Download Energy Resources and Environmental Pollution June 2016

A-LEVEL
Environmental Studies
ENVS3: Energy Resources and Environmental Pollution
Report on the Examination
2440
June 2016
Version: 1.0
Further copies of this Report are available from aqa.org.uk
Copyright © 2016 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.
AQA retains the copyright on all its publications. However, registered schools/colleges for AQA are permitted to copy material from this
booklet for their own internal use, with the following important exception: AQA cannot give permission to schools/colleges to photocopy any
material that is acknowledged to a third party even for internal use within the centre.
REPORT ON THE EXAMINATION – A-LEVEL ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES – ENVS3 – JUNE 2016
General
This proved to be a discriminating examination where the questions demanded a wide range of
abilities and knowledge areas.
Question 1
This was well answered by many students. The most common mistake was to give the name of a
pollution scenario, such as smog or acid rain, rather than the name of the pollutant.
Question 2
(a)
Most students gave good answers but many ignored the instruction ‘even if they do not
come in contact with the oil’ and gave harmful effects, such as birds being killed by oil
slicks.
(b)(i) and b(ii)
These questions were each answered correctly by about a third of students, suggesting
that most did not fully understand the meaning of statistical significance.
(c)
This was well answered by many students, with a mean score of four. Better answers gave
specific details of named tanker design features or improved routing or navigation systems
and related these to why the risk of oil pollution would be reduced.
Question 3
(a)
Many students gained both marks by naming an appropriate pollutant and giving a property
that allows it to biomagnify. Bioaccumulation in lipids was the most frequently quoted
property.
(b)
This was not well answered. About half of students understood that both mutagens and
teratogens can cause birth abnormalities, but far fewer could describe a difference.
Although many students understood that mutagens alter DNA structure, far fewer
understood that teratogens do not alter DNA structure but interfere with normal
development.
(c)
A minority of students gave good answers, referring to both the people that are selected as
the critical group and how their risk level can be used to estimate the risks for the general
public. Weaker answers often referred to the risks associated with occupational exposure.
(d)
Many students failed to score well because they did not explain how the selected
environmental features affected pollutant dispersal, often giving vague statements, such as
‘wind patterns’ or ‘rainfall patterns’.
3 of 5
REPORT ON THE EXAMINATION – A-LEVEL ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES – ENVS3 – JUNE 2016
Question 4
(a)
This question was generally well answered, although many students failed to gain marks by
giving general pollution issues rather than specific pollutants. For Equipment Z, some
students missed the fact that the controlled pollutant is a liquid.
(b)
Nearly all students correctly selected methane as the atmospheric pollutant controlled by
Landfill Tax.
(c)
Many students gave a good definition of secondary pollutant and supported this with
reactions involving ozone.
(d)
This question was poorly answered. Less than half of students gained any marks and only
a small minority gained full marks. The most common correct answer referred to the
oxidation of sulfur dioxide to sulfur trioxide, producing the stronger sulfuric acid rather than
sulfurous acid. A smaller number referred to the synergistic action of ozone and acidic
gases with ozone causing leaf damage that exposed living tissues to the acidic gases.
Question 5
(a)
This was generally well answered. Most students interpreted the graph correctly, but some
did not understand that Figure 4 represented a stacked histogram and therefore
misinterpreted the changes in values.
(b)
Many students did not understand the term peak shaving and could not explain how it is
used to store surplus energy to meet peak demand. Better answers referred to specific
methods, such as pumped-storage HEP or the hydrogen economy.
(c)
This was poorly answered with only about one third of students gaining any marks. Most
students had great difficulty with the calculation, although a small minority fully understood
the procedures and gained full marks.
(d)
Well over half of students gained one or more marks. Weaker answers just repeated terms
from Figure 5.
(e)
This question was poorly answered with nearly half of students failing to gain any marks.
Many students incorrectly thought that the waste hot water could be used to generate
steam and drive turbines. Better answers gave specific reference to named applications,
such as space heating.
Question 6
(a)
About three quarters of students gained one mark, usually by outlining the meaning of
embodied energy. However, few could suggest how this could affect environmental impact.
(b)
This was not well answered with poorer answers ignoring the command word ‘explain’ with
no details of how the selected method actually works.
4 of 5
REPORT ON THE EXAMINATION – A-LEVEL ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES – ENVS3 – JUNE 2016
(c)
Most students gained one mark by explaining the meaning of ‘renewable’, but could not
explain the difference between this and ‘non-depletable’. Better answers used appropriate
examples, such as wood.
(d)
The vast majority of students could name a low-energy appliance, but only half of these
could explain how they work.
(e)
Almost all students gained at least one mark, with about half gaining both marks. The most
common way of failing to gain marks was imprecise details of how the energy was used or
how its use is reduced.
(f)
This was generally well answered and nearly one third of students gained full marks. Better
answers gave good details of how the experimental conditions could be standardised and
how temperature data could be collected.
Question 7
(a)
This essay was selected by about one third of students and produced many good essays.
Better answers included specific examples with descriptions of how they work and why
more energy becomes available. Weak responses gave vague answers with descriptions,
such as ‘better wind turbines use better technology and are more efficient so they produce
more energy’.
(b)
This was the most popular essay, being selected by well over half of students. Many
students gave clear details of the environmental impacts of the use of renewable and nonrenewable energy resources. Better answers structured these points as a comparative
discussion of the relative merits of the two groups of resources.
(c)
This was the least popular essay, being selected by only a small percentage of students,
but it produced the best answers. Many students gave good comparative discussions of the
methods used to control the pollution problems involved and their differences in terms of
the pollutants involved and the ways the techniques reduce pollution.
Mark Ranges and Award of Grades
Grade boundaries and cumulative percentage grades are available on the Results Statistics
page of the AQA Website.
Converting Marks into UMS marks
Convert raw marks into Uniform Mark Scale (UMS) marks by using the link below.
UMS conversion calculator
5 of 5