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AQA Systems Questions: Your Reflection Guide (Not Full Answers!)

Systems questions can feel like juggling… but once you know the moves, you look like a pro. This guide helps you plan and reflect on your exam technique for drainage basins and slopes—without giving full “copy-paste” answers.

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1) The “Identify / Describe / Explain” Checklist (AQA-friendly)

✅ Step 0: Decode the command word

• Identify = name it. No story needed.
• Describe = what it looks like / what happens (pattern, direction, size, change).
• Explain = why it happens using processes and links (often cause → effect → consequence).

✅ Step 1: Pin down the system type

Ask: is this about…

• Drainage basin (open system): inputs, stores, flows/transfers, outputs.
• Slope (system): energy + material moving downslope, with feedbacks.

✅ Step 2: Use the “must-name” rule for systems

To show you understand a system, aim to include:

• A named store (where water/material is held)
• A named transfer/flow (how it moves)
• A named output (how it leaves the system)
• A link word (because, therefore, leads to, which increases…)

✅ Step 3: Make it precise (tiny details = big marks)

• Use correct terms: infiltration, throughflow, discharge, channel storage, etc.
• Tie to context if given (e.g., “after heavy rainfall”, “impermeable geology”, “steep slope”).

✅ Step 4: If it says “Using the figure…” then USE it

Even without numbers, refer to:

• locations (upper course / hillslope / channel)
• arrows (direction of flows)
• relative size (bigger store, thicker arrow)

✅ Step 5: For “Explain”, add a mini chain

AQA loves a process chain:
Condition → Process → System response → Outcome

✅ Step 6: If feedback is relevant, label it clearly

• Positive feedback: change causes more change (amplifies)
• Negative feedback: change triggers stabilising effects (reduces change)

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2) Planning Framework #1: Drainage-Basin Stores & Flows Diagram Question

When you see a diagram with boxes (stores) and arrows (flows), don’t panic—use this quick plan.

🧠 The “S-F-O + Context” plan (Store–Flow–Output)

1. Context from the question/figure

   • What’s the setting? (storm event, urban area, deforested basin, seasonal change)

2. Pick 2–3 key STORES (boxes)

   • Examples you might name:
     • interception storage (water held on vegetation)
     • soil moisture storage
     • groundwater storage
     • channel storage

3. Pick 2–3 key FLOWS/TRANSFERS (arrows)

   • Examples:
     • infiltration (surface → soil)
     • percolation (soil → rock/groundwater)
     • throughflow (movement through soil downslope)
     • overland flow (surface runoff)
     • baseflow (groundwater → river)

4. Name 1–2 OUTPUTS (leaving the system)

   • Common outputs:
     • river discharge (water leaving basin via channel)
     • evapotranspiration (water leaving to atmosphere)

5. Link it into a process story

   • Use connectives: because, so, therefore, this increases/decreases

Tiny tip that boosts marks

If the diagram shows thicker arrows or bigger stores, say “a larger proportion” or “dominant pathway” rather than guessing numbers.

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3) Planning Framework #2: Slope System + Feedbacks Question

Slope questions often want: what changes, what moves, what the consequences are, and how feedbacks make it worse or better.

🧠 The “Trigger → Movement → Impact → Feedback” plan

1. Trigger (what starts instability?)

   • rainfall, freeze–thaw, undercutting by a river/sea, vegetation removal, loading from buildings

2. Movement/process (what’s happening on the slope?)

   • weathering increases regolith
   • mass movement (slides, flows, slumps)
   • runoff causing erosion / gullying

3. Impact on slope system (what changes?)

   • slope angle changes
   • more exposed bare material
   • altered drainage pathways (more overland flow)

4. Feedback (label it properly!)

   • Positive feedback example structure: “More X leads to more Y, which further increases X.”
   • Negative feedback example structure: “Change causes a response that reduces the original change.”

5. Finish with the system outcome

   • stabilised slope OR increasing instability

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4) Misconceptions & Fixes (The Ones That Cost Marks)

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5) One Brief Model Paragraph Structure (PEEL)

Use this when you need a coherent “systems explanation” that includes a named store + named transfer + named output + feedback.

P-E-E-L template (fill in the blanks)

• Point: Name the key system change.
• Evidence/Example: Refer to the figure/context (store/flow shown).
• Explain: Link store → transfer → output with clear cause-effect.
• Link: Add the feedback and connect back to the question.

Mini model (structure only—keep it adaptable)

Point: Heavy rainfall can shift water into faster pathways in a drainage basin. Evidence: With reduced interception storage, more water reaches the ground quickly. Explain: This increases infiltration at first, raising soil moisture storage, but once the soil nears saturation, more water moves as overland flow into the channel, increasing river discharge as an output. Link: This can create a positive feedback because higher discharge can enhance channel erosion, which deepens the channel and helps it carry even more water quickly during the same event.

(Notice how it’s a single connected story: store → transfer → output → feedback.)

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Quick takeaway (you’ve got this)

If you can reliably name one store, one transfer, one output, and one feedback, then connect them with because/therefore, you’re doing systems thinking the AQA way—clear, logical, and mark-friendly.