Apex Education Solutions

November 2018 A’ Level Geography Paper 3

Question 3: Geographic Information Systems
Review
(Review Release Date: 12 December 2018)

Quantum GIS (QGIS) 3.4.2

Summary:
We have received a number of calls and messages in which learners and
teachers have been asking for clarification o n a number of issues concerning
question 3 in the 2018 A Level Geography Paper.

This being the first paper to be written it is expected that there be some grey
areas, however we believe in the coming year the presentation of questions
will improve. We have decided to draft this review as a guide to those revising
the paper, however we did not provided an answer for the question but we
drafted a similar sample question for which we provided guidelines for
answering it. The first section is a brief review of the concerns in the wording
and structuring of the actual examination question.

Disclaimer:
This review does not represent the views of the national examinations body or
any government department. This review has been developed by education
resources consultants (Apex Education Solutions) and made available for
revision purposes only. However this review will also be shared with relev ant
authorities for their consideration .

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The examination question:

3 GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS

(a) You are provided with a scanned map of Bindura 1: 50 000. Use Quantum GIS 2.18
to Georeference the map.

(i) Add the following ground control points (coordinates) [4]

X Y
315 000 8 089 000
318 000 8 089 000
315 000 8 087 000
318 000 8 087 000

(ii) Produce a hard copy of the map showing the added points. [3]

NB: Each hard copy to have candidate name, candidate number and
centre number.

(iii) Georeference the map and produce a hard copy.

(b) Using the Georeferenced map of Bindura, digitise the following features bound by
area :
E314000 and N8090000
E322000 and N8090000
E314000 and N8086000
E322000 and N8086000

(i) Mazowe river [2]

(ii) Cultivation (Insingizi Estate) [2]

(iii) Huts [2]

(iv) Tracks [2]

(v) Road [1]

(vi) Quarry [1]

(c) Produce a hardcopy for the digitised map: [1]

NB: Each hard copy to have candidate name, centre number and candidate
number.

(d) Outline the problems you encountered whilst carrying out this task and how
you solved them [7]
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The review:

In this section we will discuss general perception on the structuring of the question and the
allocation of marks.

(1) The structure and choice of words used in part (a) of the question is quite confusing and
there were no guidelines for learners who are at entry level of practical GIS work.

 First and foremost, the question states that (Quantum GIS) QGIS 2.18 should be
used to georeference the map. We believe this specification is unnecessary as any
older or newer version of QGIS would still produce the same results!

Such a statement may cause some learners to shun the question and yet they
could have tackled it well with any QGIS version they have on their machines.

 Part (i) reads ‘Add the following ground control points (coordinates)’, it is not
clear whether the points are to be added as a delimited text layer or they are for
georeferencing the map.

 Part (ii) instructs the learner to produce a hard copy of the map showing the
added points. At this point the georefencing is not complete yet, so what map is
the learner supposed to produce and how?

On another note, if the ground control points (GCPs) specified in the question are
for georeferencing, then this is a poor choice since all of them are in the top left
quadrant of the map. GCPs must be well distributed over the whole map. If one is
using only four GCPs preferably they should be close to the four corners of the
map.

In this case the learners should have been left to choose the GCPs on their own
such that the examiner also checks if the learners adhere to the principle
mentioned above.

 Part (iii) instructs the learner to georeference the map and produce a hard copy,
but no marks are allocated to this task.

(2) Part (b) of the question requires the learner to digitise a number of features bound by a
specified area. This part of the question is very clear however there are so many roads and
tracks to be digitised yet few marks are allocated for that.

(3) Part (c) requires the learner to produce a hard copy of the digitised map, but just for one
mark!! The digitised data needs to be presented with good symbols, the map needs
decorations like key, direction arrow, scale et cetera and all this cannot be done for one
mark.

(4) Part (d) requires the learner to outline the problems they encountered whilst carrying out
the task and how they solved them. We struggled to figure out how such a question
examines a learners understanding of basic GIS principles, we believe the practical
should be straightforward without any problems.
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This is our sample question:

3 GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Background and notes:

You are provided with a scanned extract of the 1: 50 000 topographic map of Bindura.
You are advised to carry out this task using Quantum GIS software since guidelines
provided apply to QGIS. However you may also use any other GIS software available
to you as long as you are familiar with it.

On this scanned map is an estate called Insingisi Estate. The new Estate Manager, Mr
Zulu, created a simple hardcopy A4 size map showing the estate boundaries and some
key features within the estate boundary shown on Page 5. You have been tasked to
produce a map almost similar to that one by carefully following the steps outlined
below.

You are advised to save your project and also save feature edits at each of steps to
avoid losing time should your software crash for any reason. Your final map should
have your candidate name, candidate number and centre number.

a) Using any four ground control points of your choice, georeference the scanned
map and load the georeferenced map to QGIS canvas when done. [5]

Note:

If you do not find the Georeferencer on the Raster menu follow these steps to
activate it:

 Click on Plugins menu

 Then click on Manage and Install Plugins
 Click on All tab on the left
 Identify the plugin call Georeferencer GDAL and tick its box
 Close that dialog box then check for the Georeferencer on Raster!

b) Using the map you have georeferenced and loaded onto the QGIS canvas,
digitise the following features:

i. Capture the estate cadastral boundary (represented by black lines on

the map) and represent it as a black line with thickness 0.6 mm. [2]

ii. Capture Mazowe river and represent it as a blue line of thickness 1.5 mm [2]

iii. Capture the tarred road stretch within the estate and represent it as a red
line of thickness 1 mm. [2]

iv. Capture the railway line stretch within the estate and represent it with
an appropriate symbol. [2]
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c) Open a new Print Layout with an A4 page.

i. Add the map you created in (b) [1]

ii. Add an appropriate title [1]

iii. Add a Key (Legend) [2]

iv. Add Scale Bar [1]

v. Add direction arrow [1]

vi. Add a grid with thin dotted lines and coordinates

(without decimal places) [3]

vii. Export the map as an image and print [3]

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Guidelines to answering our sample question:

Part (a)

The first step is to open a new QGIS project and then save it with an appropriate name. It is
important to save your work as a project and also regularly save the project as you proceed.
GIS software sometimes freezes or crushes, if you saved your work as a project it is easier to
restart as you just reopen the project and continue.

Fig 1

To save your project click on the Save or Save As icons on the Project Toolbar highlighted in
Fig 1. You may click on menu item Project and then choose Save or Save As on the drop
down menu. The dialog box shown in Fig 2 will come out

Fig 2
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On the dialog box in Fig 2, first create a folder to save the project in, a folder called Insingizi
Estate Project has been created in Fig 2.

After that enter the File Name which in essence is the name of the project, in Fig 2 the
project name is Insingizi Project.

Note that before saving, the project is labelled Untitled Project on the top left of the user
interface (Fig 1) but after saving its then labelled as Insingizi Project as shown in Fig 3.

Fig 3

Georeferencing in QGIS is done on a dedicated interface called the Georeferencer found on

the Raster menu. Click on Raster menu and check if Georeferencer is available, if not follow
these steps to activate it.

 Click on Plugins menu

 Then click on Manage and Install Plugins
 Click on Installed on the left
 Identify the plugin call Georeferencer GDAL and tick its box
 Close that dialog box then check for the Georeferencer on Raster menu!

To open the georeferencer interface click on Georeferencer in Raster Menu, then a new
interface comes up, maximise the interface so it covers the whole screen.

The georeferencer interface is shown in Fig 4. To add the scanned map to the georeferencer,
click on Open Raster icon highlighted in Fig 4 and a dialog box will come out.

Navigate to the folder containing your map and then click on the map and click Open on the
dialog box then the map is added onto the georeferencer as shown in Fig 5.

The next step is to add Ground Control Points (GCPs); these are points of known coordinates
that the software will use to calculate the coordinates of the rest of the pixels on the scanned
map. That in essence is the process of georeferencing!
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Fig 4

Fig 5

In this task we will use just four GCPs; the GCPs must be selected from near the four corners
of the scanned map.

Use the Zoom In icon (labelled 1 in Fig 5) to zoom onto the top left corner of the map as
shown in Fig 6. We will use the point labelled 1 as our first GCP.

The coordinates of that point are 315000mE and 8 089 000mN. To add the point click on the
Add Point icon labelled 2 in Fig 6 and a dialog box comes out. Enter the coordinates as
shown in Fig 7 and click OK.
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Fig 6

Fig 7

Once you click OK and the GCP is recorded, a red dot will appear on the point. Repeat this
process for the remaining three GCPs, such that your georeferencer appears like one in Fig 8.

Fig 8 clearly shows the four GCPs selected on the map and their coordinates in the GCPs
table.

The transformation settings have not been defined yet, as indicated in 2 in Fig 8 and as you
can see the residuals are not being shown in the GCPs table.
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Fig 8

Click on Settings menu and then click on Transformation Settings and a dialog box in Fig 9
will come out, fill in the dialogue box as illustrated and click OK.

Fig 9
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After defining the transformation settings your georeferencer looks something like the one in
Fig 10 below.

Fig 10

Click on the start georeferencing icon highlighted in Fig 10 and then your georeferenced map
will be loaded onto the main QGIS canvas. Minimise the georeferencer interface and inspect
the map loaded onto the main canvas, it should look as one in Fig 11, your map is fine you
can even close the georeferencer.

Fig 11
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Part (b)

All features we are required to digitise in part (b) of the question can be represented as lines
therefore to save time we can create one shapefile layer and then capture all features on that
layer.

To create a new shapefile click on New Shapefile icon highlighted in Fig 11 and a dialog box
will come out, fill it as illustrated in Fig 12.

Fig 12

After creating the new shapefile digitise the stated line features such that your layer attribute
table looks similar or close to the one in Fig 13.

In order to apply the specified symbology or styling to the features you have to apply the
Rule Based as presented in Fig 14.

After applying the symbology to your layer your map should look like the one in Fig 16. Hide
the raster layer and remain with only the digitised features on the canvas, your project should
look like one in Fig 15.

The project is now ready for the Print Layout.

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Fig 13

Fig 14
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Fig 15

Fig 16
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Part (c)

Click on the New Print Layout icon highlighted in Fig 16 and the new interface in Fig 17 will
come out.

Fig 17

Use icons highlighted as 1 to 5 to add the new map, direction arrow, title, key and scale bar
respectively. In the exam situation you also use icon 3 to add a text box with your details,
remember this is very critical!

Use the section labelled Grids on the Map Item Properties to add your grid as instructed.
After carefully following these guidelines, your output map should look similar to the one on
Page 5.