Damage Control

Pupils of 2A1 and 2A2,

I have collected your exam scripts, and will commence marking shortly.

I understand that this exam might have been quite tough for many of you. I hope that at least some of my hints and tips proved to be useful. And I am sorry I did not realise that many of you had serious problems with mapwork; if I had known mapwork was going to be such a challenge for many of you, I would have devoted a few lessons towards refreshing your memories and helping you remember things that you had been taught in Secondary 1.

It definitely has not been easy for all of you, having to cope with so many changes in teachers over the past year. I wish it did not have to happen to your classes. But it is too late for regrets, and I do hope that all of you at least gave your best for this paper.

In any case, don't worry too much about it. What's done is done. Now is the time for you to focus on the other subjects. You've got Literature and Art tomorrow, and there's History on Friday.

And I hope that the experience from this exam has not completely turned you off Geography. Do try and remember the stuff that you have been taught over the past 2 years, especially if you plan to take Geography at the O-levels, because much of what you learned is directly relevant to the Geography syllabus at the upper secondary level.

All the best for the rest of your subjects.

Summary of the year's syllabus

Very sorry if this comes a little late for many of you, but I've managed to find a diagram that will help neatly summarise the entire year's syllabus. Click on the image to view at full size:

Exam Format

Section A [25 marks]
Multiple-Choice Questions [25 marks]

Section B [25 marks]
Part I: Basic Techniques [15 marks] Two questions; do both of them.
Part II: Mapwork [10 marks]

Section C [50 marks]
Part I: Structured Questions [20 marks] Three questions are offered, choose to answer only TWO of them. [10 marks per question]
Part II: Structured Questions [30 marks] Similarly, three questions are offered, and you choose to answer only TWO. [15 marks per question]

Other important links:

• Things to bring for the exam
• EOY Exam: Hints

Things to bring for the exam

Please remember to bring the following items to the exam.

• String: While string will be provided for you to tie your writing paper together, there might not be enough string for everyone, or the string provided might be too short for you to measure distances on the topographical map. So please bring your own string. I can recommend that you do what I did back when I was still in secondary school (not too long ago): I brought an entire spool of thread with me in my pencil case.


• Ruler: It amazes me how many students can forget to bring something as essential as a ruler. If you don't have a ruler, how are you going to make sure that your lines are straight? And even more importantly, how are you going to measure distances?


• Protractor: Without a protractor, you will definitely not be able to measure bearing for your mapwork.


• Other stationery such as pens, pencils, correction fluid, erasers, etc. Borrowing from your neighbours will not be allowed during the examination.

I must also stress the importance of writing your answers in blue or black ink ONLY. Strictly NO funny colours like green, purple, pink or red will be accepted. Even bright blue is pushing the limit a little. I can promise all of you that if I see any answer scripts written in colours other than black or blue, your answer script goes straight into the trash. And even if I deign to be somewhat more merciful, I can still penalise you for not following instructions. I'm not sure how different things are from my time, but back in my time, any pupil who tried to be funny and submitted homework or test papers written in colours other than blue or black was seriously asking for trouble. =P

Besides that, happy studying, and good luck for the exams! =)

EOY Exam: Hints

Chapter 2: Population
• Low rate of population growth (pgs. 18–23)

Chapter 3: Settlements
• Settlement patterns (pgs. 33–37)

Chapter 4: Agriculture
• Shifting cultivation (pgs. 43–48)
• High-tech farming (pgs. 57–61)

Chapter 5: Transport and Communications
• Accessibility & connectivity (pgs. 67–68)
• Globalisation and the shrinking world (pgs. 78–79)

Chapter 6: Introduction to Managing the Changing Environment
• Protecting and conserving the environment (pgs. 95–97)

Chapter 7: Land Supply*
• Reasons for the rising demand for land (pgs. 101–102)
• Responses to the rising demand for land (pgs. 103–107, 113–119)
a. Increase in price of land (pg. 103)
b. Increasing supply of land
(i) Clearing land (pgs. 104–105)
(ii) Land reclamation (pgs. 106–107)
c. Maximising existing land use (pgs. 113–117)

Chapter 8: Water Resources*
• Distribution of water (pgs. 123–124)
• Responses to the rising demand for water (pgs. 128–129, 131)
a. Increase in price of water (pg. 128)
b. Increase in supply of water
(i) Increase the size of catchment areas (pg. 129)
(ii) Harnessing technological advances (pg. 129)
c. Conserving water (pg. 131)

Chapter 9: Pollution*
• What is pollution? What are the different types of pollution? (pg. 140)
• Air pollution (pgs. 140–144)
a. Natural vs. Manmade air pollution (pg. 140)
b. Air pollutants released by human activities, and their impacts (pgs. 142–143)
c. Acid rain (pg. 143)
d. Haze (pg. 144)
• Water pollution (pgs. 145–147)
a. How agriculture contributes to water pollution (pg. 146–147)
b. Oil spills (pg. 147)
c. Contaminants (esp. mercury)
No need to study the Mediterranean Sea as an example, but use it as a guide as to how human activities create water pollution.
• Land pollution
a. How agriculture can pollute the land (pg. 150)
• Reducing pollution at the international, national and individual levels (pgs. 153–156)
• Environmental protection in Singapore (not covered in class, but all you need to read up is pg. 157, on current environmental issues facing Singaporeans)

Chapter 10: Global Warming and Ozone Depletion*
• Greenhouse gases and their sources (pgs. 164–166)
• Impacts of global warming, and how life on Earth will be affected (pgs. 167–169)
• Impacts of ozone depletion (pg. 171)
• Reducing the impact of global warming at the international, national and individual levels (pgs. 172–175)