GCSE GCSE Geography

Question 1

What is the difference between weather and climate?

Accepted Answer

Weather is the day-to-day atmospheric conditions; climate is the average weather pattern over 30+ years

Answer

Weather refers to short-term atmospheric conditions (temperature, rainfall, wind) on a given day. Climate is the long-term average of weather conditions over at least 30 years in a particular region.

Question 2

What is a 'tectonic plate'?

Accepted Answer

A large segment of the Earth's crust and upper mantle (lithosphere) that moves on the mantle

Answer

Tectonic plates are large pieces of the Earth's crust and upper mantle that fit together like a jigsaw. They move slowly (a few centimetres per year) due to convection currents in the mantle, causing earthquakes and volcanic activity.

Question 3

What is the difference between a constructive and a destructive plate boundary?

Accepted Answer

At a constructive boundary, plates move apart (creating new crust); at a destructive boundary, one plate subducts under another

Answer

At constructive (divergent) boundaries, plates pull apart and magma rises to fill the gap, creating new oceanic crust (e.g., Mid-Atlantic Ridge). At destructive (convergent) boundaries, a denser plate subducts under a lighter one, forming volcanoes and trenches.

Question 4

What is the demographic transition model (DTM)?

Accepted Answer

A model showing how birth rates, death rates, and population change as a country develops through stages

Answer

The DTM has 5 stages showing how population changes with development: Stage 1 (high BR/DR), Stage 2 (DR falls, population grows), Stage 3 (BR falls), Stage 4 (low BR/DR), Stage 5 (BR < DR, population may decline).

Question 5

What is 'urbanisation'?

Accepted Answer

The process by which an increasing proportion of a population comes to live in urban areas (towns and cities)

Answer

Urbanisation is the growth in the proportion of people living in urban areas. It is driven by rural-to-urban migration (pull factors of cities) and natural population increase in cities. It is happening fastest in LEDCs.

GCSE Revision Practice Test

GCSE Revision Practice Test

GCSE GCSE Geography