Unit 5 Markscheme - Plate Tectonics
Use this markscheme to check your own answers. If you're unsure then ask a teacher to give you a hand. With practice you should be able to mark your own work.
You might find it useful to look at the Standard GCSE Markscheme.
This explains a little more about level marked questions and gives an example. As examiners we're always interested to see useful case studies used in longer answers - this will often gain marks because it helps to explain the points you're making.
Simply "measures earthquakes" worth 1 mark. Idea of measuring the shaking is worth a second mark. For the third mark you need to know that the scale isn't a simple sacale but every +1 magnitude is x10 shaking
Explain is the key word. The answer needs to go into the ideas of moving plates rubbing together (Level 1), pressure building up and being released (Level 2) and the reasons for the movement - i.e. showing an understanding of convection currents (Level 3). Being able to talk about actual places and plates will help the answer move up levels.
This is an example of an answer where you can learn a script. We see an awful lot of simple answers which just seem to say things like "the plates rub together and cause earthquakes". These get Level 1 marks. You can do better than that!
Two marks for each.
Built up areas might be covered by ash, destroyed by lava or mudflows or pyroclastic flows. People could be poisoned by gases. Fresh water could be filled with mud or ash and contaminated making it unfit for drinking. Fish or other water life could be harmed as well
At Level 1 you need to talk about pressure building up because of plate movement or plates moving apart and magma getting to the surface. To get into Level 2 you need to talk about at least one specific type of plate boundary - a constructive boundary is where two plates move apart; a destructive boundary is where an oceanic plate dips under a continental plate and pressure builds up. Both have volcanoes.
There are 3 marks and the question says "Suggest ways" so you don't need to go into huge detail here. Two points with some development should do.
Think about points like building design, building locations (not on sandy soils for example), materials, training/education and so on. Prediction will not work - the question is about earthquakes not volcanoes! We can't predict earthquakes.