How to revise GCSE Geography

[momentumist]

Year 11 DD is struggling with this. She has the CGP revision book but finds it very hard to stay focused on it. It’s packed with facts and figures and not very interactive. Can anyone suggest any other good resources she could use?

Hi OP not a geographer but not wanting to leave your post unanswered.

As I understand it from DD (who did do geography) there are a lot of facts and figures that do need to be learned - she wished she had learned her case studies in yr 10. So it might be that she needs to find a way that works for her - whether that be flashcards, mindmaps, writing things out in different colours to help visualise, repetition of learning and getting someone (you?) to test her, revising with a friend by explaining it to each other...

I don't know of any apps or websites specifically but if she can identify how she revises well, that would be the best start.

My DD uses BBC Bitesize which she finds helpful as it has quizzes on there. They are short ones so she could do a few and move on to something else. In fact they have quizzes for all GCSE subjects so might be useful instead of having to take in lots of info at once.

Good luck, it’s such a stressful time for them!

get lots of index cards

as she reads the book, WRITE NOTES ON THE CARDS.

it is the act of writing that helps you learn.

then she can get you to quiz her on the info on the cards

again, DOING THE QUIZ HELPS YOU LEARN.

no one learns stuff by just readings, it has to be something active. So taking notes and creating a quiz and then doing the quiz are all very important steps in the learning.

My daughter taught me her geography as a way if learning it herself- as it's easier to know if you know something by explaining it to someone else. As an awful lot of geography was processes and technical terms that you just need to know.
So she would explain to me the water cycle, or river erosion, longshore drift and coastline protections etc.
Then if she was not able to explain it she knew which bits she had to go back and check so she wasnt just reading the whole guide everytime.

Hi momentumist, I'm a Geography teacher. Do you know which exam board she is doing? Every student is different and it's finding a method that works for her whether that be revision cards or recording her notes and listening to them, sticking bits of A4 paper with key info on her bedroom wall or testing herself. Some facts and figures do need to be learnt, often for case studies.

There are sites which have past papers plus mark schemes which she could complete and mark herself. YouTube videos - there are general Geog GCSE vids but also some exam board specific ones. Some Geography specific sites like Internet Geography and Cool Geography which have info and videos on various topics. Bitesize is good. Does her school use Seneca?