Memory Aids: PUCC and FEW
Part of Resource Management Overview — GCSE Geography
This memory aid covers Memory Aids: PUCC and FEW within Resource Management Overview for GCSE Geography. Revise Resource Management Overview in The Challenge of Resource Management for GCSE Geography with 15 exam-style questions and 22 flashcards. This is a high-frequency topic, so it is worth revising until the explanation feels precise and repeatable. It is section 13 of 16 in this topic. Use it for quick recall, then test yourself straight afterwards so the memory aid becomes usable in an answer.
Topic position
Section 13 of 16
Practice
15 questions
Recall
22 flashcards
🧠 Memory Aids: PUCC and FEW
PUCC — The Four Demand Drivers
Use PUCC to remember why resource demand is rising:
Remember: PUCC looks like "puck" — the rising demand pressures are like a puck sliding across ice, with no friction to slow them down. The four forces compound each other.
FEW — The Nexus Triangle
Draw a triangle with F (Food), E (Energy), and W (Water) at each corner. Every arrow points both ways:
- F → W: Producing food uses 70% of global freshwater
- W → E: Treating and pumping water requires energy
- E → W: Generating electricity (nuclear, coal, hydro) requires large quantities of water
- E → F: Food production needs energy for fertilisers, machinery, and cold storage
- W → F: Irrigation makes food production possible in dry regions
- F → E: Biofuels use agricultural land and crops to generate energy
The exam trick: When answering any resource question, ask yourself "how does this connect to the other two resources?" That one habit separates Level 2 from Level 3.
L1 → L2 → L3 Answer Ladder
Question: "Explain why resource demand is increasing." [6 marks]
Level 1: "More people means more demand for food and water." — Basic statement, no development.
Level 2: "As the world's population grows from 8 billion to a projected 9.7 billion by 2050, more food, water and energy are needed. Economic development in NEEs like China means people can afford meat-heavy diets, which require 10× more water per calorie than plant-based diets. This greatly increases water and land demand."
Level 3: "Resource demand is rising due to interlinked factors: population growth (8 billion today, projected 9.7 billion by 2050) creates more consumers; economic development in NEEs shifts diets towards meat (requiring 10× more water per calorie); urbanisation increases energy consumption per person; and climate change paradoxically both increases demand (for cooling and irrigation) and reduces supply (glacial retreat affects 2 billion people's water). These factors compound each other — a growing, more affluent, urbanising population in a warming world creates a 'resource crunch' that individual solutions like water metering cannot alone resolve."