Welcome to this deck on mastering command words for your AQA GCSE Geography exam. Understanding exactly what a question is asking is the most important exam skill you can have. Command words are the instructions that tell you how to answer. Getting them right is the key to unlocking marks. In this deck, we'll break down the most common command words, from 'Describe' and 'Explain' to 'Assess' and 'Evaluate'.

Let's start with one of the most common command words: 'Describe'. This word is asking you to say what something is like. You need to set out its characteristics or features. Imagine you're describing a photograph to someone who can't see it. You would point out the key things you can see, without giving reasons. In geography, this means stating facts, patterns, or features from a map, graph, or your own knowledge.

Now let's move on to 'Explain'. This is a step up from 'Describe'. 'Explain' asks for the 'why' behind something. It's not enough to just say what it's like; you have to give reasons. This means using geographical theory to show causes and effects. Good explanation answers often use connecting phrases like 'because', 'this leads to', or 'as a result of'.