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Revision activities for the final weeks
1. Looking for gaps
Step 1 is to ensure that there are no gaps in your knowledge and notes. There are a couple of ways of doing this →
- Use the IB DP Geography Checklists.
- Use the 'revision clocks'. They are an auditing approach. They take a unit of work broken down into twelve logical chunks. The challenge is for you to write all your knowledge and understanding into each section, in turn, within a certain time limit. I suggest you give yourself 90 seconds or 2 minutes per section to write all you know/understand. Repeat until the whole clock has been done. Then review any 'gaps' and address these in a different pen colour. Revision clocks can be found on the revision page for each unit.
2. Key terms and digital flashcards
A broad understanding of the key geographical terms is beneficial. It helps you decipher what a question requires, and it enables you to show the depth of your understanding.
A page dedicated to all the key terms used in the geographyalltheway DP Geography course can be found here. The key terms can be downloaded by unit, with their definitions, as PDF or CSV files. CSV files can be uploaded into digital flashcard apps such as Anki and Quizlet.
Advice on the use of digital flashcards can be found here. Some prepared Anki flashcard decks can be found here.
3. Paper 1 case studies and detailed examples
4. Paper 2 case studies and detailed examples
5. How are your map skills?
There will be a topographic map somewhere in the exam. Common sense says it will be in Paper 1. It will only relate to one of the Geographic Themes, so it could be linked to the questions for a unit you have not studied, and therefore, you will not have to use a topographic map at all!
However, the topographic map could be for one of the units you need to tackle. Therefore check your knowledge and understanding of 'locate and differentiate elements of the Earth’s surface'.
6. Check your geographic skills
Do you know a Lorenz Curve from a Rose Diagram? Do you know the difference between mean, median and mode?
You have been shown a range of different graphs and styles of maps during the course.
Take some time to look through the IB DP Geography Geographic Skills page to reacquaint yourself with all the different types of graph, styles of map and 'statistical calculations'.
7. Master the command terms
Every one of your IB DP Geography exam questions will start with one of the 24 command terms.
You should know what each command term asks you to do!
There is an Anki deck here that you could use to help you review the terms. There is a Quizlet game here on the Command terms page on geographyalltheway.com.
You may have noticed that when the command terms appear on the site, if you roll your mouse/pointer over them, the definition of the command term pops up.
8. Look at some practice questions
There are currently 240 exam-style questions on geographyalltheway.com.
If you visit the IB DP Geography exam style questions page, you can search the exam question database by unit (and sub-unit), command term and the number of available marks.
Field study visit & inspection tour to Morocco [November 2022 and May 2023]
Take a moment to explore 'Developing Digital Data literacy'
The D3: Developing Digital Data literacy project is a project funded with support from the European Commission.
D3 – Developing Digital Data literacy relates to the need for information literacy for all citizens in Europe. Eradicating present-day problems such as the rise of populism and mis-information in all its forms and dimensions is one of the greatest challenges faced in Europe.
d3.youthmetre.eu
Take moment to explore the teacher training materials and the toolkit. Within the toolkit you will find a set of 15 'lesson blueprints' as well as a searchable dataset of useful Open Data.
The 'Open Data Tools' includes all the usuals (Gapminder, Worldmapper, Google Arts and Culture) as well as many other tools that I hadn't come across before, such as →
The 'lesson blueprints' are there to assist teachers with the creation of lesson resources. Alongside the tools, there are practical suggestions for connecting the ideas explored with students’ own lives.
I particularly like 0110: What is Google (not) telling me? and 0111: How can we filter the ‘signal’ from the ‘noise’?. The development of meaningful digital citizenship focused resources that can be delivered by teachers of any specialism is always a challenge. I will be starting my use of the D3: Developing Digital Data literacy project resources with these. Filter bubbles, social media echo chambers, fake news, 'signal' and 'noise' are all items of vocabulary that teachers and students should be competent in using.
The 'How do you know what you don't know?' newsletter
The plan is to try something new in 2022.
I am going to do a weekly (roughly) newsletter. On a Tuesday, something not too long, four items in total, with the hope that you find something that you didn’t know and that is useful to you.
How do you know what you don’t know? is about spreading some of the things that I am finding useful and sharing it in an easily accessible and digestible way.
The first item will be for all geographers based on bigger ideas and everyday geographies. The idea behind the second item is something that is more focused on the needs of IB DP geographers, educators and students. The item will be linked to the syllabus but other geography educators and students may find it useful too. The third section is a quick update on something I am working on. New content added to, or refreshed on geographyalltheway, something I have recently written, or am involved in. The fourth and final item will be bit more random. It will be a recommendation. Probably a bit techie, an app, an online service, or similar.
The ‘How do you know what you don’t know?’ newsletter is free, and isn’t (just) for geographyalltheway subscribers. I will try to keep the links to content behind the geographyalltheway.com paywall to an absolute minimum!
Classroom poster and resources → NOOR Solar Plant: Ouarzazate
Discover Ltd have made a printable poster featuring the Noor Solar Plant (Ouarzazate, Morocco) available. You can download a PDF version that should print well up to A2 size here →
Discover Ltd Noor Solar Plant printable poster
The Noor site is a wonder to behold. We were lucky enough to visit it during our last school Morocco experience and would definitely try and build a visit into our next itinerary.
Discover Ltd offer some teaching resources about the Noor Solar Plant here →
discover.ltd.uk - NOOR Solar Plant: Ouarzazate teaching resources
I use the Noor Solar Plant as part of a geographyalltheway.com lesson here →
geographyalltheway.com - Extreme environments - ee.4.3 New technologies
That geographyalltheway IB DP Geography exam style question database
I have added an IB DP Geography exam style question database to geographyalltheway.com. Access to the database is free for all site users.
The database currently holds 222 exam style questions but I have plans to add more. The questions are searchable by unit, sub-unit, command term and the number of marks available. The questions are all linked to the relevant, related page on geographyalltheway.com. If you 'mouse-over' the command terms you are presented with a definition. There is also the opportunity to leave feedback about each question.
I produced a brief video explainer →
Mark schemes are not (currently) available - so please do not ask!
The Lazarus heist - useful podcast series for HL Global Interactions
“Almost a perfect crime.” The hacking ring and an attempt to steal a billion dollars. Investigators blame North Korea. Pyongyang denies involvement. The story begins in Hollywood.
The BBC World Service - The Lazarus Heist
The tenth episode of the BBC World Service podcast series The Lazarus Heist has just been released. The ten part series is a super useful resource for educators and students tackling the higher level Global Interactions section of the IB DP geography course. The podcast series goes a long way to 'stick together' a lot of the different elements of the higher level units of the course.
North Korea is regularly used by students when discussing globalisation as it is one (of only a few) examples of a country fully resisting external influences. One of the things I am going to try and do next year is teach my students a little more about North Korea so that they can use it in a more informed way. Using articles such as North Korea: Why doesn't it have enough food this year? will link well with Unit 3 and Food and Health.
Having a quick look through the IB DP geography guide I believe that the series touches upon, at least, the following:
- Unit 4: Power, places and networks
- Global superpowers and their economic, geopolitical and cultural influence
- An overview of contemporary global networks and flows: illegal flows, such as trafficked people, counterfeit goods and narcotics
- Our “shrinking world” and the forces driving technological innovation: patterns and trends in communication infrastructure and use
- Unit 5: Human development and diversity
- The global spectrum of cultural traits, ethnicities and identities, and ways in which the spectrum of diversity is widening or narrowing at different scales
- The effects of global interactions on cultural diversity in different places: the diffusion of cultural traits, and cultural imperialism
- Geopolitical constraints on global interactions: government and militia controls on personal freedoms to participate in global interactions
- Unit 6: Global risks and resilience
- Threats to individuals and businesses: hacking, identity theft and the implications of surveillance for personal freedoms
The podcast series starts with the 2014 'Sony Hack' which geographyalltheway.com has used as as part of 6.1.1 Threats to individuals and businesses for a while. However the series goes much further and weaves an engaging story together.
There is a 'long read' from the BBC to support the series →
BBC News - The Lazarus heist: How North Korea almost pulled off a billion-dollar hack [21 June 2021]
The podcasts have also been added to YouTube. This is obviously a new approach that the BBC is trying but it does have some merits as images/photos being discussed in the podcast can be seen in the video clips →
I will be leading a DP Category 1 workshop in September 2021
If you are new to IB DP Geography or have a new colleague joining your team - I am leading a virtual IB DP Geography Category 1 in September.
Full details of the workshop and to sign up - please visit → https://www.inthinking.net/.../online-ib-approved-sep-2021
Do you have students about to start the IB DP Geography course?
If you do... they need the gatw Pre IB DP Geography course menu!
The idea was to build a 'pre course reading list' but that has evolved into a 'pre course read, watch, listen menu'. I hope you find it useful.
All my 14-16 MYP Individuals and Societies resources are now on the new platform
For the last 18 months or so I have been moving the resources on geographyalltheway.com to a new platform. The new platform allows the content to be more responsive to different devices as well as making it easier for me to update and monitor.
I have recently finished added all of my 14-16 MYP Individuals and Societies (MYP 3 to 5) resources to the new platform.
There are six units, all free to access, for varying ages. The Sustainable cities and Alpine environments units are the most recently developed. The Coasts unit is probably the oldest.
Now to start work on moving the Age: 11-14 resources (MYP 1-3 or Key Stage 3) to the new platform. I will post as I add each unit.
