Lesson Y8-U05-L05

Y8-U05-L05 Reading the Data: Source Reliability and Bias Quiz: KS3 Geography, Unit 11

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

In partnership with Revision Ninja

Lesson Y8-U05-L05, Reading the Data: Source Reliability and Bias: 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. What is a source of information?

    • The speed at which a river flows past the banks each day
    • A measure of how much rain falls each year in a region
    • Where a piece of information comes from, such as a website, paper or person
    • A type of rock formed by volcanoes and lava flows long ago, which is now used in building walls and roads

  2. What does 'reliable' mean for a source?

    • Information that makes people feel happy and hopeful about the future
    • Information written in large capital letters so it is easy to see
    • Information that is always the most recent, published that same day, even before anyone has checked it
    • Information you can trust because it is accurate and checked by others

  3. What is bias in a source?

    • A measure of how cold a region is in winter, recorded each day
    • When a source unfairly favours one side and hides the other
    • A type of graph used only for population counts in cities
    • A small group of people who vote in a town council meeting

  4. What is peer review?

    • When a company tests its own product in private, without any outside checks
    • When a newspaper edits a story for length and style before printing
    • When two pupils mark each other's homework in a classroom each week
    • When other scientists check a study carefully before it is published

  5. An oil-company advert says climate fears are exaggerated. Who most likely made it, and why?

    • Scientists, to inform the public with checked data and evidence
    • A business, to protect sales and persuade
    • A school, to teach pupils about rainfall and temperature
    • The Met Office, to record daily temperatures for the nation

  6. A Met Office report shows UK temperatures rising. Why is it likely to be reliable?

    • It was written by a company to sell products to households
    • It has no dates or data to check, so it cannot be verified
    • It is an advert for holiday packages in the sunny south
    • It is made by scientists and based on checked data

  7. Which of these sources is more reliable?

    • A post with no sources but thousands of likes and shares from friends online
    • A peer-reviewed study with 50 years of temperature data
    • A blog post with no author, no date and no data at all
    • A poster with a catchy slogan and a bright picture

  8. What does cherry-picking mean?

    • Counting every year of the record, including the awkward ones
    • Choosing the largest graph on the page to look most important
    • Choosing only the years or facts that suit your argument
    • Picking fruit from trees to sell at markets in the summer

  9. A graph shows only 2015 to 2018 to argue that temperature is steady. What might it be hiding?

    • The clear long-term rise seen across a fuller record
    • Any temperature data at all for the Earth, from any year
    • The name of the author who drew the graph for the report
    • The units used on the graph, such as Celsius or Fahrenheit

  10. Why should you read the axis labels and units before trusting a graph?

    • Axis labels are only decoration and never change the meaning of the graph, so readers can skip them safely
    • Graphs always start at zero, so the axes never need checking
    • An axis can be stretched or squashed to make a change look bigger or smaller
    • Units never matter for temperature, so they can be ignored in graphs

  11. Which question is most useful to ask about any source?

    • Who made it, and why did they make it?
    • What colour is the front cover of the report or leaflet?
    • How many words are in the title of the document?
    • Which font was used for the heading of the page?

  12. Which is the best reason to trust a source?

    • It shows its evidence with data, dates and a named study
    • Friends have shared it many times with their own followers
    • It uses lots of capital letters so the message stands out
    • It has the most likes on social media from many users

  13. A post says 'It snowed today, so warming is fake.' Why is this weak evidence?

    • It uses one day, not the long-term trend from many years of data
    • Posts with snow are always reliable because they show real weather
    • Snow never falls in a warming world, so the snow must be fake
    • Snow proves that global temperature has fallen since 1900 in every region

  14. Which of these sources is usually the most trustworthy for scientific claims?

    • An advert for a new product
    • A peer-reviewed journal article
    • An anonymous forum comment
    • A pamphlet with no named author

  15. Which of these is an example of a misleading source?

    • An advert that hides the long-term data to protect its sales
    • A Met Office report with dated temperature records for each year
    • A school textbook checked by teachers and reviewed by experts
    • A peer-reviewed study listing its data sources and methods clearly

  16. What is the best response to a shocking claim seen on social media?

    • Share it straight away to warn everyone you know about the danger
    • Ignore all evidence and decide at once, because the claim seems urgent and everyone else seems to agree with it
    • Check the facts calmly, including who shared it and whether they are an expert
    • Believe it because it is written in bold capital letters on the page

  17. Which extra check would make a conclusion even more reliable?

    • Counting how many times the claim is shared across the internet
    • Asking the advertiser to repeat the claim in a second advert
    • Looking at the colour scheme of the advert and its fonts, and the style of the pictures used on the page
    • Finding the original data or a second independent peer-reviewed source

  18. Which feature shows that a source has been checked by others?

    • It is written by an unnamed author with no sources given
    • It has been peer reviewed by other scientists before publication
    • It was posted by a single person online with no checks
    • It has a bright cover and a large font to attract attention, which is often how people decide what to trust

  19. Why can the same true data still mislead people?

    • Stretching, cropping or cherry-picking can change how it looks
    • Data becomes false once it is put on a graph in the report
    • True data can never mislead anyone, because facts are always fair
    • Only false data is ever used in graphs in newspapers

  20. Which judgement best compares an oil-firm advert with a peer-reviewed climate study?

    • The study is more reliable because it informs, uses data and is checked by others, while the advert is written to sell
    • Neither can be trusted, so no one should read either the study or the advert at all
    • The advert is more reliable because it is colourful and eye-catching, and its design looks very professional
    • Both are equally reliable because both are written by people with opinions

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