Certificate of Secondary Education (CSE) Geography Syllabus

Geography syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Geography in Certificate of Secondary Education (CSE), not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Physical Geography

   4 topics

   • Weather and climate
     • Measuring weather
     • Climate types and the British climate
   • Rivers and the water cycle
     • Erosion, transport and deposition
     • River features and flooding
   • Coasts
     • Coastal erosion and landforms
     • Deposition and beaches
   • Rocks and landscapes
     • Types of rock
     • Glaciation and upland landscapes
2. 2

   Human Geography

   4 topics

   • Population
     • Distribution and density
     • Migration
   • Settlement
     • Site, situation and function
     • Urban land use and growth
   • Industry
     • Primary, secondary and tertiary
     • Location of industry
   • Agriculture
     • Farming types and systems
     • Factors affecting farming
3. 3

   Regional and World Studies

   4 topics

   • The British Isles
     • Contrasting regions
   • Economically developed regions
     • Western Europe and beyond
   • Developing regions
     • Problems and development
   • Trade and interdependence
     • Imports, exports and aid
4. 4

   Geographical Skills

   3 topics

   • Map reading
     • Grid references and scale
     • Relief, contours and cross-sections
     • Ordnance Survey symbols
   • Fieldwork and enquiry
     • Collecting data in the field
     • Presenting and analysing findings
   • Graphs, diagrams and photographs
     • Interpreting graphs and tables
     • Sketching from photographs

Geography flashcards for Certificate of Secondary Education (CSE)

25 of 55 cards from the Geography deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. What is the difference between weather and climate?

   Weather is the day-to-day state of the atmosphere (temperature, rainfall, wind) at a place over a short period. Climate is the average weather conditions of a place measured over a long period, usually 30 years or more.

2. Name the three main types of rainfall and the cause of each.

   Relief (orographic) rainfall — air forced to rise over hills/mountains; Convectional rainfall — warm ground heats air which rises, cools and condenses (common in summer); Frontal (cyclonic) rainfall — warm air rises over cold air at a front.

3. In the UK, why is the west generally wetter and milder than the east?

   The west faces the prevailing south-westerly winds off the Atlantic, which bring warm, moist air (warmed by the North Atlantic Drift) and relief rainfall over western uplands. The east lies in the rain shadow and is drier and has a more continental (greater range) temperature.

4. List the four main processes of the water (hydrological) cycle.

   Evaporation (water turns to vapour), condensation (vapour cools to form clouds), precipitation (rain/snow falls), and collection/runoff (water returns to rivers, seas and groundwater). Transpiration from plants also adds vapour.

5. How do you calculate the discharge of a river, and what are the units?

   Discharge is the cross-sectional area multiplied by velocity: $$Q = A \times v$$ measured in cumecs (cubic metres per second, $\mathrm{m^{3}/s}$).

6. What are the three types of river erosion's main processes? Name four erosion processes.

   Hydraulic action (force of water), abrasion/corrasion (load scrapes the bed and banks), attrition (rocks knock together and become smaller and rounder), and solution/corrosion (chemical dissolving of soluble rock).

7. How is a waterfall and gorge formed?

   Where a band of hard rock lies over softer rock, the soft rock is eroded faster, creating a step. The river plunges over, eroding a plunge pool by hydraulic action and abrasion. The hard rock is undercut, overhangs and collapses; repeated retreat upstream leaves a steep-sided gorge.

8. Explain how a meander and oxbow lake form.

   In a meander, fast flow on the outer bank erodes (forming a river cliff) while slow flow on the inner bank deposits (forming a slip-off slope). The neck narrows over time; during a flood the river cuts through, and deposition seals off the loop, leaving an oxbow lake.

9. Define the long profile and the cross profile of a river.

   The long profile shows the gradient of a river from source to mouth (steep upper course, gentle lower course). The cross profile is a cross-section across the valley/channel at a point — narrow and V-shaped upstream, wide and flat downstream.

10. What are the four ways a river transports its load?

    Traction (large rocks rolled along the bed), saltation (smaller stones bounced along), suspension (fine sediment carried within the water), and solution (dissolved minerals carried in the water).

11. How are constructive and destructive waves different?

    Constructive waves have low height, long wavelength, strong swash and weak backwash, so they build up beaches. Destructive waves are tall with a short wavelength, weak swash and strong backwash, so they erode and remove material from beaches.

12. Explain how a wave-cut platform forms.

    Waves erode the base of a cliff between high and low tide marks by hydraulic action and abrasion, cutting a wave-cut notch. The cliff above is undercut and collapses, and the cliff retreats inland, leaving a gently sloping rocky wave-cut platform exposed at low tide.

13. Describe the sequence: headland to cave, arch, stack and stump.

    Waves attack a crack in a headland, eroding a cave. The cave is eroded through the headland to form an arch. The roof of the arch collapses leaving an isolated pillar (stack), which is further eroded and collapses to leave a stump.

14. What is longshore drift and what direction does it move material?

    Longshore drift is the zig-zag movement of sediment along a beach. Swash carries material up the beach at the angle of the prevailing wind, and backwash pulls it straight down under gravity, moving material along the coast in the direction of the prevailing wind.

15. What is the difference between hard and soft coastal engineering? Give an example of each.

    Hard engineering uses artificial structures to control natural processes (e.g. sea wall, groynes, rock armour). Soft engineering works with natural processes and is more sustainable (e.g. beach nourishment, managed retreat, dune regeneration).

16. Name and describe the three main rock types by origin.

    Igneous — formed from cooled molten magma/lava (e.g. granite, basalt); Sedimentary — formed from compacted layers of sediment (e.g. limestone, sandstone); Metamorphic — formed when existing rocks are changed by heat and/or pressure (e.g. marble from limestone, slate from clay).

17. What is the difference between physical (mechanical) and chemical weathering? Give an example of each.

    Physical weathering breaks rock without changing its chemistry, e.g. freeze-thaw (water freezes in cracks, expands and shatters rock). Chemical weathering alters the minerals, e.g. carbonation, where rainwater (weak carbonic acid) dissolves limestone.

18. Describe the process of freeze-thaw weathering.

    Water enters cracks in rock. When temperatures fall below $0^{\circ}\mathrm{C}$ it freezes and expands by about 9%, widening the crack. Repeated freezing and thawing weakens the rock until fragments break off and form scree at the base of slopes.

19. What landforms are characteristic of a carboniferous limestone (karst) landscape?

    Limestone pavements (clints and grikes), swallow holes/sink holes, caverns with stalactites and stalagmites, dry valleys, gorges, and resurgent streams. They form because limestone is permeable and soluble in slightly acidic rainwater.

20. What is the difference between weathering, erosion and mass movement?

    Weathering is the in-situ breakdown of rock by the weather. Erosion is the wearing away and removal of material by a moving force (water, ice, wind). Mass movement is the downhill movement of material under gravity (e.g. slumping, landslides).

21. What is a population pyramid and what do its shape tell you?

    A population pyramid is a bar graph showing the age and sex structure of a population. A wide base and narrow top (triangular) indicates a high birth rate and short life expectancy (developing country); straighter sides indicate low birth rate and ageing population (developed country).

22. Define birth rate, death rate and natural increase.

    Birth rate is the number of live births per 1000 people per year. Death rate is the number of deaths per 1000 people per year. Natural increase is the difference: $$\text{Natural increase} = \text{birth rate} - \text{death rate}$$ (expressed per 1000 or as a percentage).

23. What is population density and how is it calculated?

    Population density is the average number of people per unit area, usually per square kilometre: $$\text{Density} = \frac{\text{Total population}}{\text{Area}}$$ Units are people per $\mathrm{km^{2}}$.

24. Outline the five stages of the Demographic Transition Model (DTM).

    Stage 1: high fluctuating (high birth and death rates, low growth). Stage 2: early expanding (death rate falls, birth rate high, rapid growth). Stage 3: late expanding (birth rate falls, growth slows). Stage 4: low fluctuating (low birth and death rates, stable). Stage 5: declining (death rate exceeds birth rate, population falls).

25. What is the difference between push and pull factors in migration? Give an example of each.

    Push factors drive people away from an area (e.g. unemployment, war, poor services). Pull factors attract people to a new area (e.g. jobs, better wages, safety, good schools). Migration usually results from a combination of both.

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