A sequence question gives you a labelled diagram and asks how something changes from one stage to the next. Write the stages in order and name the process between each pair.
This lesson belongs to physical geography. The same habit supports river processes, where landforms also develop in stages.
What is the method?
- Read all the labels before writing anything.
- List the stages in order, using the numbers if given.
- For each step from one stage to the next, name the process and the cause.
- Join the sentences with linking words.
The linking words matter because they show the marker the order: first, then, next, as a result, finally.
Worked example: an invented coastal sequence
The diagram shows four labelled stages of a headland: (1) a crack in the cliff face, (2) a cave, (3) an arch, (4) a stack. This is an original schematic, not a real place.
Sentence frame for each change:
- 1 to 2. Waves force air and water into the crack, and hydraulic action widens it into a cave.
- 2 to 3. The cave erodes right through the headland, leaving an arch.
- 3 to 4. The roof of the arch is weakened by weathering and erosion and collapses, leaving a stack.
Written as a paragraph: “First, waves use hydraulic action to widen a crack into a cave. Then erosion cuts the cave through the headland to form an arch. Finally, the roof collapses, leaving a stack.”
Label-only versus sequenced
| Label-only | Sequenced |
|---|---|
| “Crack, cave, arch, stack.” | “First hydraulic action widens the crack into a cave, then the cave is cut through to form an arch.” |
| “The arch becomes a stack.” | “Finally, weathering and erosion weaken the arch roof until it collapses, leaving a stack.” |
The left column copies the labels. The right column explains the change between them.
The mistake that costs marks
The common slip is to write the stages in the wrong order or to skip a stage, for example going from crack straight to stack. The marker cannot tell whether you understood the middle steps.
Number the labels in the margin before you write and check that your sentences follow that order.
Check yourself
A diagram shows an invented river bend with labels (1) outer bank erodes, (2) neck narrows, (3) river cuts through the neck, (4) old bend is cut off as an ox-bow lake. Write the sequence in three sentences with a process at each step.
Answer
First, fast water erodes the outer banks of the bend by hydraulic action and abrasion, so the loop grows and the neck between two bends narrows.
Then, in a flood, the river cuts through the narrow neck and takes the shorter route.
Finally, deposition seals the ends of the old bend, cutting it off as an ox-bow lake.
What to study next
Apply the method in connecting processes with observed features, then use the graph evidence and fair-comparison lab for data-based questions.
If you want a teacher to check your sequence answers, see online one-to-one Geography tuition.