Good Learning Co.
SavannahYear 8
← Geography
GeographyGeographical skills and fieldwork enquiry25 min★★★ difficulty

GIS and presenting geographical data

Choosing the wrong graph hides your own findings. Choosing the right one makes the pattern obvious before you write a word.

Part of your national curriculum
  • Geographical skills and fieldwork: Use geographical information systems (GIS) to view, analyse and interpret places and data
  • Geographical skills and fieldwork: Interpret and analyse a range of quantitative and qualitative data, including statistical data on trends and relationships between geographical phenomena

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Choose and interpret the right technique for a set of geographical data.

Key learning points

  • • What GIS actually is
  • • Choosing a technique
  • • Describing data honestly
  • • Basic statistics

This lesson at a glance

  • 25 minutes
  • 21 parts to scroll through
  • 4 quick checks
  • Marked quiz at the end
  • Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

chooseinterprettechniquegeographicalchoosing

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 21 · Discover5%
1

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 21

GIS and presenting geographical data illustrationVisual introduction

Picture this

GIS and presenting geographical data

Choosing the wrong graph hides your own findings. Choosing the right one makes the pattern obvious before you write a word.

In a nutshell

Choose and interpret the right technique for a set of geographical data.

2

Learning cycle

Part 2 of 21

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Part 1 · What GIS actually is

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

3

Explore the idea

Part 3 of 21

Learn

What GIS actually is

A geographical information system stores data in layers tied to real coordinates: a base map, then flood risk, then house prices, then bus routes. Turning layers on and off reveals relationships that a paper map cannot show, such as which schools sit inside a flood zone. GIS is used by councils planning housing, emergency services routing ambulances, supermarkets choosing store sites and conservation teams tracking habitats.

4

Reset break

Part 4 of 21

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.

Stop here for now
5

Explore the idea

Part 5 of 21

Learn

Choosing a technique

Use a line graph for continuous change over time, a bar chart to compare separate categories, a pie chart for proportions of a whole, a scatter graph with a line of best fit to test a relationship between two variables, a choropleth map for rates or densities by area, proportional symbols for totals at points, and a flow line for movement such as migration or traffic. Match the technique to the question, not to whichever looks prettiest.

6

Quick check

Part 6 of 21

Quick check

Which technique best shows the relationship between two variables?

Give me a hint
7

Quick check

Part 7 of 21

Quick check

A choropleth map is best for

Give me a hint
8

Reset break

Part 8 of 21

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.

Stop here for now
9

Learning cycle

Part 9 of 21

Learning cycle 2 of 2

Part 2 · Describing data honestly

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

10

Explore the idea

Part 10 of 21

Learn

Describing data honestly

Start with the overall trend or pattern, quantify it with figures from the data, then identify anomalies and say where they are. 'Discharge rose from 12 to 46 cumecs between 09:00 and 15:00, a fourfold increase, although a small dip at 11:00 interrupts the rise' is a complete description. Never describe a pattern the data does not show, and never leave a figure unquoted.

11

Explore the idea

Part 11 of 21

Learn

Basic statistics

The mean is the total divided by the number of values and is distorted by extremes. The median is the middle value when ordered and copes better with outliers. The mode is the most common value. The range is the difference between highest and lowest and shows spread. Interquartile range compares the middle half and is more reliable when a few results are unusual. Knowing which to use, and saying why, is a marked skill.

12

Reset break

Part 12 of 21

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.

Stop here for now
13

Quick check

Part 13 of 21

Quick check

Why is the median sometimes better than the mean?

Give me a hint
14

Quick check

Part 14 of 21

Quick check

A GIS is most useful because it

Give me a hint
15

Explore the idea

Part 15 of 21

Worked example

Worked answer: which technique and why (4 marks)

To test whether pedestrian counts fall with distance from the town centre, plot a scatter graph with distance on the x-axis and pedestrian count on the y-axis and add a line of best fit (2). A scatter graph is correct because both variables are continuous and numerical and the enquiry is about a relationship rather than a comparison of categories, and the line of best fit shows the direction and strength of that relationship, with any point far from the line identified as an anomaly worth explaining (2).

16

Reset break

Part 16 of 21

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.

Stop here for now
17

Challenge round

Part 17 of 21

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

18

Challenge round

Part 18 of 21

Game · Fill the gaps

Finish the sentences

Choose the word that belongs in each gap.

A ____ information system stores data in layers tied to real coordinates: a base map, then flood risk, then house prices, then bus routes.

GIS is used by councils planning housing, emergency services routing ambulances, supermarkets ____ store sites and conservation teams tracking habitats.

Match the ____ to the question, not to whichever looks prettiest.

19

Challenge round

Part 19 of 21

Game · Recall cards

Which technique best shows the relationship between two variables?

Card 1 of 4

20

Mastery quiz

Part 20 of 21

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: GIS and presenting geographical data

4 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.

  1. 1. Which technique best shows the relationship between two variables?

  2. 2. A choropleth map is best for

  3. 3. Why is the median sometimes better than the mean?

  4. 4. A GIS is most useful because it

21

Lesson round-up

Part 21 of 21

Lesson round-up

Ready when you are

Quiz score

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Points this lesson

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Best run

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Luna: 0 out of 4 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?

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Part 1 of 21 · Watch & discover

How this is going

  • Not looked at yet

    Use geographical information systems (GIS) to view, analyse and interpret places and data

  • Not looked at yet

    Interpret and analyse a range of quantitative and qualitative data, including statistical data on trends and relationships between geographical phenomena

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