the idea
Part 5 of 20
Learn
Graphical skills
Choose the presentation that matches the data: line graphs for continuous change, bar and divided bar charts for categories, pie charts for proportion, scatter graphs with a line of best fit for relationships, choropleth maps for regional patterns, and proportional symbols for magnitude at points.
Quick check
Part 6 of 20
Quick check
Part 7 of 20
Reset break
Part 8 of 20
Pause
That's sitting 2 of 5 done
Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Learning cycle
Part 9 of 20
Learning cycle 2 of 2
Part 2 · Statistics
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 10 of 20
Learn
Statistics
Mean, median, mode, range, interquartile range and percentage change. The median is more useful than the mean where extreme values distort the data — say so when asked to justify a measure.
Explore the idea
Part 11 of 20
Learn
Describing data in exam language
Give a general trend, quote figures with units, then identify an anomaly. Three sentences in that order will collect nearly every describe-the-data mark on the paper.
Reset break
Part 12 of 20
Pause
That's sitting 3 of 5 done
Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Quick check
Part 13 of 20
Quick check
Part 14 of 20
Explore the idea
Part 15 of 20
Worked example
Model answer: 'Describe the pattern shown in the graph' (3 marks)
The graph shows a broadly positive relationship: as distance downstream increases, channel width increases, rising from about 2 metres at site 1 to roughly 11 metres at site 10. The steepest increase occurs between sites 6 and 8, where width almost doubles. Site 4 is an anomaly, recording a width of only 3 metres despite lying midway down the profile, which may reflect a resistant bedrock section constraining the channel.
Reset break
Part 16 of 20
Pause
That's sitting 4 of 5 done
Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Challenge round
Part 17 of 20
Game · Sort it
Which of these are true?
Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.
True
Not true
Challenge round
Part 18 of 20
Game · Recall cards
Which graph type best shows a relationship between two variables?
Card 1 of 4
Mastery quiz
Part 19 of 20
Marked quiz
End of lesson quiz: Geographical skills: maps, graphs and statistics
4 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.
1. Which graph type best shows a relationship between two variables?
2. When is the median preferable to the mean?
3. What does a choropleth map show?
4. What is the three-step structure for describing data?
Lesson round-up
Part 20 of 20
Lesson round-up
Ready when you are
Quiz score
Not sat
Games
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Points this lesson
0
Best run
0 in a row
Luna: 0 out of 4 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?
Ask LunaPart 1 of 20 · Watch & discover