Third Form Field Week
RDH
An investigation of two contrasting upland
environments within the Cairngorms National Park
Pupil Project Guidelines
During Third Form Field Week you have undertaken a piece of fieldwork in the
Cairngorm Mountains looking at two contrasting upland environments. The
following notes will help you write up this project if you choose this as your
Geography option. Divide the project into the following sections:
Introduction
This is an introduction to your project and the area which you visited. It should
contain some maps to clearly locate your project area and a brief introduction into
what your project hopes to do.
Aims
This will give your objectives for the project in some detail. You need to define a
series of Questions For Investigation (QFIs) which will focus your analysis and form
a structure for the rest of the project.
Example QFIs:
What physical processes have created this landscape?
What evidence is there in the landscape for these processes?
What has been the impact of humans on Coire Cas and Coire an t-Sneachda?
Data Collection Methods
Here you will detail the methods you used to gather the information in the field in
order to answer your Questions For Investigation. Describe in detail how and why
you used the methods you did. The primary data collection methods you will have
used might include:
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Field sketches
Landscape assessment survey
Photographs
You may also want to use some secondary data collection methods to help answer the
QFIs. These methods will be using the information from your worksheets and the
information the teachers have given you about the glacial history of the area.
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Third Form Field Week
RDH
Data Presentation
There are many methods of data presentation used in Geography fieldwork.
Successful projects contain a wide variety of data presentation methods.
Presentation methods you might use would be:
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Neat copies of your field sketches fully annotated and labelled
Histograms or pie charts showing the landscape assessment survey results
Histograms or pie charts showing the intrinsic appeal of the environment
Diagrams and maps showing how the landscape was formed
All methods of data presentation must include:
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Title
Labelled axis if graphs
North arrow and scale if a map
Neat presentation and accurate completion
Any photographs used must be clearly displayed with a title and location (grid
reference). Each one must be annotated with at least four labels to explain what it
shows.
Data Analysis
This is where you answer each of your QFIs. You need to use the data you collected
to answer the QFIs. Address each QFI in turn and refer to your data presentation
section. Throughout your analysis you must refer to your diagrams and maps. For
example “The corrie has a very steep back wall (see Figure 1)”.
The Data Presentation and Data Analysis can be combined into one section.
Conclusion
Three sections:
 Summarise your project:
o What were you investigating?
o Briefly, what did you do?
o Briefly, answer your QFIs
o Were the results as expected?
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Limitations / Problems
o Mention any difficulties you came across during the project
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Faults / Evaluation
o If you could do the project again, how would you do it better?
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Third Form Field Week
RDH
Work to be completed during Prep
1 Worksheets
You must complete your ‘Pupil Worksheet’ using the information you were given
whilst in the field. This forms the introduction for your project and looks in detail at
the issues which you will investigate.
2 Field sketches
Field sketches should be completed or re-drawn neatly following the guidelines
below. They must be fully annotated and labelled with both human and physical
features.
Digital photographs will be projected onto a screen to remind you of the vista.
Field sketch guidelines
A field sketch is a drawing made of landforms or landscapes in the field. A
photograph may be useful, but it can never be a real substitute for a well-drawn and
clearly labelled field sketch. A photograph may show too much detail, but a good
field sketch will omit the irrelevant.
Guidelines:
 Use a pencil
 Use a box as a frame
 Divide the frame into 3 equal parts as guidelines
 Draw the skyline
 Mark on the major features to provide fixed points. If this is done well, the
remainder of the exercise will be a lot easier
 Complete with minor features which are relevant
 Label in the field – you will forget otherwise!
 Must have a title, a grid reference and the direction looking
 Final version should be coloured and labelled neatly
Examples:
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Third Form Field Week
RDH
3 Analysis of Landscape Assessment
The data from the Landscape Assessments you completed needs to be ‘pooled’ by the
group onto a combined data sheet. This data can them be plotted on graphs
(histograms or pie charts) for each of the categories.
The intrinsic appeal assessment can be analysed using the ‘total points scored’ at each
of the two locations. A mean score could be calculated from the group’s results.
This data will make up an important part of the Analysis section of the project.
Landscape Assessment Survey guidelines
Landscape Assessment Surveys involve giving landscape features a score. A higher
score demonstrates a more impressive or higher quality of landscape. The results are
your own perception of the landscape. This technique is best used when two or more
landscapes need to be compared.
We have used this technique to compare two contrasting areas of this upland
environment. You have rated how attractive or appealing an area is by surveying
how human and natural features add to the view of an area.
You have ticked a mark for each of the assessment categories listed in the left hand
column of the table. A positive score means the presence of that factor ‘improves the
landscape’. A negative score means the presence of that factor is ‘detrimental to the
landscape’. A score of 0 means that is neither particularly good or bad.
You now need to collate all the data from the group onto a blank data sheet so you
each have all the data collected by your group. You are advised to use a tally system
on the sheet to gather the data.
When you have collated all the group’s data you need to think about how to display
this information in graphs which you can then analyse at a later date. You may wish
to draw histograms and pie charts. This will form an essential part of your Analysis
section of your project.
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Third Form Field Week
RDH
4 Cross-sections
These provide a view of the landscape ‘sliced open’. It shows variation in gradient
and the location of important physical and human features.
Guidelines:
 Place a straight edge of a piece of paper between the beginning and end points on
the map.
 Beginning - Ptarmigan Restaurant GR005049
 End - Slopes of Coire Gorm GR960020
 Mark off every other contour line along the piece of paper
 Mark on major geographical features
 Align the piece of paper with a scale drawn on graph paper
 Use a scale of 1cm:100m or 1cm:50m
 Mark off with a dot each of the contours
 Join up the dots freehand and label the features
 Label the horizontal and vertical scales
Example:
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