Controlled Assessment - Geographical Issue Investigation


Resources for Year 10 students, June 2012

 

Download the instruction sheet here

 

These resources should be used to help you complete section A of your controlled assessment.

 

Article about the increasing demand for water - from Wikipedia

Article about the uses of water - from Wikipedia

Wikipedia references

Open University Learning Module about water transfer

Water stress maps

Article about the Colorado River

Article about the Central Arizona Project - from Wikipedia

Central Arizona Project FAQ

 

These resources should be used to help you complete section B of your controlled assessment.

 

We suggest you investigate the following individuals/groups opinions about the project. Make sure you focus on what they think about the water transfer project.

 

Tucson Water Company - the company buy a lot of the CAP water

http://cms3.tucsonaz.gov/ocsd/water-regional

 

NB. Here is a quote from their website:

 

"Colorado River water is delivered through the Central Arizona Project (CAP). Beginning high in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and Wyoming, the Colorado River provides water for 7 states, including Arizona, before it enters the Sea of Cortez in Mexico. Tucson’s portion of Colorado River water is about 44 billion gallons each year. The water is delivered to Tucson through the Central Arizona Project canal, a 335-mile long channel that begins near Lake Havasu, passes through the Phoenix area and rural Pinal County, and ends about 15 miles south of Tucson. Construction of the canal began in 1973 and took more than 20 years to complete.

Most of the Colorado River water delivered is put into recharge basins in Avra Valley at the Clearwater Renewable Resource Facility. The water sinks into the earth and blends with the native groundwater in the aquifer. The blend is then recovered by a number of wells and treated before delivery to Tucson Water customers. The use of this blended water reduces our reliance on groundwater and has allowed a number of wells to be shut off, allowing the water table to recover from over-pumping."

 

 

You should also consider what the citizens of Tucson think about the project. Do they like it or not? Does it matter to them whether or not the water table falls? Why?

 

Cocopah Indians - badly affected by the fact that the Colorado River is drying up before it reaches their lands

http://www.kumeyaay.info/cocopah.html?http%3A//www.kumeyaay.info/cocopah/cucapa_el_mayor.html

http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/Ce-Cr/Colorado-River-Basin.html#ixzz1zfoWBbPe

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/15/opinion/where-the-colorado-river-runs-dry.html

 

Consider how the CAP has affected the Cocopah Indians' lifestyle.

 

Chemehuevi Indians - their reservation was flooded to make way for Lake Havasu and the tribe were displaced

http://www.parkerpioneer.net/centennial/12.pdf

 

Consider how the Chemehuevi might feel about the CAP and explain why they might feel this way. Try to include a quote from the article if you can.

 

Examples of marked controlled assessments

 

These scripts were made available at the Teacher Standardisation Meeting held in Bournville in November 2010. The course leader suggested that they should be shared with candidates.

 

The scripts and commentaries have all been password-protected as this part of the website is only for students and teachers at Chesterton Community College.

 

The password is the name of the school hall that is nearest to the Geography Department. You need to begin the password with a capital letter as it is the name of a place!

 

Script C - The move towards renewable energy in the UK - specimen from AQA website

Script C - Examiner's commentary - specimen from AQA website

 

Script E - Nuclear Power

Script E - Examiner's commentary

 

Script F - Nuclear Power

Script F - Examiner's commentary

 

Script G - Water shortages in an MEDC

Script G - Examiner's commentary

 

Script H - Water shortages in an MEDC

Script H - Examiner's commentary