Year 10 Paper 5: Weather, Ecosystems and Landscapes
This paper covers tectonic hazards, weather hazards, UK ecosystems, 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 [1 marks]
Geographical Skills
On an Ordnance Survey map, a bridge is located at easting 46 and northing 71.
Give the four-figure grid reference for the grid square containing the bridge.
Question 2 [1 marks]
Weather Hazards
Name the ocean where tropical storms affecting the Caribbean typically form.
Question 3 [2 marks]
Ecosystems and Biomes
Define the term 'food web', and give one example of how energy passes along it.
Question 4 [3 marks]
Coastal Landscapes and Processes
State three landforms of coastal deposition.
Question 5 [3 marks]
Tectonic Hazards
State three secondary effects of an earthquake.
Question 6 [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 7 [3 marks]
River Landscapes and Processes
Explain one reason why a river deposits its load as it approaches the sea.
Question 8 [4 marks]
Tectonic Hazards
The Richter scale is logarithmic. Each whole number increase in magnitude represents an earthquake that releases about 32 times more energy.
One earthquake measures magnitude 4. A second earthquake at the same location measures magnitude 6.
Calculate how many times more energy the magnitude 6 earthquake releases than the magnitude 4 earthquake, then state whether a magnitude 8 earthquake would release more or less energy than the magnitude 6 earthquake.
Question 9 [4 marks]
Weather Hazards
A reservoir supplying a drought-affected region held 420 million litres of water at the start of a dry summer.
Over 90 days, the region used water at an average rate of 4 million litres per day and received no significant rainfall. Calculate how many litres of water were left in the reservoir at the end of the 90 days.
Question 10 [4 marks]
Geographical Skills
Two spot heights on an OS map are 340m and 210m. Measured using the map's scale, they are 2.6km apart in a straight line.
Calculate the average gradient between the two points in metres per kilometre, then state whether this is a steep or a gentle slope in geographical terms.
Question 11 [5 marks]
Weather Hazards
A weather station recorded 6 hours of continuous heavy rainfall at a rate of 14mm per hour, followed by 3 hours at a lighter rate of 5mm per hour.
Calculate the total rainfall recorded over the 9 hours, then state whether this total would be more likely to cause river flooding if the ground was already saturated from previous rain, giving a reason.
Question 12 [5 marks]
Ecosystems and Biomes
In a UK grassland ecosystem, a survey recorded 4800 grass plants, 240 rabbits and 12 foxes in one hectare.
Calculate the ratio of grass plants to rabbits, and the ratio of rabbits to foxes, both in their simplest form, then explain what these ratios show about energy loss between trophic levels.
Question 13 [5 marks]
Geographical Skills
A student measured the width of a beach at low tide at five points along its length, in metres: 42, 38, 51, 45, 39.
Calculate the mean beach width, then calculate the range, and suggest one reason the beach width might vary along its length.
Question 14 [6 marks]
Tectonic Hazards
In 2010, an earthquake measuring magnitude 7.0 struck Haiti, a lower-income country, killing an estimated 220,000 people. In the same year, an earthquake measuring magnitude 6.3 struck Christchurch, New Zealand, a higher-income country, killing 185 people.
Calculate how many times greater the Haiti death toll was than the Christchurch death toll, giving your answer to the nearest whole number, then explain why Christchurch, despite experiencing a lower-magnitude earthquake, suffered far fewer deaths than Haiti.
Question 15 [6 marks]
River Landscapes and Processes
Compare the causes and effectiveness of a hard engineering flood management scheme with a soft engineering flood management scheme, both on rivers you have studied.
Question 16 [6 marks]
Tectonic Hazards
For a tectonic hazard you have studied, either an earthquake or a volcanic eruption, assess the extent to which its long-term impacts affected the local economy.
Model solutions
| Question 1[1 mark] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| 4671 | B1 |
| Question 2[1 mark] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| the (tropical) Atlantic Ocean | B1 |
| Question 3[2 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| a valid definition, e.g. a network of interconnected food chains showing feeding relationships | B1 |
| a valid example of energy transfer, e.g. energy passes from a producer to a herbivore when it is eaten | B1 |
| Final answer: A food web is a network of interconnected food chains; energy passes along it as organisms eat each other, e.g. producer to herbivore | |
| Question 4[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 5[3 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying a valid secondary effect, e.g. disease outbreak caused by damaged sanitation infrastructure | B1 |
| identifying a second valid secondary effect, e.g. economic losses from damaged businesses and infrastructure | B1 |
| identifying a third valid secondary effect, e.g. landslides or tsunamis triggered by the earthquake | B1 |
| Final answer: Any three of: disease outbreak from damaged sanitation, economic losses from damaged businesses/infrastructure, landslides or tsunamis triggered by the earthquake, fires from ruptured gas pipes | |
| Question 6[2 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| dividing total retreat by the number of years, 54 / 30 | M1 |
| 1.8 metres per year | A1 |
| Question 7[3 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying that the river's gradient becomes very gentle in the lower course | B1 |
| developing this, e.g. this reduces the river's velocity and so its energy | B1 |
| a valid concluding link, e.g. with less energy the river can no longer transport all of its sediment and deposits it | B1 |
| Final answer: The very gentle gradient in the lower course reduces the river's velocity and energy, so it can no longer carry all of its sediment load and deposits it | |
| Question 8[4 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| recognising the magnitude difference between magnitude 4 and magnitude 6 is 2 | M1 |
| calculating 32 x 32 | M1 |
| 1024 times more energy | A1 |
| correctly stating a magnitude 8 earthquake would release (much) more energy than the magnitude 6 earthquake | B1 |
| Final answer: 1024 times more energy; a magnitude 8 earthquake would release more energy than the magnitude 6 earthquake | |
| Question 9[4 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| finding the total used, 4 x 90 | M1 |
| 360 million litres used | A1 |
| subtracting this from the starting volume, 420 - 360 | M1 |
| 60 million litres remaining | A1 |
| Question 10[4 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| finding the height difference, 340 - 210 = 130m | M1 |
| dividing the height difference by the distance, 130 / 2.6 | M1 |
| 50 metres per kilometre | A1 |
| correctly describing this as a steep slope, since the ground rises 50m for every kilometre travelled | B1 |
| Final answer: 50 metres per kilometre; a steep slope | |
| Question 11[5 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| the heavy period, 6 x 14 = 84mm | M1 |
| the lighter period, 3 x 5 = 15mm | M1 |
| the total, 84 + 15 = 99mm | A1 |
| correctly stating yes, this would be more likely to cause flooding | B1 |
| a valid reason, e.g. saturated ground cannot absorb any more water, so nearly all of the rainfall becomes surface runoff, reaching rivers quickly | B1 |
| Final answer: 99mm in total; yes, this would be more likely to cause flooding, because saturated ground cannot absorb more water, so nearly all of the rainfall runs off quickly into rivers | |
| Question 12[5 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| simplifying the grass to rabbit ratio, 4800 : 240 | M1 |
| 20 : 1 | A1 |
| simplifying the rabbit to fox ratio, 240 : 12 | M1 |
| 20 : 1 | A1 |
| explaining that far fewer individuals exist at each higher trophic level because energy is lost, e.g. as heat, through respiration, or in uneaten/undigested parts, at each stage of the food chain | B1 |
| Final answer: Grass to rabbits = 20 : 1; rabbits to foxes = 20 : 1; both show a sharp fall in numbers at each trophic level because most energy is lost, as heat or waste, at each stage rather than passed on | |
| Question 13[5 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| adding the five totals, 42 + 38 + 51 + 45 + 39 = 215 | M1 |
| dividing by 5 | M1 |
| the mean, 43 metres | A1 |
| the range, 51 - 38 = 13 metres | A1 |
| a valid reason for the variation, e.g. differences in wave energy or the amount of longshore drift deposition along different parts of the beach | B1 |
| Final answer: Mean = 43 metres; range = 13 metres; the beach width could vary due to differences in wave energy or longshore drift deposition along different parts of the beach | |
| Question 14[6 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| dividing the two death tolls, 220,000 / 185 | M1 |
| approximately 1189 times greater (accept 1189-1190) | A1 |
| noting that Christchurch's magnitude (6.3) was lower than Haiti's (7.0), yet its death toll was far smaller | B1 |
| a valid reason for the difference, e.g. New Zealand's strict building codes meant most structures withstood the shaking | B1 |
| a second valid reason, e.g. Haiti's capital had a high population density and the earthquake's focus was shallow and close to the city | B1 |
| a concluding point that level of economic development, not magnitude alone, best explains the difference in death toll | B1 |
| Final answer: Approximately 1189 times greater; despite its lower magnitude, Christchurch suffered far fewer deaths because of stricter building codes, while Haiti's high population density, shallow focus and lower level of development greatly increased its death toll | |
| Question 15[6 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| Names and locates a hard engineering scheme studied, e.g. a flood relief channel or embankments on a named river (1 mark) | 1 |
| Names and locates a soft engineering scheme studied, e.g. river restoration or floodplain zoning on a named river (1 mark) | 1 |
| Explains how the hard engineering scheme reduces flood risk (1 mark) | 1 |
| Explains how the soft engineering scheme reduces flood risk (1 mark) | 1 |
| Compares their relative cost, speed of protection, or environmental impact (1 mark) | 1 |
| Reaches a supported overall judgement on which scheme has been more effective (1 mark) | 1 |
| Final answer: A named hard scheme and a named soft scheme with explained mechanisms, a compared cost or impact, and a supported judgement on which was more effective | |
| Question 16[6 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| Names and locates the tectonic hazard studied (1 mark) | 1 |
| Describes a long-term economic impact, e.g. destroyed infrastructure such as roads or a port reduced trade and business activity for months or years (1 mark) | 1 |
| Describes a second long-term economic impact, e.g. tourism income fell sharply as visitors avoided the area (1 mark) | 1 |
| Explains a factor that helped the economy recover, e.g. international aid or reconstruction investment funded rebuilding (1 mark) | 1 |
| Evaluates a limitation of recovery, e.g. some businesses and jobs never returned, especially in poorer areas (1 mark) | 1 |
| Reaches a supported overall judgement on how far the local economy was affected in the long term (1 mark) | 1 |
| Final answer: A named hazard with two described long-term economic impacts, a factor supporting recovery, an evaluated limitation and a supported judgement on the overall economic effect | |