geography research assignment grade 12

Geography Grade 12 Research Tasks (Topics) and Memos (SBA)

Geography Grade 12  Research Tasks (Topics) and Memos for: term 1, Term 2, Term 3 and Term 4

Assessment is a continuous planned process of identifying, gathering and interpreting information about the performance of learners, using various forms of assessment. It involves four steps: generating and collecting evidence of achievement; evaluating this evidence; recording the findings and using this information to understand and assist with the learners’ development to improve the process of learning and  teaching . Assessment should be both informal (assessment for learning) and formal (assessment of learning). In both cases regular feedback should be provided to learners to enhance the learning experience.

School-based assessment (SBA) is a purposive collection of learners’ work that tells the story of learners’ efforts, progress or achievement in given areas. The quality of SBA tasks is integral to learners’ preparation for the final examinations.

This booklet serves as a resource of four exemplar SBA tasks to schools and subject teachers of Geography. SBA marks are formally recorded by the teacher for progression and certification purposes. The SBA component is compulsory for all learners. Learners who cannot comply with the requirements specified according to the policy may not be eligible to enter for the subject in the final examination.

The formal assessment tasks provide the teacher with a systematic way of evaluating how well learners are progressing. This publication includes tests, a  project  and a case study. Formal assessment tasks form part of a year-long formal programme of assessment. These tasks should not be taken lightly and learners should be encouraged to submit their best possible efforts for final assessment.

The teachers are expected to ensure that assessment tasks are relevant to and suitable for the learners being taught. Teachers should adapt the tasks to suit learners’ level of understanding and should be context-bound; however, they should also take cognisance of the requirements as set out in the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) document.

NB: This is for guidance purposes ONLY. Learners should consult their prescribed learning material as a primary for any school assessments.

• Geography Grade 12 Research Task Term 2 Project 2023 Answer Guide: Limpopo

Video Guide

What Skills are Assessed for Research Tasks in Grade 12

The following skills are assessed. Some/All of these skills may be tested in any external examination:

• Gathering data
• Interpreting data
• Analysing data
• Comparing different sets of data
• Representing data in written, graphic or mapped format
• Problem-solving
• Drawing conclusions
• Hypothesis statements

Research framework for assessment (Guideline on administration of research task)

Step 1: Formulating a hypothesis/problem statement.

Guideline: geography grade 12 research tasks.

Step 1: Formulating a hypothesis/problem statement. As Geographers we seek to understand and explain the interactions amongst humans, and between humans and the environment in space and time. This is achieved by asking questions or making informed geographical decisions. This entails the development of a hypothesis or a problem statement to be tested.

• You have to choose a specific area of study where a geographical problem exists.
• During this stage, a geographical question showing a problem is asked.
• Identify the problem from a local area.
• Formulate a hypothesis or a problem statement. (Hypothesis research is used to prove that certain variables are dependent on or independent of each other. Problem statement research is only to highlight that a specific problem exists in a specific community.)
• You should then follow the steps of research to ensure that the geographical question is answered.

Geography Research Project Topics for Grade 12 South Africa

• The value of property along north-facing slopes is higher than the value of property along south-facing slopes in Meyersdal, Gauteng (choose local area).
• The cause of rural-urban migration in Ndwedwe, KwaZulu-Natal (choose local area), is the lack of service delivery in the health sector.
• Climate change will impact negatively on grape farming and related industries in the Western Cape.
• The closing down of many primary schools in Lusikisiki (Eastern Cape) (choose a local area) is due to a decline of the population in the age group 7 to 15 years.
• The poor condition of roads (specify the names of the roads) leading to/in Harrismith, Free State (choose local area), is due to the lack of proper planning by the local municipality.
• The impact of building a dam along the Jukskei River in Gauteng (choose local area) upstream of Alexandra will reduce flooding and the subsequent loss of life in Alexandra.
• The e-toll system will impact negatively on the economic position of people using private transport in Gauteng.
• The e-toll system will impact positively on traffic flow to the major urban centres in Gauteng.
• Informal settlements in the Vhembe district of Limpopo have low levels of development due to the lack of provision of basic needs (choose ONE informal settlement in your local area.)
• Overcrowding of informal settlements is due to the lack of proper planning by the local government (choose local area).

Step 2: Background information about an area of study

• You must explain where in South Africa the study area is located. (This can be indicated on the map.)
• Describe the study area in terms of its exact position (degrees, minutes and seconds).
• Provide relevant information about the area, for example population of the area or climate of the area.

Step 3: Mapping

• You must provide a map of the area in question.
• During this stage you must create a buffer zone around the area where the geographical problem exists.
• The map should have a clear legend/key and must be drawn to scale. The scale must be indicated on the map.
• If the map used covers a wider area, buffer zones around the area of study should be created.
• The map used should be the most recent map of the study area

Step 4: Methods of data collection

(a) PRIMARY DATA SOURCES

• The use of questionnaires
• Observations
• Field trips

(b) SECONDARY DATA SOURCES

• Newspaper articles
• Government department statistics

Step 5: Analysis and synthesis of data

• Learners must use collected data now to formulate a discussion around the existing geographical problem. • At this stage learners should represent some of the information graphically where necessary, for example graphs and sketches. • Learners must analyse graphic information during this stage.

Step 6: Recommendations and possible solutions

• Learners should now make recommendations to solve the geographical problem in question. • Learners should present their original and realistic opinions as far as they possibly can.

Step 7: Conclusion – accept or reject the hypothesis

• Learners should now take a decision to either ACCEPT or REJECT the hypothesis.
• Learners must give reasons for either ACCEPTING or REJECTING the hypothesis

Step 8: Bibliography

• Learners must include a comprehensive bibliography.
• Learners must list websites in full.
• Learners must include annexures of questionnaires and interviews conducted

View all # Geography- Grade 12 Study Resources

We have compiled great resources for Geography Grade 12 students in one place. Find all Question Papers, Notes, Previous Tests, Annual Teaching Plans, and CAPS Documents.

More Geography Grade 12 Resources

• Geography 2020 Past Papers
• Geography 2019 Past Papers

Grade 12 Geography Exam Papers and Memos for 2019 September and November

• Geography Grade 12 Research Tasks (Topics) and Memos

Useful Links

• Mid Latitude Cyclones Notes Grade 12

Geography Grade 12 2019 Exam Papers and Memos

Geography Grade 12 2020 Past Papers and Memos

Geography Mind the Gap study guide: Grade 12 Download

Read All Posts

Do you Want to Pass Your Next Exams? Join My Courses Telegram Here

Do you Need Help Regarding Your Studies/ Assignments?

You can ask any question from your subject for any Grade, including Tertiary Levels. We will do our best to ensure that you get a more relevant answer:

You May Also Like

The negative impact of radiation on the economy of South Africa

Learning about Underground Water That Feeds into a River

Geography: Teacher Guide Grade 12 Teacher’s Guide pdf

The Stage of Development of the Tropical Cyclone: A Journey Through Nature’s Most Powerful Storms

How Tropical Cyclone Eloise Impacted the Economy of Mozambique

Asthenosphere – the layer of the earth that is in a semi-molten state

Describing how the social and environmental responsibility could help to fight poverty

What are the main causes of rural-urban migration in South Africa

Rural Depopulation in South Africa Per Province: A Growing Crisis Across Provinces

An official website of the United States government

Here's how you know

Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

•   Pinterest

Latest Earthquakes |    Live WebChat   Share Social Media  

Lesson Plans & Activities 9-12

Please see below for lessons and activities.

Biology/Ecosystems  ||  Geography  ||  Geology  ||  Global Change  ||  Natural Hazards  ||  Oceans/Coasts  ||  Water

Biology/Ecosystems

Wildlife and Contaminants - Lessons A series of lessons targeted to high school students that introduces the topic of ecotoxicology and guides students through the scientific process of gathering raw data and drawing conclusions about the impact of contaminants on wildlife.   

Become a Phenology Observer - Activity The National Phenology Network (sponsored by the USGS) is looking for volunteers to help monitor plant and animal species found across the United States. Learn how to monitor plant and animal phenology and sign up to contribute new observations to the national phenology database. Make this a classroom project!

Lessons on the Lake: An Educator's Guide to the Pontchartrain Basin - Lessons Louisiana's Lake Pontchartrain Basin is home to 1.5 million people and an estuary ecosystem with enormous biodiversity. Activities in the educator's guide help students in grades 5-12 gain an understanding and appreciation of the Basin and teaches them the skills to identify environmental concerns, make changes, and solve problems.

Land and People - Activity Students look at interactions between people and the environment in three regions of the United States: Cape Cod, Los Angeles, and the Everglades. Targeted to grades 7-12.

Interactive San Francisco Bay Data - Activity Look at plots of data collected from the water of San Francisco Bay, then generate your own plots using real data. How does a change in light penetration compare to water temperature? Does a change in salinity correspond with a change in chlorophyll?

Topographic Map Resources for Teachers - Lessons and Activities This directory level site includes links to various resources on topographic maps, how to obtain them, read them, their history, and map projections and includes links to various teaching activities and modules. It is the one-stop shop for learning about, using, and teaching topographic map concepts.

I ntroduction to Soils - Lessons A series of lessons teaching high school students about soils and linking them to climate, vegetation, and geology.

Exploring Maps - Lesson Exploring Maps  is an interdisciplinary set of materials on mapping for grades 7-12.  Students will learn basic mapmaking and map-reading skills and will see how maps can answer fundamental geographic questions.  The map images and activities in this packet can be used in various courses, including geography, history, math, art, English, and the sciences.   

Constructing a 3D Topographic Map - Activity This exercise uses clear plastic take-out lids, each marked with a different elevation line, and stacked to produce a 3D topographic map. It includes a base map of Angel Island (San Francisco Bay) but can be adapted to any local topographic feature.

27 Ideas for Teaching with Topographic Maps - Activity Contains 27 ideas for teaching with the approximately 57,000 topographic maps that the USGS offers.

Map Mysteries - Lesson Sample questions to use with USGS topographic and thematic maps as starting points to uncover mysteries about the cultural and physical geography of the Earth.

Corn Maze Geography - Activity Visit a corn maze and use these activities to learn about maps and geography.

How to Use a Compass with a USGS Topographic Map - Activity Learn to navigate using a topographic map and a compass.

Map-It: Form-based Simple Map Generator - Activity Enter the longitude and latitude of points to plot on a simple map. Download a postscript version of the resulting map.   Satellite Imagery

Tracking Change over Time - Activity Enhance students' learning of geography, map reading, earth science, and problem solving through landscape changes recorded by satellites in space.

AmericaView - Lessons USGS is a partner in AmericaView, which has lesson plans and other education resources for working with satellite imagery. Mostly targeted to grades 6-12.

Journey Along a Field Line - Activity A sixteen-page comic book about the Earth's magnetic field. Travel down through the interior of the earth then back up into the ionosphere to learn how the magnetic field works.

Antarctic Ice Sheet - Lessons and Activities This report illustrates, through a paper model, why there are changes on the ice sheet that covers the Antarctica continent. By studying the paper model, students will better understand the evolution of the Antarctic ice sheet. Animations mentioned in the Educator Guides are no longer available.

Chicxulub Impact Event - Lessons and Activities This report illustrates, by means of two paper models, how dinosaurs may have become extinct as a result of an asteroid impact. By studying the paper models, students will better understand the mass extinctions that have been part of the Earth's history. Animations mentioned in the Educator Guides are no longer available.

Crinoids - Lessons and Activities This report illustrates, through the use of a paper model, how crinoids lived and became fossilized. By studying the paper model, students will better understand the flower-like animal that is referred to as a "sea lily" and its ocean-floor environment. Animations mentioned in the Educator Guides are no longer available.

How to Construct Four Paper Models that Describe Island Coral Reefs - Activity This report contains instructions and patterns for preparing a set of four, three-dimensional paper models that schematically illustrate the development of island coral.

Make Your Own Paper Fossils - Lessons and Activities This report illustrates, by means of paper models, how two organisms, a trilobite and a nautiloid, became fossils. The report is intended to help students and others visualize the size and shape of a trilobite and a nautiloid, the environment in which they lived, and the circumstances of their fossilization and subsequent discovery. Animations mentioned in the Educator Guides are no longer available.

Make Your Own Paper Model of a Volcano - Lessons and Activities

This report contains instructions and a pattern for making a three-dimensional paper model of a volcano. This model is intended to help students and others to visualize a stratovolcano (inside and out) and to learn some of the terms used by geologists in describing it.

Paper Model Showing Motion on the San Andreas Fault - Activity This report contains instructions and patterns for preparing a three-dimensional model that schematically illustrates the fault motion that occurred during the Loma Prieta earthquake of October 17, 1989, in California. The model is intended to help students and others visualize the process of fault slip during earthquakes.

Sand Dunes - Lessons and Activities This report illustrates, through computer animations and paper models, why sand dunes can develop different forms. By studying the animations and the paper models, students will better understand the evolution of sand dunes.

How to construct 7 paper models that describe faulting of the Earth - Activity This report contains instructions and patterns for preparing seven three-dimensional paper models that schematically illustrate common earth faults and associated landforms.

2 Paper Models Showing the Effects of Glacial Ice on a Mountain Valley - Activity This report contains instructions and templates for preparing three-dimensional paper models of two features a mountain valley partly filled by a glacier and the same valley after the glacier has melted. Included are brief descriptions of how such glaciers form, how they erode the landscape, and what kinds of physiographic features they produce.

Earthquake Effects - Lessons and Activities The report is intended to help students and others visualize what causes earthquake shaking and some of the possible results of the shaking. Animations mentioned in the Educator Guides are no longer available.

Landslide Effects - Lessons and Activities This report illustrates how four different types of landslides (slide, slump, flow, and rockfall) occur and what type of damage may result. The report is intended to help students and others visualize what causes landslides and some of the possible result of the landslides. Animations mentioned in the Educator Guides are no longer available.

Plate Tectonics Tennis Ball Globe - Activity Create a mini globe that shows the major plate boundaries of the world (scroll to page 15).

This Dynamic Planet Teaching Companion Packet - Lessons and Activities This Teaching Companion is intended to assist teachers to teach plate tectonics, primarily for grades 6–14.

Schoolyard Geology - Activities - under construction Structured activities use man-made features that are found in a typical schoolyard to demonstrate geologic principles.

The Lifecycle of a Mineral Deposit - Activities A teacher's guide for hands-on mineral education activities. Designed to meet the National Science Standards, this product includes 10 activity-based learning exercises that educate students on basic geologic concepts; the processes of finding, identifying, and extracting the resources from a mineral deposit; and the uses of minerals. Geared for fifth through eighth grade science teachers.  

Collecting Rocks - Activity Learn about different types of rocks and how to identify and collect them.

What's in My Soil? - Activity Students separate, examine and identify the major components of soil to better understand how these components give soil its unique physical characteristics.

Introduction to Soils - Lesson This complete lesson plan teaches students how soils develop and provides links between soils, climate, vegetation, and geology. Includes materials for both teachers and students (handout, puzzle, field and lab sheets).

Graded Bedding - Activity Students are introduced to the concept of graded bedding, in which particles are sorted by size as they settle out of suspension. Students will discover that water is a good medium to separate and sort particles, and that particles have different behaviors in water and air.

Geologic Age - Activity Students investigate radioactivity as a tool for measuring geologic time.

Global Change

Greenhouse Gases - Activity Students observe and contrast thermal properties of three major greenhouse changes over time for dry air, water-saturated air, carbon dioxide, and methane.

Evaluating Glacier and Landscape Change - Lesson In this lesson students interpret USGS data in multiple formats and draw conclusions based on the data presented. 

Natural Hazards

Tabletop Earthquakes - Activity Construct a simple earthquake machine to demonstrate the principles of seismology. Includes supporting instructional material. 

Size and Occurrence of Floods - Activity Students use macaroni or beans to calculate the statistics of floor recurrence (see back side of poster).

Living with a Volcano in your Backyard - Activities A three-unit guide that provides science content and inquiry-based activities about volcanoes of the Cascade Range for middle-school students, with an emphasis on Mount Ranier. Includes more than 30 activities, a field guide, glossary, and supplementary information.

Predict an Eruption! - Activities This highly interactive site uses animations, illustrations, activities, and quizzes to show how eruptions at Mount St. Helens were accurately predicted by USGS scientists, then allows students to predict an actual eruption using real data.

Oceans/Coasts

The Fragile Fringe: A Guide for Teaching about Coastal Wetlands - Background Information and Activities Material to use for developing a comprehensive study of coastal wetlands.  Includes background information, suggested activities, glossary, references, and reading list. Activities can be demonstrated by the teacher or performed by students. Emphasis is on Gulf Coast wetlands.   

Hands-on Experiments to Test for Acid Mine Drainage - Activities Fourteen very basic exercises use home-made litmus paper and household items to test creek water for acid mine drainage and to look at plants, bacteria, and insects living in the water.

Ask a River to Text You with a WaterAlert - Activity Incorporate real-time data in the classroom by receiving instant, customized updates about water conditions at a specific river through WaterAlert.

Outreach Notebook for Groundwater - Lessons Five groundwater-related lesson plans for grades 6-8, complete with forms, diagrams, and supporting information. Although these were designed to be taught by an instructor and a water professional working together, a thoughtful educator could easily handle the lessons on their own.