CJC 2023 J1 Promos Ans Key

JC1 H2 Geography Promotional Exams 2023 Mark Scheme H2 Fieldwork SQ (40m) AO1-13m, AO2-17m, AO3-10m 1 A group of four Geography students from Singapore conducted fieldwork to investigate the extent to which residents of Treelodge@Punggol practice eco -friendly habits. Treelodge@Punggol is an eco-estate in Singapore designed to encourage eco-friendly practices among their residents. They developed the following hypothesis: “Majority of the residents in Treelodge@Punggol adopt eco-friendly practices.” They visited Treelodge@Punggol on a Friday afternoon during their June Holidays, from 12 noon- 2pm. As this was their first time there, they spent the first 15 minutes conducting a site reconnaissance in the estate to take photographs and recording aspects of Treelodge@Punggol that encouraged eco-friendly living. As Treelodge@Punggol provides free planter boxes for residents to grow herbs and plants in their balconies, they stood at the ground floor to count the number of balconies used by residents to grow plants. To do so, they spread themselves across 4 blocks t o count. However, there were some uncertainties about how many potted plants counted as greenery. Next, the students split up and conducted surveys alone to find out if residents adopted eco-friendly practices. The students used convenience sampling and surveyed 12 residents in total. However, during the survey, there were language barriers when some elderly could only converse in dialect. Resource 1 shows the photographs taken by students showing eco -friendly features and messages in Treelodge@Punggol. Resource 2 shows the data collected by students on the balconies with and without greenery. Resource 3 shows their data recording sheet for the surveys. Resource 4 shows the survey findings. a) Explain one strength and one weakness in the students’ hypothesis. [4] AO1 Award 1m for each relevant point. Award 1 additional mark for further development of each explanation. Strength: • It is of a suitable scale as the investigation is conducted in one location, Treelodge@Punggol. [1 mark] This is manageable for 4 students to complete the investigation within the time given. [1 additional mark] Weakness: • However, it is not feasible to investigate if majority of residents adopt eco- friendly practices as they would not be able to collect data on all the residents. [1 mark] This is because the students were only given 2 hours to complete their investigation, which is insufficient time. [1 additional mark]

b) Explain how the students could minimise potential risks during data collection. [4] AO1 Award 1m for each relevant point. Award 1 additional mark for further development of each explanation. • Stay well hydrated as the investigation is conducted at noon when the weather is hot. [1 mark] Students could also wear suitable clothing such as light- coloured & cool clothing, or a cap to protect themselves from the heat/sun. [1 additional mark]. • For their safety, students should not be alone during the investigation so that they do not get lost since it is their first time at the site. [1 mark] They should remain in pairs when surveying residents so they can look out for each other in case of a dispute. [1 additional mark] c) Explain how the students could minimise the potential impact of their investigation. [5] AO1 Award 1m for each relevant point. Award 1 additional mark for further development of each explanation. • Students should keep noise to a minimum and refrain from talking loudly to avoid disturbing the residents in the estate. [1 mark] They can do so by resolving any disputes at a distance away from the homes, such as when discussing whether the presence of one potted plant in the balcony should be counted. [1 additional mark] • Students should ensure they collect all litter and fieldwork materials before leaving to avoid polluting the site. [1 mark] • Students should avoid taking too long when counting the number of balconies with greenery as residents may feel that they are invading their privacy. [1 mark] They should also take care to not take any photographs of residents in their homes when taking pictures of the estate. [1 additional mark] • Students should exercise sensitivity during the survey as residents may feel uncomfortable with their questions. [1 mark] They should not force residents to answer the survey questions if they do not wish to do so. [1 additional mark]. d) With reference to Resource 1, explain the benefits of conducting a site reconnaissance at the start of their investigation. [4] AO2 Award 1m for each relevant point. Award 1 additional mark for further development of each explanation. • As this is the first time at the site, conducting a site reconnaissance is useful for students to obtain primary data on the eco-friendly features in the estate. [1 mark] For example, students are able to observe that there are recycling posters and recycling chutes conveniently placed to encourage residents to recycle. [1 additional mark]

• Based on their observations, this could help students determine what other relevant primary data to collect, such as to count the number of balconies with greenery. [1 mark] • The students can also use the information to ask relevant questions about eco- friendly habits in their survey. [1 mark] For example, based on the posters encouraging residents to adopt eco-friendly transport, they can ask questions about the frequency of using bicycles / car sharing or walking to the MRT [1 additional mark]. e) Explain the strengths and limitations of the data representation shown in Resource 2. [4] AO2 Award 1m for each relevant point. Award 1 additional mark for further development of each explanation. Strengths: • The use of different colours to represent balconies with and without greenery makes it easier to visualise the proportion of balconies with and without greenery. [1 mark] One can easily see that there are significantly more balconies without greenery than with greenery from the graph. [1 additional mark] • The use of a compound bar graph makes it easy to compare trends across the 4 different blocks. [1 mark] One can easily infer that Block 306D has the highest proportion of balconies with greenery while Block 306B has the lowest proportion of balconies with greenery. [1 additional mark]. • The unit in y-axis is represented in percentage, which makes it easy to analyse if the majority of balconies contain greenery. [1 mark] Limitations: • The unit in the y-axis is represented in percentage, hence it is not clear exactly how many balconies contain greenery. [1 mark] There is also no information on the total number of balconies counted at each block. [1 additional mark] • The use of the graph does not represent the spatial distribution of balconies with/without greenery across different levels of the block. [1 mark] f) With reference to Resource 3, explain how the design of the data recording sheet for the survey could be improved. [5] AO2 Award 1m for each relevant point. Award 1 additional mark for further development of each explanation. • The details required in the profile of residents could be more clearly specified to ensure consistency [1 mark]. For example, there could be options to indicate whether the resident is male or female [1 additional mark]. • The options given for questions 1 and 2 could be changed to the number of times, such as less than 2 times a week, 3-4 times a week, 5-6 times a week, everyday. [1 mark]. This is because there may be differences in one’s understanding of what ‘not often’ or ‘quite often’ mean. [1 additional mark]

• To improve clarity, the question asking residents if they are aware of eco- friendly initiatives in Treelodge@Punggol can be changed to include options of different eco-friendly initiatives found in th