These eight questions use original, fictional data. They follow the lessons in environmental management and move from sorting statements to writing a full explanation.
Write your own answer first, then open the explanation.
Questions
Question 1: Sort these statements as generic, local evidence or unsupported: (a) wetlands store floodwater, (b) the lake’s level rose 0.6 m after the storm (supplied in a table), (c) the new dam caused the rise (no dam is mentioned).
Answer
(a) is generic knowledge. (b) is local evidence, because it comes from the supplied table. (c) is unsupported, because no dam appears in the evidence and the claim cannot be credited.
Question 2: Plastic items counted at five beach points are 7, 11, 9, 30 and 8. Find the mean and the median.
Answer
Mean = (7 + 11 + 9 + 30 + 8) ÷ 5 = 65 ÷ 5 = 13.
Ordered: 7, 8, 9, 11, 30, so the median is 9.
Question 3: In Question 2 the 30 was recorded beside an overturned bin. Which figure is a better summary of a typical point, and what should you do with the 30?
Answer
The median of 9 is the better summary, because one point pulls the mean to 13, above four of the five readings.
Keep the 30 and discuss it, noting the overturned bin as a likely reason. Quote the mean without it as well: (7 + 11 + 9 + 8) ÷ 4 = 35 ÷ 4 = 8.75.
Question 4: A fictional catchment’s tree cover fell from 80% to 60%, and dry-season river flow fell from 5.0 to 3.5 m³ per second. Find the fall in tree cover and the percentage fall in flow.
Answer
Tree cover fell by 80 − 60 = 20 percentage points.
Flow fell by 5.0 − 3.5 = 1.5, and 1.5 ÷ 5.0 = 30%.
Question 5: Write a point, evidence, explanation answer on the effect of tree loss on dry-season flow, using Question 4.
Answer
Model answer: “Tree loss reduced dry-season flow. Flow fell 30%, from 5.0 to 3.5 m³ per second, as tree cover fell from 80% to 60%. Trees help rain soak into the ground and release it slowly to rivers, so less tree cover is likely to mean less stored water reaching the river in the dry season. This fits the evidence, although the records do not show rainfall.”
Question 6: Option A is settling ponds costing RM200 000 and cutting river sediment by 60%. Option B is bank replanting costing RM80 000 and cutting sediment by 35%. Compare them on cost for each percentage point of reduction.
Answer
Option A: 200 000 ÷ 60 = about RM3 333 per point.
Option B: 80 000 ÷ 35 = about RM2 286 per point.
Option B is cheaper per point, whereas Option A achieves the larger reduction. The choice depends on the target reduction and the budget.
Question 7: Coral damage scores at four fictional bays are 2, 4, 7 and 9, and the bays have 1, 3, 6 and 8 tourist boats respectively. A student writes: “Boats destroy coral.” Rewrite the claim and name one rival explanation.
Answer
Rewrite: “Coral damage is higher in bays with more boats, so the two are linked.”
Rival explanation: bays with more boats may also be the warmer or more sheltered bays, where coral is already under stress. A bay with no boats but similar conditions would help test this.
Question 8: Six fieldwork points were measured on one morning. State two limitations of this design and one improvement.
Answer
Limitation 1: six points cover a small share of the area, so the results may not represent it. Limitation 2: one morning cannot show differences between days or seasons.
Improvement: repeat the count at the same points on another day, or increase the number of points using a fixed spacing.
If you got these wrong
Questions 1 and 5 test explaining environmental impacts with evidence and separating local evidence from generic claims. Questions 2, 3 and 8 test interpreting fieldwork data. Question 6 tests comparing management responses, and Question 7 links to correlation and proven cause.
Practise reading graphs with the map and graph reading practice. To go through your errors with a teacher, see online one-to-one Geography tuition.