GCSE Geography: Fieldwork Enquiry

The DfE GCSE geography subject content requires every student to carry out fieldwork in at least two contrasting environments, covering both physical and human geography and using primary data. The exams then test what you did and what you learned: some questions ask about your own enquiries, others give you fieldwork material from an unfamiliar place and ask you to judge it. In AQA's specification, for example, both kinds of question sit in Paper 3; other boards place fieldwork questions in their own papers. This material trains the thinking behind all of them.

It follows the enquiry process stage by stage. First, choosing a suitable question or hypothesis, linked to geographical theory such as the Bradshaw model for rivers, and planning for risk: tides, fast or deep water, traffic and weather. Next, collecting data: primary and secondary sources, quantitative and qualitative data, random, systematic and stratified sampling with their strengths and weaknesses, and specific techniques such as measuring river width, depth and velocity, the Powers roundness scale, pedestrian counts, environmental quality surveys and questionnaires. Then processing and presenting the data, analysing it for trends and anomalies, reaching conclusions that refer back to the hypothesis, and evaluating the whole enquiry for accuracy, reliability and possible improvements.

Calculation questions practise the numbers that fieldwork questions often include: velocity from the float method, cross-sectional area from width and mean depth, and discharge from area and velocity.

The material offers a quiz with explanations, flashcards for the key terms and formulas, a printable written sheet of eight extended tasks (writing a hypothesis, a risk assessment, justifying a sampling strategy, designing a questionnaire, calculating discharge, writing a conclusion, evaluating reliability and suggesting improvements), and an oral exam in which an examiner asks you about an enquiry of your own, one question at a time, and ends with short feedback.

Work through it before you write up or revise your own enquiries, and have your titles, sites and results in mind: the best answers always refer to specific evidence from your fieldwork.

• Write a testable hypothesis linked to geographical theory
• Identify fieldwork hazards and ways of reducing risk
• Distinguish primary and secondary, quantitative and qualitative data
• Justify random, systematic or stratified sampling
• Calculate velocity, cross-sectional area and discharge from field data
• Write a conclusion that refers back to the hypothesis and evaluate reliability

Practice material written by Zestly, based on the fieldwork requirements of the DfE GCSE geography subject content and the enquiry process described in board specifications such as AQA GCSE Geography 8035 (fieldwork section).