Checklist of topics for Unit 1 Dynamic Planet for Edexcel GeographyB (courtesy of Sanders School)

1. Geography revision Unit 1
Topic Subtopics Must be able to do
Restless
Earth
The Earth’s interior
has
a layered structure,
with
different
composition and
physical properties.
-Interpret a cross-section of the
Earth,
with details (temperature, density,
composition, physical state) of layered
structure (including the
asthenosphere);
-continental and oceanic crust
The
Earth’s core
generates
heat and convection
currents drive plate
motion.
-Explain convection currents
There are -Explain different plate boundaries and
KEY
R Read
N Notes
RC Revision Card
PQ Practise question

2. conservative,
constructive and
destructive plate
boundaries
be able to draw and annotate them.
-Describe the different types of
volcanos and say how they are formed.
Volcanic and
earthquake
hazards affect
people
in different ways
and at
contrasting
locations.
- Investigate the primary and
secondary
impacts of earthquakes in two named
locations (Japan and Haiti).
- Examine the primary and secondary
economic and social impacts of one
volcanic event (Montserrat case study)
Management of
volcanic
and earthquake
hazards,
at contrasting
locations,
ranging from short
term
relief to long-term
planning, preparation
and
- You need to know about the role of
prediction, warning
and evacuation in relation to volcanic
and earthquake hazards.
-Contrasting hazard-resistant design in
the developed and developing world.
- Evaluate the role of immediate
response
and relief efforts linked to a named

3. prediction. tectonic hazard event (Japan
earthquake)
Changing
Climate
Climate has changed
in
the past through
natural
causes, on timescales
ranging from
hundreds to
millions of years.
- Examine past climate change on
different timescales, including the ‘Ice
Ages’ in the Quaternary Period and UK
climate since Roman times.
- Explore the natural causes of climate
change, including asteroid collisions,
orbital changes (Milankovitch cycles,
volcanic activity and
variations in solar output.
Natural climate
change in the past
has
affected people and
the
environment.
- Examine the impact of a short-term
historical event on people and the
environment, e.g. the ‘Little Ice Age’.
- Consider the impact of major climatic
changes in geological time, e.g. the
mass extinction of megafauna at the
end
of the Quaternary Period.
The climate of the
UK
appears to be
changing as
- Investigate the climate of the UK
today,
including temperature, rainfall and
seasonality, and consider why they

4. a result of global
changes
caused by human
activity.
might change in the future, including
reference to ocean currents and air
masses.
- Examine how human activities produce
rising levels of carbon dioxide and
methane and how these contribute to
the enhanced greenhouse effect.
Future climates are
uncertain but likely
to
present major
economic
and environmental
challenges to the UK
and,
especially, to people
in the
developing world.
-Consider a range of projections for
global temperature change and sea
level rise, including reasons for the
uncertainty.
-Examine the possible economic and
environmental impacts of future
climate
change for the UK and in one named
developing country, e.g. Bangladesh.
Battle for
the
Biosphere
The distribution of
global
biomes reflects
climate
as well as other
localised
factors.
- Define the terms ‘eco-system’ and
‘biome’,
-You need to know where the
distribution of
major biomes are across the planet and
why there are where they are.

5. -Evaluate the role of temperature
and precipitation in explaining biome
location, plus local factors including
altitude and soils.
The biosphere acts
as a
‘life support system’,
and
produces a wide
range of
goods.
-Explain how the biosphere regulates
the composition of the atmosphere,
maintains soil health and influences the
hydrological cycle.
-Investigate how the biosphere
provides
humans with a range of goods, including
food, medicines and raw materials.
The biosphere is
being
degraded by human
actions.
-Consider the role of human activity
in the direct destruction of tropical
rainforests, including deforestation
for timber, mining and conversion to
agricultural land.
-Examine how degradation of the
biosphere takes place by indirect
means,
including the impact of climate change
on tropical rainforests.
Management -Examine two contrasting examples of

6. measures,
at a variety of
scales, are
being used to
conserve
the biosphere and
make
human use of it more
sustainable.
biosphere conservation, including one
global-scale approach, e.g. Ramsar or
the Convention on International Trade
in Endangered Species (CITES), and
one national or local approach, e.g.
UK National Parks, a tropical rainforest
reserve.
-Examine the challenges of producing
sustainable outcomes in economic,
social and environmental terms and the
possible tensions.
Water
World
The hydrological
cycle
regulates water
supply
and links the
atmosphere,
biosphere and
lithosphere.
-Investigate the role of the biosphere
and the lithosphere in regulating the
hydrological cycle and ensuring water
supply.
-Explain how the hydrological cycle
works, as a system of interlinked
stores
and transfers, including the processes
of
evaporation, condensation, precipitation
and run-off.
Changes to the
hydrological cycle
-Examine the impact of climate change
on the hydrological cycle, including

7. can
affect both human
and
eco-system health.
rainfall reliability and groundwater
levels, in areas which already
experience
aridity (Aral sea case study).
-Investigate the impact of unreliable
and
insufficient water supply on humans,
using a case study from a vulnerable
area, e.g. the Sahel.
There are many
threats
to maintaining a
healthy
hydrological cycle.
-Consider the consequences of human
activities on water quality, including
sewage disposal, industrial pollution and
intensive agriculture.
-Examine located examples of human
activities which disrupt water supply,
including deforestation, over
abstraction
of groundwater and reservoir
construction.
There is a range of
strategies, at a
variety
of scales, designed
-Consider the costs and benefits of
large scale
water management schemes in
the developed world and the developing

8. to
manage water
resources
more sustainably
using
different levels of
technology.
world, e.g. The Three
Gorges dam.
-Examine the role of named small-scale
intermediate technology solutions, such
as water harvesting in the developing
world e.g wells, hand pumps.
Coastal
Change and
Conflict
Geological structure
and rock type have
a major influence on
coastal development
and
landforms.
-Investigate the contrasts between a
named soft rock coast and a named
hard
rock coast in terms of cliff profiles,
cliff
features and erosional land forms.
-Compare concordant and discordant
coasts
(headlands and bays) and assess the
influence of rock type, joints and
faults.
Marine processes,
sub-aerial processes,
mass movement and
climate change are
-Investigate how destructive waves,
sub aerial
processes and mass movement
create a range of erosional landforms,

9. also
important.
including cliffs, wave-cut platforms,
caves,
arches and stacks and how constructive
waves, deposition and longshore drift
create
beaches, bars and spits.
-Explore the possible consequences
of climate change on marine erosion
and deposition, including an increased
frequency of storms and rising sea
level.
Physical processes
lead
to coastal change
and
retreat, which
threatens
people and property
and
generates conflicting
views.
-Investigate a coastline experiencing
rapid coastal retreat, e.g. Holderness,
to examine why rates of erosion vary
and the threats posed to people and
the
environment by rapid erosion.
-Explore the conflicting views of how
the
case study coastal area should be
managed (Holderness coast).Social,
economic and environmental.
There is a range of
coastal management
-For a named coastline, investigate
the costs and benefits of traditional

10. options from
traditional
hard engineering to
more modern holistic
approaches.
hard engineering structures, including
groynes and sea walls.
-Soft management: Consider the costs
and benefits of soft
engineering, including beach
replenishment,
and more radical approaches including
‘do
nothing’ and ‘strategic realignment’
linked
to Integrated Coastal Zone
Management
(ICZM).
Extreme
Environments
Extreme climates
are
located in polar
regions
and hot arid areas;
each
one has key physical
characteristics and
they
are fragile
environments.
-Investigate the climate of polar and
hot arid areas, including precipitation,
temperature range, seasonality and
variability.
-Examine why these are fragile
environments and how flora and fauna
have successfully adapted to the
extreme climates
- How are they vulnerable
to change.

11. People adapt to the
challenges of
extreme
environments in a
variety
of ways.
- Investigate the adaptations people
make
in extreme environments, including
farming methods, building styles,
clothing, transport, energy use.
- Examine the culture and uniqueness
of
peoples living in extreme environments
and the value of this culture to others.
Extreme
environments are
under threat from a
range
of processes,
including
climate change.
- Investigate the threats to people and
natural systems in extreme
environments,
including out-migration because of
limited economic opportunities, cultural
dilution through tourism, pollution
though
resource exploitation and land
degradation
through poor land management.
- Investigate how climate change could
threaten natural systems, including
melting
of permafrost, loss of sea ice,

12. desertification
and species migration and the impact of
these on traditional economies.
Sustainable
management
is needed locally and
globally if
communities in
extreme
environments are
to survive.
- Assess a range of local actions, e.g.
intermediate technology and adaptation
to changing climates, and assess their
effectiveness in achieving a sustainable
future for local communities.
- Assess the role of global actions to
protect extreme environments from
the
threat of climate change.eg Antarctic
treaty etc

13. Some practice questions:
Restless Earth:
Key words you should know
Trench Lithosphere Core Mantle
Plate Boundary Convection currents Mantle Epicentre
Volcanic eruption Asthenosphere Continental crust Magma
Subduction Oceanic crust Focus Magnitude
Frequency Richter Scale Seismometer Lava
Evacuate Crater Magma chamber Relief Effort
Prediction Preparation Mitigation Hazard Resistant
Design
2 mark Exam Questions:
- Describe one method that can be used to predict when a volcano is likely to erupt.
- State two ways in which a volcanic eruption can endanger human life.
- Describe one action that can be taken to reduce the impact of earthquakes.
- State two facts about the distribution of volcanoes.
- Describe one way a region affected by earthquakes can prepare for this hazard.
4 mark Exam Questions:
- Using an example(s), describe the effects of earthquakes on people and property

14. - For a named earthquake or volcanic eruption, describe its economic impacts
- For either an earthquake or a volcanic eruption you have studied, describe the immediate responses in managing its impact.
- Explain how volcanoes are formed on either constructive or destructive plate boundaries. You may draw a diagram to help you.
- Describe how people can prepare for earthquakes.

15. Climate
Key words you should know
Global warming Holocene Enhanced
Greenhouse Effect
Carbon Dioxide
Quaternary Stratosphere Desertification Nitrous Oxide
Food chain Extinction Methane Sunspot Theory
Orbital Theory Little Ice age Eruption Theory Stern Report
Megafauna Glacial Interglacial Pollution
2 mark Exam Questions:
- Suggest two reasons why carbon dioxide emissions are higher in urban areas than in rural areas
- Describe one way in which human activity is contributing to climate change.
- Describe one possible economic impact of future climate change in the UK.
4 mark Exam Questions:
- Describe how orbital changes and varying solar output can lead to climate change.
- Describe how climate change in the past, such as the Little Ice Age, affected people and ecosystems.
- Explain how an increase in greenhouse gases can result in climate change.
- For a named developing country, explain why climate change is likely to have a large impact on its people..

16. Biosphere
Key words you should know
Biome Mass Extinction Biodiversity CITES
Gene Pool Biosphere Green Lungs Temperature
RAMSAR Zoning Precipitation Mineral Extraction
Transnational
Corporation (TNC)
Sustainable Stakeholders
/Players
International
Convention
Climate Graphs Keystone species Nutrient Cycling Nutrient cycle
2 mark Exam Questions:
- Describe one management measure that can be used to conserve the biosphere.
- The biosphere acts as a life support system for the planet. Describe one way in which it does this.
- For a named biome, describe one way it has been damaged by human activity.
- Describe one way in which people are trying to conserve the biosphere.
4 mark Exam Questions:
- Explain how temperature and precipitation affect the distribution of global biomes.
- Describe how local factors can affect biomes.
- Describe the management methods that can be used to conserve the biosphere.
- Describe the value of a named biome in providing goods and services.
:

17. Water world
Key words you should know
Infiltration Evapotranspiration Lithosphere Water Quality
Percolation Water table River Basin Water Scarcity
Groundwater Surface Run off Reservoir Subsistence
Farmers
Saturation Throughflow Water Stress Pollution
Precipitation Interception Evaporation Condensation
Deforestation Siltation Domestic Industrial
Overabstraction Appropriate
Technology
Hand Pumps Eutrophication
2 mark Exam Questions:
- For a named water management project, describe ways it has benefited local people.
- Outline the process of precipitation.
- For a named vulnerable area, describe one problem caused by an unreliable or
- insufficient water supply.
- Outline why an unreliable water supply can cause problems for farmers.
- Describe one human activity that can lead to a reduction in water quality.
4 mark Exam Questions:
- Explain how water is transferred from the land to the atmosphere in the hydrological cycle.
- Using examples, describe how human interference can disrupt water supply.
- Describe the costs and benefits of a named large-scale water management project.