Eduqas GCSE (9-1) Geography A (C111) · Spec 5.1, 5.2, 5.3 and 5.4
Theme 5: climate change, weather and ecosystems
Read the notes, then try the questions. Each one is marked the moment you press Check, and shows the right answer and why.
Key ideas
- An ice core is a long cylinder of ice drilled out of an ice cap. Trapped air bubbles and the ice itself record past temperatures and carbon dioxide.
- The Quaternary has swung between cold glacial and warmer interglacial periods. A graph covering hundreds of thousands of years shows long-term change, not seasons.
- Air rises at the Equator, giving low pressure, cloud and rain. Air sinks near 30 degrees north and south, giving high pressure and dry, clear skies. Low pressure brings hazards such as tropical cyclones; high pressure brings heatwaves and drought.
- Tropical rainforest trees grow all year because it is both warm and wet in every month. Nutrients are held in living biomass and litter, so the soil itself is poor.
- Zoning in a national park protects a strict core with buffer zones where limited use is allowed. A wildlife corridor links protected areas so animals can move between them.
Key terms
- Ice core
- A long cylinder of ice drilled from an ice cap that holds trapped air from the past.
- Interglacial
- A warmer period between glacial (cold) periods.
- Anticyclone
- A high-pressure system with sinking air, clear skies and little rain.
- Biodiversity
- The variety of living things in an area.
- Canopy
- The main layer of treetops in a rainforest, below the emergent trees.
- Wildlife corridor
- A strip of habitat that links protected areas.
Common mistakes
- Saying every volcanic eruption cools the planet. Only very large explosive eruptions put enough sulphur gas high into the atmosphere, as at Pinatubo in 1991.
- Saying rainforest trees grow all year only because it is hot. Both warmth and rain in every month matter.
- Writing that habitat destruction reduces biodiversity and stopping there. Show the chain: fewer food sources and breeding sites, smaller or isolated populations, species lost.
- Confusing a wildlife corridor with a national park. A corridor links habitats; a park is a large protected area.
Exam tip
Component 2 questions are usually 1 to 6 marks plus three 8-markers. Describe means say what the data show, using figures, and explaining on a describe question earns nothing. For Explain questions use cause and effect. Remember that ticking more boxes than asked scores 0.
Free practice questions
7 questions, 13 marks. Answer, then press Check. The marking guide explains how the marks are worked out. Nothing is saved.
- Question 1 · Multiple choice[1 mark]
Which ONE of these describes an ice core?
- Question 2 · Multiple choice[1 mark]
Which ONE shows the sea conditions needed for a tropical cyclone to form?
- Question 3 · Fill the gaps[3 marks]
Complete the paragraph using words from the box. Use three of the words. Each word may be used only once. Air rises at the Equator, giving ___ pressure. Near 30° latitude air ___, giving ___ pressure and dry, cloudless skies.
Word bank: rises · high · low · sinks
- Question 4 · Multiple choice[1 mark]
Which statement best explains why rainforest trees can grow in every month of the year?
- Question 5 · Put in order[1 mark]
Put the layers of a tropical rainforest in order from the highest to the lowest.
Use the arrows to put these in the right order, first at the top.
- 1Canopy
- 2Emergent trees
- 3Understory
- 4Forest floor
- Question 6 · Fill the gaps[2 marks]
Complete the sentences. Most nutrients in a rainforest are held in living ___ and litter, so the soil itself is ___.
Word bank: biomass · nutrient-poor · fertile · bedrock
- Question 7 · Sort into groups[4 marks]
Sort each use of an ecosystem into the correct group.
Cattle pasture
Oil-sands extraction
Soya farm
Hydroelectric dam