Geographical Skills for the Exam

Beyond OS map reading, the Edexcel B exam tests a range of geographical skills that you need to master. These include interpreting different types of photographs, reading climate graphs and population pyramids, working with GIS data, and using atlas skills. These skills can appear in any paper, so you need to be confident with all of them.

This lesson covers the key skills that are commonly tested and provides practical guidance on how to approach each type of question.

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Interpreting Photographs

Photographs are one of the most commonly used resources in the exam. You may be given ground-level, aerial or satellite photographs and asked to describe, interpret or annotate them.

Ground-Level Photographs

Ground-level photographs are taken from eye level (as if you were standing there). They show what a place looks like from a human perspective.

What to look for:

Feature	Questions to Ask
Foreground	What is in the front of the image? Is it natural or built?
Middle ground	What features can you see at medium distance?
Background	What is in the far distance? Mountains, sky, buildings?
Land use	What is the land being used for? Farming, housing, industry?
Physical features	Any rivers, hills, vegetation, geological features?
Human features	Any buildings, roads, signs, people, infrastructure?
Evidence of processes	Erosion, deposition, pollution, development, decay?
Scale indicators	People, vehicles, buildings that help judge size

Aerial Photographs

Aerial photographs are taken from directly above (vertical/plan view) or at an angle from an aircraft (oblique view).

Type	View	Best For
Vertical	Directly above (bird's-eye view)	Mapping land use; measuring areas; comparing with maps
Oblique	At an angle	Showing relief and building heights; more intuitive to interpret

What to look for in aerial photographs:

• Patterns of land use — residential areas (regular patterns of houses), industrial areas (large buildings, car parks), farmland (fields, hedgerows)
• Transport networks — roads, railways, rivers, canals
• Physical features — meanders, flood plains, coastlines, hills
• Scale — use known features (football pitches, houses) to estimate distances
• Changes — compare with historical aerial photographs to identify development or environmental change

Satellite Images

Satellite images are captured by orbiting satellites and can show very large areas. They are often used to show global or regional patterns.

Key features to identify:

Colour	Usually Represents
Green	Vegetation (forests, cropland)
Brown/yellow	Bare ground, desert, harvested fields
Blue/dark blue	Water (oceans, lakes, rivers)
White	Snow, ice, clouds
Grey/brown	Urban areas (concrete, buildings)

Exam Tip: When interpreting any photograph, use the structure: Describe what you can see + Identify specific features + Explain what they suggest about the geography of the place. Always use geographical terminology and compass directions where possible.

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Climate Graphs

A climate graph (also called a climograph) shows the average monthly temperature and precipitation for a location over a year.

Reading a Climate Graph

Element	How It Is Shown	Axis
Temperature	Red line connecting monthly averages	Right y-axis (°C)
Precipitation	Blue bars showing monthly totals	Left y-axis (mm)
Months	January to December along the x-axis	x-axis

Describing a Climate Graph

When describing a climate graph, cover:

1. Temperature range: Hottest month, coldest month, annual range (difference between hottest and coldest)
2. Precipitation total: Approximate total annual rainfall; wettest month; driest month
3. Seasonal pattern: When is it wet/dry? When is it hot/cold? Is there a clear seasonal pattern?
4. Relationship between temperature and rainfall: Do they peak at the same time or different times?

Example description:

"This location has warm summers (July average 22°C) and mild winters (January average 6°C), giving an annual temperature range of 16°C. Precipitation is relatively evenly distributed throughout the year, with a slight peak in autumn (October, 85mm) and a drier period in spring (April, 45mm). Total annual precipitation is approximately 750mm. This pattern is typical of a maritime temperate climate such as the UK."

Identifying Climate Types

Climate Type	Temperature Pattern	Precipitation Pattern	Example Location
Equatorial	Hot all year (25–28°C), minimal range	Heavy rainfall all year (2000mm+)	Amazon Basin
Hot desert	Very hot summers (40°C+), warm winters; large daily range	Very low rainfall (<250mm/year)	Sahara
Mediterranean	Hot dry summers, mild wet winters	Winter rainfall peak; dry summers	Southern Spain
Maritime temperate	Mild winters, warm summers; small range	Rainfall spread through the year	UK, Western France
Continental	Cold winters, hot summers; large range	Summer rainfall peak; low winter precipitation	Moscow, Central Europe
Polar/tundra	Cold all year, very cold winters	Very low precipitation	Arctic regions

Exam Tip: Climate graph questions often ask you to identify the climate type or compare two graphs. Always quote specific data (temperatures in °C, rainfall in mm) and refer to specific months. Saying "it is hot and wet" is not sufficient — say "July is the hottest month at 28°C with 210mm of rainfall."

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Population Pyramids

A population pyramid shows the age and sex structure of a population. Males are shown on the left, females on the right, and age groups are stacked from youngest at the bottom to oldest at the top.

Types of Population Pyramids