ISF

IB Diploma
Internal Assessment
Geography
Guide for students
2016-2017

ISF INTERNAL ASSESSMENT GEOGRAPHY

2016/2017
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Inside this guide you will find:

Information and instructions on the fieldtrips,
research questions, aims and hypotheses (pages 211)
The official assessment criteria (pages 12-21)
A checklist (page 23)
An example of a similar assessment that we will be
doing (pages 24-48)
Examples of maps of the area (pages 49-51)
Land Use codes/ graph ideas (pages 52-55)
Example questionnaires and tally for counting
pedestrians.
The basics:
- This is worth 25% (SL) or 20% (HL) of your final
Geography IB score
- Based on the Urban Environments topic
- Need primary and (secondary) information
- Maximum 2500 words
- Marked by me BUT sent away for moderation
The Deadlines:
- Fieldtrips (weeks 3 and 4, term 1)
- First draft due week 9, term 1. If this is not handed in
do NOT EXPECT THE SAME LEVEL OF FEEDBACK VERY
IMPORTANT. I CAN ONLY COMMENT ON ONE DRAFT
- Feedback on first draft during week 1, term 2.
- FINAL deadline, week 4, term 2 (after Christmas
break)
- Late submissions WILL be penalized and could lose
the formal requirements marks.

Internal Assessment fieldtrips.

At each of the locations over the 2 trips you will do the
following:
- Land use survey compare the number and types of shops
and draw sketch maps
- Count the number of pedestrians for 10 minutes in each area
give detail, times etc and justify why you are doing this
when writing the report
- Count parking spaces in each area
- Conduct questionnaires
We will do the fieldwork together and you can share resources for
this BUT the writing will be your OWN work.
Research Question:
How do retail patterns vary between three different
locations in an urban area?
Aims:
To analyse and investigate the retail patterns, including size
and function, of three retail centres using both Christallers
model of central places and Reillys theory of retail
To review the extent to which these models apply to three
retail centres in an urban area (ie Frankfurt!)
Hypotheses:
1. Smaller centres will only provide convenience goods and
services & fewer types of functions; larger centres will have a
greater variety and supply of both convenience and comparison
goods
2. The hinterland threshold (sphere of influence) and population
pull of the central place will increase with its size.
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3. The time spent at the central place will positively correlate with
the distance travelled to reach the central place.

General theory related to the assessment:

Christallers model of central places
1. The larger the settlements are in size, the fewer in number they will be, i.e.
there are many small villages, but few large cities.
2. The larger the settlements grow in size, the greater the distance between
them, i.e. villages are usually found close together, while cities are spaced
much further apart.
3. As a settlement increases in size, the range and number of its functions will
increase.
4. As a settlement increases in size, the number of higher-order services will
also increase, i.e. a greater degree of specialization occurs in the services.

Reillys theory of retail

Reilly realized that the larger a city the larger a trade area it would have and thus it
would draw from a larger hinterland around the city. Two cities of equal size have a
trade area boundary midway between the two cities. When cities are of unequal
size, the boundary lies closer to the smaller city, giving the larger city a larger trade
area.
Reilly called the boundary between two trade areas the breaking point (BP). On that
line, exactly half the population shops at either of the two cities.
The formula (below right) is used between two cities to find the BP between the two.
The distance between the two cities is divided by one plus the result of dividing the
population of city b by the population of city a. The resulting BP is the distance from
city a to the 50% boundary of the trade area. One can determine the complete
trade area of a city by determining the BP between multiple cities or centers.
Reilly's law presumes that the cities are on a flat plain without any rivers, freeways,
political boundaries, consumer preferences, or mountains to modify an individual's
progress toward a city.

Instructions for field study day 1:

You are visiting three different locations. This will
take place in week 3, term 1.
1) Zeil Strasse
- Start at McDonalds on Grosse Freiburger Strasse and walk
towards Hauptwache U-Bahn
- Finish at Grosse Eschenheiner Strasse

2) Friedberger Landstrasse
Take tram 12 or bus 30 north from Konstablerwache Station
Go 2 stops, get off at Rohrbachstrasse or Friedbergerplatz
Continue walking north on Friedberger Landstrasse
Start at Kosel Strasse (road sign on left hand side of street)
End at Glauburgstrasse
You should see a bakers shop at the end of study area

3) Leipziger Strasse (Bockenheimer Warte)

- Take U4 to Bockenheimer Warte
- Exit at Westbahnhof-Universitatsbibliothek
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- Look down street for o2 shop

- Start at the o2 shop Leipziger Strasse-Grafstrasse
- End at Leipziger Strasse-Markgrafenstrasse

You will be split into 3 groups so you can visit each area at
different times (This may change!).
TIME
9.15
10.45
11.00
12.30
12.30
1.30
1.30 3.00

GROUP 1
ZEIL

GROUP 2
FRIEDBERGER

GROUP 3
LEIPZIGER

FRIEDBERGER

LEIPZIGER

ZEIL

LUNCH

LUNCH

LUNCH

LEIPZIGER

ZEIL

FRIEDBERGER

Preparation for field trip 1:

Read the marking criteria and example in this booklet!
-

You need:
Many pens (different colours may be useful)
Binder/ folder to write on
Camera/ phone for photos
Money for lunch
Watch/ phone for time
Appropriate clothing

Meeting place at start of the day 9am Conrad on the Zeil

Meeting place at end of the day 3.30pm Conrad on the

Zeil
Remember you are trying to prove (or otherwise) the hypotheses
as laid out in the guide. For this part you are looking at hypothesis
1:
Smaller centres will only provide convenience goods and services
& fewer types of functions; larger centres will have a greater
variety and supply both convenience and comparison goods
At each location you should be doing the following:
To make a Land Use map
- You will make a rough map (not the one you hand in!)
- Draw the outline of your study area, including streets,
parking spots, shop boundaries.
- Enter the Land Use code for each of these with the codes
given in this booklet
- You should also take pictures of your study area, showing the
different land uses. Take as many as you can you may want
to use these in your assessment.
After the fieldtrip
- Share photos and maps with your group
- Bring all information to class.
- Make a new map, neat version (if you have the technical
know-how you may do this on the computer, but hand drawn
may be easier).
- Again, plot on the Land Use codes
- Colour each Land Use, using the legend in this booklet
- Make graphs to show this, to aid your investigation
o I suggest circular graphs (pie charts) to show the
percentage of Comparison (goods that are bought
irregularly such as TVs) and Convenience (everyday
goods such as newspapers, groceries) Goods and
Services
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- Start writing up this element of the report this is now your

own work. Ensure to use the guidelines I have given you and
use geographical terminology. Always relate back to the
hypothesis and aims. When describing/ evaluating what you
have done give as much detail as possible (ie time of day,
weather conditions etc.).
Preparation for field trip 2 (this will take place in week 4):
-

You need:
Many pens (different colours may be useful)
Binder/ folder to write on
Camera/ phone with camera
Questionnaires (20 copies each)
Tallies for pedestrian counts
Money for lunch
Watch/ phone for time
Appropriate clothing (it may be cold!)

At each location there will be a teacher there.

Meeting place at start of the day 9am Conrad on the Zeil
Meeting place at end of the day 3.30pm Conrad on the
Zeil
Remember you are trying to prove (or otherwise) the hypotheses
as laid out in the guide. For this part you are looking at
hypotheses 2, 3:
2. The hinterland threshold (sphere of influence) and population
pull of the central place will increase with its size.
3. The time spent at the central place will positively correlate with
the distance travelled to reach the central place.

1. Pedestrian tallies

- Take any extra pictures which you may have missed on the
first trip
- Do a pedestrian count at each location
- Ensure you note down exactly where you are standing, when
you have done it and the current weather conditions you
will need to write this up in your report
- For 10 minutes count every person (over the age of 5) that
walks by. Avoid delivery people or people who walk by more
than once
2. Parking count
- Count every type of parking spot on your street.
3. Questionnaires
- Complete questionnaires
You will be in the same groups as fieldtrip 1 and the locations are
also the same.
After fieldtrip 2
- Bring all copies of questionnaires and documents to class
- Share photos with your group
- Write up this section of your assessment.
You will now have all the information you need to write up the
whole report. You need to include all the theory (Christaller and
Reilly) and suggest how this relates to your assessment. Is to be
theoretical and not descriptive.

Linking your study to the Hypotheses and Aims.

OPTIONAL EXTRA HYPOTHESIS:

Hypothesis 1 That smaller centres will only provide

I have come to the conclusion this is unnecessary, however if
convenience goods and services & fewer types of functions; larger
you WANT to add more to your study, you will need to add one
centres
have to
a greater
variety and
supply
morewill
question
your questionnaire
how
muchboth
haveconvenience
you spent
and on
comparison
goods
and
services.
this trip and can follow the instructions below (it is very
similar to the hypothesis 3).

- Create a graph similar to figure 2.1 of the example

Hypotheses
4 - Theyour
totalmaps
amount
money spent
will
assessment (using
andof
population
counts)
have a positive correlation with the distance travelled
- Create a pie chart of each location similar to figure 4.5 (use
by the consumer.
maps and graphs to organize each land use into
- Create a Spearmans
Correlation
with the
convenience,
comparison Rank
and/ or
other). Formula
= % of
dataXyou
collected,
looking at money spent
function
3.6have
= ______
degrees.
Comparison goods = goods that consumers buy at infrequent
intervals and would compare prices for eg televisions, fridges etc.
Convenience goods = widely distributed and relatively
inexpensive everyday items eg newspapers, milk etc.
Other = open space, commercial etc. Think RICEPOTS.
Hypothesis 2 - The hinterland threshold (sphere of influence)
and population pull of the central place will increase with its size.
The evidence to prove/ disprove this is:
The distance people travelled (Questionnaire)
The pedestrian count
The parking space count
You need to find out WHERE people came from
postcodes would be useful
You could also/ instead work out the AVERAGE distances
people travelled to each place

 You should have:

The theory on Reillys breaking point
Calculate this breaking point for your 3 areas (use the
10 minute pedestrian count as threshold population
OR change the formula to do it as number of shops and
use the large Frankfurt maps)
A should always be the larger centre, and should have
a larger hinterland.
Have a map showing the three areas with the breaking
point for each
The one with the largest breaking point will have the
largest hinterland (ie people have travelled the
furthest)
You can then analyse these join lines together on a
separate map.
Parking spots can indicate carrying capacity
You can also create more maps to show distances
between field study areas and shopper areas
(questionnaires). You can do this either hand-drawn or
via a web program. The link below is useful.
http://distancecalculator.globefeed.com/Germany_Dista
nce_Calculator.asp
AND/ OR create a map similar to figure 4.8 by
overlaying Hinterlands of each area onto a base
transportation map (can use google maps for this)
Does the Zeil have the largest hinterland? Can we
accept the hypothesis?

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Hypotheses 3 - The time spent at the central place will

positively correlate with the distance travelled to reach the
central place.
- Create a Spearmans Rank Correlation with the data you
have collected, looking at time spent and distance travelled
from questionnaire.
Bibliography
- Include all references, such as articles, books, internet
references, maps, photos, textbooks used. You should do this
as you are working on it so you dont have to go back.
Remember:
- Use the checklist and sample assessment for structuring
your assessment.
- Be very careful with the word-limit see the marking
guidelines
- You should put a copy of the questionnaire and the results of
Spearmans in your appendices
- Reference secondary information (theories)
- Look carefully at the marking requirements to ensure you do
not lose marks easily
- It is a good idea to divide your assessment up based on the
guidelines
- Therefore, ensure you have a title page, introduction,
conclusion and evaluation in addition to the main body
see sample
- When using diagrams/ photos/ maps, always put them as a
figure and refer to them in the text.
- Number all your pages
- It is your work! Be original, enjoy it and do your best!

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N.B. REMEMBER THERE IS AN OPTION TO DO A 4TH

HYPOTHESIS AS EARLIER IT MAY ADD TO YOUR IA IF YOU
ARE STRUGGLING. ASK ME IF YOU WISH TO DO THIS AND
ENSURE YOU ADD THE EXTRA QUESTION TO YOUR
QUESTIONNAIRE.

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