Markers Comments

Markers Comments

Structured questions:

General Comments:
Markers are looking for concise and coherent answers. We are not expecting essay-length answers due to time constraints. Only 3 concise points are needed for a 3-mark question. Coherence is extremely important to convey ideas to the markers as we are not looking for perfect answers but a brief grasp of concepts.
It is helpful if students can identify the topic of the question before attempting to answer the questions. For example, question 36 is a physical geography question on hydrology and question 37 is a human geography question on population. This will aid students in using the correct key terms to attempt the questions.

Question 36:
Many forgot to attempt part a. They did not label the stream according to the 1st, 2nd, 3rd etc. order streams. Attempting to label correctly for at least the first 3 orders will let the markers know they have some form of understanding of the question and some marks can be awarded.
Part b and c are related. Hence, many did not get marks here since their first part of the question were already wrong.
Many students got confused in part d question. The geology of rocks referred here are not the sediments/rocks the river is carrying. The geology (igneous rock & limestone) refers to the geology of drainage basin. The question is asking whether the geology of the basin has an effect to the pattern of streams (e.g., little tributaries, far apart streams) formed at the different parts of the basin and why is there this effect to the pattern of the streams.

Question 37:
Many students wrote at length attempting to explain what they had been taught in the textbooks, but that was not what we were looking for in the answers. The answers that stood out were the very few who critically engaged the statement in the question, or even better, presented an alternative view instead of agreeing “to a very large extent” or “agree totally with the statement”.
We are specifically looking for the understanding that the Demographic Transition Model is a euro-centric model, it is based on case studies from Europe. Developing countries may or may not follow this model as there are many other underlying factors that affect the population of a country. The best answers by students managed to identify that the Model is only a population projection; it is an estimation and may not represent reality.
We are not looking for the explanation of what each stage of the demographic transition represents.

Application question:
Majority of schools did not cover the aspect of sustainability/impacts at all hence leading them to be severely penalized for that.
In general, not enough time/ effort put into doing the mindmap, which should be where the ideas on postcard should be substantiated, and sustainability elaborated. Students should have better time-management. We are not looking for artistic talent; there is no need to spend too much time decorating the postcard. More time should go into expressing their ideas to the markers through the mindmap.
Markers are actually looking for them to creatively market Singapore as a tourist destination for one of the three target groups they have chosen and show how it is distinct from other countries. Schools which merely drew out what Singapore has to offer without the explicit link to the distinction from other countries or how it caters to the target group chosen were also penalized.