AQA A-Level Geography Active Recall Guide (7037)

AQA · A-Level

AQA A-Level Geography Active Recall Guide

A question-and-answer revision guide for AQA A-Level Geography, built to be worked in three passes rather than read.

AQA
A-Level
Specification 7037
11 topics

See what is inside or try the sample questions.

AQA A-Level Geography Active Recall Guide cover

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The 3-step active recall method

Re-reading notes is a futile process when your aim is to remember the information and successfully apply it in exam settings. Active recall is the method you use to ensure the information sticks for a long period of time. But even active recall can be futile unless you have a structured way of implementing it. This is where the 3-step active recall method comes in, a structured method that is signature to the Levo Learning guides.

Step 1
Answer up to 10 questions cold, closed book, even if you are unsure on the topic.
Step 2
Answer the same questions again, but open book. Write the correct answer down even if it seems pointless.
Step 3
Repeat as step 1 and answer the questions closed book again.

Worked across the AQA A-Level Geography specification, one subtopic at a time.

The subject, and what is assessed

AQA A-Level Geography (specification 7037) is assessed by two written papers and a fieldwork investigation. Component 1 covers physical geography and Component 2 human geography, each examined for 2 hours 30 minutes, each worth 120 marks and 40 per cent. Component 3 is an individual investigation of 3,000 to 4,000 words, marked by teachers and moderated by AQA, worth 60 marks and 20 per cent. Both written papers carry options: on Component 1 a student picks one landscape option of three and one of Hazards or Ecosystems under stress, and on Component 2 one option of three.

Paper	Covers	Length	Marks	Weighting
Component 1	Physical geography Section A: Water and carbon cycles (36 marks); Section B: one of Hot desert, Coastal or Glacial systems and landscapes (36 marks); Section C: either Hazards or Ecosystems under stress (48 marks)	2 hours 30 minutes	120 marks	40%
Component 2	Human geography Section A: Global systems and global governance (36 marks); Section B: Changing places (36 marks); Section C: one of Contemporary urban environments, Population and the environment or Resource security (48 marks)	2 hours 30 minutes	120 marks	40%
Component 3	Geography fieldwork investigation An individual investigation using data collected in the field; A question or issue defined and developed by the student; Marked by teachers and moderated by AQA	3,000 to 4,000 words	60 marks	20%

Memorisation, then application

Marks are given for applying content to the question that has been set, which cannot happen while the content is still being looked up. Step 1 shows what is actually held. Step 2 puts the correct wording in front of you while the gap is still fresh. Step 3 repeats the cold test, and the difference between the first and third attempt is the part that has moved.

Every question in the guide is paired with its answer in the same document, so step 2 is done from the guide itself rather than from a separate set of notes.

What is inside the guide

Questions are grouped by topic and then by subtopic, following the AQA specification. Open a topic to see its subtopics.

Water and Carbon Cycles23 subtopics

The two great cycles that move water and carbon between land, ocean and atmosphere, studied as systems with stores, flows and feedback. Everyone sits this as Section A of Component 1, and it carries the quantitative and fieldwork skills the rest of the course leans on.

Systems, Stores and Flows16
Mass Balance in Water and Carbon Stores8
Fieldwork and the Rainforest Case Study13
Measures of Central Tendency9
Spearman's Rank and Chi-Square20
Mapping Movement and Remote Sensing20
The Global Water Stores20
Precipitation and Cryospheric Processes20
Infiltration and Overland Flow9
The Water Balance Equation8
Flood Hydrographs17
Human Impacts on the Water Cycle9
The Global Carbon Stores8
Photosynthesis, Respiration and Carbon Transfer20
Farming and the Carbon Cycle17
Greenhouse Gases and Global Temperature14
Feedback Loops and Climate Change17
Mass Balance in a Drainage Basin20
and 5 more subtopics in this topic

Hot Desert Systems and Landscapes15 subtopics

Arid landscapes and the wind and water processes that shape them, from thermal fracture and dune movement to wadis and inselbergs, ending with desertification and its human cost. One of three landscape options in Section B of Component 1.

Deserts as Systems: Inputs and Outputs8
Stores, Flows and Feedback in Desert Systems19
The Aridity Index11
Insolation and Wind as Energy Sources16
Thermal Fracture and Rock Breakdown12
Deflation, Abrasion and Aeolian Transport9
Desert Water Sources and Ephemeral Streams14
Deflation Hollows and Desert Pavement11
Barchan Dunes and Sand Movement12
Wadis, Alluvial Fans and Bahadas16
Playas, Inselbergs and Salt Deposits18
Observation, Measurement and Mapping in Deserts8
The Causes and Definition of Desertification19
Soil Erosion and Land Degradation8
The Human Costs of Desertification19

Coastal Systems and Landscapes12 subtopics

The coast as a sediment system: the energy that enters it, the erosion and deposition that follow, and the landforms produced as sea level has risen and fallen. Closes on how coastlines are defended. One of three landscape options in Section B of Component 1.

Energy Inputs to the Coastal System11
Coastal Flows and Feedback13
Wave Energy and Fetch14
Marine Erosion Processes10
Cliffs, Notches and Wave-Cut Platforms19
Berms, Spits and Longshore Drift15
Dune Succession14
Saltmarsh Development14
Sea Level Change and Coastlines of Submergence8
Emergent Coastlines and Present Sea Level Rise19
Hard Engineering at the Coast10
Soft Engineering and Managed Retreat18

Glacial Systems and Landscapes15 subtopics

Glaciers as mass budgets, the erosional and depositional landforms they leave, and the periglacial processes at their margins, followed by the fragility of cold environments under human and climatic pressure. One of three landscape options in Section B of Component 1.

Glaciers as Systems: Inputs18
Ice-Albedo Feedback8
Negative Feedback and Glacial Equilibrium13
The Glacial Mass Budget16
The Distribution of Cold Environments9
Climate and Soils in Cold Environments20
Corrie Formation16
Truncated Spurs and Roches Moutonnées16
Moraines and Till Plains14
Patterned Ground and Frost Heave18
Thermokarst and Landform Distribution10
The Fragility of Cold Environments13
Human and Climatic Pressure on Cold Environments18
Resilience and Fieldwork in Glaciated Environments13
Handling Field Data from Glacial Environments14

Hazards25 subtopics

Tectonic, atmospheric and fire hazards, the models used to describe how communities absorb them, and the prediction, preparedness and response that decide how much damage is done. One of two Section C options in Component 1.

Types of Natural Hazard20
The Park Model17
The Hazard Management Cycle8
The Internal Structure of the Earth8
The Core, Mantle and Crust15
Plate Margins and Seismicity20
Where Vulcanicity Occurs8
Volcanic Hazards: Lahars, Ash and Gases16
Predicting Volcanic Eruptions18
A Recent Volcanic Event16
How Earthquakes Happen11
Tsunamis and Liquefaction15
Earthquake Prediction and Impacts18
Focus, Epicentre and Seismic Vulnerability8
Conditions for Tropical Storm Formation9
Storm Intensification and Classification20
The Impacts of Tropical Storms13
Managing Storm Risk in Contrasting Places8
and 7 more subtopics in this topic

Ecosystems under Stress25 subtopics

Ecosystems from trophic structure and nutrient cycling up to the global biomes, then the pressures on rainforest, savanna, coral reef and local habitat, and what sustainable management involves. One of two Section C options in Component 1.

Levels of Biodiversity16
Biodiversity Loss and Ecosystem Services18
Ecosystem Structure and Energy Flow8
Trophic Levels, Food Chains and Webs20
Biomass and Net Primary Production14
Climate, Soil and Nutrient Cycling12
Environmental Controls and Ecosystem Feedback14
Biomes and Their Global Distribution14
Rainforest Stratification12
Rainforest Adaptations and the Savanna Climate18
Savanna Grazing and the Effects of Deforestation11
Fire, Poaching and Population Pressure16
Succession and Climatic Climax19
The Layers of Temperate Deciduous Woodland9
Plagioclimax and Heather Moorland8
Conditions for Coral Reef Growth20
Human Pressures on Coral Reefs18
The Great Barrier Reef: Extent and Bleaching8
and 7 more subtopics in this topic

Global Systems and Global Governance20 subtopics

The flows of capital, labour, goods and ideas that bind places together, the institutions that try to govern them, and the global commons, with Antarctica as the worked case. Everyone sits this as Section A of Component 2.

Flows of Capital and Labour17
Global Patterns of Production and Distribution8
Transport and Communications in Globalisation15
Security, Tariffs and Trade Barriers10
Forms of Global Interdependence8
Unequal Flows and Global Stability16
The Changing Pattern of World Trade11
Market Access and Transnational Corporations18
Trade in Food and Manufactured Goods12
Case Study: A Transnational Corporation7
What Global Governance Means18
Scales of Governance13
The Global Commons14
The Physical Character of Antarctica9
The Southern Ocean and the Antarctic Convergence11
Threats to Antarctic Resources15
The Antarctic Treaty17
UNEP and NGOs in Antarctic Governance15
and 2 more subtopics in this topic

Changing Places15 subtopics

What gives a place its character, how relationships and connections at every scale change it, and how places are perceived and represented. Everyone sits this as Section B of Component 2, and it requires two contrasting place studies.

What Place Means12
Endogenous Factors: The Physical Setting13
Endogenous Factors: Demographic and Social20
Relationships, Meaning and Representation9
Continuity and Change in Places20
Local and Contrasting Place Studies18
Migration and the Demography of Place15
Policy as an External Force on Place15
The Legacy of Past Connections8
Places Embedded in Global Networks18
Inequality and Access between Places9
Lived Experience, Perception and Attachment18
Representing Place: Informal and Formal16
The Requirements of a Place Study12
Sources for Place Studies17

Contemporary Urban Environments26 subtopics

Urbanisation and the forms it produces, the social and economic divides within cities, and the distinct urban climate, drainage and waste problems that follow, ending with what sustainable urban living means. One of three Section C options in Component 2.

Urbanisation and Its Related Processes19
The Drivers of Urbanisation16
UK Urban Regeneration Policy10
Megacities18
What Shapes Urban Form8
Cultural Diversity and Urban Segregation19
Economic Inequality within Cities20
Gated Communities and Policy Responses16
Employment Programmes and Top-Down Strategies8
The Urban Heat Island12
Urban Winds and the Venturi Effect18
Impermeable Surfaces and Urban Rainfall12
Urban Hydrographs9
Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems10
River Restoration and the Benefits of SUDS14
Who Delivers River Restoration20
Sources and Composition of Urban Waste10
Recycling and Waste Recovery18
and 8 more subtopics in this topic

Population and the Environment22 subtopics

How the physical environment shapes where people live and what they eat, the relationship between population and health, and the models used to describe population change and its limits. One of three Section C options in Component 2.

The Physical Environment and Population20
Global Food Production and Trade18
Tropical Wet Climates and Their Agriculture10
Climate Change and Agriculture15
Soil Erosion and Its Management8
Waterlogging and Raised Bed Cultivation20
The Dimensions of Food Security18
Studying Climatic Types and Zonal Soils8
Health, Mortality and Morbidity9
The Epidemiological Transition19
Malaria: Impacts and Management20
Global Health Initiatives and Disease Studies9
The Demographic Transition Model11
Fertility, Life Expectancy and Population Pyramids20
The Demographic Dividend and Dependency17
Push and Pull Factors in Migration13
The Components of Population Change11
Optimum Population and Resource Demand8
and 4 more subtopics in this topic

Resource Security21 subtopics

How resources are classified, evaluated and exhausted, worked through water, energy and mineral ores in turn, and what the alternatives might be as demand grows. One of three Section C options in Component 2.

Stock and Flow Resources9
Classifying Resource Certainty8
Resource Frontiers and Resource Peak19
Global Energy Production, Consumption and Trade11
Physical and Economic Water Scarcity20
Water Sources and Demand18
Water Supply Strategies9
The Costs of Supply and Managing Demand18
Water Conflict, National and International10
Primary and Secondary Energy19
Transnational Corporations and Energy19
Nuclear and Renewable Energy9
Reducing Energy Demand16
The Sustainability of Energy Trade8
Choosing a Mineral Ore Case Study13
Demand for Mineral Ores14
The Environmental Cost of Mineral Extraction20
Sustainability in Mineral Supply14
and 3 more subtopics in this topic

Sample questions

Taken from the AQA A-Level Geography guide. Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.

Water and Carbon Cycles

What are inputs in a systems context?

Show the answer
Additions of energy or matter entering a system from outside its boundaries.
Hot Desert Systems and Landscapes

What are the six main components that make up a system in physical geography?

Show the answer
Inputs, outputs, energy, stores/components, flows/transfers, and feedback mechanisms.
Coastal Systems and Landscapes

How do waves contribute energy to a coastal system?

Show the answer
Waves provide kinetic energy as they move towards and break upon the shore
Glacial Systems and Landscapes

In physical geography, what is a system?

Show the answer
A set of interrelated components connected by flows of energy and matter, functioning as a whole.
Hazards

What are geophysical hazards and what processes do they originate from?

Show the answer
Hazards originating from tectonic or geological processes, including earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and landslides.
Ecosystems under Stress

What are the three levels at which biodiversity is measured?

Show the answer
Genetic diversity within species, species diversity within communities, and ecosystem diversity across landscapes
Global Systems and Global Governance

What is foreign direct investment in the context of globalisation?

Show the answer
Investment by a company or individual in one country into business interests in another country, typically involving ownership or control of productive assets such as factories or subsidiaries.
Changing Places

What is the geographical definition of 'place'?

Show the answer
A location that has been given meaning through human experience, perception, and attachment.

Questions about this guide

How do you use active recall for AQA A-Level Geography?

Answer up to 10 questions cold and closed book. Answer the same questions again open book, writing the correct answer down. Then answer them closed book one more time. The difference between the first and third attempt is what has moved into recall.

How is AQA A-Level Geography assessed?

AQA A-Level Geography is assessed by 3 components: Component 1, physical geography (2 hours 30 minutes, 120 marks, 40%); Component 2, human geography (2 hours 30 minutes, 120 marks, 40%); Component 3, geography fieldwork investigation (3,000 to 4,000 words, 60 marks, 20%).

What topics does the AQA A-Level Geography active recall guide cover?

It covers Water and Carbon Cycles, Hot Desert Systems and Landscapes, Coastal Systems and Landscapes, Glacial Systems and Landscapes, Hazards, Ecosystems under Stress, Global Systems and Global Governance, Changing Places, Contemporary Urban Environments, Population and the Environment and Resource Security.

Is the AQA A-Level Geography guide a PDF?

Yes. It is a digital PDF sent to the email address on your order after purchase. Check the address is correct at checkout, and check junk or spam if it has not arrived.

Does the guide include the answers?

Yes. Every question has its answer in the same document, grouped by topic, so step 2 of the method is done from the guide.