3 mistakes learners make with people and places, each one named and explained.
Settlement, development and movement follow reasons that can be measured and compared.
A high infant mortality rate is treated as a sign of development, or a low one as a problem.
Some indicators go up as things improve and others go down, and which is which has to be recalled rather than reasoned.
Question. A country's infant mortality rate falls sharply. What does this suggest?
A common answer. Conditions are getting worse
The answer. Health care and conditions are improving
Why. Infant mortality counts deaths, so a lower figure is a better outcome. Indicators that count bad things fall as life improves.
Ask what the indicator counts before deciding which direction is good.
Migration is explained by the shortage it produced, or flooding by the damage it caused.
Cause and effect appear in the same paragraph, and once the link is known either end can look like the start.
Question. Why do people migrate to cities?
A common answer. Because cities become crowded
The answer. Because cities offer work and services
Why. Crowding is a consequence of migration, not its reason. The pull factor comes first.
Ask which one had to exist first.
A local answer is given to a global question, or a world pattern is used to explain one valley.
The same words describe both scales, so the size of the answer drifts from the size of the question.
Question. Explain why one village floods.
A common answer. Because global sea levels are rising
The answer. Because of its own relief, drainage and land use
Why. A global trend may raise the risk everywhere, but it cannot explain why this village floods and its neighbour does not.
Match the scale of the answer to the scale of the question.
WAJD spots these patterns in your child's answers and names the one behind their wrong answers, instead of just marking them wrong.