A2.1 Formulating questions
The geographic inquiry process: ask a focused question, gather data and maps from more than one perspective, analyse them with the concepts of geographic thinking, then draw and communicate conclusions. Strong inquiries use reliable sources, name their points of view, and choose the right map or graph for the job.
Example
Formulate a guiding question about a river flood that covers social, economic, political and environmental dimensions.
- Weak: "Did the flood hurt the town?" — it invites a yes or no, not evidence.
- Strong: "How did the flood affect people, businesses, governments, and the environment?"
- The four dimensions give the inquiry four places to look.
A2.2 Gathering and organizing data
Example
Choose sources for a study of a new dam's effects, and organize what they give you.
- Sources: accounts from affected communities and independent or environmental sources — not the builder's brochure alone.
- Organize by dimension: a column each for social, economic, political, environmental.
- Record each fact with its source, so a reader can weigh it.
A2.3 Maps as evidence
Example
Select the map for each question: How steep is the valley? Where does the rain fall? Which land is forest?
- Steepness: a topographic map — its contour lines show the shape of the land.
- Rainfall: a thematic map of precipitation.
- Forest: a thematic land-cover map. A map is evidence when its layer matches the question.
A2.4 Analysing and interpreting evidence
Example
Choose the tool that shows whether cropland in a valley has grown since a canal opened.
- A line graph of the planted area year by year — a trend needs time on one axis.
- Read the shape: rising, flat, or falling after the canal's opening year.
- Ask the geographic-thinking question: what pattern, and what caused it?
A2.5 Drawing conclusions
Example
State a conclusion the flood evidence supports, and one it does not.
- Supported: "Homes on the floodplain were damaged, while farms on it gained fertile silt."
- Not supported: "Floods are always harmful" — the evidence shows a gain as well.
- A conclusion names the pattern, the cause and the limit of what the data shows.
A2.6 Communicating findings
Example
Communicate the dam inquiry to a town council.
- A clear presentation using terms like reservoir and land use, explained plainly.
- One map, one graph, one page of findings organized by dimension.
- End with what the evidence supports and what it cannot settle.
Summary
- Questions with four dimensions.
- Sources from those affected and from independents.
- The map layer that matches the question.
- Graphs with time for trends.
- Conclusions that name pattern, cause and limit.
- Plain terms, explained.