UR GCSE Project Guidelines: March 2005

GCSE Geography Coursework: UR Guide

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Planning

All GCSE candidates at King's are required to complete an individual enquiry of about 2,500 words which will contribute 25% towards your final grade.  The topic you wish to study is largely up to you but it must be geographical and involve the collection of data through fieldwork.  It should involve a study of an area which you can easily access and should not be too large in scale.

 

It is essential that a great effort is made to gain as many marks as possible from this section of the GCSE specification.  Gaining full marks is possible!

 

How to plan a project: (to be completed by the last week of the UR Summer Term)

 

  1. Decide on a topic or question which you are able to investigate in an area which is easily accessible to you.
  2. Obtain a map and/or photographs of the study area (visit libraries, use the internet etc.)
  3. Visit the study area: is it safe?  Is it suitable?  Is it accessible?  Consult your parents.
  4. Research from books and journals the geographical theory relevant to your project and write down a few key questions or hypotheses.
  5. Make a list of the information you need and work out what primary and secondary data you are able to collect to give you this information.
  6. Give full details of how you plan to collect the data (sampling methods, questionnaires, letters, surveys, etc.) and have this checked by a member of staff.
  7. Carry out a pilot study (test run) to check your fieldwork gives helpful information.

 

How to collect your data: (to be carried out over the summer holiday)

 

  1. Secondary Data:          Letters to organisations; libraries; internet; local authority;

                                        census; maps; newspapers; etc.

  1. Primary Data:              Recording sheets; land use surveys; questionnaires;

                                        measurements; counting; interviews; drawing & sketching; etc.

It is important that you give careful thought to your safety whilst conducting fieldwork and that your parents are fully aware of the areas you will be working in.  It is the responsibility of your parents to ensure that you are adequately supervised.

 

How to write up your work: (to be completed during the Autumn Term of the 5th Form)

 

You will be given detailed guidelines on how to write up your study using appropriate chapter headings later.  The whole study should be about 2,500 words (approx. 8 sides of A4 typed text) and must include accurate illustrations (maps, sketches & graphs).  Much of your information can be presented in forms other than words: diagrams; tables; bar graphs & divided bar graphs; histograms; pie charts; line graphs; scatter graphs; photographs & postcards; newspaper cuttings; field sketches; dot maps; symbol maps; desire-line maps; flow-line maps; cross-sections; transects; flow charts; etc.

 

It is important that you present your data in several different formats using appropriate techniques.  You should therefore give this some consideration in the planning stage of your project.  All work must be handed in to the Geography Department on or before 1st March of the Fifth Form year.

 

You will be shown a variety of data collection techniques and ways to present data when we carry out a fieldwork study in Cheltenham early in the summer term.

 

 

Possible Project Topics & Titles

 

Stream Studies

 

Possible streams to study:

Piddle Brook (Nr. Redditch); Whiteacres Brook (Nr. Malvern); Bowbrook (Nr. Redditch); Laughern Brook, St. Johns; River Salwarpe (Nr. Droitwich); Leigh Brook, (Leigh Sinton); DowleÕs Brook (Wyre Forest); River Froome Nr. Bromyard; River Leadon, (Nr. Bosbury); Pipers Brook (Nr. Tenbury Wells).

 

Tourism

 

Urban

 

Examples of possible titles:

* Comparison of retailing in Pershore and Evesham or Worcester & Cheltenham

* Is there a relationship between the type and quality of housing in Worcester?

* Study of the rural-urban fringe of Worcester

* Traffic study in Worcester city centre

* CBD study of Stourport-on-Severn or Worcester or Evesham or Hereford

* How housing type & environmental quality changes with distance from the CBD

* Study of Worcester's land use from the CBD to the suburbs

* Does a shopping hierarchy exist: Worcester, Upton-upon-Severn, Upton Snodsbury

* Land use study of Kidderminster or Worcester or Bromsgrove or Tenbury Wells

* Does Worcester fit into the Core-Frame model?

* Is Stourport-on-Severn a tourist town or a resident's town?

* A comparison of two industrial estates (Diglis Basin & Warndon Business Park)

* Comparison of the retailing in Kidderminster town centre and Crossley retail park

* An analysis of shop clustering in the CBD of Worcester

 

Villages

 

Possible villages to study:

Comberton; Elmley Castle; Kempsey; Lower Broadheath; Elmley Castle, Nr. Pershore; Abberley; Callow End; Tibberton; Drakes Broughton (near Pershore); Pensax Nr. Great Witley; Martley; Cradley; Astwood Bank Nr. Redditch; Lower Broadheath; Fladbury; Offenham; Clifton Upon Teme; Hagley; Ombersley; Crowle; Stoulton Nr. Pershore; Rowney Green Nr. Redditch

 

 

There are several other possible topics for projects - see the geography library for ideas!

Further Coursework Info