Lesson Y9-U04-L01

Y9-U04-L01 The Restless Earth: Structure and Plates Quiz: KS3 Geography, Unit 16

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson Y9-U04-L01, The Restless Earth: Structure and Plates: 20 multiple choice questions for the KS3 Geography (National Curriculum), Unit 16: Year 9: Dynamic Landscapes: Tectonics and Ice, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. What are the four layers of the Earth, from outside in?

    • Mantle, crust, inner core, outer core.
    • Crust, mantle, outer core, inner core.
    • Core, crust, ocean, mantle.
    • Crust, core, mantle, plate.

  2. Which layer of the Earth do we live on?

    • The mantle.
    • The outer core.
    • The crust.
    • The inner core.

  3. Which layer is made of hot rock that can slowly flow?

    • The mantle.
    • The crust.
    • The outer core.
    • The inner core.

  4. What is the inner core mostly made of?

    • Cold ice that never melts.
    • Solid metal, mainly iron and nickel.
    • Hot gas that is mostly carbon dioxide.
    • Liquid metal, mainly iron and nickel.

  5. Roughly what temperature is the inner core?

    • About 500 degrees Celsius.
    • About 55,000 degrees Celsius.
    • About 55 degrees Celsius.
    • About 5,500 degrees Celsius.

  6. What is a tectonic plate?

    • A giant slab of the Earth's crust that slowly moves over the mantle.
    • A thin sheet of ice that covers the Arctic Ocean.
    • A map showing the height of mountains above sea level and the places where rivers begin to flow.
    • A layer of gas that surrounds the whole planet.

  7. Roughly how many large tectonic plates are there?

    • About 15.
    • About 3.
    • About 150.
    • About 1,500.

  8. What is the line where two tectonic plates meet called?

    • A plate boundary.
    • A contour line.
    • A weather front.
    • An isobar.

  9. How does continental crust compare with oceanic crust?

    • Continental crust is found only beneath the sea.
    • Continental crust is liquid, while oceanic crust is solid.
    • Continental crust is thinner and denser than oceanic crust.
    • Continental crust is thicker and less dense than oceanic crust.

  10. Why does hot mantle rock rise?

    • It becomes heavier as it heats up.
    • It stops being rock once it is heated.
    • It becomes less dense as it heats up.
    • It is pulled upward by the Moon alone.

  11. Which sequence correctly describes convection currents in the mantle?

    • Cold rock rises, heats up and then sinks again, which lifts the plate high above the mantle.
    • Rock stays still, and only the crust moves on its own.
    • Heat makes rock rise; the rock cools and sinks; the flow drags the plate above.
    • Plates push rock down, which heats it into a liquid.

  12. Which ring of plate boundaries surrounds the Pacific Ocean?

    • The Ring of Fire.
    • The Sahara Belt.
    • The Hadley Ring.
    • The Ring of Ice.

  13. Which country lies on several plate boundaries and so experiences many earthquakes?

    • Japan.
    • Ireland.
    • Norway.
    • The UK.

  14. Why is the UK relatively stable when it comes to earthquakes?

    • It sits in the middle of the Eurasian Plate, far from a plate boundary.
    • It has no mantle beneath it at all.
    • It is built on top of the Earth's inner core, which is solid and sits far beneath the crust.
    • It is located right on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where most of the world's active volcanoes sit.

  15. A pupil writes 'boundaries are everywhere'. Which improved answer is best?

    • Boundaries only exist in the middle of large deserts.
    • Boundaries form lines that ring the Pacific Ocean, including Japan and Indonesia.
    • Boundaries are simply the places where rivers meet the sea.
    • Boundaries are spread randomly across every continent and every sea.

  16. Which feature is typical of the middle of a large tectonic plate?

    • Frequent eruptions along a line through its centre.
    • Strong convection currents rising from its centre.
    • Few earthquakes, because it is far from a plate boundary.
    • Large new strips of crust forming every year.

  17. Which pair of places best shows a plate boundary contrasted with a plate interior?

    • Central UK (boundary) and Japan (interior).
    • Japan (interior) and Japan (boundary).
    • Japan (boundary) and central UK (interior).
    • Antarctica (boundary) and the Sahara (interior).

  18. What does the lesson say about the outer core?

    • It is a thin layer of ice on the surface.
    • It is made of cold gas at the surface.
    • It is liquid metal, mostly iron and nickel.
    • It is solid rock with no metal at all.

  19. Which judgement best evaluates what makes the plates move?

    • Plates only move because of the Moon's gravity pulling the crust, not because of any heat inside the Earth.
    • Heat from the core driving convection is the key cause, since it powers the mantle flow that drags plates.
    • The crust moves by itself, so the mantle and core are irrelevant.
    • Plates never move, and earthquakes come only from human mining, which is why scientists disagree.

  20. Why do earthquake maps and plate boundary maps look almost identical?

    • Plate boundaries were drawn on maps after the earthquakes were measured.
    • Earthquakes cluster where plates meet and grind against each other.
    • Earthquakes are caused only by human activity, so they follow cities.
    • Both maps show only the locations of major rivers and lakes.

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