Paper 4 Enquiry SKILLS

IGCSE Geography
All candidates take Paper 4 and must answer all the questions.
The most common topics covered in the alternative to practical
exams are: coasts, rivers, settlement and weather.

• Sites
• Measuring
• Equipments
• Collecting data
• Safety tips
• Improvement tips
1 Equipments and
methods
Equipments
A stopwatch is used to record time, eg.
in traffic counts or in measuring velocity

A compass is used to measure direction

eg. of a course of a river or to see where
the wind is coming from.
 Equipments

A tape measure is used to measure

medium distances (between several
metres to 30/50 metres).

A metre rule is used for measuring short

distances eg. the depth of a river
 Equipments

Calipers are used to measure the width,

length or height of small objects.

A pebbleometer is used to measure the

angularity (roundness) of river materials
(roundness) of river materials.
 Equipments

Ranging rods are used to measure the depth of a river,

or the angle of a slope with a clinometer.

A clinometer is used to measure

the angle of elevation (slope) by
placing at eye level at a ranging
rod (that stands vertically in the
ground).The clinometer is directed
to the other ranging rod at eyelevel,
and the angle is read off.
 Equipments

Flowmeters are used for measuring the

velocity of water eg. in rivers. Flowmeters
have a small propeller that is placed
under the surface of the water. Movement
of the propeller created a digital reading
that notes the speed of the water.
 Equipments

A quadrat is a square
divided into many smaller
squares. A quadrat is used
for measuring vegetation
cover or selecting samples
along a river or beach.
Measure the River

• Width
• Depth
• Velocity
• Discharge
• Channel efficiency
• Gradient
 Measure the River
Width
• Holding a tape measure across the channel from
bank to bank. (Wetted width / bankfull width)

Depth
• Use a ranging rod and measuring the depth of the
river from water surface to bed every 50cm across
the channel and calculating the average
 Measure the River
Cross-sectional area
1) Place a ranging pole on either side of the channel
2) Measure the width of the channel using a tape
measure
3) Measure the depth of the channel every 50cm using
a meter rule
 Measure the River
Velocity
1) Measure out 10m using the tape measure and mark using
ranging poles
2) Use something that floats and time how long it takes to
travel 10m using a stopwatch
3) Repeat the experiment to get a more reliable set of results
Note: You could improve this experiment by using a
flowmeter and by repeating the experiment on different parts
of the rivers course
 Measure the River
Discharge (m³/s)
= cross-sectional area (m²) x velocity (m/s)
(Discharge normally increases downstream, as do width,
depth and velocity)

Channel efficiency / Hydraulic radius

= cross-sectional area/ wetted perimeter.
(The higher the hydraulic radius, the more efficiently the
river transports its load)
 Measure the River
Gradient
1) Place ranging rodes every
10m, parallel to the bank
2) Use clinometer to
measure slope angle.
(place the clinometer
against the height mark
on each rod)
 Measure the Beach

• Sediments
• Beach Profile
• Longshore Drift
Slope / Beach profile Measure the Beach
 Slope / Beach profile
1) Put tape measure out along transect line
2) Put one pole at start of profile
3) Put ranging poles at breaks of slope
4) Ensure poles are vertical
5) Rest polesequal depth into sand
6) Measure with tape measure distance between ranging poles of slope
7) Student holds clinometer next to top / at eye level
8) Sight other ranging pole at top / same height
9) Read angle and record angle
10) Move poles along beach to the next site
11) Repeat measurements until the profile is finished
Long shore drift
1) Place ranging poles 20m apart parallel to the sea
2) Place a float into the waves from the central point
3) Time with a stopwatch how long it takes for the orange to
travel the 10m.
4) Record both speed and direction of long shore drift.
5) Repeat the experiment
Note: This experiment can be improved by repeating it on
another part of the beach for comparison or in different sea
conditions.
Sediments
Sediments
size and structure may be
recorded along different coast
lines to investigate transport
and erosion processes and the
relationship between
sediments and other factors
such as beach profile. (the
same method for sediment
analysis applies to rivers)
Sediments
1) Select sediment using a quadrat on the beach along
a transect.(OR pick up a sediment randomly) every
2m.
2) Use a caliper to measure the length of the pebbles.
3) Use a pebbleometer or an angularity chart to
investigate the roundness of the sediments
4) Use electronic scales to measure the weight of the
sediments.
angularity chart
Weather
Weather
Survey the Settlement

• Trafic Count / Pedestrian Count

• Landuse and function
Traffic count
1) Find a suitable location or
suitable transect.
2) Use a tally chart to record
different modes of transport
Landuse and function
Aim: To establish boundaries of the CBD and identify
management strategies to develop certain areas.
1) Use a map of the city to select an appropriate transect for
data collection.
2) Classify different types of land use eg. industrial,
residential, commercial
3) Decide on a suitable sampling technique and record the
data on the map
2 Data Collection
Primary vs. Secondary data
Primary data is data that has been collected personally (by
you or your team) using surveying or sampling methods.
Examples include pedestrian counts, environmental indexes
and questionnaires.

Primary data contains only the information you wanted to

obtain and in the format you need. It should be up to date. On
the other hand, primary data collection may time-consuming
and information may be biased.
Primary vs. Secondary data
Secondary data is data that has been collected by another
person or research team ie. information from books or the
internet.

Secondary allows you to collect information from a larger

sample or samples that would not usually be accessible to you,
however it may be in the wrong format and contain too much
materials. You may not know the source of the data and the
collection method.
 Sampling
random || systematic || stratified

In random sampling, a number generator or number chart

is used to determine which samples to survey. Each sample
has equal chances of being selected.

Random sampling avoids bias, as opposed to systematic

sampling and is comparatively quick and simple. However,
results may not be representative of the overall trend.
 Sampling
random || systematic || stratified

In systematic sampling, the samples are selected from a

list of elements in a regular pattern (eg. every 4th sample).

Systematic sampling gives better coverage of the sample

group, however it may be biased (subjectivity of which
pattern to follow) and the result may not be representative of
the overall trend.
 Sampling
random || systematic || stratified

In stratified sampling the samples are divided into

categories by some characteristics (eg. gender, location)
Then a sample is taken either by random or systematic
sampling.

Systematic sampling is used to give a more representative

result.
 Qustionaires
Introduction || Open-ended || Close-ended

Introduction - e.g.
We are from Bayport High
School and for our geography
classes we need to conduct a
survey on … . Would you mind,
if we ask you a few questions?
 Qustionaires
Introduction || Close-ended || Open-ended
Close Ended Question -
Good closed-ended questions
usually have one option saying
“other”, should the participants
not fit into any of the suggested
categories.
Closed ended questions are
usually more subjective.
 Qustionaires
Introduction || Close-ended || Open-ended
Open Ended Question -
Open-ended questions allow
the participants to formulate
their own response.
While this allows for more
variety, data can be harder to
display graphically and
participants are more likely to
give irrelevant responses.
 Evaluating Hypothesis

1) State whether it is true, partially true or false.

2) Give a reason for your answer
3) Use statistics to support your answer
4) State any anomalies 异常现象
5) Support anomalies using figures (data)
 Improve a survey

• Do counts more regularly e.g. every one or two hours

• Do counts, surveys or indexes in more locations
• Do counts, surveys and indexes on different days of the week
(including weekends)
• Get two groups doing the same survey, index or count so that
an average may be taken
 Safety Tips

• Textbook p.252
• All field work
• Urban environment
• Coastal/River environment

(Fieldwork checklist - p.250-251)