Lesson Y8-U05-L01

Y8-U05-L01 Weather, Climate and the Natural Greenhouse Effect Quiz: KS3 Geography, Unit 11

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson Y8-U05-L01, Weather, Climate and the Natural Greenhouse Effect: 20 multiple choice questions for the KS3 Geography (National Curriculum), Unit 11: Year 8: Climate Change: Evidence and Choices, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. Which description fits weather?

    • The thin layer of gases wrapping around the Earth, made mostly of nitrogen and oxygen
    • Energy that travels in rays from the Sun, such as light and heat
    • The usual pattern of weather over about 30 years in a place
    • What the sky is doing right now, such as sun, rain or wind

  2. Which term means the usual pattern of weather in a place over about 30 years?

    • The usual pattern of weather a place has over about 30 years
    • A rainy day in a single week, with heavy showers across the town
    • A thin layer of gases around the Earth that keeps in the warmth
    • What the sky is doing right now, such as sun, rain or wind

  3. What is the atmosphere?

    • A deep layer of rock under the oceans, formed over millions of years
    • The thin layer of gases that wraps around the Earth
    • A band of ice around the poles that melts in summer
    • A measure of how much rain falls each year in a region

  4. What is a greenhouse gas?

    • A gas that cools the land quickly at night, like cold air rolling down from the hills
    • A liquid found only in the oceans, like salt water
    • A gas that traps heat in the atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide
    • A solid that forms layers of rock beneath the sea floor

  5. 'It snowed last Tuesday' is an example of which?

    • A greenhouse gas
    • Climate
    • Radiation
    • Weather

  6. 'Egypt is hot and dry all year' describes which?

    • Weather
    • Atmosphere
    • Radiation
    • Climate

  7. Which statement describes climate rather than weather?

    • It is windy this afternoon across the whole county
    • The UK has cool, wet summers and mild winters
    • There was a thunderstorm last night over the town centre
    • It rained in Spain yesterday afternoon during a short storm

  8. What happens to the Sun's energy that the land and sea absorb?

    • It is removed from the Earth entirely and lost to space
    • It stops the Sun from shining on the planet below
    • It makes them warm up
    • It turns into water vapour in space above the clouds

  9. Which of these reflects some of the Sun's energy straight back to space?

    • The inside of a closed car on a sunny day
    • Deep warm ocean water that absorbs most of the light
    • Clouds and ice
    • Carbon dioxide gas in the air above the city

  10. Which part of the greenhouse effect lets sunlight reach the ground?

    • Clouds absorb all the light and heat before it reaches the ground
    • The ground reflects all light at night, when the Sun is down
    • Greenhouse gases block all sunlight from reaching the ground below
    • Greenhouse gases let the Sun's light pass through the atmosphere

  11. Which gases trap the heat leaving the Earth?

    • Oxygen and nitrogen only, which make up most of the air
    • Only dust particles from volcanoes that rise high into the sky
    • Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane
    • Only gases released by the Sun during its solar flares

  12. Why does a car heat up when parked in the sun?

    • Glass stops all light getting in through the windows at all
    • Glass lets light in but traps the heat
    • The car makes its own sunlight from the engine heat inside
    • The car is cooled by the wind blowing through the open windows

  13. Without the natural greenhouse effect, Earth would most likely be:

    • Much colder, too cold for most life
    • Much hotter, with no clouds at all in the sky above
    • Exactly the same temperature as now, with no change at all
    • Covered by oceans of boiling water only, with no land

  14. Which of these is a greenhouse gas?

    • Helium
    • Argon
    • Methane
    • Nitrogen

  15. A pupil says 'It is sunny today, so the climate is hot.' What is wrong?

    • Hot days cannot happen in the UK at any time of the year
    • Sunshine never affects temperature in any part of the world, so the pupil has nothing to be wrong about
    • Climate is measured by the hour, using a thermometer on the wall
    • They have mixed up weather, which is today, with climate, the long-term pattern

  16. Why are climate records measured over about 30 years?

    • Because weather is never recorded by any meteorological station
    • To smooth out short-term weather and show the usual pattern
    • Because 30 years is when the Sun shines brightest in the sky
    • To make the climate look hotter than it really is for the public

  17. The greenhouse effect is often compared to a blanket. What does the blanket do?

    • It makes the Earth spin faster on its axis each day
    • It traps heat the Earth gives off, keeping the air warm
    • It removes all heat from the air and cools the planet quickly
    • It stops all sunlight reaching the ground, so nothing grows well

  18. Which order correctly shows the steps of the natural greenhouse effect?

    • Gases trap the Sun; land gives off heat; sea absorbs; Earth stays cold
    • Earth gives off heat first; then gases trap it; the Sun sends energy after that; land and sea absorb it last
    • Clouds absorb the Sun; then gases give off heat to the land
    • The Sun sends energy; land and sea absorb it; Earth gives off heat; gases trap some heat

  19. Why is Earth's temperature steadier than the Moon's?

    • Earth's atmosphere traps heat, so temperatures do not swing as far
    • Earth receives no energy from the Sun during the night hours
    • The Moon is closer to the Sun than Earth is in its orbit
    • The Moon's atmosphere traps more heat than Earth's does, so it stays warm

  20. Which comparison of the greenhouse effect with a car in the sun is most accurate?

    • It works because glass lets light in and traps heat, but it fails because Earth's gases are not glass
    • It works because cars make their own light, which the Earth does not, so the comparison fails at the start
    • It fails completely because glass and gases have nothing in common at all
    • It works because both are made of the same metal, which conducts heat

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