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O-LevelGeographyEconomic development2217/23 · May/June 2011 · Q830 Marks

A student decided to investigate the land use on a farm in Portugal. It was located on a hillside and contained both crops and animals. He decided to investigate two hypotheses: Hypothesis 1: The land use changes as land gets steeper and higher. Hypothesis 2: Farming is more labour intensive in larger fields.

  1. (a)(i)Calculate the total area of the farm. .......... hectares[1]
  2. (a)(ii)Calculate the percentage of land on the farm used to grow barley. .......... %[1]
  3. (a)(iii)Give one advantage of each graph to show the data collected. Bar graph .......... Pie graph ..........[2]
  4. (b)(i)He recorded a reading from a Global Positioning System (GPS). This is shown in Fig. 20 (Insert). Name two pieces of information shown by the GPS. 1 2[2]
  5. (b)(ii)He measured the angle of slope by looking up the path. Suggest what equipment he used and how he would have done this.[3]
  6. (b)(iii)He recorded the land use in the field next to the path. Unfortunately, the student did not recognise some of the crops growing in the fields. How could he solve this problem?[2]
  7. (b)(iv)Table 4 (Insert) shows the results of his fieldwork. The student reached the conclusion that his results supported Hypothesis 1: The land use changes as land gets steeper and higher. Use evidence from Table 4 to explain why he reached this conclusion.[3]
  8. (b)(v)Give two reasons why farming activity changes as the land gets steeper and higher. 1 2[2]
  9. (c)(i)Label both axes on Fig. 21 with the correct units of measurement.[1]
  10. (c)(ii)Using Table 5 (Insert) plot the information for artichokes and barley on Fig. 21.[2]
  11. (c)(iii)Draw a best-fit line onto Fig. 21.[1]
  12. (c)(iv)What is your conclusion about Hypothesis 2: Farming is more labour intensive in larger fields? Support your conclusion with evidence from Fig. 21.[3]
  13. (d)Labour input is one way to measure how ‘intensive' farming is. Suggest three other inputs which could be used. 1 2 3[3]
  14. (e)The student thought about ways to improve his investigation. Describe two ways he might do this, and explain how each would make the study better. 1 2[4]

This question uses a diagram from the original paper, which isn't shown here. Open the full paper from the past papers archive to see it.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (May/June 2011). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

  1. [1] 92 (ha)
  2. [1] 14.1 or 14.13(%)
  3. [2] Bar graph: shows numbers / amount / area Easy to read off scale Pie graph: shows proportion / percentage Easy to compare 2 @ 1
  4. [2] Latitude Longitude Altitude / height 2 @ 1
  5. [3] Equipment: clinometer or similar (pantometer / hand level / measuring gun, & pole or tape measure – 1 max) Measure distance between poles / 100m between sites Take measurement (hold clinometer between poles & read the angle)
  6. [2] Photograph / take sample of crop / sketch / written description Look up in book / internet / land use map / map from farmer Ask farmer / teacher
  7. [3] Potatoes – barley – oranges – olives – sheep up hillside (any 2) Any 2 heights with crops description (e.g. potatoes at 100m & sheep at 900m) On gentle gradient – potatoes/barley/oranges compared with on steeper gradient – olives/sheep (need both) Any 2 angles with crops (e.g. potatoes at 5 degrees & sheep at 27 degrees) Wrong unit of measurement = 0 No unit of measurement – accept figure
  8. [2] Weather becomes wetter/cooler/windier Steep slope - too steep for machinery / sheep are agile Steep slope has poor/infertile / thin soil 2 @ 1
  9. [1] Horizontal axis: hectares / ha Vertical axis: hours per hectare per year, hr/ha/yr Both for mark
  10. [2] Artichokes and barley plotted on Fig. 9
  11. [1] Best-fit line drawn on Fig. 9
  12. [3] Hypothesis is incorrect – 1 mark reserved Farming is more labour intensive / more hr per ha per year in smaller fields / less labour intensive / less hr per ha per year in larger fields Evidence: best-fit line Small field with high number of hours input and large field with low number of hours input / smallest field has highest number of hours Paired data e.g. 5.8 ha = 5 hrs labour input, 2.7 ha = 19 hours
  13. [3] Machinery Capital / money Fertilisers / pesticides / insecticides High yielding seeds Livestock / cattle Buildings Drainage / irrigation Terracing 3 @ 1
  14. [4] More sample sites; would increase reliability of averages/reliability of results / accuracy of average figures Another transect on a different hillside / different farm; more data for analysis Repeat the investigation at different times of the year / seasons; comparison of results Interview/questionnaire farmer or different farmers; gain more details about evidence being collected Investigate other factors which may help explanation: e.g. soil pH / texture weather variation – rainfall / temperature – up the hillside – 1 max 2 + 2

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About this question

Topic
Economic development, O-Level Geography (syllabus 2217). Structured question, 30 marks.
Source
O-Level Geography, May/June 2011 Paper 2 Variant 3, question 8.

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