Year 1 Geography

Chapter 1: Introduction to geography

Chapter 3: Water and its spatial distribution
Chapter 4: Management of water resources
Chapter 5: Distribution of rainforests and mangroves
Chapter 6: Management of tropical rainforests and mangroves
Others

Geography Intro
● Physical geography is the branch of geography focusing on the study
of the physical environment
● The Physical environment consists of all living and nonliving things found
naturally, as well as natural processes and has 4 components
1. Atmosphere
● This refers to the layer of gases and tiny particles surrounding the earth,
with examples including nitrogen,oxygen and carbon dioxide
● This is further divided into 5 layers, troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere,
thermosphere and exosphere
● The condition of atmosphere known as weather includes temperature,
humidity, and wind 2. Hydrosphere
● Refers to all water found on the earth and in the atmosphere, which
includes water in solid,liquid and gaseous states
● The Hydrological cycle enables water to move continuously between the
earth's surface, atmosphere and underground
3. Lithosphere
● This refers to the solid layer of rock forming the earth's surface, up to a
few hundred km in thickness
● Magnificent landforms such as mountains are also created by movement of
large layers of rock in the lithosphere
4. Biosphere
● This refers to all living things on earth, including plant and animal life
found on land and sea
● It is also dependent on other components of the physical
environment ● For example, plant growth requires suitable
temperature
What is human Geography?
● It is the branch of geography involving the study of human life in the
built environment ● The built environment is created through human made
changes to the physical environment and it provides setting for variety of
human activities, with many aspects such as housing and transport
systems
1. Housing
● Structures/buildings developed by people to shelter themselves from the
 elements, which can be temporary or permanent
● An example of temporary housing is a tent, while an example of
permanent housing is HDB flats
2. Transport systems
● Equipment,infrastructure and networks supporting movement of people
and goods, such as public transport and airports
Geographical concepts
● Important idea used to understand the world
1. Space
● Physical area on the earth's surface
● Location is an idea closely related to Place
● Expressed using coordinates which are based on latitude and longitude ●
Location of geographical features arranged across an area in a particular
way, known as spatial pattern, identified as linear or cluster
2. Place
● Area of the earth's surface holding special meaning for people, eg
my classroom ● Space can be place and vice versa
● Place has attached meaning, like Singapore v Borkum or Maastricht
3. Environment
● Physical and built environment and processes occurring naturally/result of
human action ● Geographers interested in studying the interactions
between humans and environment 4. Scale
● Level of detail at which geographers study something
● 3 types of scale, map scale, time scale and geographic scale
[Link] scale
● Relationship between a distance on a map and actual distance
on the ground [Link] scale
● Period of time during which something happens
● Processes and changes in environment occur at variety of time scale
[Link] scale
● Spatial extent of something, divided into local, national, regional
and global scale Geographical inquiry
● Posing questions and carrying out investigations,using 5W 1H
● These can be used with the geog concepts to pose geog
questions on anything Stages
1. Ask key questions
2. Formulate hypotheses
3. Collect sources (primary and secondary)
4. Analyse and present data (present using maps, graphs, tables)
5. Draw conclusions
6. Reflect and take action (improve investigation)

[Link] and its spatial distribution

Physical states of water
 1. Solid–ice (under cold temp water freezes into ice)
2. Liquid-water (flows freely,no set shape,fixed volume)
3. Gas-water vapour+steam (always in the air around us)
Where is water found?
● Found in water stores
● Water stores are places where water is contained in and can be
categorised as freshwater and saltwater
● Glaciers,rivers etc contain freshwater,and can be used easily
unlike oceans ● Unevenly distributed on the earths surface
● Water can move from 1 store to another and these movements are
known as flows 1. Oceans
● Large masses of water connected to one another
● Pacific (biggest), Atlantic, Indian, Arctic and Southern
2. Glaciers
● Masses of ice resting on land/float in sea
● Found in places snowing a lot
● Move slowly due to mass
3. Lakes
● Water bodies surrounded by land
● Receive water from rain,snow and rivers
4. Rivers
● Natural wide flows of fresh water across land
● Store water temporarily before water flows into another body
● Flow from higher elevations to lower elevation due to gravity
● River source marks where a river begins
● River mouth marks where a river flows into another body
5. Soil
● Loose topmost layer of earth's surface where plants grow
● Has different names,contains different material
● Water passes through the soil through small openings
known as pores ● Water stored in soil called soil moisture
6. Groundwater
● Found below surface of the earth
● Water enters the ground through pores in the soil+gravity
Hydrological cycle
1. Precipitation
● Input
● Water falls as rain,snow or hail
[Link]
● Water that seeps into the ground absorbed by plants or stored
as groundwater [Link] runoff
● Water flows from the highlands and over the ground surface into
streams and rivers ● When groundwater increases,surface runoff
decreases
[Link]
● The sun’s heat causes water to evaporate
● Water changes into water vapour
● Output
[Link]
● Plants give out water through their leaves
[Link]
● Warm moist air cools as it rises
● Water vapour changes into water droplets
● Small droplets combine to form bigger droplets and clouds
Water budget
● Describes flow of water in and out of a catchment area
● Processes increasing amt of water in a catchment called input and vice
versa for output ● When input more than output this is called a water
surplus (more water than needed) ● When output more than input this is
called water deficit (less water than needed) ● NET change in store=Input
(precipitation) - Output (surface runoff, evaporation, transpiration)

[Link] of water
How do variations in precipitation affect availability of water?
1. Floods
● Overflow of water onto dry land
● Flash floods and River floods
1a. Flash Floods
● Caused by heavy rainfall over short periods of time
● Occur in dry area without enough soil and vegetation allowing
infiltration ● Most rainwater becomes surface runoff flooding
low lying areas
1b. River Floods
● Caused by sustained heavy rainfall/meltwater produced through
melting in spring ● Large amount of rain/melt water enters streams
and tributaries, flowing into rivers ● Water level in river rises rapidly
and overflows the banks
2. Droughts
● Long period of little to no rainfall in an area
● May last months/years
● Not enough water available to replenish amount used for
human activities How does water support river ecosystems?
● Water supports river ecosystem as precipitation provides regular supply of
water to rivers ● Food chains show relationships among organisms as energy is
transferred ● Bottom of food chain are aquatic
plants,zooplankton,insects,fish,humans How do people use water?
● Developed countries use more water than developing countries due to
industrialization and items such as dishwashers
 ● Use water for 4 main purposes
1. How is water use for Domestic Purposes?
● Household activities such as bathing,cooking,cleaning
● Average Singaporean uses 131 litres of water/day
2. How is water used for recreational purposes?
● Enables people to carry out water sports eg kayaking,sailing
and fishing ● These sports are highly dependent on water
conditions and quality
3. How is water used for agriculture?
● Largest use of water worldwide
● Used to grow crops and rear animals for consumption
● Different animal and plants require different amounts of water
4. How is water used for industry?
● Many industries require water to function
● Used to cool equipment in factories and power plants as they
generate a lot of heat ● Also used to generate electricity passing
through turbines in dams
● Used as a cleaning agent in wafer fabrication,which is the process of
creating electronics How do human actions lead to water pollution and its
impact?
● Human activities cause water pollutions due to various reasons eg litter in
drains ● Water pollution is when harmful substance enter water bodies and
cause water quality to fall
● Poses a threat to aquatic ecosystems
● Pollutants like pesticides and lead kill plants and poison animals
● Excess fertilisers from farms washed into rivers provide nutrients for
growth of algae, getting decomposed, taking in oxygen and there is less
oxygen, causing fish to die ● Rhine river 1986 chemical spill
How can water be managed sustainably?
1. Improve water quality
● Determined by factors eg temp,amt of dissolved oxygen,turbidity
● Affect how well aquatic plants and animals grow and survive
● Implement laws to maintain/improve water quality
● For example, China’s Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law
(reward/punishment system for water quality)
2. Reduce water consumption
● Tends to increase as a country’s economy
● Water needs to be treated and cleaned so they need to conserve
and treasure water ● Water Efficiency Labelling Scheme (WELS) of
Singapore
● South Africa 2018 Drought Prevention
3. Improve water technology
● Singapore’s NEWater and Desalination are reliable sources
independent of weather ● Desalination requires use of energy to
 reduce salt in seawater
4. Import water
● Agreements on singapore's import of water from malaysia
(expire 2061) ● Kuwait importing water from serbia

5. Spatial distribution of tropical rainforest and mangrove

What is Natural vegetation?
● Plant life covering particular parts of the worlds land areas and develops
without humans ● Climate of a location determines type of natural
vegetation found
What is the tropical climate?
● Climate is average weather conditions of a place over a long time (more
than 30 years) ● Tropical climate is climate experienced between tropic of
cancer and capricorn ● Also has high annual rainfall of 2000-4500
mm/year
● Rainfall throughout the year and no month in which rainfall is low/absent
● Temperatures high throughout the year
● Mangroves found along narrow strips of coasts in the tropics
● Around 70% of coastlines are covered in mangroves
What are tropical rainforests and where are they found
● Main type of natural vegetation found in tropical climate
● Found in central/south america,west/central africa,south/southeast
asia,around equator What are the characteristics of tropical rainforests?
● Abundant sunlight and high rainfall throughout the year
● Very suitable for plant growth
● Majority of plants are evergreen (do not shed leaves all their leaves at a
particular time) ● Continuously grow new leaves to replace older ones that
die and fall off (constant green) ● Large variety of plant species
● Intense competition for sunlight among plants cause them to
grow really tall ● Relatively sparse vegetation on the ground
● When gaps in canopy appear,plants grow up and fill gaps quickly
(read below) ● Distinct vertical forest structure
Emergent layer
● Trees here grow up to 30m or more in height
Canopy Layer
● Most trees grow to 20-30m
● As they grow very close to one another, their crowns interlock to form a
thick layer of near continuous mass of branches and leaves, which
prevents 97-98% of sunlight from reaching the forest floor
Undergrowth layer
● Beneath canopy layer
● Little sunlight able to reach this layer
● Not many plants able to grow here,except smaller ones growing
in the shade How have plants in tropical rainforests adapted to
their environment? 1. Broad leaves
● Large surface area
● Plant absorbs as much sunlight as possible to make food
2. Waxy leaves
● Glossy appearance
● Helps plant reduce amount of water vapour it loses to the
atmosphere through transpiration due to high temperatures
3. Drip tips
● Leaves with small,narrow tips pointing downwards
● Allow rainwater that falls onto them to flow off easily
● Helps leaves dry quickly preventing growth of fungi and bacteria
4. Buttress roots
● Keep rainforest trees upright and prevent them from toppling over
● Grow up to 5 meters above ground surface
● Require support of their roots as the rest of the roots do not extend
very deep ● Nutrients concentrated in topmost layer of rainforest soils due
to decomposition ● Tropical rainforest trees have shallow underground
roots to absorb nutrients quickly What are mangroves and where are
they found?
● Found along or close to the coast
● Made of plant species called mangroves,which can grow in water with
higher salinity ● Grow better in areas where water salinity is high due to
lack of competition from other plants
● Most areas with mangroves experience tropical climate as they cannot
withstand freezing ● Grow best where average air and water temp do not
fall below 20oC
● Requires calm water conditions so seedlings can take root and grow
without being washed away
● Calm conditions encourage accumulation of fine sediments with
nutrients ● Sheltered environments along/close to coasts like river
mouths or behind islands Characteristics of mangroves
● Mangrove forests have only a few plant species and lower diversity of
plant species ● Density of trees is lower than in a tropical rainforest,so
less competition for light ● Mangrove plants need to obtain as much
energy from the sun
● Mangroves are unable to tolerate shaded conditions and are uniform in
terms of height ● Exhibit horizontal zonation determined by high and low
tide levels
● Zonation refers to distribution of plants in specific areas
Adaptation of mangroves to their environment
1. Salt secreting leaves
● Certain species have salt secreting leaves allowing them to remove saline
water absorbed ● Salt crystals will be left behind on the leaf surfaces and
removed by rain or wind ● Other species also deposit excess salt in older
 leaves which they shed ● Removal of salt in this manner helps prevent salt
from building up in the plant 2. Salt excluding species
● Have roots preventing salt from entering
3. Aerial roots
● Soil found in coastal environment is flooded for several hours
by the tide ● As a result the soil is waterlogged,poor in
oxygen,soft and unstable
● Serve functions of growing above soil surface,enabling them to take in
oxygen from the air
● Help anchor mangrove plants to the soft soil preventing them from being
uprooted

6. Management of tropical rainforests and mangroves

What are the environmental functions of tropical rainforests?
1. Generate Oxygen
● Rainforest and mangrove plants carry out oxygen generation through
photosynthesis ● Capable of producing oxygen throughout the year as
they are greeb
2. Contribute to carbon storage
● Absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during photosynthesis
● Balances amount of CO2 added into atmosphere through decomposition
and respiration ● Mangroves store 60-80kg of carbon/square km every
year
● Tropical rainforests store carbon at around 20-59 kg/square km every
year ● As soil in mangroves is waterlogged there are few bacteria
available to break down carbon stored there
3. Provide habitats for animal life
● Rich in biodiversity
● Warm climate+abundance in water and food makes them suitable
habitats for animals ● Dead leaves and branches falling from mangroves
broken down which animals feed on ● These smaller animals are eaten by
tigers and crocodiles
● Mangroves are also breeding grounds for fish as their dense root network
provides shelter from predators
● Branches of mangroves provide nesting sites for many species of birds
such as pelicans 4. Provide protection from soil erosion
● Rainforest plants can help prevent soil erosion from happening
● This is because they provide a protective layer over the ground
surface,slowing down falling raindrops
5. Provide protection from coastal erosion
● They help reduce power of coastal storms as the waves lose a significant
amount of energy as the root, trunks and branches of mangroves cause
friction when waves hit the coast
How is tropical forest used by people?
1. Place for habitation
● Several million people around the world living in tropical rainforests
● Indegenious people
● Depend on the physical environment for food,water,shelter
and clothing ● Korowai tribe (new guinea) and moken
people(myanmar/thailand)
2. Recreation
● Recreational sites for people living in towns and cities
● [Link] and birdwatching are activities that they
take part in ● Visiting forests has a positive effect on
people's health
● Natural sights,smells and sounds of the forest have calming
effects on people ● Also a way for exercise and lead a healthy
lifestyle
3. Source of food
● Food from plants in the forest eg cucumber,brazil nuts,pepper
● Popular desserts made from ingredients from rainforests eg nipah
palm(ice kacang) ● Hunting of wild animals such as fish and deer
● This is known as hunting and gathering
● However this is not enough for larger groups so they convert into farms
to rear fish and shellfish for sale (aquaculture)
4. Source of raw materials
● Valuable sources of wood for building and carpentry such as
teaks,mahogany and rosewood, which are valued for strength,
durability and colour
● Many things made from them such as floors,doors,furniture
● Wood obtained also used to build houses,fuelwood or charcoal
● Mangrove trees also cut down to produce paper
● Iron,metals and minerals also found beneath rainforests
● These are valuable as they can make wide variety of products eg
copper for pipes ● Process of obtaining stuff below ground called
mining
● Rainforest first cleared through burning or bulldozing then heavy
machinery used to dig up these materials
What are the consequences of extracting resources from
tropical rainforests? 1. Deforestation
● Permanent removal of forest is called deforestation
● Occurs due to unsustainable cutting down of trees for their wood
● Other stuff like mining and aquaculture also contributes as they need
large areas of forest cleared
● Tropical forest even when reforested will lack biodiversity of an untouched
forest] ● May take 1000 years for a reforested forest to reach the same level
as an untouched forest ● Amazon mass extinction
 ● 35% of mangroves have been destroyed
[Link] greenhouse effect
● Earth behaves like a greenhouse
● Gases such as CO2 can trap heat (greenhouse gases)
● Greenhouse gases keep the Earth’s surface warm at an average
temp of 15oC ● Without them, Earth would be -18oC
● CO2is one of the most important greenhouse gases
● It is released when living things respire and decompose
● Deforestation is responsible for around 20% of the amt of CO2 added
to atmosphere ● This is because burning/cutting down of plants causes
carbon stored in plants to be released as CO2
● There is also less plants left behind to absorb increased amount of
CO2 from the atmosphere
● This leads to the enhanced greenhouse effect
How can tropical rainforests be managed sustainably?
1. Establishing protected areas
● Restrict human activity although it varies from country to country
● Government puts laws in place to ensure people don't
damage these areas ● People who break these laws are fined
heavily/sent to jail
● Effectiveness of this depends on enforcement of these laws which is a
challenge is less developed countries
● Singapore has 4 protected areas, Bukit Timah and Central Catchment
Nature Reserve, Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve and Labrador Nature
Reserve
● Parks and Trees Act (2005)
● Protected areas known as national parks or biosphere reserve
● Some are really big, bigger than Singapore
● Approximately 669 biosphere reserves worldwide, such as the Gunung
Leuser Biosphere Reserve
2. Regulating forest activities
● Hard for government to set aside all remaining tropical forests as
protected area due to high economic value of resource extraction
activities
● This provides people with jobs and enable country to earn money
● Must strike a balance between obtaining economic benefits and
conserving resources ● Controlled logging
3. Rehabilitating distributed areas
● Aims to reintroduce some plant and animal species originally
found there ● Reforestation helps rehabilitate a deforested
area by planting new trees ● Sometimes non native tree species
are planted as they can grow quickly ● Rehabilitation of
mangrove forests on Pulau Semakau, Ubin and Tekong
[Link] public education
 ● Many deforestation occurring is due to peoples consumption of
products made from resources obtained from rainforests
● Many people are unaware they depend on tropical rainforests or they are
responsible for deforestation
● Products we buy in Singapore may link them to deforestation in
Indonesia or Brazil ● If people know the importance of tropical rainforests
and understand why they are under threat, they will be more likely to play a
part in reducing deforestation

Other notes
Question command words
1. Describe
● Provide details and descriptions (2-4m)
2. Explain
● Provide reasons for the description (2-6m)
3. Define
● Provide meaning (1-2m)
4. Compare
● Provide similarities and differences (2-4m)
● Pair by pair
● Use connectors (but,whereas,however)
● 1 Mark for every pair
● Both human and physical geography focus on sustainability issues.
Physical geography is nature oriented while human geography focuses on
anthropogenic activities 5. Annotate
● Provide details on the features drawn on the sketch (3-5m)
6a. Adjectives of spatial distribution
● Clustered–Nucleated,Densely concentrated
● Sporadic–Random—Uneven
● Linear–Along lines such as roads,rivers
● Region/country
● Cardinal points
Distribution of water storage
● Uneven distribution of water storage,ranging from less than 1% to
more than 90% ● Most amount of water stores are in oceans at 96.5%
● Least amount of water stores in soil moisture at 0.001%
● There is a small proportion of water stored in glaciers at 1.7%
Describe the distribution of water used for different purposes
● Uneven distribution of water from 70% to 11%
● Predominantly water is used for agriculture at 70%
● ⅕ of water used for industrial purposes
● Least amount is used for domestic purposes at 11%
Describe the distribution of TRF
● Clustered areas of the TRF in Borneo
 ● Sporadic areas in Madagascar
● Densely concentrated areas in Brazil
● Even distribution along equator from 0 degrees to 15 degrees
● TRF clustered around SEA
● Linear distribution of Congo forest West of DRC
Describe the Characteristics of the areas mangroves grow in
● Grow in areas where water is at least 20 degrees celsius
● Warm and Calm water conditions
● High Salinity to prevent competition from other plants
● Sheltered areas
Compare the Characteristics of TRF with Mangroves
Similarities
● Diversity
● Both have layers
● Leaves remain evergreen throughout the year
● Buttress roots hold ground firmly
● Waxy Leaves
Differences
● TRF Vertical layering unlike Mangroves which have
Horizontal layering How to save water?
● Take shorter showers
● Use water used to wash rice to water plants
● WELS
● Half flush
● Use a hose to wash a car
● Wash clothes on full load
Describe the structure of tropical rainforests
● Emergent layer has trees that grow up to 50m
● Canopy layer is 20-40 m in height
● Crowns interlock to form thick and continuous mass of branches and
leaves ● Undergrowth layer found beneath canopy with little sunlight and
little plants growing How have plants adapted?
● Broad leaves to get more sunlight
● Waxy leaves for glossy appearance and less water lost through
transpiration ● Drip tips on leaves for water to flow down then no
mold on leaves ● Buttress roots to support thin tall trunk of trees
Describe the Distribution of Mangroves
● Distribution North Coast of Australia
● Heavy concentration on Liberia
● Concentrated North of NZ North Island
● Heavy around south Luzon island (Philippines)
● Near or in between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn
Describe the areas mangroves grow in
● Water 20oC
 ● Warm water
● Calm water
● High salinity (less competition)
● Sheltered areas
Definitions
Define Water scarcity
● Water scarcity is the lack of fresh water resources to meet the standard
water demand Define Water stores
● Places where water is contained in
Define Hydrological cycle
● Sequence of processes that occur to ensure water is naturally
replenished ● Describe the processes
Define water budget
● Flow of water in and out of a catchment area
● Tells us how much water is available in an area
Define Floods
● Overflow of a large amount of water onto normally dry lands
Define Flash Floods
● Exceptionally heavy rainfall over a short period of time
Define River Floods
● Sustained heavy rainfall or snow and ice melting flooding areas
Define Droughts
● Long period of little to no precipitation
Define water pollution
● Harmful substances entering water bodies causing water
quality to fall Define tropical climate
● High temperature of 26-34oC
● High annual rainfall of 2500 mm/year
● High Humidity of 60-100%
● Found between tropic of cancer and tropic of capricorn
Define Natural Vegetation
● Plant life covering particular parts of the world areas
● Develops without human interference
Define Climate
● Average weather conditions of a place over a long period of time
Define Tropical Rainforests
● Main type of natural vegetation found in places that experience
tropical climate Define domestic use of water
● Use of water in the household
● Ex. Washing hands, cooking
Define industrial use of water
● Use of water in factories or for the industry
● Ex. Cooling of machines, washing of machines
Define agriculture use of water
 ● Use of water in farms
● Ex. Watering the crops
Define recreational use of water
● Use of water for human recreation
● Ex. Kayaking, swimming