1.
Read the following Geographic Concept. Include specific references to it, as well as
to the extreme natural event and to the environment of the case study (studies)
you have named on page 2, to support your answers to this question.
Geographic Concept
Change involves any alteration to the natural or cultural environment. Change
is a normal process in a natural environment. It occurs at varying rates, at
different times, and in different places.
Fully explain how your named extreme natural event has affected the natural
environment.
Volcanic eruptions can have many effects on natural
environments. The natural vegetation is stripped bare
and trees lose their leaves. Forests may be burnt. Often
all the trees fall in the direction of the blast. New
landforms are created and others destroyed. New cones
can appear or craters fill with rainwater to create new
lakes. Sometimes the eruption is so large that the top of
a mountain is blown off so that its height is reduced or
the sides collapse as they are unstable to form a
caldera. Soils are also affected. Straight after an
eruption the ash covers the ground making it hard to
grow anything. However, over time the soils become
more fertile. Waterways are changed by debris from
lahars. If there are lots of lava flows they may fill up a
river valley and change the shape of the land.
Coastlines are only affected if the eruption occurs near
to the sea when they can change the shape of the
coastline.
Overall Mark – Not Achieved
Main Reason: No reference to a case study
2.
Read the following Geographic Concept. Include specific references to it, as well as
to the extreme natural event and to the environment of the case study (studies)
you have named on page 2, to support your answers to this question.
Geographic Concept
Change involves any alteration to the natural or cultural environment. Change
is a normal process in a natural environment. It occurs at varying rates, at
different times, and in different places.
Fully explain how your named extreme natural event has affected the natural
environment.
When Tarawera erupted in 1886 it had a major impact
on the environment. It was a huge eruption, measuring
a 4 on the Volcanic Explosivity index (VEI). This was
so large that it was recorded by the ancient Chinese
who saw strange red skies. The eruption started just
after midnight with a series of small earthquakes. The
first eruption happened about 1.30am with a huge
cloud of ash. At this time most people were in their
houses hiding as they were scared and did not know
what to do. When the ash fell on the roofs of the houses
they collapsed under the weight. 153 people were killed
in 3 Maori villages such as Te Wairoa. This could have
been avoided if people had been evacuated. Today
scientists are much more able to predict if an eruption
is likely. When Pinatubo erupted in 1991 this was also a
large eruption measuring a 5 on the VEI scale.
However, an effective evacuation by the government
saw 370,000 people in the 30km radius of the volcano
moved to safety elsewhere. This shows that volcanic
eruptions can have big impacts on environments.
Overall Mark: Not Achieved
Reason: Is all on impacts of cultural environments not natural.
3.
Read the following Geographic Concept. Include specific references to it, as well as
to the extreme natural event and to the environment of the case study (studies)
you have named on page 2, to support your answers to this question.
Geographic Concept
Change involves any alteration to the natural or cultural environment. Change
is a normal process in a natural environment. It occurs at varying rates, at
different times, and in different places.
Fully explain how your named extreme natural event has affected the natural
environment.
When Tarawera erupted in 1886 it had a major impact
on the environment. This eruption was very large
measuring a 4 on the volcanic Explosivity Index
meaning that it could do a lot of damage to the natural
environment. One impact that it had was that it
changed lake Rotomahana. Before the eruption this
lake was fairly small and well known as the site of two
silica terraces called the Pink and white terraces that
were a major tourist attraction at the time. When the
eruption occurred just after midnight on June 10th 1886
the hot lava hit the cold water of the lake and caused a
massive explosion. The water was turned into hot mud
that rained down across the whole region and buried
it. A large hole was left where the lake stood. Over time
this hole filled with rainwater to form the present lake.
This is now more than double its original size and is
40m higher than before the eruption. This shows that
volcanic eruptions can cause big changes to the shape
of the environment.
Overall Mark: Not Achieved
Reason: Only one impact on the natural environment is mentioned.
4.
Read the following Geographic Concept. Include specific references to it, as well as
to the extreme natural event and to the environment of the case study (studies)
you have named on page 2, to support your answers to this question.
Geographic Concept
Change involves any alteration to the natural or cultural environment. Change
is a normal process in a natural environment. It occurs at varying rates, at
different times, and in different places.
Fully explain how your named extreme natural event has affected the natural
environment.
When Pinatubo erupted in June 1991 it caused many
effects on the natural environment. The vegetation
that covered the mountain sides was stripped bare. The
soils were made infertile causing a food shortage. The
rivers that had their source on Mt Pinatubo such as
the Maloma were all changed as they were unable to
flow along their original path. Most dramatic of all
was that a new caldera was formed that was 2.5km
wide. The highest point of the caldera rim stood 260m
lower than the pre-eruption summit. This shows that
volcanic eruptions can change natural environments.
Overall Mark: Achieved
Reason: Has several impacts on natural environments and case study
specifics. However, this is descriptive only and does not give reasons for
the effects needed to lift to Merit.
5.
Read the following Geographic Concept. Include specific references to it, as well as
to the extreme natural event and to the environment of the case study (studies)
you have named on page 2, to support your answers to this question.
Geographic Concept
Change involves any alteration to the natural or cultural environment. Change
is a normal process in a natural environment. It occurs at varying rates, at
different times, and in different places.
Fully explain how your named extreme natural event has affected the natural
environment.
Volcanic eruptions can have many effects on natural
environments as can be seen by the case studies of
Tarawera (1886) and Pinatubo (1991). Both of these
eruptions were very large and explosive measuring 4-5
on the VEI (Volcanic Explosivity index). Because of the
size of the eruption they had major effects on relief. On
Tarawera the top of the mountain split open along a
17km long line. This went through a nearby valley and
as the hot magma came into contact with cold lake
water it turned it to steam, ash and mud. This rained
down over the area burying valleys and destroying
forests. The ground was covered in up to 8m of mud
that made the soils infertile for the next 10 years.
Features such as the Pink and White terraces were
destroyed while the holes left by the explosions later
filled with rain creating new lakes such as Lake
Rotomahana. In the Pinatubo eruption the explosion
was so vast that it created a caldera 2.5km wide. The
river systems were all altered as they were clogged
with volcanic sediment. Minerals such as lead were
brought to the surface making soils infertile.
Overall Mark: Merit
Reason: Has several impacts on natural environments that are explained
with good case study evidence. Lacks reference to change needed for
excellence.
Unpack the Question:
Read the following Geographic Concept. Include specific references to it, as well as
to the extreme natural event and to the environment of the case study (studies)
you have named on page 2, to support your answers to this question.
Geographic Concept
Change involves any alteration to the natural or cultural environment. Change
is a normal process in a natural environment. It occurs at varying rates, at
different times, and in different places.
Fully explain how your named extreme natural event has affected the natural
environment.
ACHIEVED
MERIT
EXCELLENCE
Must be at least 2
impacts on the natural
environment
Must be at least 2
impacts on the natural
environment
Must be at least 2
impacts on the natural
environment
Impacts are described
Impacts are explained
Impacts are explained in
detail
At least one reference to
a case study
Several references to a
case study (names, dates
and/or statistics)
Several references to a
case study (names, dates
and/or statistics) used
throughout.
Shows clear
understanding of the
concept of change. What
was like first and like
now.
Uses geographic terms
Based on what you have learnt have a go at writing an Excellence answer to this
question.