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O-LevelGeographyPopulation and settlement2217/23 · May/June 2014 · Q830 Marks

Students in Gaborone, the capital city of Botswana, were studying land-use in urban areas. They did fieldwork to examine differences between land-use in the CBD (Central Business District) and other parts of the city. They wanted to test the following hypotheses: Hypothesis 1: The height of buildings decreases as distance from the CBD increases. Hypothesis 2: The land-use in the CBD is different from that in the rest of the city. To collect data the students were divided into four groups. Each group followed a different transect from the city centre outwards. The transect routes went north, east, south and west of the CBD.

  1. (a)(i)At selected distances along each transect the students counted the number of storeys of six different buildings. They then calculated the average number of storeys. Their results are shown in Table 4 (Insert). Suggest why the four groups got different results in the CBD.[2]
  2. (a)(ii)The students plotted their results on the diagram shown in Fig. 14 below. Use the data in Table 4 to complete the results of the West and North transects in Fig. 14.[2]
  3. (a)(iii)To what extent is Hypothesis 1: The height of buildings decreases as distance from the CBD increases true? Explain your answer with data from Table 4 and Fig. 14.[4]
  4. (a)(iv)Explain why building height varies in different areas of a city.[2]
  5. (b)(i)To investigate Hypothesis 2: The land-use in the CBD is different from that in the rest of the city, the students recorded the ground floor land-use of buildings in the CBD and along the four transect lines. One group's land-use map of part of the CBD is shown in Fig. 15 below. Use the key to shade in the Hungry Lion restaurant and the President Hotel in Fig. 15 above.[2]
  6. (b)(ii)How many offices are shown in the map shown in Fig. 15?[1]
  7. (b)(iii)Suggest why the students only recorded the ground floor land-use of buildings.[1]
  8. (b)(iv)In order to compare the different areas of the city the students calculated percentage figures of different types of land-use. These results are shown in Table 5 (Insert). Use the data in Table 5 to complete the pie chart for the CBD in Fig. 16 below.[3]
  9. (b)(v)Describe one major difference in land-use between each of the following pairs of transects shown on Fig. 16. north transect and south transect .......................................................................... east transect and west transect ...........................................................................[2]
  10. (b)(vi)What conclusion would the students come to about Hypothesis 2: The land-use in the CBD is different from that in the rest of the city? Use evidence from Table 5 and Fig. 16 to support your decision.[4]
  11. (c)Why does land-use vary in different parts of a city?[4]
  12. (d)When the students returned to school they discussed with their teacher how they could improve their data collection methods. Suggest three improvements they could have made. 1 2 3[3]

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Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (May/June 2014). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

  1. [2] (a) (i) Groups sampled buildings in different areas of CBD / looked at different buildings / went in different directions
  2. Buildings in CBD vary in number of storeys / vary in height
  3. Land use varies in CBD / offices have taller buildings / shops have less storeys than offices
  4. Age of buildings vary / some are newer than others
  5. [2] (ii) Complete bars – 2.0 storeys at 2km on West transect and 2.7 storeys at 1 km on North transect
  6. 2 @ 1
  7. [4] (iii) Generally / partially / to some extent / mainly / not completely – 1 mark reserve (✓HA)
  8. True for North / West transect / average height does reduce at each distance from CBD
  9. Statistics to support: North from 7.5 or 2.7 down to 1.0 / West from 8.2 or 2.3 down to 1.0
  10. Not true for South / East transect / anomaly / height does not reduce at each distance from CBD
  11. Statistics to support: South from 1.2 at 3km to 1.8 at 4km / East from 1.7 at 1km to 5.9 at 2km
  12. Hypothesis conclusion is incorrect / false / correct / true = 0 (XHa)
  13. If no hypothesis conclusion ^HA and credit evidence
  14. [2] (iv) Value of land increases where there is limited amount
  15. Higher value land / higher price land / higher cost of land requires higher buildings
  16. Limited amount of land / higher land price / competition for space means buildings must grow upwards OR more space so buildings are lower
  17. Different land uses / examples of two land uses
  18. NOT: amount of space / accessibility / transport
  19. [2] (b) (i) Shading Hungry Lion as commercial and President Hotel as services
  20. 2 @ 1
  21. [1] (ii) 12
  22. [1] (iii) Ground floor is easiest to see / record land use / easier work
  23. Cannot see what upper storeys are used for / unable to enter building
  24. Takes too long to record use of all storeys / save time / quicker
  25. NOT: too much work / too much trouble / cannot be bothered / multiple uses / most variety of land use on ground floor / upper floors are mainly offices / ground floor is used most frequently
  26. [3] (iv) Completion of CBD pie chart – residential = 2, commercial = 63,
  27. Offices = 25, services =10%
  28. 2 marks for correct position of dividing lines – 2, 65, 90 (minus 1 mark for each error in position of dividing lines)
  29. 1 mark for shading
  30. If lines are wrong way round this only counts as one error and candidate can still score 2 marks if all segments are correct size and shading is correct
  31. [2] (v) North transect has higher percentage of residential / more residential
  32. lower percentage of commercial / less commercial
  33. lower percentage of industry / less industry
  34. NO credit for services or offices
  35. East transect has lower percentage of residential / less residential
  36. higher percentage of commercial / more commercial
  37. higher percentage of offices / West has no offices but East does
  38. higher percentage of services / West has no services but East does
  39. no industry unlike West
  40. Mainly residential in West and mainly commercial in East
  41. No credit for statistics, must be interpretation
  42. 2 @ 1
  43. [4] (vi) Hypothesis is true / partly true / generally true – 1 mark reserve (✓HA)
  44. Need comparison with other areas OR 2 comparative stats (1 must be CBD)
  45. Commercial - largest percentage / most in CBD OR commercial = 63% in CBD and 7% in North
  46. Offices - largest percentage / most in CBD OR stats
  47. Residential - smallest percentage / least in CBD OR stats
  48. Industry - none in CBD but located in three of transects / less in CBD than East or South or West transect OR stats
  49. Services - less in CBD than East / more in CBD than North or South or West OR stats
  50. Hypothesis conclusion is incorrect / false = 0 (XHa)
  51. If no hypothesis conclusion ^HA & credit evidence
  52. [4] (c) Factors such as:
  53. Growth of city spatially
  54. Development of city over time
  55. Transport links – road / rail / air / river / accessibility
  56. Competition for land / bid rent
  57. Cost of land / cheaper out of city
  58. Availability of land / amount of space
  59. Relief / flood plain
  60. Wind direction
  61. Planning policy
  62. Close to raw material for industry / mining subsidence
  63. [3] (d) Bigger sample size than 6 buildings for number of storeys
  64. More transects to cover larger area of city
  65. More data collection points than 4 along each transect
  66. Extend transect further out
  67. Only collect one set of building heights in CBD
  68. Record land use in upper storeys
  69. Have more than 5 land use categories
  70. Do a pilot survey
  71. Check where there is an anomaly
  72. Answer must relate to work done not possible new work
  73. NOT: count storey twice / tally / use clicker / different days / more people measure same thing / do in another city / repeat fieldwork
  74. 3 @ 1

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About this question

Topic
Population and settlement, O-Level Geography (syllabus 2217). Structured question, 30 marks.
Source
O-Level Geography, May/June 2014 Paper 2 Variant 3, question 8.

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