Geography: Human and Physical Systems
This domain tests how physical processes shape Earth’s surface and how human populations use, modify, and are affected by environments. Questions ask you to read maps, explain spatial patterns, and connect physical and human systems.
Physical systems
- Plate tectonics explains earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountain belts at convergent, divergent, and transform boundaries.
- Climate is shaped by latitude, altitude, ocean currents, prevailing winds, and landforms. The water cycle moves moisture between oceans, atmosphere, and land.
- Biomes and soils vary with climate and topography, shaping what can be farmed or settled.
Human systems
- Population distribution reflects physical conditions, economic opportunity, and history. Migration is driven by push factors such as conflict or drought and pull factors such as jobs or safety.
- Urbanization concentrates people and creates land-use patterns, transport needs, and pollution.
- Culture regions and economic activities connect places through trade, communication, and migration.
Worked example
A coastal mountain range receives moist ocean winds. As air rises on the windward slope, it cools and condenses, producing heavy rain. On the leeward side, descending air warms and dries, so the interior is arid. That explains why a coastal city may be wet while a nearby inland town is dry; the cause is topographic lifting, not latitude alone.
Traps that cost marks
Confusing weather with climate; assuming latitude alone explains temperature; treating map projections as neutral; claiming correlation proves causation; and ignoring how people adapt to hazards rather than only suffer them.