Year 11 Paper 5: Weather, Ecosystems and UK Landscapes
This paper covers weather hazards, UK ecosystems, hot deserts and rainforests, river landscapes and coastal landscapes.
Year 11 here means a typical teaching order, not a syllabus rule. No exam board defines what belongs to Year 11, 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]
Weather Hazards
Name the ocean where tropical storms affecting the Caribbean typically form.
Question 2 [1 marks]
Coastal Landscapes and Processes
Name the type of weathering in which water freezes and expands in cracks in a cliff face, gradually breaking the rock apart.
Question 3 [2 marks]
Ecosystems and Biomes
State two roles that decomposers play in an ecosystem.
Question 4 [3 marks]
Development in Extreme Environments
State three causes of deforestation in a tropical rainforest.
Question 5 [3 marks]
River Landscapes and Processes
State three characteristics of a river's lower course.
Question 6 [5 marks]
Development in Extreme Environments
A region of hot desert had 210,000 hectares of grazing land in 2000. By 2020, desertification had reduced this to 147,000 hectares.
Calculate the percentage decrease in grazing land between 2000 and 2020, then calculate the average annual rate of loss in hectares per year.
Question 7 [3 marks]
Weather Hazards
Explain one reason why flash flooding can be more dangerous than river flooding.
Question 8 [3 marks]
Development in Extreme Environments
Explain one reason why water is a major challenge for people living in a hot desert environment.
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 [5 marks]
Ecosystems and Biomes
Explain two reasons why removing hedgerows from around fields can reduce biodiversity in a UK farming landscape.
Question 11 [5 marks]
Development in Extreme Environments
Explain two reasons why road building can cause environmental damage in a tropical rainforest.
Question 12 [5 marks]
Weather Hazards
Explain two ways that a prolonged period of drought can affect farming in the UK.
Question 13 [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 14 [6 marks]
Development in Extreme Environments
For a tropical rainforest you have studied, assess the value of the rainforest and evaluate one strategy used to manage it sustainably.
Question 15 [6 marks]
Coastal Landscapes and Processes
A proposed sea wall to protect a coastal village would cost 3.2 million pounds to build and maintain over 25 years. The properties and land it would protect are valued at 9.6 million pounds in total.
Calculate the ratio of the value protected to the cost of the scheme, in its simplest form, then evaluate whether building the sea wall is likely to be considered good value for money.
Question 16 [6 marks]
Coastal Landscapes and Processes
Assess the effectiveness of hard engineering and soft engineering as strategies for managing coastal erosion.
Model solutions
| Question 1[1 mark] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| the (tropical) Atlantic Ocean | B1 |
| Question 2[1 mark] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| freeze-thaw (frost) weathering | B1 |
| Question 3[2 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| one valid role, e.g. breaking down dead plants and animals | B1 |
| a second valid role, e.g. releasing nutrients back into the soil for producers to reuse | B1 |
| Final answer: Any two of: break down dead organic matter, release nutrients back into the soil for producers to reuse, prevent a build-up of dead material | |
| Question 4[3 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying a valid cause, e.g. commercial farming or cattle ranching | B1 |
| identifying a second valid cause, e.g. logging for timber, or road building | B1 |
| identifying a third valid cause, e.g. mineral extraction, subsistence (slash-and-burn) farming, or dam construction | B1 |
| Final answer: Any three of: commercial farming/cattle ranching, logging, road building, mineral extraction, subsistence farming, dam construction | |
| Question 5[3 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying a valid characteristic, e.g. a gentle (very low) gradient | B1 |
| identifying a second valid characteristic, e.g. a wide, deep channel | B1 |
| identifying a third valid characteristic, e.g. meanders and ox-bow lakes, or fine sediment (silt/clay) on the bed | B1 |
| Final answer: Any three of: gentle gradient, wide/deep channel, meanders and ox-bow lakes, fine sediment (silt/clay) on the bed | |
| Question 6[5 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| finding the decrease, 210,000 - 147,000 = 63,000 | M1 |
| setting up the percentage calculation, (63,000 / 210,000) x 100 | M1 |
| 30% decrease | A1 |
| dividing the decrease by 20 years, 63,000 / 20 | M1 |
| 3150 hectares per year | A1 |
| Final answer: 30% decrease; an average loss of 3150 hectares per year | |
| Question 7[3 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying that flash flooding develops very quickly after intense rainfall, sometimes within an hour | B1 |
| developing this, e.g. this leaves little or no time for warnings to be issued or for people to move to safety | B1 |
| a valid concluding link, e.g. river flooding usually develops more slowly, giving more warning time | B1 |
| Final answer: Flash flooding develops within an hour or so of intense rainfall, giving little or no time for warnings, unlike the slower build-up of river flooding, so it is more likely to catch people by surprise | |
| Question 8[3 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying that rainfall in a hot desert is extremely low and highly unreliable, often less than 250mm a year | B1 |
| developing this, e.g. this makes it very difficult to grow crops or maintain a herd of animals without access to another water source | B1 |
| a valid concluding link, e.g. this forces many communities to rely on deep boreholes, irrigation schemes, or water transported from elsewhere | B1 |
| Final answer: Rainfall in a hot desert is extremely low and unreliable, making it very difficult to farm without another water source, so many communities rely on boreholes, irrigation or water transported from elsewhere | |
| 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[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 11[5 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying that clearing a route for a road directly removes a strip of forest and habitat | B1 |
| developing this, e.g. fragmenting the remaining forest into smaller, isolated patches that are harder for wide-ranging species to move between | B1 |
| identifying that roads make previously inaccessible areas of forest easier to reach | B1 |
| developing this, e.g. opening the way for further illegal logging, mining or settlement along the route | B1 |
| a valid concluding link, e.g. so the damage caused by a road often extends far beyond the land the road itself occupies | B1 |
| Final answer: Clearing a road route removes habitat directly and fragments the remaining forest into smaller, isolated patches; roads also make previously inaccessible forest easier to reach, opening the way for further illegal logging, mining or settlement, so the damage extends well beyond the road itself | |
| Question 12[5 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying that crops receive insufficient water | B1 |
| developing this, e.g. yields fall or crops fail entirely, cutting the farmer's income | B1 |
| identifying that livestock farmers may be unable to grow enough grass or feed crops to sustain their animals | B1 |
| developing this, e.g. farmers must buy in expensive feed or reduce their herd size | B1 |
| a valid concluding link, e.g. both effects reduce farm profitability and can raise food prices | B1 |
| Final answer: Reduced water availability lowers crop yields, cutting income; and a lack of pasture grass for livestock forces farmers to buy expensive feed or reduce herd sizes, both reducing farm profitability and potentially raising food prices | |
| Question 13[2 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| dividing total retreat by the number of years, 54 / 30 | M1 |
| 1.8 metres per year | A1 |
| Question 14[6 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| Names and locates the tropical rainforest studied (1 mark) | 1 |
| Identifies a value of the rainforest, e.g. it stores large amounts of carbon, helping to regulate the global climate (1 mark) | 1 |
| Identifies a second value, e.g. it contains exceptionally high biodiversity, including many species found nowhere else (1 mark) | 1 |
| Describes a named sustainable management strategy, e.g. selective logging, ecotourism, or debt-for-nature swaps (1 mark) | 1 |
| Evaluates a limitation of the strategy, e.g. it may generate less short-term income than clear-felling, making it harder to enforce (1 mark) | 1 |
| Reaches a supported overall judgement on how effective the strategy is at protecting the rainforest's value (1 mark) | 1 |
| Final answer: A named rainforest with two explained values, a described sustainable management strategy, an evaluated limitation and a supported judgement on its effectiveness | |
| Question 15[6 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| setting up the ratio, 9.6 : 3.2 | M1 |
| 3 : 1 | A1 |
| correctly stating the value protected is three times the cost of the scheme | B1 |
| a valid point supporting the scheme as good value, e.g. a benefit-cost ratio above 1 generally means a scheme is considered worthwhile in cost-benefit analysis | B1 |
| a valid limitation of this comparison, e.g. it does not include the value of non-economic factors such as community wellbeing or environmental impact | B1 |
| a supported overall judgement on whether the scheme should go ahead | B1 |
| Final answer: Ratio 3 : 1; a benefit-cost ratio above 1 generally supports building the sea wall, though the comparison ignores non-economic factors such as community wellbeing | |
| Question 16[6 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| Describes a named hard engineering strategy, e.g. rock armour, a sea wall, or groynes (1 mark) | 1 |
| Explains how it reduces erosion, e.g. a sea wall reflects wave energy away from the base of the cliff (1 mark) | 1 |
| Describes a named soft engineering strategy, e.g. beach nourishment or managed retreat (1 mark) | 1 |
| Explains how it reduces erosion or its impacts, e.g. beach nourishment widens the beach so it absorbs more wave energy (1 mark) | 1 |
| Compares the two approaches, e.g. hard engineering is effective but expensive and can increase erosion elsewhere, while soft engineering works with natural processes and is often cheaper (1 mark) | 1 |
| Reaches a supported overall judgement on which is more effective, or that a combination works best (1 mark) | 1 |
| Final answer: A compared, judged answer covering at least one hard and one soft strategy, their mechanisms and a supported conclusion | |