Lesson Y7-U03-L08

Y7-U03-L08 When Rivers Flood: Boscastle and Beyond Quiz: KS3 Geography, Unit 3

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

In partnership with Revision Ninja

Lesson Y7-U03-L08, When Rivers Flood: Boscastle and Beyond: 20 multiple choice questions for the KS3 Geography (National Curriculum), Unit 3: Year 7: Rivers and the Water Cycle, written with Revision Ninja.

Host it live on the board and students join with a game code on their own devices, or revise alone with Free Play. The answers are revealed in the game.

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The 20 questions

  1. What is a flood?

    • A river freezing solid during a cold winter
    • A river overflowing its banks and covering normally dry land
    • A river flowing gently through a wide, flat valley
    • A river drying up during a long summer drought

  2. What does impervious mean?

    • A surface covered in plants that absorbs run-off
    • A surface that lets water soak straight through it
    • A surface that is always frozen in winter
    • A surface water cannot soak through, such as concrete

  3. In which year did the Boscastle flood happen?

    • 1994
    • 2014
    • 1984
    • 2004

  4. Which county is Boscastle in?

    • Somerset, near the Bristol Channel
    • Cornwall, on the north coast of England
    • Devon, on the south coast of England
    • Dorset, on the south coast of England

  5. Roughly how much rain fell on Boscastle in the afternoon of the 2004 flood?

    • About 2000 mm
    • About 20 mm
    • About 200 mm
    • About 50 mm

  6. Which of these is a physical cause of river flooding?

    • Building roads and car parks across the valley
    • Covering the land with tarmac and concrete
    • Cutting down trees in the drainage basin
    • Heavy rainfall over a long period

  7. Which of these is a human cause of river flooding?

    • Building houses on a flood plain
    • Heavy rain that falls for many hours
    • Steep slopes that send water quickly to the valley floor
    • Ground that is already soaked with water

  8. What is a flood defence?

    • A surface that stops water soaking into the ground
    • Something built to protect an area from flooding, like a wall
    • A map showing which areas are at risk of flooding
    • A river that has been widened to speed up discharge

  9. Why does water reach a river faster from a car park than from a field?

    • Fields are always flooded, so water cannot reach the river
    • Tarmac is impervious, so run-off flows off quickly instead of soaking in
    • Cars make the rain fall harder in car parks
    • The car park is lower, so water flows down into the river

  10. Which pair shows one physical cause and one human cause of flooding?

    • Steep valley slopes and saturated ground
    • Tarmac and concrete surfaces covering the land
    • Heavy rainfall and building on a flood plain
    • Heavy rainfall and steep valley slopes

  11. Which impact of a flood is best described as economic?

    • Shops lost stock and income while they were closed
    • Nature and habitats in the river were damaged
    • People lost their sense of safety in their homes
    • Families were left frightened and made homeless

  12. Which impact of a flood is best described as social?

    • Repairs to the roads and bridges cost millions of pounds
    • Pollution from the flood damaged wildlife in the river
    • People were made homeless and frightened in their homes
    • Shops lost money and fewer tourists came for a while

  13. Flood debris pollutes a river and harms the local wildlife. Which type of impact is this?

    • Political, because it involves local councils
    • Economic, because it costs money to clean up
    • Social, because it affects people's daily lives
    • Environmental, because it affects nature and habitats

  14. A flash flood gave people very little warning. Which feature of Boscastle's valley best explains this?

    • The steep, narrow valley sent run-off down to the village very quickly
    • The rivers meet in a wide delta with lots of soft sand
    • The village is built on a high cliff away from the river
    • The valley is flat and wide, so water spreads out slowly

  15. A hydrograph of a flood shows a steep, sudden spike. What does that tell you?

    • Discharge rose very fast, so the flood came with little warning
    • Discharge rose slowly over several weeks before the flood
    • Rainfall was low, so the river flooded from a different source
    • The river stayed at the same level for the whole storm

  16. Which of these is a suitable flood defence for a village?

    • Building new homes on the flood plain beside the river
    • Cutting down all the trees in the upland part of the basin
    • Covering the river with concrete tarmac to speed up run-off
    • Building a flood wall or embankment to hold back the river

  17. Explain why building new houses on a flood plain puts them at greater risk.

    • Flood plains have no rivers, so there is no water to flood
    • Flood plains are high ground that water never reaches
    • Flood plains are low, flat land beside rivers that naturally floods
    • Flood plains are always covered in trees that stop water

  18. Boscastle had no deaths, but a poorer country might. Which reason best explains why impacts could be worse there?

    • Poorer countries have fewer rivers, so less water flows in them
    • Fewer defences, weaker homes and less warning can leave people more exposed
    • Poorer countries are always flat, so flooding happens slowly
    • Rain never falls heavily in poorer countries, so floods are rare

  19. Which statement about the causes of flooding is correct?

    • Flooding is only ever caused by people, never by nature, and rain plays no part in it
    • Flooding is only ever caused by nature, never by people, and it cannot be prevented at all
    • Flooding can have both physical causes, like heavy rain, and human causes, like tarmac
    • Flooding happens only when rivers are frozen in winter and their channels are blocked by ice

  20. Why is a flash flood so dangerous?

    • It rises slowly over several weeks, giving time to move away
    • It is caused by a long drought that dries out the river
    • It only affects fields and never reaches towns or villages
    • It rises very fast, giving little warning and less time to get to safety

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