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What this standard covers
AS91245 is an internal worth 3 credits. There is no exam. Your teacher sets the task, your class studies one issue, and you hand in a report, a presentation or a set of structured answers.
The issue must be a local or national issue within New Zealand. This is one of only two Geography standards that fixes the country, so an overseas issue — however good — cannot be used here.
Two definitions come straight from the standard, and both are worth learning word for word:
"Spatial dimension" is the phrase that decides most topics. The issue has to play out differently in different places, and you have to be able to show that on a map.
Five things must be in your submission. Miss any one and the standard is not met, no matter how good the rest is:
| # | What the standard asks for |
|---|---|
| 1 | Describe the nature of the issue |
| 2 | Explain the different viewpoints individuals or groups hold |
| 3 | Describe how one viewpoint has changed over time |
| 4 | Explain the strengths and weaknesses of different courses of action |
| 5 | Give a recommended course of action, with a reason |
The grade ladder:
| Grade | What is added |
|---|---|
| Achieved | All five parts, described or explained, with supporting evidence |
| Merit | Viewpoints in detail using specific information; the viewpoint change explained; courses of action in detail; the recommendation justified with detailed reasons |
| Excellence | Viewpoints fully explained, incorporating beliefs, values and/or perspectives, with geographic terminology and concepts; the recommendation fully justified, showing why it is better than any other |
Read the Excellence row twice. It does not ask for a longer case for your own recommendation — that is Merit. It asks you to show the alternatives losing. A submission that never seriously argues against the options it rejected has capped itself at Merit, and that single misunderstanding costs more grades in this standard than anything else.
Every place in this topic is invented. The Ōhaupara River, the Manukura flats, Tarawhiti, Te Kūrae Estuary and every figure attached to them were written for these pages so a complete worked issue could be shown without reproducing any real catchment's data, any council's consultation documents or anybody's submissions. Use the method, not the place.