Lesson Y7-U03-L01

Y7-U03-L01 The Water Cycle: Water on the Move Quiz: KS3 Geography, Unit 3

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson Y7-U03-L01, The Water Cycle: Water on the Move: 20 multiple choice questions for the KS3 Geography (National Curriculum), Unit 3: Year 7: Rivers and the Water Cycle, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. What is evaporation in the water cycle?

    • Water vapour cools and turns back into tiny droplets
    • Water flows over the land and into rivers
    • Water falls from clouds as rain, snow or hail
    • The Sun heats water so it turns into invisible water vapour gas

  2. What is condensation in the water cycle?

    • Water falls from clouds as rain, snow, sleet or hail onto the land
    • Water flows over the land back to the sea through rivers and streams
    • Liquid water is heated by the sun and turns into a gas called vapour
    • Water vapour cools and turns back into tiny liquid droplets

  3. Which process needs heat from the Sun?

    • Run-off
    • Evaporation
    • Condensation
    • Precipitation

  4. What is run-off in the water cycle?

    • Water vapour rising from the sea and oceans into the air
    • Rain falling from a cloud onto the hills and fields below
    • Droplets forming around dust particles high up in the sky
    • Water that flows over the land into rivers and back to the sea

  5. What are clouds made of?

    • Frozen air
    • Grains of sand
    • Water vapour gas
    • Tiny liquid droplets

  6. Name two types of precipitation.

    • Vapour and cloud
    • Rain and snow
    • Evaporation and rain
    • Condensation and run-off

  7. Which stage of the water cycle comes first, starting from the sea?

    • Precipitation
    • Condensation
    • Run-off
    • Evaporation

  8. Which stage carries water back to the sea through rivers?

    • Condensation
    • Run-off
    • Evaporation
    • Precipitation

  9. A puddle dries up in the sunshine. Which process is this?

    • Evaporation
    • Condensation
    • Precipitation
    • Run-off

  10. Put these stages in the correct order: condensation, evaporation, precipitation, run-off.

    • Condensation, evaporation, run-off, precipitation
    • Evaporation, condensation, precipitation, run-off
    • Precipitation, run-off, evaporation, condensation
    • Run-off, precipitation, condensation, evaporation

  11. Which stage of the water cycle follows run-off?

    • Precipitation, because the cloud forms again
    • Evaporation, because the cycle repeats
    • The cycle ends, because water is used up
    • Condensation, because the sea is cooled

  12. Why does the water cycle never run out of water?

    • New water is made in clouds every day by the warm air
    • The Sun creates new water when it heats the sea and the rivers
    • The same water is used again and again, and none is made or lost
    • Rivers always carry new water from under the ground

  13. True or false: the water cycle makes brand new water every day.

    • True, because the sea makes new water in summer
    • True, because clouds create new water
    • False, because the same water is reused over and over
    • True, because rain falls from brand new clouds

  14. Why does cooling water vapour form a cloud?

    • The cold turns the vapour into tiny droplets that gather together
    • The cold makes the vapour lighter, so it floats up and away from land
    • The cold turns the vapour into a solid block of ice on the hilltops
    • The cold stops the vapour from moving at all across the sky

  15. Which statement about condensation is correct?

    • It happens only in rivers and lakes
    • It happens when water vapour cools
    • It happens when water vapour is heated by the Sun
    • It happens when rain falls on the land

  16. Explain why deserts receive little rain, even though the Sun shines strongly there.

    • Deserts are far from the sea, so the wind never blows there
    • The Sun makes the desert air too hot to hold any water at all
    • Dry air holds little water vapour to cool and condense into cloud
    • Desert sand absorbs all of the rain before it can fall

  17. Cutting down a forest might change the water cycle locally. What is the most likely effect?

    • More water evaporates, because the ground is more exposed
    • No change at all, because the water cycle is global
    • Condensation stops happening entirely over the land
    • Less water is returned to the air, so less water evaporates locally

  18. In the water cycle, what happens after clouds form?

    • Precipitation, as droplets join and fall
    • Run-off, as the cloud reaches the sea
    • Evaporation, as the cloud is heated
    • Nothing happens, because clouds stay forever

  19. What is the water cycle?

    • A weather map showing fronts, pressure and the wind speed
    • The never-ending journey of water between the sea, sky and land
    • A machine that makes rain for farms in dry summer weather
    • A list of the longest rivers in the UK and their sources

  20. Which pairing correctly matches the water cycle stage to its description?

    • Run-off: liquid water rises invisibly from the sea and the land
    • Condensation: water flows over the land into rivers and the sea
    • Precipitation: water falls from clouds as rain, snow, sleet or hail
    • Evaporation: water vapour rises from the sea and lakes into the air

All KS3 Geography quizzes