AQA GCSE Geography key terms

Indirect evidence used to reconstruct past climatic conditions, such as pollen, tree rings or the chemical composition of ice.

A perceived attraction of a destination that encourages a person to move there.

A condition in a person's place of origin that encourages them to leave.

A pointed mountain summit formed as three or more corries erode back towards one another.

Descriptive information about qualities, observations, experiences or opinions, recorded through words or images rather than numerical measurements.

People's overall wellbeing, including their health, education, housing, security and environmental conditions, not just their income.

Information recorded as numbers through counting, measuring or scoring.

A value dividing ordered data into quarters. The lower quartile is at approximately 25%, the median at 50% and the upper quartile at 75%.

The most recent geological period, beginning about 2.6 million years ago and continuing to the present.

Knowledge-based economic activities involving research, information and the development of new ideas or technologies.

An area with relatively little rainfall on the sheltered side of a mountain range, after rising air has lost moisture on the other side.

Collecting and storing rainwater for later use.

Selecting samples by chance so that each eligible person or location has an equal chance of selection.

The difference between the greatest and smallest values in a dataset.

A comparison of quantities expressed in a specified order, such as $2:3$.

A ridge of glacial debris deposited during a pause in the retreat of a glacier's snout.

The replenishment of groundwater as water soaks into the ground.

Processing waste materials so that they can be used to make new products.

Reworking a draft to improve its meaning, organisation or expression.

The improvement of an area through investment in its economy, buildings, infrastructure and community facilities.

The level and style of language chosen to suit the audience and situation, such as formal or informal language.

The consistency of results when a method is repeated under comparable conditions.

The extent to which an enquiry’s evidence and methods allow its conclusions to be trusted.

The height and shape of the land surface.

Money sent by migrants to people in their country of origin.

An energy source replenished naturally on a human timescale, such as wind, sunlight or sustainably managed biomass.

Work that develops new knowledge and uses it to create or improve products, processes and technologies.