paper 3 Flashcards
human geography in kings cross
what is the feildwork title?
Is Kings Cross Regeneration successful?
human geography in kings cross
explain why it was a suitable topic for a geographical enquiry?
4
- we can test the geographical theory so the question is answerable
- it is a manageable scale (67 acres) so we can collect data in one day
- methods are simple like counting footfall so we can collect data so we can answer the question
- there is already secondary data because the regeneration was recent (2001) so we are able to add to our primary data to get a better answer to the question
human geography in kings cross
why was the location for the enquiry suitable?
however
overall
good
the location was suitable because:
- it was close to our school so we could get to the site quickly and cheaply
- on top of this the area is mainly pedestrianised with only a few roads so it was safe enough to test our theory
- also because the redevelopment is recent there is plenty of secondary data available
however:
- data may be a bit bias
- development is still not complete
so hard to judge
overall:
despite this the location was in a suitable position and allowed us to answer our enquiry question
human geography in kings cross
who is our theorist and what is the theory?
Jane Jacobs said that a successful regeneration project would have
a high concentration of users
mixed land uses
human geography in kings cross
how does the theory help us answer our question?
gives us something to look for and measure so we can judge how successful it is
e.g. lots of people and many different land uses so we can conclude the redevelopment is successful?
human geography in kings cross
what are 3 risks in the feildwork
- becoming injured when crossing one of the roads
- getting lost
- personal safety such as being mugged
human geography in kings cross
what are 3 risk actions we can take to prevent accidents in the feildwork
- cross roads at zebra crossings only
- make sure the group has a map and emergency contact
- keep phones and items in bags and stay in groups of 3
human geography in kings cross
what is primary data
information that you collect yourself
human geography in kings cross
what is secondary data
information collected by another person or organisation
human geography in kings cross
what secondary data might you use in Kings Cross?
- facts and information from developers on site
- newspaper articles- others opinions on success
- maps- help distinguish land use
human geography in kings cross
justify using maps in your enquiry
map can be used to ensure you are recording the correct area- use map to show where data was recorded
maps to become more familiar with the location
maps more specific than a sketch
human geography in kings cross
what were our two methods used to record success?
land use survey
footfall count
human geography in kings cross
justify the method of a land use survey
Jane Jacobs said that the most successful regenerations have mixed uses
if the regeneration was successful we needed to know if they had included a range of land uses in the project
so we did a land use survey
human geography in kings cross
evaluate the method of a land use survey
good
bad
overall
good:
allowed us to count number of land uses
simple and quick- we can do it in one day
allowed us to compare zones easily
bad:
doesnt say how many of each one- so suggests some areas are more mixed than they really were
overall:
simple method :)
human geography in kings cross
justify the method of counting footfall
Jane Jacobs said that a successful regeneration project would have a high concentration of users
by counting the number of people passing us at different points we were able to see the density of users around the site
human geography in kings cross
evaluate the method of counting footfall
good bad overall
good:
quick- can do multiple areas in one day
easy- can rely on results as unlikely to be wrong
gives quantatative data- numberical and objective (not subjective)
bad:
depends on time of day and the weather
need to do all sites at about the same time on the same day
overall:
it was successful because we could overcome the problem of having to record all of the sites at the same time because we were in a large group so we could split up to record
human geography in kings cross
what is stratified sampling?
the entire sample is divided into sub groups or strata of shared characteristics
human geography in kings cross
justify why we used stratified sampling
so we could look at land uses in more detail across the development site
we did 5 land use surveys in total and this gave us more representative data
human geography in kings cross
evaluate our use of stratified sampling
good bad overall
good:
we did 5 land use surveys across the whole regeneration so representative
easy to compare the boundries across regeneration to see if some parts were more successful than others
bad:
we had to do some research beforehand to create our zones and by doing this we may have put more bias into our results
overall:
successful sampling strategy which could be completed in one day
human geography in kings cross
which to ways did we present data
located stacked bar chart
isoline map
human geography in kings cross
justify our use of a located stacked bar chart to present our data
we wanted to know if the Kings X regeneration was successful and our theorist, Jane Jacobs said the most successful regenerations had mixed land uses so we did a land use survey.
the results were presented as a located stacked bar chart in order to see mixed land use across the whole site
human geography in kings cross
evaluate the use of a located stacked bar chart when presenting our data
good bad overall
good:
simple to read
easy to see number of land uses to able to judge success
can see which areas have land uses because it is on a map- allows us to compare data
bad:
doesn’t say what percentage of the area is made up by different land uses
overall:
allows us to make reasonable conclusions about the success of Kings Cross
human geography in kings cross
justify the use of an isoline map when presenting our data
we wanted to know if the Kings X regeneration was successful and our theorist, Jane Jacobs said the most successful regenerations have a high concentration of users so we did a people count
the results were presented on an isoline map in order to see concentration of users across the site and determine which areas were busiest and quietest
human geography in kings cross
evaluate the use of an isoline map when we presented our data
good bad overall
good:
clearly shows us which areas have the highest and lowest concentrations of users which help determine success
this means that we can make a quick judgement at a glance due to its visual representation
bad:
only gives us a snapshot of people as taken from a 2 min count
numbers not precise as they have been rounded up or down to the nearest 10
no comparison to outside the regeneration so difficult to know how successful compared to the rest of the paper
overall:
despite this it gives a fairly clear picture of how many people in each area
human geography in kings cross
how did our presentation of data and methods help us answer our question
our question was How successful is Kings Cross regeneration
Jane Jacobs said that a successful regeneration would have a high concentration of users and a mixed number of uses
our footfall counts showed that there was a high concentration of users in the area
this suggests that the regeneration was successful
our land use survey said that there was a high mix of land uses
this suggests that the regeneration was successful
human geography in kings cross
evaluate the reliability of your results
good bad good bad overall
our footfall counts were reliable because:
simple method so likely mistakes were made
to make results more reliable we got several people to count at each location and took an average so results are more representative
however
only counted pedestrians at one time of day and one type of weather so only got a snapshot
our land use survey results were reasonably reliable because:
used stratified sampling so looked at 5 diff zones so got a more accurate picture of how the land was used
however
didnt find out how much of each zone was covered by each land use so didnt know exactly how mixed it was
despite this we did get some reliable evidence that suggsets the area was successful
could be improved upon if i collected some secondary data to investigate how reliable my data is
human geography in kings cross
how could we improve the land use survey method
look at every building to work out land use so decreases scale of method so more reflective
human geography in kings cross
how could we have improved the pedestrian count
different times of day and diff weather to create a more accurate average
looked at locations outside of regeneration to give us comparative data to see if it was busy or not
physical feildwork in Wales
what is the title of the physical feildwork enquiry?
How does the cross section of the River Tarrel change as you go downstream?
physical feildwork in Wales
why was our enquiry a suitable title?
5
the question we are answering is geographical
the enquiry is an appropriate scale
the risk is low and manageable
the data is easy to collect quickly (simple method only measuring width and depth)
we are testing a hypothesis based on a model
physical feildwork in Wales
why was the enquiry in a suitable location?
6
- low risk because the river is narrow and shallow
- we can travel there quickly and cheaply from London
- the river is accessible; there are footpaths that take you to the river and it is on public land
- we can see every course of the river because it is short so we can draw reasonable conclusions
- all of the rivers in the UK are monitered so there is secondary data available. similarly we visit the same location every year so we can compare our data to ensure it is reliable
- the data we collect is reliable because the river is narrow and shallow
physical feildwork in Wales
explain two factors you considered when picking the location of your feildwork (4)
- the river tarrel is a suitable location for my enquiry because we visit the same location every year. so we can compare the data we collect to previous years to ensure our results are similar and therefore reliable
- secondly the river Tarrel is accessible because it is on public land. so, we are able to collect data from every course of the river. this allows us to test Bradshaws theory
physical feildwork in Wales
who is our theorist?
Bradshaw
physical feildwork in Wales
what did Bradshaw say? (what was is the theory)
- the channel gets wider as you move downstream
- the channel gets deeper as you move downstream
so, we expect the cross section of the river to get bigger as we move downstream
physical feildwork in Wales
what are 3 risks in testing our theory
- hypothermia
- getting lost and not having signal to contact someone
- busy roads
physical feildwork in Wales
what are the 3 risk actions we took
- wear waterproof clothing so if you fall into the river you wont get too wet or cold
- stay in groups of 3 and carry maps
- cross over roads in groups, look both ways before crossing
physical feildwork in Wales
what two methods did we use
- measuring width
- measuring depth
physical feildwork in Wales
justify our method of measuring the river width
we wanted to see how the cross section of the river Tarrel changed as we moved downstream. given that the cross section is made up of the depth and width, we had to measure the channels width.
physical feildwork in Wales
evaluate the method of measuring width
good bad overall
good:
easy to use equipment without training
quick to take measurements
equipment is lightweight, portable and cheap
bad:
particularly in the upper course the undercutting of the bank made the width harder to measure
harder to hold tape measure taught in middle and lower course where water flows faster so data may be less accurate. however we got someone to stand in the middle to hold the tape measure keeping it tense
overall:
challenges could be overcome so it was a good method overall which helped us to prove Bradshaws theory and answer our question
physical feildwork in Wales
justify the method of measuring depth
we wanted to see how the cross section of the river Tarrel changed as we moved downstream. given that the cross section is made up of the depth and width, we had to measure the channels depth.
physical feildwork in Wales
evaluate the method of measuring depth
good bad overall
good:
easy to use equipment without training
quick to take measurements
we were able to take 5 measurements across the channel so the data was more representative of the channel
bad:
harder to hold metre stick upright in faster flowing current- inaccurate results as we move downstream
secondly the channel got wider so the 5 measurements we took of the depth became less representative of the cross section
overall:
it was a good method overall which allowed us to get accurate results to test Bradshaws theory and answer our question
physical feildwork in Wales
what type of sampling did we use for the depth
stratified sampling
physical feildwork in Wales
justify our use of stratified sampling
- some of the river was difficult to access (e.g. private land) so we could choose the points of the river we measured
- had to look at a range of sites in every course of the river in order to answer our question- to see how the rivers channel changed as we go downstream
physical feildwork in Wales
evaluate our use of stratified sampling
good bad overall
good:
gets a good representation of the rivers long profile so we can test Bradshaws theory and our question
easier to take measurements as we choose what points of the river we visit
quick as we didnt have to measure too many points on the river
physical feildwork in Wales
what two sources of secondary data did we use
maps - Google earth
photos
physical feildwork in Wales
Why might you use maps in your enquiry? Justify
maps:
to familiarise myself with the area of feildwork before going on the feild trip, this allowed me to choose suitable sites for data collection based on accessibility and safety
physical feildwork in Wales
why might you use photos in your enquiry. justify
photos:
allows us to visually see how the size of the river Tarrels cross section changes along its course
we can more easily identify anomalies (that dont match the trend shown in the photos) in our measurements
more accurate than a sketch
physical feildwork in Wales
what two methods did we use to present the data
bar charts to present width
located cross section
physical feildwork in Wales
justify presenting the data on a bar chart to present width
easy and quick to produce
conveys data clearly
physical feildwork in Wales
evaluate the use of a bar chart to present the width as one of our data presentation methods
good bad overall
good:
easy to understand data/ easy to read- conveys a clear increase at a glance
easy to make this bar chart accurately and quickly
bad:
we cant tell where the sites were taken along the river from this graph
doesnt show the depth of cross section in relation to width. we investigated both characteristics of the river channel
overall:
overall it is good because it is suitable for anyone to understand our data quickly
physical feildwork in Wales
justify our use of a located cross section when we presented our data
accurate data which was representative of all of our findings, width and depth, in relation to the course of the river
shows shape of the channel
physical feildwork in Wales
evaluate our use of a located cross section when we presented our data
good bad overall
good:
shows the relationship of the width and the depth without needing two graphs so data can be compared side by side
shows relationship between the size of the channel (width and depth) and the course of the river, along with showing where sites were along the channel so answers the question and tests Bradshaws theory
bad:
the trend is less obvious to see at a glance
can’t show the data from every site we visited and measured. only shows cross section of 3 points
overall:
good because it shows full data more accurately, despite the fact that it is harder/more time consuming to produce
physical feildwork in Wales
how did your resluts help to answer your question? (4)
Our question was how does the cross section of the river Tarrel change as you move downstream.
Bradshaw said that both the width and depth of a rivers channel would increase alongs its course. this implies that the size of a rivers cross section will increase as you move downstream.
Our results showed that the width of the rivers cross section increased as we move downstream.
This allowed us to accept Bradshaws theory.
Our results showed that although the depth of the cross section does vary, the depth does generally increase as you move downstream.
This allowed us to generally accept Bradshaws theory.
Overall our results helped us to answer our question as well as to test Bradshaws theory.
physical feildwork in Wales
evaluate the reliability of our width results?
overall our width results were reliable because
- we used a simple method so we were unlikely to make mistakes which would produce inaccurate data
- we measured our data on the same day, so rainfall couldn’t interfere with our results
However
we may have slightly underestimated the width of the channel upstream, where the undercutting of the bank made it hard to find the edge of the channel
physical feildwork in Wales
evaluate the reliability of our depth results
overall our depth results were reasonably reliable because:
- we found the depth at 3 places on the river at each site. in each place we measured the depth at 5 points across the channel. this allowed us to find an average deoth at each site which would be more representative and accurate of the true values
however
as the river got wider as we moved downstream our depth measurement points became further apart so our average depth became less representative as we moved downstream
physical feildwork in Wales
how could we improve the method of measuring width (reduce error and make it closer to true value
problem improvement results conclusion
problem:
in lower course current was faster so tape measure pulled so more difficult to find accurate measurement
improvement:
to improve this we could have placed several people at points across the cross section to then hold the tape measure taught.
impact on results:
this would have likely made our results lower than we recorded
impact on conclusion:
this may mean that the width did not increase as much as we concluded. but the difference is only minimal so our conclusions were still valid
physical feildwork in Wales
how could we improve the method of measuring depth (reduce error and make it closer to true value)
problem improvement results conclusion
problem:
as we moved down stream the river became wider, the gaps between depth measurements got wider so the results were less representative of the cross section here
improvement:
to improve this we could have used systematic sampling and measured every 20cm
impact on results:
by improving the method, the depth results would be equally representative at upper, middle and lower course so would be more reliable.
impact on conclusion:
by improving the method, we could see a more representative cross section so make valid conclusions about how it changed.
however it is unlikely that this would change our conclusions significantly
physical feildwork in Wales
what are some general improvements to the method
2
- go back and redo on diff days so i can take an average to check for accuracy and also see the influence of different weathers
- measure more sites with smaller gaps between them so I would have a more accurate representation of how the river changes as we move downstream
physical feildwork in Wales
what human interaction did we look at
the influence of a bridge on the cross section of the river
physical feildwork in Wales
justify why we looked at human interaction
we measured the width and depth of the river under a bridge to see what impact humans might have on these features
physical feildwork in Wales
evaluate our study on human interaction on the river
our measurements showed that the river got narrower and deeper here
good:
the results were fairly accurate
bad:
but the river was very fast flowing here and deep so it was difficult to hold the measuring stick still or read the measurements accurately
overall:
we were fairly sure that the river got narrower and deeper when humans built the bridge
