RESEARCH / GRADE 12 / april 2022 3

GEOGRAPHY
GRADE 12
RESEARCH TASK
2024

This RESEARCH TASK consists of 9 pages.

 RESEARCH / GRADE 12 / april 2022 3
GENERAL TIPS TO KEEP SAFE AND HEALTHY

1. WASH YOUR HANDS thoroughly with soap and water for at least 20
seconds. Alternatively, use hand sanitizer with an alcohol content of at
least 60%.

2. PRACTICE SOCIAL DISTANCING – keep at least 1m away from other

people.

3. PRACTISE GOOD RESPIRATORY HYGIENE: cough or sneeze into your

elbow or tissue and dispose of the tissue immediately after use.

4. TRY NOT TO TOUCH YOUR FACE. The virus can be transferred from
your hands to your nose, mouth, and eyes. It can then enter your body and
make you sick.
 RESEARCH / GRADE 12 / april 2022 3

INSTRUCTION AND INFORMATION

1. Learners are not required to do field work

2. THIS IS A DESKTOP RESEARCH TASK.

Desk research refers to secondary data or that which can be collected
without fieldwork. To most people it suggests published reports and
statistics, and these are certainly important sources. In the context of this
chapter the term is widened to include all sources of information that do not
involve a field survey.
Secondary research or desk research is a research method that involves using
already existing data. Existing data is summarized and collated to increase the
overall effectiveness of research. ... These documents can be made available by
public libraries, websites, data obtained from already filled in surveys etc.

HOW TO CONDUCT A DESKTOP RESEARCH TASK

1. Step 1: define the objective of your research. To search well, you
have to know what you are looking for. ...
2. Step 2: Define your research plan. Specifying your objective was a
first (big) step towards the success of your desk research. ...
3. Step 3: Conduct the research. ...
4. Step 4: Conclude and verify the information.

METHODS OF COLLECTING DESK RESEARCH INCLUDE:

1. Figures.
2. newspapers.
3. websites.
4. government publications e.g. social trends.
5. commercial publications e.g. Keynote and Mintel reports.
 RESEARCH / GRADE 12 / april 2022 3
3. Assessment:

Activities Marks Information Length

Required

Cover page 5  Name & Surname 1 A4 page

 Grade and Class
 Educator’s Name
 Subject
 Research Topic: The
name of the Cyclone
you are researching.

Index 5  Numbers 1 A4 page

 Topics
 Sub-topics
 Page numbers

Mapping 10  World Map 2 A4 pages

 Satellite Images
 Map with path
 Annotated Diagram

Introduction 10  Brief introduction of ½ A4 page

tropical cyclones
 Sapphire-Simpson and
Beaufort Scales

Discussions 15 x 4 = 60 Four paragraphs, with 2½ A4 pages

sub-topics

Conclusion/Summary 5 10-12 lines on a 1 A4

page

Bibliography 5 Harvard method Part of 1 A4 page

Total 100 8 A4 pages

 RESEARCH / GRADE 12 / april 2022 3

RESEARCH TOPIC:

THE DEVELOPMENT AND IMPACT OF TROPICAL

CYCLONES
Guidelines for discussion

Choose ONE of the following Tropical cyclones:

 Freddy
 Cheneso
 Eloise
 Ana
 Guambe
 ida
The desktop research must centre around ONE of the tropical cyclones.

Mapping:
 Find a world map, that indicate the regions where tropical cyclones develop.
 Plot the following Tropical cyclones next to the region where they originated on the world
map. (Freddy, Cheneso,Eloise, Ana, Guambe and ida)
 Satellite image of the specific tropical cyclone under research.
 Map indicating the path of the tropical cyclone under research.
 Discuss the path of the tropical cyclone under research.
 Draw an annotated cross-section of a tropical cyclone in its mature stage. Indicate the
following:
 Air movement
 Cumulonimbus clouds
 Eye and Eye wall

Introduction:

Introduce the tropical cyclone.

Use the Sapphire-Simpson and Beaufort scales to indicate the strength of the tropical cyclone.
Provide information about the Sapphire-Simpson and Beaufort scales.

Paragraph 1:

 Why do tropical cyclones develop in late summer?

 What is the impact of coriolis force and latent heat on the development of tropical
cyclones?
 Discuss the stage of development of the tropical cyclone under research.
 Why can category 1 tropical cyclones be more destructive (damaging) than category 5
tropical cyclones
 RESEARCH / GRADE 12 / april 2022 3

Paragraph 2:

How did the tropical cyclone impact the following?

 Environment
 Economy
 People/Communities

Paragraph 3:

What precautions can be implemented/ or has been implemented to reduce the impact of the
tropical cyclone.
Refer to:
 The local government/Government of the country
 The local residents

Paragraph 4:

Evaluate the impact of Global Warming on the frequency (regularity) of tropical cyclones.

Conclusion/Summary:

Describe/Discuss your own views/experiences on the impact of tropical cyclones.

EXAMPLE OF SECONDARY RESOURCES:

TROPICAL CYCLONES ARE intense, spinning storm systems, with low-pressure centres that can be vast in size. They
form over warm oceans and can wreak havoc when they approach the shore.
 RESEARCH / GRADE 12 / april 2022 3
As the name suggests, tropical cyclones and hurricanes occur in the world’s tropics. They require the difference in speed of
rotation of the Earth at different latitudes to gather momentum as they spin, and they can form either side of the equator.
Cyclones are called hurricanes in the Atlantic and eastern Pacific, typhoons in Southeast Asia, and cyclones in the Indian Ocean
and western Pacific around Australia.

[Source: https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/science-environment/2011/02/cyclones-facts-and-figures/]
4. Most hurricanes occur harmlessly out at sea. However,
when they move towards land they can be incredibly
dangerous and cause serious damage.
5. The strong spiralling winds of a hurricane can reach
speeds of up to 320kmph – strong enough to rip up entire
trees and destroy buildings!
6. In the southern hemisphere, hurricanes rotate in a
clockwise direction, and in the northern hemisphere they
rotate in an anti-clockwise direction. This is due to what’s
called the Coriolis Force, produced by the Earth’s rotation.
7. When a hurricane reaches land it often produces a “storm
surge“. This is when the high winds drive the sea toward the
shore, causing water levels to rise and creating large
crashing waves. Storm surges can reach 6m high and extend
to over 150km!
8. Hurricanes are also called cyclones and typhoons,
depending on where they occur. In the Atlantic Ocean and
Northwest Pacific they are hurricanes, in the Northwest
Pacific they are typhoons and in the South Pacific and Indian
Ocean they are cyclones.
9. The largest hurricane on record is Typhoon Tip, which
occurred in 1979 in the northwest Pacific. With a diameter of
around 2,220km, it was nearly half the size of the United
States!
10. Hurricanes are given names by the World
Meteorological Organisation (WMO) so that they can be
HURRICANES! distinguished. Each year, tropical storms are named in
alphabetical order according to a list produced by the WMO.
Ten Facts about Hurricanes! That name stays with the storm if it develops into a hurricane.
1. Hurricanes are giant tropical storms that produce heavy The names can only be repeated after six year.
rainfall and super-strong winds. [Source:
2. Hurricanes form over warm ocean waters near the equator. https://www.natgeokids.com/za/discover/geography/physical-
The warm, moist air above the ocean surface rises, causing air geography/hurricanes/]
from surrounding areas to be “sucked” in. This “new” air then
becomes warm and moist, and rises, too, beginning a
continuous cycle that forms clouds. The clouds then rotate with
the spin of the Earth. If there is enough warm water to feed the
storm, a hurricane forms!
3. Hurricanes rotate around a circular centre called the “eye“,
where it is generally calm with no clouds. Surrounding the eye
is the eye wall – the most dangerous part of the hurricane with
the strongest winds, thickest clouds and heaviest rain!
 RESEARCH / GRADE 12 / april 2022 3

Hurricane Irma Facts, Damage, and Costs

Irma damage could have been $300 billion if it hit Miami.
Timeline

President Trump declared emergencies in Florida, Puerto

Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. On September 6, Florida's
governor ordered residents of the Keys to evacuate.
 September 6, 2017: Irma hit the Leeward Islands with
winds over 180 miles per hour. The Prime Minister of
Antigua and Barbuda described Barbuda as "barely
habitable."
 September 7: Irma left hundreds in Puerto Rico without
power. It hit the northern part of Haiti and the Dominican
Republic with 15 inches of rain.
 September 8: Irma remained a Category 5 hurricane with a
wind of 175 miles per hour. It affected the Turks and Caicos
Islands and the eastern Bahamas. The storm passed over
waters warmer than 86 degrees Fahrenheit.
Barbuda's government issued a watch for Hurricane Jose.
 September 9: Irma affected the north coast of
Cuba, flooding Havana. Winds hit approximately 150 miles
per hour and waves reached up to 36 feet. Wind gusts of
55 miles per hour hit southeast Florida. The storm was
downgraded to a Category 3 but was projected to regain
Hurricane Irma was one of the most powerful Atlantic strength before hitting Florida.
hurricanes in recorded history. It was a Category 5 storm when  September 10: Irma was upgraded to a Category 4. It hit
it made landfall on Barbuda on September 6, 2017. Its winds Cudjoe Key, 20 miles north of Key West, and then Naples.
were 185 miles per hour for 37 hours. An unofficial wind gust Miami didn't get the core of Irma but still received life-
was clocked at 199 miles per hour. These winds extended 50 threatening conditions. The Florida Keys received
miles from the center. approximately 12 inches of rain and a 10-foot storm surge.
Rainfall averaged 10 to 15 inches.
Tropical-storm-force winds extended 185 miles from the  September 11: Irma was downgraded to a Category
center. Its coastal storm surges were 8 feet above normal tide 1 hurricane as it headed to Tampa, where it left 12 million
levels. Above-average ocean temperatures of 86 degrees people without power. Irma was then downgraded to a
Fahrenheit sustained the storm. These temperatures are tropical storm as it hit Georgia, where 1.5 million lost power.
worsening due to global warming. The state had ordered people to begin evacuating on
September 9.
Irma held 7 trillion watts of energy. That's twice as much as all
bombs used in World War II. Its force was so powerful that
earthquake seismometers recorded it. It generated the most
accumulated cyclone energy in a 24-hour period.

Irma's attack was the first time in 100 years that three storms
Category 4 or larger hit the U.S. or its territories in the same
year. Hurricane Harvey devastated Houston on August 25,
2017, and Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico on September 20.
 RESEARCH / GRADE 12 / april 2022 3
The Facts on Hurricane Irma's Damage
Irma's death toll included 129 people in Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina. Florida officials ordered over 6.5 million people to
evacuate.7 The Red Cross reported more than 550,000 overnight shelter stays related to the hurricane.
Irma damaged 95% of the buildings on Barbuda. It destroyed almost all communication and left much of the island
uninhabitable. Many of its residents fled to Antigua.
Irma's total cost to the U.S. alone was $50 billion when adjusted for inflation. If such a storm were to hit Miami, the damage
could reach $300 billion, according to insurance firm Swiss Re in a report examining the damage caused by 1992's Hurricane
Andrew.9
Irma threatened losses of up to $2.5 billion for Florida's agricultural produce. 1 0 The state is America's second-largest grower of
vegetables like tomatoes, green beans, and cucumbers. The potential shortage pushed orange juice futures and sugar prices
higher in the days leading up to the storm. If Irma had hit Georgia and the Carolinas hard enough, it would have affected corn,
soybeans, cotton, and peanut prices.
Fort Pierce, Florida, received 21.66 inches of rain, the most in the state. The strongest winds at 142 miles per hour hit Naples.
Winds were 73 miles per hour in Miami. Three cranes collapsed, and streets flooded.
Miami-Dade, Monroe, and Broward counties' building codes have the nation's highest wind standards. They improved their
preparation after Hurricane Andrew hit in 1992. But that might not offer enough protection as hurricanes grow more
powerful. “There’s no structure in Miami that’s built to withstand 185 mph winds,” Keith Wolfe, president of U.S. property and
casualty for Swiss Re, told the Miami Herald.
As The New York Times reported, roughly 70% of the region’s buildings were built before 1994. Many of them have not been
retrofitted. Even high-rises built to higher wind codes will suffer from heavy rains that seep in through roofs.
Irma could have done more damage, but Florida learned from Hurricane Charley in 2004 and Hurricane Andrew in 1992. The
state revamped building codes to make houses more resilient to hurricanes. As a result, 80% of the homes in Irma's path were
built to better withstand the storms.1 2
3 Ways Climate Change Made Irma Worse
Climate change contributed to Irma's impact in three critical ways. First, rising sea levels worsened storm surges and flooding.
Between 1880 and 2015, the average global sea level rose 8.9 inches.1 4 For perspective, Swiss Re estimates that a 3.34-inch
rise in sea level could nearly double the costs of damages from hurricane-related storm surges.
Second, South Florida’s average August 2017 temperature was four-tenths of a degree above normal. Miami's average
temperature for August was the warmest during that period on record, and temperature records were broken across the state.
Seven of the past 10 summers have been above normal.
Warmer air holds more moisture, leading to greater build-up leading up to a storm. When this warm air releases the moisture,
the water falls in torrents. This creates greater rainfall during a hurricane.
Third, global warming slows weather patterns. It allows hurricanes to hover over an area longer. In fact, storms have slowed
down by 10% since 1949.1 7 This is caused by a weakened jet stream—a river of wind high in the atmosphere that races from
west to east at speeds up to 275 miles an hour. It undulates north and south as it goes, driven by temperature contrasts between
the Arctic and temperate zones. Since the Arctic is warming faster than the rest of the globe, it slows down the jet stream,
allowing storms like Irma to move much slower than normal and wreak more havoc as they linger.
MIT models foresee more hurricanes developing from climate change in the decades ahead. Extreme storms with winds above
190 miles per hour are likely to form. That is more powerful than a Category 5, leading many meteorologists to call for a
Category 6 designation.
How Irma's Damage Compares to Other Hurricanes
Irma was one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes, but it was not the most destructive because it skipped the most
developed cities in Florida.

.
 RESEARCH / GRADE 12 / april 2022 3

RUBRIC FOR RESEARCH TASK:

Name: __________________________________________________
LEARNER:
Surname: _______________________________________________ Educator Total Moderator Total

GRADE: 12 _______

DISCUSSION TOPIC: ________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

Criteria Marks
1 2 3 4-5 Educator Mark Moderator mark
Poor attempt Most relevant information Most relevant information All required information
 Name and surname  Name and surname  Name and surname  Name & Surname
 Grade  Grade  Grade and Class
Cover page  Topic  Topic  Educator’s Name
 Colourful and effort  Subject
 Research Topic: The name of
the Cyclone you are researching.

0 1 2-3 3-5 Educator Mark Moderator mark

No Index Content noted without  Content with page numbers  Content with page numbers
Index page numbers  Sequencing incorrect  Sequencing correct

Educator Mark Moderator mark

3-4 5-6 7-8 9-10
1-2
 World map without  World map with  World map with  World map with cyclones  World map with cyclones
plotting of the cyclones plotted. cyclones plotted. plotted. plotted.
Mapping cyclones.  Satellite image  Satellite image  Satellite image  Satellite image
 Satellite image  Map indicating the  Map indicating the  Map indicating the path.  Map indicating the path.
area, without the path.  Discussing the path of the  Discussing the path of the
path  Discussing the tropical cyclone tropical cyclone
path of the tropical  Cross-section without  Cross-section with
cyclone annotations annotations

Educator Mark Moderator mark

3-4 5-6 7-8 9-10
1-2
Introduction  Vague and  Specific  Specific  Specific introduction about  Specific introduction about
disjointed introduction about introduction about discussion point and topic discussion point and topic
 RESEARCH / GRADE 12 / april 2022 3
introduction discussion point discussion point  Indicating the Sapphire-  Indicating the Sapphire-
 No Specifics and topic and topic Simpson and Beaufort Simpson and Beaufort
 Indicating the  Indicating the scales, with indication of scales, with indication of the
Sapphire-Simpson Sapphire-Simpson the strength of the tropical strength of the tropical
and Beaufort and Beaufort cyclone cyclone
scales scales, with  Information about  Information about Sapphire-
indication of the Sapphire-Simpson scale Simpson scale with the
strength of the without the Beaufort scale Beaufort scale
tropical cyclone
1-3 4-6 7-9 10-12 13-15 Educator Mark Moderator mark
 At least ONE  At least TWO  Each paragraph  Each paragraph thoroughly  Each paragraph thoroughly P1 P1
paragraph relevant paragraphs has relevant constructed. constructed.
 Very poorly relevant information.  Different source’s  Different source’s Information P2 P2
researched with  Information from  Information from Information per paragraph is per paragraph is properly P3 P3
minimum effort different sources is different sources properly integrated. integrated.
 No integration of haphazardly is poorly  Points per paragraph  Points per paragraph P4 P4
information from integrated. integrated. discussed. thoroughly discussed.
different sources  Listing of points  At least four points  Names of  Names of
 Evident that only  No solutions and per paragraph presenters/writers/reporters/ presenters/writers/reporters/
Body/Paragraphs one source has interventions discussed. journalists not accredited. journalists accredited.
been used provided  No solutions and  Limited solutions and  Extensive solutions and
interventions interventions provided. interventions provided.
provided  Drawing done with  Annotated drawing done. Tot Tot
annotation  All paragraphs have
 Some paragraphs have sketches, statistics, pictures,
sketches, statistics, etc. to illustrate the
pictures, etc. to illustrate the discussion.
discussion.

Conclusion 0 1 2-3 4-5 Educator Mark Moderator mark

No conclusion Own views are very Own views are discussed, Own views are discussed, with background.
vaguely discussed. with some background Conclusion also have a brief summary of the
development and impact of tropical cyclones

Bibliography 0 1-3 4-5 Educator Mark Moderator mark

No sources accredited At least THREE sources from the internet  At least THREE sources from the internet
accredited accredited
 Also, books/articles used.
 Harvard method used.