Question 1

What is NCEA AS 91935 about?

Accepted Answer

You'll look at a real geographic problem facing the wider Pacific region (like sea level rise, natural disasters, or pollution) and understand how different groups of people make decisions to deal with it. You need to describe the problem, identify the different perspectives and viewpoints people have, and explain how these influence the decisions that get made.

Question 2

What do students need to do for AS 91935?

Accepted Answer

1. Describe the geographic challenge clearly (what the problem is and why it matters to people) 2. Identify and describe the different perspectives (economic, social, political, indigenous, spiritual beliefs) that shape how people think about the problem 3. Identify and describe the different viewpoints (what specific groups or individuals actually think and want to do) 4. Use evidence from resources, case studies, and geographic terminology to back up your descriptions 5. Make a decision about how to respond to the challenge and show how the different perspectives and viewpoints influenced your choice

Question 3

What's the difference between Achieved, Merit, and Excellence for AS 91935?

Accepted Answer

Achieved: You describe the geographic challenge, identify some of the different viewpoints and perspectives involved, support your answer with evidence and basic geographic terms, and state what decision you would make. Merit: You explain the geographic challenge in detail, discuss both the viewpoints and perspectives of multiple groups, show how these actually influence decision-making, and support your answer with evidence from a range of resources. Excellence: You clearly distinguish between perspectives and viewpoints, justify your final decision by comparing it with other options, acknowledge all the different groups involved, explain which perspective had the least influence on your choice and why, and integrate evidence from multiple resources with accurate geographic terminology.

Question 4

What mistakes do students typically make in AS 91935?

Accepted Answer

1. Confusing perspective and viewpoint — they are not the same thing. A perspective is a broad category of thinking (like economic or spiritual), while a viewpoint is what a specific person or group actually believes or wants to do. 2. Using very long direct quotes from resources instead of explaining what the quotes mean and why they matter to your answer. 3. Only using evidence from the main unfamiliar resource about the challenge, rather than also pulling in evidence from the stimulus materials to show you understand the whole picture.

Pacific geographic challenge

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