Monkey Geography

Year 9 Fieldwork Project

Should the Souq be pedestrianised?

Introduction

In Geography you have been looking at the traffic issues facing urban centres. You have looked at the causes of traffic and congestion, the consequences of traffic and congestion and a range of different traffic management strategies. In this assignment, you will be putting your knowledge, skills and understanding of traffic issues to the test.  You will demonstrate your ability

a) to ask geographical questions

b) to  collect a range of data to help you find the answers to your enquiry

c) to present your results in graphical form

d) to analyse and interpret your results

e) to draw sound conclusions based on the data you collected

f) to evaluate your data collection methods and suggest improvements for future investigations

The investigation

You are going to investigate three things:

1. Whether there is a severe traffic congestion problem in the souq area
2. How the souq is used (to help you decide whether it is worth pedestrianising)
3. What the quality of the environment is like (to find out if congestion has contributed to a poor environment)

 To do this you need to make a number of PREDICTIONS or HYPOTHESES. You will then gather evidence to see whether or not these hypotheses are true or not.

 You will test the 3 following hypotheses and one of your own:

1. There is a traffic problem in the Bab Al Bahrain shopping area
2. The land-use in the Bab Al Bahrain area is mainly made up of comparison shops
3. The environmental quality of the Bab Al Bahrain shopping area is poor

Choose your own ( think about a hypothesis with an economic or social focus)

How will your work be marked?

Level 3:

• Out lines the purpose of the project
• Describes where the study area is
• Suggests a few reasons for traffic and congestion
• Gives a simple description of data collection methods
• Draws graphs to show results but forgets to give them a title and fully labelled axes
• Writes a simple conclusion

Level 4:

• Out lines purpose of the report and gives main aims
• Describes where the study area  is in relation to Manama and includes a labelled map
• Suggests reasons for traffic and  congestion and some problems it causes
• Describes how the data for each objective was collected
• Draws graphs to show results and describes what they show.
• Writes a summary statement to conclude the report
• Uses some geographical words

 Level 5:

• Gives a clear statement of the purpose of the project and clear aims
• Describes where the study area is in relation to Manama and includes an annotated map with a title
• Suggests a range of reasons for traffic and  congestion and a range of  problems it causes
• Describes in more detail what data was collected and how it was collected 
• Draws graphs using ICT (includes titles and fully labelled axes) and describes what they show
• Gives some reasons to explain the data
• Includes a conclusion to summarise the findings and explains own views
• Uses a range of geographical words

 

Level 6:

• Purpose of project and aims are given in detail
• Gives detailed locational knowledge of the study area in Manama in Bahrain and includes maps
• Gives a detailed introduction to traffic and congestion-including a range of causes and consequences
• Shows evidence of further research (secondary research)
• Describes and explains methods of data collection in more detail
• Draws graphs and offers explanations for their results
• Reaches conclusions that fit the evidence
• Suggests some limitations of the data collection techniques and suggests improvements
• Uses an extended range of geography words

 Level 7:

• Purpose of project and aims are given in more detail. Suggest why this project is relevant
• Detailed locational knowledge of the study area within Manama,  Bahrain and the World and includes maps
• Explains in detail the causes of congestion and consequences of congestion to people, the economy and the environment at local, national and global scales
• Includes secondary sources of information
• Draws a range of different graphs and gives detailed descriptions and explanations of results
• Suggests alternative methods of solving traffic and congestion
• Gives well argued summaries and provides clear conclusions
• Identifies a range of limitations of the data collection methods and suggests improvements

 Level 8:

• Purpose of project and aims are given in detail. Suggest why this project is relevant and important
• Detailed locational Knowledge of the study area within the world and includes a range of  maps
• Shows full understanding of the causes and consequences of traffic and congestion to people , the economy and the environment at a range of scales
• Discusses the full range of options available to tackling traffic and congestion– highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of each
• Shows evidence of independent learning and research (providing facts and figures and different cases studies of traffic problems in different countries)
• Understands different opinions and views on traffic and congestion and justifies own views. Gives detailed summaries and justified conclusions
• Evaluates sources of evidence before using them in investigations
• Evaluates fieldwork/project and suggests improvements

As always feel free to post questions, advice or comments below

Writing up your field work

 You will now produce a report on the findings of your Souq study. Your report will include five sections. If your work is good enough we will send it to the Ministry of Works to advise them on future SUSTAINABLE plans to improve traffic and congestion in and around the city centre.

 REPORT SECTIONS

 INTRODUCTION

• What is your project about? i.e what question are you going to answer? Why is this important to you?
• What and where is the Souq? Include an annotated map and some background information to the souq.
• What causes traffic and congestion? How does traffic and congestion affect people? The economy (businesses)? the environment?
• What is pedestrianisation? How can it solve congestion?
• What are your hypotheses?

You should do some secondary research to find out about traffic problems in Manama. Include facts and figures to improve your work!

 METHODOLGY (Data collection)

This section requires you to describe exactly what you did to answer your key question: “ Should the Souq be pedestrianised?”. You need to describe the data collection methods you used to answer each hypothesis.

E.g. Hypothesis 1: There is a traffic problem in the Bab Al Bahrain shopping area

Method: Traffic count……(give detailed description including location, time spent counting, types of vehicles e.t.c)

Method: Questionnaire……..……(give detailed description including number of people questioned)

  Hypothesis 2: The land-use in the Bab Al Bahrain area is mainly made up of comparison shops

Method: Land-use map……………………………………………………….

 Hypothesis 3: The environmental quality of the Bab Al Bahrain shopping area is poor

Method: Environmental Quality Survey………………………………….

(you should include a blank copy of your data collection sheets)

DATA PRESENTATION and INTERPRETATION (What did you find out?)

 In this section you need to present your results in a variety of graphs and maps. You need to convert your raw data into tables then decide which graph is most suitable (pie chart, bar graph, divided bar graph, radargraph, scatter graph, land use map,  e.t.c).

 For each hypothesis you need to:

• Draw a graph to show your results (remember to give each graph a full title and fully labelled axes)
• Describe your graphs/maps (remember to refer to specific data shown in your graphs)
• Explain your results (give reasons for your results)
• Say whether the hypothesis is true or false

CONCLUSION

In this section you need to answer the original question: : “ Should the Souq be pedestrianised?”.

 Summarise the findings of each hypothesis and use this to help you decide whether the Souq should be pedestrianised or not.

 If you want to score a higher level, try to suggest potential disadvantages of pedestrianisation. What ever your answer be sure to suggest alternative solutions

 EVALUATION (How can the project be improved?)

 In this section you need to think about the accuracy of your results. You will do this by thinking about how reliable your data collection methods were. For each hypothesis you need to:

• Think of the problems (limitations) of your data collection techniques
• Say whether these problems may have affected the accuracy of your results
• Decide whether your conclusions are valid or not
• Suggest what you could do to improve the data collection method if you were to repeat the project

 

 Term 1

 

 This term we will be studying the concept of development, but what does development actually mean? Simply put development is change for the better. It is about processes within a country which change people lives for the better. It is about improving the quality of people’s lives through better access to clean water, nutrition, healthcare, education and good quality housing. It is also about justice and equality. Development must also be sustainable there is no point improving the lives of ourselves whilst ruining the lives of the future inhabitants of our planet. That is what I think development is. What is your opinion? What do you think are the most important elements of development?

 Homework:

1. Think about what the  image above shows. If you were going to sum it up in one word what would it be?

2. Have a look at this web-site and play the bin game at the bottom of the page. Post your best score as a comment at the bottom of your blog page.