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Geography Quiz - Geography Skills 01 (Questions)

This KS3 quiz will test you on geography skills. Geography is the subject that deals with the study of the Earth and its lands, features, inhabitants and phenomena. A literal translation would be 'to describe or write about the Earth'. The word geography comes from the Greek language - geo meaning Earth and graphia meaning description. When studying geography, a good working knowledge of maps is essential. But that's not all - charts, tables and diagrams are also important because geography involves a lot of statistics.

Many maps have a grid system of lines. These show the latitude and longitude and can be used to be very specific about the location of a geographical feature. There are plenty of other different kinds of map. Some, like the Ordnance Survey maps of Great Britain, can be used for navigation. A choropleth map would not be used for navigation, it is designed to show how something varies across a region e.g. population density or income per capita. Areas are shaded in proportion to the measurement of the data being shown.

1. What does 'O.S.' stand for in O.S. maps?
[ ] Ordinary Scale
[ ] Ordnance Survey
[ ] Outdoor Scan
[ ] Over Sized
2. A line on a scatter graph showing the general relationship is called what?
[ ] Line of best fit
[ ] Line of least resistance
[ ] Trend marker
[ ] Z axis
3. A map often includes an arrow pointing where?
[ ] East
[ ] North
[ ] South
[ ] West
4. What sort of map uses colour shading?
[ ] Choropleth map
[ ] Dot map
[ ] Pictogram
[ ] Proportional symbol map
5. Which graph is best for showing continuous data?
[ ] Line graph
[ ] Pictograph
[ ] Pie graph
[ ] Vertical bar graph
6. On an O.S. map, contour lines are what colour?
[ ] Black
[ ] Blue
[ ] Brown
[ ] Green
7. To give a 6 figure grid reference we imagine the map square is divided into what fraction?
[ ] 10ths
[ ] 20ths
[ ] 5ths
[ ] 8ths
8. A line from east-west on an atlas map is a line of what?
[ ] Latitude
[ ] Longitude
[ ] Meridian
[ ] Reference
9. Which graph would not be used to show data that adds up to 100%?
[ ] Block graph
[ ] Divided bar graph
[ ] Pie graph
[ ] Vertical bar graph
10. Which of these sets of ranges is best for a choropleth map key?
[ ] 0-2, 3-8, 9-17
[ ] 0-3, 3-10, 10-11
[ ] 0-4, 5-9, 10-14
[ ] 0-5, 5-10, 10-15

You can find more about this topic by visiting BBC Bitesize - Geographical skills

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Geography Quiz - Geography Skills 01 (Answers)
1. What does 'O.S.' stand for in O.S. maps?
[ ] Ordinary Scale
[x] Ordnance Survey
[ ] Outdoor Scan
[ ] Over Sized
It's a Government department providing maps of Britain
2. A line on a scatter graph showing the general relationship is called what?
[x] Line of best fit
[ ] Line of least resistance
[ ] Trend marker
[ ] Z axis
It does not have to go through all points on the graph
3. A map often includes an arrow pointing where?
[ ] East
[x] North
[ ] South
[ ] West
On O.S. maps, north is at the top
4. What sort of map uses colour shading?
[x] Choropleth map
[ ] Dot map
[ ] Pictogram
[ ] Proportional symbol map
Useful for showing data for different areas
5. Which graph is best for showing continuous data?
[x] Line graph
[ ] Pictograph
[ ] Pie graph
[ ] Vertical bar graph
Continuous data has no clear-cut breaks between the values e.g. temperature figures
6. On an O.S. map, contour lines are what colour?
[ ] Black
[ ] Blue
[x] Brown
[ ] Green
They show the height above mean sea level
7. To give a 6 figure grid reference we imagine the map square is divided into what fraction?
[x] 10ths
[ ] 20ths
[ ] 5ths
[ ] 8ths
With experience, a 6 figure grid reference can pinpoint something to within a few metres of its actual position
8. A line from east-west on an atlas map is a line of what?
[x] Latitude
[ ] Longitude
[ ] Meridian
[ ] Reference
The British Isles cover approximately 10 degrees of latitude
9. Which graph would not be used to show data that adds up to 100%?
[ ] Block graph
[ ] Divided bar graph
[ ] Pie graph
[x] Vertical bar graph
It is important to choose the correct type of graph otherwise the data will not be displayed correctly
10. Which of these sets of ranges is best for a choropleth map key?
[ ] 0-2, 3-8, 9-17
[ ] 0-3, 3-10, 10-11
[x] 0-4, 5-9, 10-14
[ ] 0-5, 5-10, 10-15
Ranges of equal size that do not overlap