Year 10 Paper 3: Ecosystems and UK Landscapes
This paper covers UK ecosystems, hot deserts and rainforests, river landscapes, coastal landscapes and geographical skills.
Year 10 here means a typical teaching order, not a syllabus rule. No exam board defines what belongs to Year 10, and schools sequence the course differently. Check it against your own scheme of work before using it to decide what a class has covered.
Questions
Question 1 [2 marks]
Geographical Skills
State two advantages of using random sampling to select survey sites, compared with the researcher choosing sites themselves.
Question 2 [2 marks]
Development in Extreme Environments
State two features of the soil found in a tropical rainforest.
Question 3 [3 marks]
Coastal Landscapes and Processes
State three landforms of coastal deposition.
Question 4 [3 marks]
Ecosystems and Biomes
State three factors, other than temperature and rainfall, that can affect which plants grow in an ecosystem.
Question 5 [2 marks]
Coastal Landscapes and Processes
A cliff at Combe Head has retreated 54 metres over the last 30 years.
Calculate the average annual rate of coastal erosion at this location, in metres per year.
Question 6 [3 marks]
River Landscapes and Processes
A river falls from a height of 340m at its source to 20m where it reaches the sea, over a horizontal distance of 64km.
Calculate the average gradient of the river in metres per kilometre.
Question 7 [3 marks]
Ecosystems and Biomes
A small pond ecosystem in a school field in Yorkshire contains pondweed, tadpoles, small fish and herons.
Explain how removing the small fish from this ecosystem could affect the rest of the food web.
Question 8 [4 marks]
River Landscapes and Processes
A river has a bankfull cross-sectional area of 24 square metres upstream of a meander, and a velocity of 0.9 metres per second.
Use the formula discharge = cross-sectional area x velocity to calculate the river's discharge in cubic metres per second, then state what would most likely happen if the discharge exceeded this bankfull level.
Question 9 [5 marks]
Ecosystems and Biomes
Explain two reasons why removing hedgerows from around fields can reduce biodiversity in a UK farming landscape.
Question 10 [5 marks]
River Landscapes and Processes
During a storm, a river's discharge was recorded every hour: 08:00: 8 cumecs, 09:00: 40 cumecs, 10:00: 68 cumecs (peak), 11:00: 58 cumecs, 12:00: 50 cumecs, 13:00: 44 cumecs.
Calculate the rise in discharge from the start of the storm to the peak, then state whether the river's rising limb or its falling limb was steeper, giving a reason based on the data.
Question 11 [5 marks]
Coastal Landscapes and Processes
Explain the formation of a spit, such as one you have studied on the UK coastline.
Question 12 [5 marks]
River Landscapes and Processes
A river channel has a cross-sectional area of 18 square metres and the water is flowing at a velocity of 0.6 metres per second.
Use the formula discharge = cross-sectional area x velocity to calculate the river's discharge in cubic metres per second. Then explain what would happen to the discharge if the cross-sectional area doubled while velocity stayed the same, and suggest one event that could cause the cross-sectional area to increase in this way.
Question 13 [6 marks]
Geographical Skills
A student carried out a pilot survey of pedestrian counts at 4 sites, recording these totals over 10 minutes at each: Site 1: 18, Site 2: 45, Site 3: 22, Site 4: 61.
Calculate the mean pedestrian count, then evaluate whether the mean is a suitable single measure to summarise this particular data set, referring to the actual values recorded.
Question 14 [6 marks]
Development in Extreme Environments
For a tropical rainforest you have studied, evaluate the impact of road building and resource extraction on indigenous communities living there.
Question 15 [6 marks]
Coastal Landscapes and Processes
For a stretch of UK coastline you have studied, assess the extent to which rising sea levels are likely to increase the risk it faces in the future.
Model solutions
| Question 1[2 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| one valid advantage, e.g. it removes the researcher's personal bias in choosing sites | B1 |
| a second valid advantage, e.g. it gives every possible location an equal chance of being chosen, making the sample more likely to be representative | B1 |
| Final answer: Any two of: removes the researcher's personal bias, gives every location an equal chance of selection, tends to produce a more representative sample | |
| Question 2[2 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| one valid feature, e.g. thin, nutrient-poor beneath a shallow surface layer | B1 |
| a second valid feature, e.g. easily leached by heavy rainfall | B1 |
| Final answer: Any two of: thin, nutrient-poor beneath a shallow surface layer, easily leached by heavy rainfall, most nutrients held in the vegetation rather than the soil | |
| Question 3[3 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying a valid landform, e.g. a beach | B1 |
| identifying a second valid landform, e.g. a spit or a bar | B1 |
| identifying a third valid landform, different from the first two, e.g. a tombolo or a sand dune | B1 |
| Final answer: Any three of: beach, spit, bar, tombolo, sand dune | |
| Question 4[3 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying a valid factor, e.g. soil type or fertility | B1 |
| identifying a second valid factor, e.g. drainage or altitude | B1 |
| identifying a third valid factor, e.g. aspect (which way a slope faces) or the availability of light | B1 |
| Final answer: Any three of: soil type/fertility, drainage, altitude, aspect, availability of light | |
| Question 5[2 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| dividing total retreat by the number of years, 54 / 30 | M1 |
| 1.8 metres per year | A1 |
| Question 6[3 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| finding the fall in height, 340 - 20 = 320m | M1 |
| dividing the fall by the horizontal distance, 320 / 64 | M1 |
| 5 metres per kilometre | A1 |
| Question 7[3 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying an immediate change, e.g. tadpole numbers would increase because a predator has been removed | B1 |
| a knock-on effect, e.g. more tadpoles means more pondweed is eaten, so pondweed declines | B1 |
| a further consequence, e.g. herons have less food available, so heron numbers may fall or they move elsewhere | B1 |
| Final answer: Removing a link causes knock-on changes through the food web, e.g. tadpole numbers rise, pondweed is grazed more, herons lose a food source | |
| Question 8[4 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| substituting into the formula, 24 x 0.9 | M1 |
| 21.6 cubic metres per second (cumecs) | A1 |
| correctly stating the river would flood, spilling out of its channel onto the surrounding floodplain | B1 |
| a valid linked point, e.g. this is why bankfull discharge is used to define a river's flood risk threshold | B1 |
| Final answer: 21.6 cumecs; if discharge exceeded this bankfull level, the river would flood, spilling out onto the surrounding floodplain, which is why bankfull discharge marks a river's flood risk threshold | |
| Question 9[5 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying that hedgerows provide habitat and shelter for many species, including birds, insects and small mammals | B1 |
| developing this, e.g. removing them destroys this habitat, so these species lose somewhere to live and breed | B1 |
| identifying that hedgerows act as corridors connecting separate patches of habitat | B1 |
| developing this, e.g. removing them isolates populations in different fields, making it harder for species to move, feed or find mates | B1 |
| a valid concluding link, e.g. both effects make it harder for a wide range of species to survive in the farmed landscape | B1 |
| Final answer: Hedgerows provide habitat for birds, insects and small mammals, which is destroyed when they are removed; they also act as corridors connecting habitat patches, so removing them isolates populations and makes it harder for species to move, feed or breed, reducing biodiversity | |
| Question 10[5 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| finding the rise, 68 - 8 | M1 |
| a rise of 60 cumecs | A1 |
| correctly identifying the rising limb as steeper | B1 |
| a valid reason using the data, e.g. discharge rose 60 cumecs in the 2 hours from 08:00 to 10:00, but fell only 24 cumecs over the following 3 hours to 13:00, a much faster rate of change during the rise | B1 |
| a valid geographical explanation, e.g. surface runoff reaches the channel quickly after rainfall, causing a rapid rise, while water draining more slowly from ground storage causes a more gradual fall | B1 |
| Final answer: 60 cumecs; the rising limb was steeper, since discharge rose 60 cumecs in 2 hours but fell only 24 cumecs over the following 3 hours, a much faster rate of change during the rise, caused by surface runoff reaching the channel quickly after rainfall compared with the slower drainage that causes the fall | |
| Question 11[5 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying longshore drift as the process transporting sediment along the coast | B1 |
| identifying that the coastline changes direction, e.g. at a river mouth or bay | B1 |
| explaining that deposition continues in the same direction beyond the bend, building a ridge out into open water | B1 |
| identifying that a change in wind or wave direction can curve the end of the ridge into a hook | B1 |
| naming a real UK example of a spit, e.g. Spurn Point or Orford Ness | B1 |
| Final answer: Longshore drift transports sediment along the coast; where the coastline changes direction, deposition continues out into open water, building a spit, often with a hooked end | |
| Question 12[5 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| substituting into the formula, 18 x 0.6 | M1 |
| 10.8 cubic metres per second (cumecs) | A1 |
| correctly stating the discharge would double, since discharge is directly proportional to cross-sectional area when velocity is held constant | B1 |
| a valid explanation of that proportionality, e.g. twice the cross-sectional area of water passes a point each second at the same speed | B1 |
| a valid event that could increase the cross-sectional area, e.g. heavy rainfall raising the channel's water level and width after a storm | B1 |
| Final answer: 10.8 cumecs; the discharge would double to 21.6 cumecs, since discharge is directly proportional to cross-sectional area at constant velocity; this could happen after heavy rainfall raises the channel's water level | |
| Question 13[6 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| adding the four totals, 18 + 45 + 22 + 61 = 146 | M1 |
| dividing by 4 | M1 |
| the mean, 36.5 pedestrians | A1 |
| a valid point that the mean may not be fully suitable, e.g. the values are quite spread out, ranging from 18 to 61, so no single site is actually close to the mean | B1 |
| a valid alternative or further consideration, e.g. the median or the individual site values give a better sense of how footfall actually varies across the town than the mean alone | B1 |
| a supported overall judgement on whether the mean is a suitable summary for this specific data set | B1 |
| Final answer: Mean = 36.5 pedestrians; this may not be a fully suitable summary since the values are widely spread (18 to 61) and no individual site is actually close to 36.5, so the median or the individual values may better represent how footfall really varies between sites | |
| Question 14[6 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| Names and locates the tropical rainforest and indigenous community studied (1 mark) | 1 |
| Describes a negative impact, e.g. loss of traditional land or hunting/farming grounds as roads and extraction sites are built (1 mark) | 1 |
| Describes a second negative impact, e.g. exposure to diseases from outside, or loss of traditional culture and way of life (1 mark) | 1 |
| Describes a potential benefit, e.g. new access to markets, healthcare or education along the new roads (1 mark) | 1 |
| Evaluates which effect, negative or positive, is likely to be greater for this community (1 mark) | 1 |
| Reaches a supported overall judgement on the overall impact on the indigenous community (1 mark) | 1 |
| Final answer: A named rainforest and community with two described negative impacts, a described benefit, an evaluated comparison and a supported overall judgement | |
| Question 15[6 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| Names and locates the stretch of UK coastline studied (1 mark) | 1 |
| Describes the current level of risk the coastline faces, e.g. from erosion or flooding (1 mark) | 1 |
| Explains how rising sea levels could increase this risk, e.g. higher water levels allow waves to reach further up the beach or cliff, increasing erosion or flood frequency (1 mark) | 1 |
| Describes a management response that could help, e.g. managed retreat or upgraded coastal defences (1 mark) | 1 |
| Evaluates a limitation of this response, e.g. its high cost or that it may only delay rather than prevent the problem (1 mark) | 1 |
| Reaches a supported overall judgement on how serious the future risk is likely to be (1 mark) | 1 |
| Final answer: A named coastline with its current risk, an explained sea-level-rise effect, a management response and its limitation, and a supported judgement on the future risk | |