Every card in Fieldwork and skills, Year 8: more practice
The whole deck, in order — so you can read it through before your child ever sees it.
- On a choropleth map shaded in one colour, what does a darker shade normally show?
A higher value
HintThe key links each shade to a range of values.
WhyChoropleth maps use a graded colour scheme, usually light for low values and dark for high ones, so the pattern is visible at a glance.
- A choropleth map shades each region by its total population, and a huge, almost empty region looks darkest. What should be shaded instead to avoid this trap?
Population density (people per square kilometre)
HintTotals depend on how big the region is.
WhyDensity divides the number of people by the area, so large and small regions can be compared fairly. Choropleth maps work best with rates, ratios or densities.
- A choropleth map gives one shade to a whole region. What detail does this hide?
Variation within the region
HintEach area gets a single colour.
WhyA region shaded dark may contain both very high and very low places. The map shows the average, not the differences inside.
- A choropleth key has 4 equal-width classes covering values from 0 to 100. What is the width of each class? (number only)
25
HintShare the full range equally between the classes.
Why100 ÷ 4 = 25, so the classes are 0 to 25, 25 to 50, 50 to 75 and 75 to 100.
- Why do choropleth maps usually use one colour that goes from light to dark, rather than a mix of unrelated colours?
The order of the shades makes higher and lower values easy to read
HintThink about reading the map without checking the key every time.
WhyA single-colour range has a natural order. Mixed colours have no obvious order, so the reader must keep looking back at the key.
- A GIS has a flood-risk layer and a population layer. What question can overlaying them answer?
How many people live in areas at risk of flooding
HintThink about what two sets of information show together.
WhyOverlaying means viewing layers on top of each other. Patterns that are hidden in one layer on its own appear where layers meet.
- What does GIS stand for?
Geographic Information System
HintThe last word is about how the data are organised.
WhyA GIS stores, layers and analyses location data on a computer, such as roads, rivers, schools and flood zones.
- What is one advantage of a GIS over a paper map when new data arrive?
A layer can be updated without redrawing the whole map
HintThink about how a paper map gets out of date.
WhyThe roads layer can be replaced with a newer version while the rivers layer stays the same, and layers can be switched on or off.
- A GIS layer shows lakes as shaded shapes with edges. Is this vector or raster data?
Vector
HintA raster layer is a grid of pixels.
WhyPoints, lines and polygons are all vector data. A lake drawn as a polygon is vector; a satellite photo is raster.
- A council overlays a layer showing homes on a layer showing existing libraries to site a new library. Which area is the best choice: A many homes close to a library, B many homes far from any library, or C few homes far from any library?
B: many homes far from any library
HintCombine the two layers rather than reading each alone.
WhyOverlaying the layers shows crowded areas that are far from any library. This is how a 'where should it go?' question is answered.
1★ KS3-GEOG-FIE-0032
2★ KS3-GEOG-FIE-0033
3★ KS3-GEOG-FIE-0034
4★ KS3-GEOG-FIE-0035
5★ KS3-GEOG-FIE-0036
6★ KS3-GEOG-FIE-0037
7★ KS3-GEOG-FIE-0038
8★ KS3-GEOG-FIE-0039
9★ KS3-GEOG-FIE-0040
10★ KS3-GEOG-FIE-0041
Keep what you learn
Here, nothing is saved. In your child’s own sky every card is scheduled — it comes back just before they’d forget it — and the professor who wrote it is one tap away.