S6 Geography

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S6 Geography
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What is Geography?

• Geography by nature is a discipline which asks
  questions arising from the spatial structuring
  (distribution and arrangement) of the environment
  and from spatial situations in which physical,
  biotic and socioeconomic phenomena interact.

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It seeks to establish theories on

• how people and things are distributed and
  organized spatially on the earth
• why people and things form certain kinds of
  spatial patterns in particular places
• whether similar patterns of interactions between
  people and their environment recur in different
  parts of the world
• the nature of the processes that have operated to
  produce these spatial patterns

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It seeks to establish theories on

• how knowledge of these processes may provide
  guidance to people making decisions about the
  location of activities, the use of the land and
  other resources, the environmental impact of
  human activities, and the planning, prediction
  and control of selected phenomena on the earths
  surface.

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AL Geography Syllabus

• There are 3 landscapes
• Natural Landscapes
• Agricultural Landscapes
• Urban Industrial Landscapes

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Natural Landscapes

• Climatic System
• Biotic System
• Man-land Relationship
• Landform System

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AL Examination
Paper 1 Paper 2
Time allowed
Type of Question
No. of questions set
No. of questions should be answered
Any compulsory question
3 hours 3 hours
Structural question
Essay
9 11
5 4
1 Nil
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Reading Assignment

• David Waugh, Geography An Integrated Approach,
  Chapter 9, pp. 206-259

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Components of Climatic System
Atmosphere
Hydrosphere
Biosphere
Lithosphere
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Components of Climatic System

• Atmosphere
• Hydrosphere
• Lithosphere
• Biosphere

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Structure of the atmosphere

• The atmosphere can be divided into several layers
  according to temperature.
• troposphere (???)
• stratosphere (???)
• mesosphere
• thermosphere

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Structure of the atmosphere

• Troposphere
• contains most of the gases
• the layer where major weather occurs
• air mixing
• temperature decreases with increasing altitude
• 6.5oC per 1 km
• environmental lapse rate

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Components of the atmosphere
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Structure of Atmosphere
Climatologists divide the atmosphere into
different layers according to the change in
temperature
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Spatial distribution of Gases

• Air pressure decreases as altitude increases
• because of gravity

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Components of Atmosphere

• Nitrogen
  78.9
• Oxygen
  20.95
• Water vapour 0.2 -
  4.0
• C02
  0.03
• Ozone
  0.00006
• Inert gases
• Dust
• Pollutants e.g. C02 , NO, methane