Lesson Y8-U01-L03

Y8-U01-L03 Plate Boundaries: Where the Action Happens Quiz: KS3 Geography, Unit 7

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

In partnership with Revision Ninja

Lesson Y8-U01-L03, Plate Boundaries: Where the Action Happens: 20 multiple choice questions for the KS3 Geography (National Curriculum), Unit 7: Year 8: Restless Earth: Tectonic Hazards, 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. Which pairing of boundary type and plate movement is correct?

    • Constructive: plates push together
    • Conservative: plates slide past each other
    • Destructive: plates pull apart and slowly fill the gap with new crust
    • Conservative: plates pull apart

  2. What happens at a destructive boundary?

    • Two plates push together and one sinks down
    • Two plates stop moving and freeze in place
    • Two plates pull apart and magma fills the gap
    • Two plates slide past each other without any change

  3. What is subduction?

    • When a heavier plate sinks under a lighter one
    • When a plate slides sideways along a fault line
    • When new crust cools into a flat, thin sheet
    • When magma rises through a crack in the ocean floor

  4. What is a conservative boundary?

    • Where two plates collide and one melts
    • Where two plates pull apart and new crust forms
    • Where a plate stops moving and never shifts again
    • Where two plates slide past each other sideways

  5. Which real place is an example of a constructive boundary?

    • Japan
    • Iceland
    • California
    • The Andes

  6. Which mountain range was built at a destructive boundary where the Nazca Plate sinks under South America?

    • The Pennines
    • The Alps
    • The Andes
    • The Himalayas

  7. Which fault in California is an example of a conservative boundary?

    • The Mid-Atlantic Ridge
    • The Andes fault line
    • The Great Rift Valley
    • The San Andreas Fault

  8. Which hazard is typical of a conservative boundary?

    • Tsunamis formed by eruptions of new crust
    • Gentle lava flows that build new islands
    • Violent volcanoes, but no earthquakes
    • Earthquakes, with no volcanoes

  9. Which boundary type is the Mid-Atlantic Ridge?

    • Constructive
    • Conservative
    • It is not a plate boundary at all
    • Destructive

  10. Why are eruptions at constructive boundaries usually gentler?

    • The eruptions happen under thick ice that cools the lava quickly, so the lava never flows far
    • The magma is runny, so gas escapes easily instead of building up pressure
    • The magma is thick and sticky, trapping gas and making it explosive
    • The eruptions occur deep underground, so no lava reaches the surface

  11. A destructive boundary causes both earthquakes and violent eruptions. Which explanation is best?

    • Friction and melting as the plate sinks cause stress to build and magma to rise
    • Cold water cools the mantle and cracks the crust above it
    • The plates move apart, so pressure falls and causes eruptions
    • The plates slide past, so no magma can form anywhere along the boundary or beneath the crust

  12. A pupil says conservative boundaries have volcanoes. Which correction is best?

    • Yes, but only very small volcanoes form there, and they erupt only once every few centuries
    • No, because plates at these boundaries never move at all
    • No, no new magma rises there, so they produce earthquakes but not volcanoes
    • Yes, because sliding plates always melt rock and create lava

  13. Why do earthquakes occur at a conservative boundary?

    • The plates pull apart and gaps fill suddenly with lava
    • The plates melt into magma, making the ground shake and creating a new mountain range overnight
    • The plates get stuck on rough rock, pressure builds, and then they jerk free
    • The plates sink under each other and push up a mountain range

  14. On a world map of earthquakes, what pattern would you expect to see?

    • Earthquakes spread evenly across the middle of every continent
    • Earthquakes concentrated near the Equator only
    • Earthquakes only in the centre of large plates
    • Earthquakes in lines along plate boundaries

  15. Why is the middle of a tectonic plate usually safer from earthquakes?

    • Plates in the middle are made of softer rock that absorbs shaking
    • Plates in the middle are made of no rock at all, so the ground there never shakes or moves
    • Earthquakes mainly happen where plates meet and rub or push, not in the stable middle
    • The middle of a plate is always covered by thick ice

  16. Iceland is slowly splitting apart. Which type of boundary is this?

    • Subduction
    • Conservative
    • Destructive
    • Constructive

  17. Which statement compares the three boundary types correctly?

    • Constructive builds crust, destructive destroys crust, and conservative neither builds nor destroys it
    • All three build new crust at the same rate, so the boundaries produce exactly equal amounts of new land and mountains each year
    • All three destroy crust by pushing plates into the mantle
    • Conservative boundaries build more crust than constructive ones

  18. Why do destructive boundaries produce some of the most dangerous hazards?

    • They produce volcanoes only, with no earthquakes at all, and they never melt any rock in the mantle or change the shape of the land
    • They produce only gentle lava flows that rarely cause damage
    • Stress builds as the plates lock, so large earthquakes occur, and melted rock can form explosive volcanoes
    • They have no hazards because the plates are moving apart

  19. A city lies close to a conservative boundary. Which hazard should planners expect most?

    • Earthquakes, because stuck plates release stress in sudden jerks
    • Tsunamis formed by new crust rising from the sea floor
    • Drought caused by the plates pulling apart and drying out the land for many years
    • Long-lasting lava flows that cover the city

  20. Why might a constructive boundary be less deadly than a destructive one?

    • Constructive boundaries are always under the ocean, far from people
    • Constructive boundaries have no people living nearby at all
    • Constructive boundaries have no magma at all, so they never produce any lava or gas
    • Its eruptions are usually gentle and runny, so they are less explosive

All KS3 Geography quizzes