Mathematics and Statistics Skills | Edexcel GCSE Geography A (1GA0)
Mathematics and Statistics Skills
- 100 questions
- 7 subtopics
- Paper 1
- Paper 1, Paper 2 and Paper 3
Mathematics and Statistics Skills is examined in all three papers, as a skills element of every question paper.
It covers cartographic skills: contours, transects, scale and distance, using GIS and geo-spatial data, choosing, constructing and interpreting graphs and charts, numerical skills: number, scale, proportion and ratio, drawing conclusions from numerical data, statistical skills: averages, spread, percentages and correlation and spotting weaknesses in how data is presented.
Sample questions from Mathematics and Statistics Skills
Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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Cartographic skills: contours, transects, scale and distance
A footpath climbs 30 m over a horizontal distance of 600 m. What is its gradient?
Show the answer
One in twenty, because 30 ÷ 600 = 0.05, or one metre of climb for every twenty metres walked. -
Cartographic skills: contours, transects, scale and distance
How does a 1:25 000 OS map differ from a 1:50 000 OS map?
Show the answer
On a 1:25 000 map each 1 km grid square is 4 cm wide and more detail is shown, such as field boundaries, while on a 1:50 000 map the same square is 2 cm wide. -
Using GIS and geo-spatial data
Why are layers so useful when investigating the risk of flooding?
Show the answer
A layer showing land liable to flood can be placed over a layer of houses and roads, revealing exactly which properties would be affected. -
Using GIS and geo-spatial data
How should the pattern on a digital risk map be described?
Show the answer
State the overall pattern first, such as risk concentrated along the river and the coast, then name located exceptions and quote figures from the data. -
Choosing, constructing and interpreting graphs and charts
Why should the classes on a histogram all be the same width?
Show the answer
So the height of every column can be compared directly, without having to allow for a wider class collecting more values simply because it is wider. -
Choosing, constructing and interpreting graphs and charts
What does a population pyramid show?
Show the answer
How many males and females fall into each age group of a population, stacked with the youngest at the bottom. -
Numerical skills: number, scale, proportion and ratio
What does accuracy mean when taking a measurement outdoors?
Show the answer
How close the reading is to the true value, which depends on choosing a suitable instrument and reading it properly. -
Numerical skills: number, scale, proportion and ratio
Why can two floods of that rarity happen within a few years of each other?
Show the answer
Because the figure is a chance attached to every year separately, not a promise that the events will be spaced evenly apart.
The 7 subtopics
One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.
| Subtopic | What it covers | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Cartographic skills: contours, transects, scale and distance | Contour lines, spot heights and the lines on weather and sea-floor charts, working out gradient, cross sections and transects, four- and six-figure grid references, converting map distance to the ground, and recognising physical and human features and settlement functions on 1:25 000 and 1:50 000 OS maps. | 14 |
| Using GIS and geo-spatial data | Geographical information systems and geo-spatial data, layers and flood risk, interactive and online flood maps, satellite data, describing the pattern on a digital risk map, the main limitation of such systems, and using them to plan new housing. | 10 |
| Choosing, constructing and interpreting graphs and charts | When to use bar charts, pie charts, pictograms, line charts and histograms, suitable axis scales, triangular and radial graphs, wind roses, proportional symbol maps, population pyramids, choropleth maps and flow-line maps. | 20 |
| Numerical skills: number, scale, proportion and ratio | Units of length and area, map scale, checking units, data collection sheets, accuracy and reliability, sample size, systematic and random choice of sites, control groups, flood return periods, magnitude against frequency, and logarithmic scales. | 17 |
| Drawing conclusions from numerical data | What a conclusion is and the figures it needs, describing against concluding, anomalies, using averages, comparing means alongside sample sizes, stating confidence, mistaking a link for a cause, summing up a trend and returning to the original question. | 10 |
| Statistical skills: averages, spread, percentages and correlation | Mean, median, mode and modal class, range and interquartile range, running totals of frequencies, percentage increase and decrease, percentiles, bivariate data, lines of best fit, rising and falling relationships, prediction, interpolation and extrapolation. | 19 |
| Spotting weaknesses in how data is presented | Selective figures, axes that start above zero or use uneven intervals, short runs of records, unchecked sources, misleading pictorial symbols, averages without spread, percentages without totals, small samples and shading bands. | 10 |
How the guide is worked
Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.
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Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
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Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
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Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.
Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.
Nearby topics
Edexcel GCSE Geography A Active Recall Guide
Every topic, not just this one. 1,385 questions with their answers.