Name: Tan Tong Kai (29) Class: 1C Date: 17th August 1998
Notice Board Write-up: Geography Skills

The use of skills should never be alone. They are tools we use to help us understand the world around us. In the study of Geography, skills help us to understand not only the natural world but the world created by people-a world shaped by the use and misuse of its natural resources. Some tools accompanied with those skills include the ruler, compass, protractor, calculator, string, etc. Some important key directive terms are: State, Name, Suggest, Calculate and Estimate. Some key content words are: distance, area, density, cross-section, etc.

Some Geography skills (explanations are given for the more complicated or useful skills).

The five following areas are areas where the different skills can be used:

(l) Geographic Techniques

  1. Direction
  2. Latitude and longitude
  3. Map References (Grid and area)
  4. Scales
  5. Vertical Exaggeration
Used to describe how much the slope of the land shown on a cross-section has been exaggerated. (2) Mapping skills
  1. Choropleth Maps

    2. Use shading/colours to show density of a particular feature such as rainfall. Various ranges of values are assigned to the feature and a colour/shade is devoted to each range

  2. Cross-sections
  3. Dot Maps

    4. Used to show location and/or distribution of a feature and can also show the quantity and/or density of a feature.

  4. Gradient

    5. Measure of a slope. Gradient gives an indication of the difference in height over a particular distance. Gradient between the points is measured by dividing the vertical interval with the horizontal distance between two points.

  5. Isoline Maps

    6. Used when we want to map over a wide area a feature which can be expressed as a number. An isoline is a line which joins places of equal value. Example: contour lines.

  6. Flow-Line Maps
Show direction of movement as well as quantities. Simple movement can be shown by a line or arrow linking a point of origin with a destination. The quantity is indicated by the thickness of the line.
  1. Collecting Data
  1. Likert Scales

    2. They are an easy way of surveying people’s attitudes to or perceptions of an issue.

  2. Line drawings

    3. Show the significant features of a landscape

  3. Questionnaires
  4. Statistics
  1. Processing Data
  1. Paragraph Responses (Very useful1)
Answer the following questions before attempting the question:
  1. What type of stimulus is it?
  2. Main focus?
  3. Obvious features?
  4. Small print, units of measure, shading
  1. Issue Analysis (Helpful in doing your reviews)

    2. Stage l: Issue?

    Stage 2: Issue focus?

    Stage 3: Significance of Issue?

    Stage 4: Who is directly involved?

    Stage 5: At what level are they involved? (local, regional, national)

    Stage 6: Their attitude?

    Stage 7: How are they involved? (actions)

    Stage 8: How are they affected

    Stage 9: Who is indirectly involved?

    Stage 10: Repeat stages 5-8

    Stage ll: Alternative solutions?

    Stage 12: Outline arguments for and against?

    Stage 13: Your opinions?

    Stage 14: Your Recommended Solutions

    Stage 15: Future for this issue

  2. Circular Graphs

    3. Used to show how features (e.g. temperature) change over time.

  3. Picture Graphs
  4. Ray Diagrams

    5. Consist of straight line (rays) which show movement or connection between things

  5. Photograph Interpretation (Very Helpful)
The following obervations can be made.

(l) Nature of landscape shown (hills, mountains, plains)

(2) Amount and nature of people-made development in the area
    1. Relative significance of the cultural and natural elements
    2. Influence of natural elements on people’s use of the area
    3. How people have changed the physical environment of the area shown
(5) Presenting Data
  1. Bar Graphs
  2. Column Graphs
  3. Climatic Graphs
  4. Contour Lines
  5. Line Graphs
  6. Landsat Images

    7. Created from Information collected by satellites which orbit the earth at 900-1000km above the surface.

  7. Pie Chart
  8. Population Pyramids
  9. Symbols
  10. Scatter Graph

    11. Useful in presenting seemingly unrelated data because they give us an idea of the relationship between the data

  11. Synoptic Chart

    12. Give an indication of air pressure, wind direction, speed and the amount of rainfall received.

  12. Transect Diagrams
used to summarise a variety of geographic information along a particular line of cross section