IB Questionbank

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Syllabus

Section name
Option A: Freshwater
A.1. Drainage basin hydrology and geomorphology
A.1.1. The drainage basin as an open system with inputs, outputs, flows and stores
A.1.2. River discharge and its relationship to stream flow, channel characteristics and hydraulic radius
A.1.3. River processes of erosion, transportation and deposition and spatial and temporal factors influencing their operation
A.1.4. The formation of typical river landforms
A.2. Flooding and flood mitigation
A.2.1. Hydrograph characteristics and natural influences on hydrographs
A.2.2. How urbanization, deforestation and channel modifications affect flood risk within a drainage basin
A.2.3. Attempts at flood prediction
A.2.4. Flood mitigation
A.3. Water scarcity and water quality
A.3.1. Physical and economic water scarcity, and the factors that control these; the distinction between water quantity and water quality
A.3.2. Environmental consequences of agricultural activities on water quality
A.3.3. Growing human pressures on lakes and aquifers
A.3.4. Internationally shared water resources as a source of conflict
A.4. Water management futures
A.4.1. The importance of strengthening participation of local communities to improve water management in different economic development contexts
A.4.2. Increased dam building for multipurpose water schemes, and their costs and benefits
A.4.3. The growing importance of integrated drainage basin management plans, and the costs and benefits they bring
A.4.4. Growing pressures on major wetlands and efforts to protect them
Option B: Oceans and coastal margins
B.1. Ocean–atmosphere interactions
B.1.1. The operation of ocean currents
B.1.2. Atmosphere–oceanic interactions associated with El Niño–Southern Oscillation and La Niña cycles and their climatic, environmental and economic effects
B.1.3. The formation, distribution and physical impacts of hurricanes on coastal margins
B.1.4. The changing role of oceans as a store and source of carbon dioxide and the impacts of ocean acidification on coral reefs
B.2. Interactions between oceans and coastal places
B.2.1. Physical influences on coastal landscapes
B.2.2. The characteristics and formation of coastal landforms of erosion and deposition
B.2.3. Advancing and retreating coastlines
B.2.4. The role of coastal processes, wind and vegetation in sand dune development
B.3. Managing coastal margins
B.3.1. Coastal erosion and flooding management strategies
B.3.2. Conflicting land-use pressures on coastlines
B.3.3. Management of coral reefs and mangrove swamps
B.3.4. Sovereignty rights of nations in relation to territorial limits along coastal margins and exclusive economic zones
B.4. Ocean management futures
B.4.1. Causes and consequences of increasing demand for the abiotic resources of oceans
B.4.2. Trends in biotic resource use and the viability of alternatives to overfishing
B.4.3. Strengths and weaknesses of initiatives to manage ocean pollution
B.4.4. The strategic value of oceans and sources of international conflict/insecurity
Option C: Extreme environments
C.1. The characteristics of extreme environments
C.1.1. Global-scale distribution of cold and high altitude environments and hot arid environments
C.1.2. Relief and climatic characteristics that make environments extreme
C.1.3. How relief, climate, human discomfort, inaccessibility, and remoteness present challenges for human habitation and resource development
C.1.4. The changing distribution of extreme environments over time
C.2. Physical processes and landscapes
C.2.1. Glacial processes of erosion, transport and deposition, and landscape features in glaciated areas
C.2.2. Periglacial processes of freeze-thaw, solifluction and frost heave, and periglacial landscape features
C.2.3. Physical and chemical weathering in hot arid environments, and erosion, transportation and deposition by wind and water
C.2.4. Hot, arid landscape features
C.3. Managing extreme environments
C.3.1. Agricultural opportunities and challenges in arid areas
C.3.2. Human and physical opportunities and challenges for mineral extraction in cold environments
C.3.3. Human and physical opportunities and challenges for mineral extraction in arid environments
C.3.4. Opportunities and challenges for tourism in extreme environments
C.4. Extreme environments futures
C.4.1. The causes, acceleration, consequences and management of desertification
C.4.2. Increasing competition for access to resources in extreme environments
C.4.3. New technology and sustainable development in extreme environments
C.4.4. The impacts and management of global climate change in extreme environments
Option D: Geophysical hazards
D.1. Geophysical systems
D.1.1. Mechanisms of plate movement
D.1.2. Characteristics of volcanoes formed by varying types of volcanic eruption; and associated secondary hazards
D.1.3. Characteristics of earthquakes caused by varying types of plate margin movement and human triggers; and associated secondary hazards
D.1.4. Classification of mass movement types according to cause, liquidity, speed of onset, duration, extent and frequency
D.2. Geophysical hazard risks
D.2.1. The distribution of geophysical hazards
D.2.2. The relevance of hazard magnitude and frequency/recurrence for risk management
D.2.3. Geophysical hazard risk as a product of economic, social, demographic and political factors
D.2.4. Geographic factors affecting geophysical hazard event impacts
D.3. Hazard risk and vulnerability
D.3.1. Two contemporary contrasting case studies each for volcanic hazards, earthquake hazards and mass movement hazards
D.4. Future resilience and adaptation
D.4.1. Global geophysical hazard and disaster trends and future projections
D.4.2. Geophysical hazard adaptation through increased government planning and personal resilience
D.4.3. Pre-event management strategies for mass movement, earthquakes and tsunami, volcanoes
D.4.4. Post-event management strategies
Option E: Leisure, tourism and sport
E.1. Changing leisure patterns
E.1.1. The growth and changing purpose of leisure time for societies in different geographic and developmental contexts
E.1.2. The categorization of touristic activities and sporting activities
E.1.3. The link between economic development and participation in leisure activities
E.1.4. Factors affecting personal participation in sports and tourism
E.2. Tourism and sport at the local and national scale
E.2.1. Human and physical factors explaining the growth of rural and urban tourism hotspots
E.2.2. Variations in sphere of influence for different kinds of sporting and touristic facility
E.2.3. Factors affecting the geography of a national sports league
E.2.4. Large-scale sporting, musical, cultural or religious festivals as temporary sites of leisure and their associated costs and benefits
E.3. Tourism and sport at the international scale
E.3.1. Niche national tourism strategies with a global sphere of influence
E.3.2. The role of TNCs in expanding international tourism destinations
E.3.3. Costs and benefits of tourism as a national development strategy
E.3.4. Political, economic and cultural factors affecting the hosting of international sporting events
E.4. Managing tourism and sport for the future
E.4.1. The consequences of unsustainable touristic growth in rural and urban tourism hotspots
E.4.2. The concept of sustainable tourism
E.4.3. Factors influencing future international tourism
E.4.4. The growing importance of political and cultural influences on international sport participation
Option F: Food and health
F.1. Measuring food and health
F.1.1. Global patterns in food/nutrition indicators
F.1.2. The nutrition transition, and associated regional variations of food consumption and nutrition choices
F.1.3. Global patterns in health indicators
F.1.4. The epidemiological transition, the diseases continuum, and the implications of a global ageing population for disease burden
F.2. Food systems and spread of diseases
F.2.1. The merits of a systems approach to compare energy efficiency and water footprints in food production, and relative sustainability in different places
F.2.2. The physical and human processes that can lead to variations in food consumption
F.2.3. The importance of diffusion in the spread of agricultural innovations, and also in the spread of diseases, and the role of geographic factors in the rate of diffusion
F.2.4. Geographic factors contributing to the incidence, diffusion and impacts of vector-borne and water-borne diseases
F.3. Stakeholders in food and health
F.3.1. The roles of international organizations, governments and NGOs in combating food insecurity and disease
F.3.2. The influence of TNCs in shaping food consumption habits
F.3.3. Gender roles related to food and health
F.3.4. Factors affecting the severity of famine
F.4. Future health and food security and sustainability
F.4.1. Possible solutions to food insecurity
F.4.2. Advantages and disadvantages of contemporary approaches to food production
F.4.3. The merits of prevention and treatment in managing disease
F.4.4. Managing pandemics
Option G: Urban environments
G.1. The variety of urban environments
G.1.1. Characteristics of urban places
G.1.2. Factors affecting the pattern of urban economic activities
G.1.3. Factors affecting the pattern of residential areas within urban areas
G.1.4. The incidence of poverty, deprivation and informal activity in urban areas at varying stages of development
G.2. Changing urban systems
G.2.1. Urbanization, natural increase and centripetal population movements
G.2.2. Centrifugal population movements
G.2.3. Urban system growth
G.2.4. The causes of urban deindustrialization and its economic, social and demographic consequences
G.3. Urban environmental and social stresses
G.3.1. Urban microclimate modification and management
G.3.2. Traffic congestion patterns, trends and impacts
G.3.3. Contested land use changes
G.3.4. Managing the impacts of urban social deprivation
G.4. Building sustainable urban systems for the future
G.4.1. Urban growth projections for 2050
G.4.2. Resilient city design
G.4.3. Eco city design
G.4.4. Smart city design and the use of new technology to run city services and systems
Unit 1: Changing population
1.1. Population and economic development patterns
1.1.1. Physical and human factors affecting population distribution at the global scale
1.1.2. Global patterns and classification of economic development: low-income countries; middle-income countries and emerging economies; high-income countries
1.1.3. Population distribution and economic development at the national scale
1.1.4. Synthesis, evaluation and skills opportunities
1.1.5. The relative importance of different influences on where people live and spatial interactions between places at varying scales
1.2. Changing populations and places
1.2.1. Population change and demographic transition over time
1.2.2. The consequences of megacity growth for individuals and societies
1.2.3. The causes and consequences of forced migration and internal displacement
1.2.4. Synthesis, evaluation and skills opportunities
1.2.5. How the impacts of population change and spatial interactions between places can be categorized and represented graphically
1.3. Challenges and opportunities
1.3.1. Global and regional/continental trends in family size, sex ratios, and ageing/greying
1.3.2. Policies associated with managing population change, focusing on: policies related to ageing societies; pro-natalist or anti-natalist policies; gender equality policies and anti-trafficking policies
1.3.3. The demographic dividend and the ways in which population could be considered a resource when contemplating possible futures
1.3.4. Synthesis, evaluation and skills opportunities
1.3.5. How population change may affect the power balance between groups of people at local, national and international scales
Unit 2: Global climate—vulnerability and resilience
2.1. Causes of global climate change
2.1.1. The atmospheric system
2.1.2. Changes in the global energy balance, and the role of feedback loops
2.1.3. The enhanced greenhouse effect and international variations in greenhouse gas sources and emissions
2.1.4. Synthesis, evaluation and skills opportunities
2.1.5. The complexity of the dynamic climate system and the spatial interactions of different processes and feedback mechanisms
2.2. Consequences of global climate change
2.2.1. Climate change and the hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere
2.2.2. Impacts of climate change on people and places
2.2.3. Synthesis, evaluation and skills opportunities
2.2.4. The uneven spatial distribution of effects and uncertainty about their timing, scale and impacts for individuals and societies
2.3. Responding to global climate change
2.3.1. Disparities in exposure to climate change risk and vulnerability
2.3.2. Government-led adaptation and mitigation strategies for global climate change
2.3.3. Civil society and corporate strategies to address global climate change
2.3.4. Synthesis, evaluation and skills opportunities
2.3.5. Why perspectives and viewpoints may be different about the need for, practicality and urgency of action on global climate change
Unit 3: Global resource consumption and security
3.1. Global trends in consumption
3.1.1. Global and regional/continental progress towards poverty reduction
3.1.2. Measuring trends in resource consumption
3.1.3. An overview of global patterns and trends in the availability and consumption of water, land/food, energy
3.1.4. Synthesis, evaluation and skills opportunities
3.1.5. How different patterns and trends are interrelated and involve spatial interactions between different places
3.2. Impacts of changing trends in resource consumption
3.2.1. The water–food–energy “nexus” and how its complex interactions affect: national water security; national food security; national energy security; and geopolitical issues
3.2.2. The implications of global climate change for the water–food–energy nexus
3.2.3. The disposal and recycling of consumer items
3.2.4. Synthesis, evaluation and skills opportunities
3.2.5. How perspectives on, and priorities for, national resource security vary between places and at different scales
3.3. Resource stewardship
3.3.1. Divergent thinking about population and resource consumption trends:
3.3.2. Resource stewardship strategies
3.3.3. Synthesis, evaluation and skills opportunities
3.3.4. Different perspectives on global resource use and the likely effectiveness of management actions at varying scales
Unit 4: Power, places and networks
4.1. Global interactions and global power
4.1.1. Globalization indices showing how countries participate in global interactions
4.1.2. Global superpowers and their economic, geopolitical and cultural influence
4.1.3. Powerful organizations and global groups
4.1.4. Synthesis, evaluation and skills opportunities
4.1.5. How wealthy and powerful places exist at varying scales, and how the global map is complex and subject to change
4.2. Global networks and flows
4.2.1. An overview of contemporary global networks and flows
4.2.2. Foreign Direct Investment and outsourcing by transnational corporations, and ways in which this networks places and markets
4.2.3. Synthesis, evaluation and skills opportunities
4.2.4. The relative importance of different flows, and the suitability of different methods for graphically representing flows and interactions
4.3. Human and physical influences on global interactions
4.3.1. Political factors that affect global interactions
4.3.2. Our “shrinking world” and the forces driving technological innovation
4.3.3. The influence of the physical environment on global interactions
4.3.4. Synthesis, evaluation and skills opportunities
4.3.5. How processes that influence spatial interactions are interlinked in complex ways that accelerate globalization
Unit 5: Human development and diversity
5.1. Development opportunities
5.1.1. The multidimensional process of human development and ways to measure it
5.1.2. The importance of social entrepreneurship approaches for human development
5.1.3. Synthesis, evaluation and skills opportunities
5.1.4. How actions to support human development involve spatial interactions from local to global scales
5.2. Changing identities and cultures
5.2.1. The global spectrum of cultural traits, ethnicities and identities, and ways in which the spectrum of diversity is widening or narrowing at different scales
5.2.2. The effects of global interactions on cultural diversity in different places
5.2.3. How diasporas influence cultural diversity and identity at both global and local scales
5.2.4. Synthesis, evaluation and skills opportunities
5.2.5. Differing evidence and perspectives on how diversity is changing at local, national and global scales
5.3. Local responses to global interactions
5.3.1. Local and civil society resistance to global interactions
5.3.2. Geopolitical constraints on global interactions
5.3.3. The role of civil society in promoting international-mindedness and participating in global interactions
5.3.4. Synthesis, evaluation and skills opportunities
5.3.5. How acceptance of, or resistance to, global interactions takes different forms and occurs at different scales
Unit 6: Global risks and resilience
6.1. Geopolitical and economic risks
6.1.1. Threats to individuals and businesses
6.1.2. New and emerging threats to the political and economic sovereignty of states
6.1.3. The correlation between increased globalization and renewed nationalism/tribalization
6.1.4. Synthesis, evaluation and skills opportunities
6.1.5. How the advantages of globalization must be weighed against heightened possibilities of new geopolitical and economic risks
6.2. Environmental risks
6.2.1. Transboundary pollution affecting a large area/more than one country
6.2.2. Environmental impacts of global flows at varying scales
6.2.3. Environmental issues linked with the global shift of industry
6.2.4. Synthesis, evaluation and skills opportunities
6.2.5. How global interactions affect the physical environment by varying degrees at different scales
6.3. Local and global resilience
6.3.1. The success of international civil society organizations in attempting to raise awareness about, and find solutions for, environmental and social risks associated with global interactions
6.3.2. Strategies to build resilience
6.3.3. Synthesis, evaluation and skills opportunities
6.3.4. How perspectives vary on the severity of different risks and priorities for action
Last exams 2018
Last exams 2018 - Core
Disparities in wealth and development
Origin of disparities
Measurements of regional and global disparities
Disparities and change
Reducing disparities
Patterns in environmental quality and sustainability
Soil and change
Water and change
Biodiversity and change
Sustainability and the environment
Atmosphere and change
Patterns in resource consumption
Changing patterns of energy consumption
Conservation strategies
Patterns of resource consumption
Populations in transition
Responses to high and low fertility
Movement responses—migration
Gender and change
Population change
Last exams 2018 - Optional themes
Option E: Leisure, sport and tourism
Leisure
Definitions
Leisure at the international scale: tourism
Changes in supply
Changes in demand
Leisure at the international scale: sport
Case study of a contemporary international sports event
International participation and success
Leisure at the national/regional scale: tourism
Case study of ecotourism
Case study of a national tourist industry
Tourism as a development strategy
Leisure at the national/regional scale: sport
Case study of a national sports league
Leisure at the local scale: tourism
Tourism management in rural areas
Tourism management in urban areas
Leisure at the local scale: sport and recreation
The leisure hierarchy
Intra‑urban spatial patterns
Urban regeneration
Sustainable tourism
Sustainable tourism
Option G: Urban environments
Urban populations
Urbanization
Inward movement
Natural change
Outward movement
The global megacity
Urban land use
Areas of economic activity
Residential areas
Urban stress
Other types of environmental and social stress
Urban microclimate
The sustainable city
The city as a system
Case studies
Sustainable strategies
Option F: The geography of food and health
Food
Global availability of food
Sustainable agriculture
Case study
Production and markets
Addressing imbalances
Areas of food sufficiency and deficiency
Health
Prevention relative to treatment
Variations in health
Measuring health
Disease
Global patterns of disease
Geographic factors and impacts
The spread of disease
Option A: Freshwater—issues and conflicts
The water system
The water balance
The hydrological cycle
Drainage basins and flooding
Discharge
Drainage basins
Hydrographs
Floods
Management issues and strategies
Dams and reservoirs
Groundwater management
Freshwater wetland management
Irrigation and agriculture
Floodplain management
Competing demands for water
Conflicts at the international scale
Conflicts at the local or national scale
Option C: Extreme environments
Challenging environments
Global distribution of extreme environments
Population
The physical characteristics of extreme environments
Glacial environment
Periglacial environment
Hot, arid environments (hot deserts and semi‑arid areas)
Opportunities and challenges for management
Mineral extraction
Agriculture
Tourism
Sustainability
Impact
Human activity
Option B: Oceans and their coastal margins
Oceans and climate
Energy transfers
El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO)
Carbon dioxide
Introduction to oceans
Distribution of oceans
Oceanic water
Morphology of oceans
The value of oceans
Case study
Waste
Resource base
Fishing
Geopolitics of oceans
Conflict
Sovereignty rights
Coastal margins
Case study
Physical characteristics
Management strategies
Coral reefs and mangroves
Causes and consequences
Development
Option D: Hazards and disasters—risk assessment and response
Vulnerability
Vulnerability
Vulnerable populations
Characteristics of hazards
Characteristics
Risk and risk assessment
Analysis of risk
Hazard event prediction
Disasters
Definition
Measuring disasters
Adjustments and responses to hazards and disasters
Before the event
Responses to the risk of hazard events
Short‑term, mid‑term and long‑term responses after the event
Last exams 2018 - HL extension: Global interactions
Global interactions at the local level
Local responses to globalization
Adoption of globalization
Defining glocalization
Alternatives
Measuring global interactions
Global participation
Global core and periphery
Changing space—the shrinking world
Extension and density of networks
Time–space convergence and the reduction in the friction of distance
Economic interactions and flows
Labour flows
Financial flows
Information flows
Environmental change
Degradation through raw material production
Homogenization of landscapes
Transboundary pollution
The effects of transnational manufacturing and services
Sociocultural exchanges
Consumerism and culture
Sociocultural integration
Cultural diffusion: the process
Political outcomes
Responses
Loss of sovereignty

DP Geography Questionbank