Lesson Y7-U03-L10

Y7-U03-L10 River Detective: A Desk-Based Enquiry Quiz: KS3 Geography, Unit 3

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

In partnership with Revision Ninja

Lesson Y7-U03-L10, River Detective: A Desk-Based Enquiry: 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.

Host this setFree Play

The 20 questions

  1. What is a geographical enquiry?

    • A map of the world with the capital cities marked
    • A test where pupils are marked against a set answer
    • A list of facts that must be learned by heart
    • Finding an answer by asking a question and gathering evidence

  2. What is fieldwork?

    • Writing a report in a classroom with no evidence, using only what the teacher said
    • Collecting your own data outside the classroom, like measuring a river
    • Drawing a map from memory without going outside, using a picture from a textbook
    • Reading a textbook about rivers in another country, far away from any real river

  3. What does GIS stand for, in simple words?

    • A grid of squares used to read six-figure references
    • A computer map tool to view and analyse places and data
    • A type of river flow measured in cumecs
    • A government report on floods and their impacts

  4. What is the first step of a geographical enquiry?

    • Ask a clear geographical question
    • Write a final conclusion
    • Present the data as a graph
    • Record the colours of the map symbols

  5. What is the last step of a geographical enquiry?

    • Ask a clear question about the river
    • Choose a colour for the river on the map
    • Present the data and write a conclusion
    • Observe and record evidence from maps

  6. What is a conclusion in an enquiry?

    • A list of every feature seen on the map
    • A short answer to the question, based on the evidence found
    • The question you ask at the start of the enquiry
    • The colour used to shade the river on a graph

  7. What colour is a river usually shown on a map?

    • Blue, as a winding line
    • Brown, like contour lines
    • Red, like a main road
    • Green, like woodland

  8. Which of these can you observe on a map of a river?

    • A meander, or a bend in the river
    • The pebble size on the riverbed
    • The speed of the water at each point
    • The temperature of the river at midday

  9. A pupil wants to know whether a river's bends are common. Which is the best way to answer using a map or GIS?

    • Only look at the river's blue colour on the map and decide the answer from that alone
    • Ask a friend who has been to the river before and write down what they remember
    • Guess from memory how many bends there are, then write the number down quickly
    • Record and count the bends on the map, then present the total

  10. Five meanders, three bridges and two footpaths were observed. Which feature is most common?

    • All three are equally common
    • Meanders, with 5 observed
    • Bridges, with 3 observed
    • Footpaths, with 2 observed

  11. Using the same data (5 meanders, 3 bridges, 2 footpaths), which feature is least common?

    • Footpaths, with 2 observed
    • Bridges, with 3 observed
    • Meanders, with 5 observed
    • Woodland, with 4 observed

  12. Which is a good conclusion for an enquiry on whether a river can be studied from a classroom?

    • Rivers are important for many reasons across the world, including farming and trade
    • The river is blue and has bends, so it is pretty to look at on a map
    • The classroom is a good place for rivers to flow, so rivers are best studied there
    • Yes, because maps and data let us observe and count river features

  13. A river depth chart shows 10 cm at the source and 70 cm at the mouth. What pattern does this show?

    • Depth is highest at the source and lowest at the mouth
    • Depth increases from source to mouth
    • Depth decreases from source to mouth
    • Depth stays the same from source to mouth

  14. Why does the river get deeper towards the mouth?

    • More water joins the river downstream, so it gets deeper
    • The river loses water downstream, so it gets shallower
    • The sea pushes the river up as it nears the mouth
    • The river stops flowing near the mouth and fills up

  15. Which piece of data could be measured at a real river, rather than observed from a map alone?

    • The number of bridges shown on the map
    • The water depth at a point in the river
    • The colour of the river shown on the map
    • The number of meanders on a printed map

  16. Why might a geographer trust map and GIS data more than a single photo?

    • Photos show the river in only one season of the year
    • Maps are always in colour, while photos are only in black and white
    • Photos are always blurred and can never be used
    • Map and GIS data cover more evidence and can be checked and counted

  17. What is a limitation of measuring depth at only three sites?

    • The depth readings would be in cm instead of metres
    • The chart would have too many bars to read
    • Three sites may not show the whole river's pattern clearly
    • Three sites are too many to measure in one afternoon

  18. Explain why a desk-based enquiry could miss something that a real fieldwork visit would catch.

    • Maps and photos cannot show the smell, sound or feel of a place
    • Maps are always out of date, so they are never correct
    • Desk-based work uses GIS, which has no data at all
    • Fieldwork can only be done at night, so it misses features

  19. A pupil writes: 'We can't study a river from a classroom.' Which correction is best?

    • Only fieldwork counts as evidence, so the pupil is correct
    • Classroom work is never accurate, so the pupil is right
    • Maps, photos and GIS give real evidence, so desk-based study is possible
    • Rivers only exist on maps, so they cannot be studied at all

  20. Which step of the enquiry comes after recording evidence?

    • Presenting the data and writing a conclusion
    • Repeating the same record with no change
    • Choosing the colour for the map's river line
    • Asking the first question about the river

All KS3 Geography quizzes