Scottish Advanced Higher Geography Syllabus

Compare the weather of a warm sector with that behind a cold front in a depression.

Warm sector: mild, overcast, drizzle/light rain, steady temperature, backing/veering winds, falling then steady pressure. Behind the cold front: cold, clearing skies with bright intervals and heavy showers, sharp temperature drop, rising pressure, gusty veered winds.

Describe the weather associated with an anticyclone in summer and in winter.

Anticyclones are high-pressure systems with descending, diverging, stable air and light winds. Summer: hot, dry, clear sunny days, risk of thunderstorms/heat haze. Winter: cold, clear nights with frost, fog, and temperature inversions; calm settled conditions persist due to slow-moving 'blocking' highs.

Define the urban heat island effect and give two causes.

The urban heat island is the tendency for cities to be warmer than surrounding rural areas (often by 2-6°C at night). Causes include: heat absorbed/re-radiated by concrete, brick and tarmac (low albedo, high thermal capacity), anthropogenic heat from vehicles/heating/industry, reduced evapotranspiration, and pollution domes trapping longwave radiation.

State the demographic transition: what happens to birth and death rates across the four/five stages?

Stage 1: high birth and death rates, low/fluctuating population. Stage 2: death rate falls (medicine, sanitation), birth rate high -> rapid growth. Stage 3: birth rate falls -> growth slows. Stage 4: low birth and death rates, high stable population. Stage 5: birth rate below death rate -> natural decline/ageing population.

Give the formulae for natural change and population (natural) growth rate.

Natural change rate $= \text{birth rate} - \text{death rate}$ (per 1000 per year). Natural growth rate (\%) $= \dfrac{(\text{births} - \text{deaths})}{\text{total population}} \times 100$. Overall population change additionally includes net migration.

What does the doubling-time 'rule of 70' state, and write it as a formula?

The rule of 70 estimates the years for a population to double given a percentage growth rate $r$: $$T_{double} \approx \frac{70}{r}$$ For example, a growth rate of $2\%$ gives a doubling time of about $35$ years.

Define total fertility rate (TFR) and the replacement level.

TFR is the average number of children a woman would bear over her lifetime at current age-specific fertility rates. The replacement level (the TFR needed to keep population stable without migration) is about $2.1$ children per woman.

Distinguish a population pyramid for an LEDC from that of an MEDC.

LEDC pyramid: wide base (high birth rate), steeply tapering sides (high death rate, lower life expectancy), few elderly = youthful structure. MEDC pyramid: narrow base (low birth rate), more vertical 'barrel'/inverted shape, wide top (high life expectancy) = ageing structure.

Explain Ravenstein's and Lee's push-pull model of migration.

Migration results from negative push factors at the origin (e.g. unemployment, conflict, drought) and positive pull factors at the destination (e.g. jobs, safety, services), modified by intervening obstacles (distance, cost, borders) and personal/perceptual factors. Lee added the concept of intervening obstacles to Ravenstein's 'laws'.

Define the dependency ratio and give its formula.

The dependency ratio expresses the proportion of economically dependent people supported by the working-age population: $$\text{Dependency ratio} = \frac{(\text{population } 0\text{-}14) + (\text{population } 65+)}{\text{population } 15\text{-}64} \times 100$$

What is the Burgess concentric zone model of urban structure?

Burgess (1925) modelled the city as concentric rings outward from the centre: (1) Central Business District (CBD), (2) transition zone (industry/older housing), (3) low-class/working-class housing, (4) better residential, (5) commuter/dormitory zone. It assumes growth outward and a decline in age/density of housing with distance.

Compare the Hoyt sector model with the Burgess model.

Hoyt's sector model (1939) argues land use grows outward in wedges/sectors along transport routes rather than concentric rings, with similar uses (e.g. high-quality housing or industry) extending out along these axes. It accounts for the influence of routeways and topography that Burgess ignored.

Define the bid-rent theory of urban land values.

Bid-rent theory states that land value and demand decline with distance from the CBD (the peak land value point). Different users (retail, industry, residential) have different rent-distance gradients; retail outbids others for central accessibility, giving concentric zonation of land use by who can pay the most at each location.

What are the characteristics that identify a CBD in fieldwork?

Highest land values and pedestrian counts, tallest buildings/high-rise, concentration of comparison/specialist retail and offices, multi-storey car parks, limited residential population, transport node convergence, chain stores and high rateable values, and the Peak Land Value Intersection.

Distinguish urbanisation, suburbanisation and counter-urbanisation.

Urbanisation: increasing proportion of people living in towns/cities (rural-to-urban). Suburbanisation: outward movement of people and activities to the city edge. Counter-urbanisation: movement of people from large urban areas to smaller towns and rural areas, often enabled by transport and remote working.

Give the formula for the Gross Domestic Product per capita and state one limitation.

$$\text{GDP per capita} = \frac{\text{Gross Domestic Product}}{\text{total population}}$$ Limitation: it is a mean that hides inequalities in distribution, ignores the informal economy and non-monetary wellbeing, and does not reflect environmental costs.

What three indicators make up the Human Development Index (HDI)?

The HDI combines: (1) a long and healthy life - life expectancy at birth; (2) knowledge - mean and expected years of schooling; (3) a decent standard of living - GNI per capita (PPP). It is a composite index between $0$ and $1$.

State Rostow's model of economic development stages.

Rostow's modernisation model: (1) traditional society, (2) preconditions for take-off, (3) take-off, (4) drive to maturity, (5) age of high mass consumption. It assumes all countries develop linearly through these stages as investment and technology spread.

Distinguish the Gini coefficient values for high versus low income inequality.

The Gini coefficient ranges from $0$ to $1$ (or $0$-$100$). A value near $0$ indicates perfect equality (everyone has the same income); a value near $1$ indicates maximum inequality (one person has all income). Higher Gini = greater inequality.

Explain Frank's dependency theory.

Dependency theory argues underdevelopment is not a stage but a created condition: a global core (developed nations) exploits a periphery (developing nations) through unequal trade, extracting wealth and raw materials, keeping the periphery dependent. Underdevelopment is the active result of this core-periphery relationship, not merely a lack of development.

In fieldwork, distinguish systematic, random and stratified sampling.

Random sampling: every item has an equal chance of selection (e.g. random number coordinates), avoiding bias. Systematic sampling: selecting at regular intervals (e.g. every 10 m along a transect). Stratified sampling: dividing the population into sub-groups and sampling each proportionally to ensure representation.

What is a transect and why is it used in fieldwork?

A transect is a line (often from a defined start point such as a river source or CBD centre) along which measurements/samples are taken at set intervals. It is used to capture systematic spatial change in a variable (e.g. downstream changes in a river, or land use across a city).

Name two pieces of equipment for measuring river velocity and how to find mean velocity.

A flowmeter/impeller or the float method (timing a float over a known distance, then $v = \dfrac{d}{t}$ corrected by $\times 0.85$ for surface drag). Measure velocity at several points across the channel and average them to obtain mean velocity for discharge calculations.

Define a quadrat and state when it is used.

A quadrat is a square frame (often $0.5\,\mathrm{m}$ or $1\,\mathrm{m}$) placed on the ground to sample vegetation. It is used to record species frequency, density or percentage cover, typically along a transect or at random points, in biogeography fieldwork.

What is the Spearman's rank correlation coefficient formula and what does it test?

It tests the strength and direction of correlation between two ranked variables: $$r_s = 1 - \frac{6\sum d^{2}}{n(n^{2}-1)}$$ where $d$ is the difference between ranks of each pair and $n$ is the number of pairs. $r_s$ ranges from $-1$ (perfect negative) through $0$ (none) to $+1$ (perfect positive).

In a Spearman's rank test, how do you judge statistical significance?

Compare the calculated $r_s$ against the critical value from significance tables for the degrees of freedom ($n$) at a chosen confidence level (usually $95\%$/$0.05$). If $|r_s|$ exceeds the critical value, the correlation is statistically significant and the null hypothesis (no relationship) is rejected.

Give the formulae for the mean, median and mode and one strength of the median.

Mean $\bar{x} = \dfrac{\sum x}{n}$; median = the middle value when data are ranked; mode = the most frequently occurring value. A strength of the median is that it is not distorted by extreme outliers (anomalies), unlike the mean.

Define standard deviation and write its formula.

Standard deviation measures the dispersion (spread) of data about the mean; a larger value means more variability. $$\sigma = \sqrt{\frac{\sum (x - \bar{x})^{2}}{n}}$$ where $x$ is each value, $\bar{x}$ the mean and $n$ the number of values.

What is the Nearest Neighbour Index and what do its values indicate?

It measures settlement/point pattern: $$R_n = 2\bar{d}\sqrt{\frac{n}{A}}$$ where $\bar{d}$ is mean nearest-neighbour distance, $n$ the number of points and $A$ the area. $R_n \approx 0$ = clustered, $R_n = 1$ = random, $R_n \approx 2.15$ = perfectly regular/uniform (triangular) spacing.

In the geographical study/folio, distinguish primary and secondary data with an example of each.

Primary data is collected first-hand by the researcher in the field (e.g. measuring river width, conducting a questionnaire). Secondary data is gathered by someone else and reused (e.g. census statistics, OS maps, published rainfall records). Good studies triangulate both.

What is a hypothesis in a geographical folio and what makes it good (state the null hypothesis too)?

A hypothesis is a testable statement predicting a relationship (e.g. 'river velocity increases downstream'). A good one is specific, measurable and falsifiable. The null hypothesis ($H_0$) states there is no relationship/no significant difference, against which statistical tests are run; rejecting $H_0$ supports the research hypothesis.