OCR GCSE Geography A sample questions and answers (J383)
Guide overview All 8 topics Sample questions Papers and weighting Look inside Questions and answers
40 sample questions and answers
Taken from every topic of OCR GCSE Geography A, specification J383. The full guide has 749.
Component 02
Ecosystems of the Planet
82 questions in the guide, across 6 subtopics. More from this topic
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Abiotic and biotic components, and how ecosystems interact
What does it mean to say that the parts of an ecosystem are interdependent?
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Every part relies on the others, so a change in one of them forces changes in all the rest. -
Abiotic and biotic components, and how ecosystems interact
What job do decomposers do in an ecosystem?
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Bacteria and fungi break down dead plants and animals and release the nutrients they held back into the soil. -
The world’s biomes: where they are and what they are like
How are the plants and animals of the polar regions adapted to the cold?
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Mosses and dwarf shrubs grow low to the ground out of the wind, while polar bears and seals carry thick fur or a layer of blubber for insulation. -
The world’s biomes: where they are and what they are like
How are the plants of a temperate grassland adapted to drought, fire and grazing?
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Grasses grow from the base and have deep, dense mats of roots, so they survive when the top is burnt, grazed or dried out, while trees are too short of water to grow. -
Where the tropical rainforests are, and what they are like
Which large island off the east coast of Africa carries its own tropical rainforest?
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Madagascar, whose eastern side holds rainforest full of species found nowhere else in the world.
Component 02
Environmental Threats to Our Planet
88 questions in the guide, across 8 subtopics. More from this topic
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Climate change through the Quaternary, and since 1000AD
What is meant by an interglacial?
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A warmer phase between two glacials, usually only ten to fifteen thousand years long, when the ice retreated. -
The evidence for climate change
How do tree rings record past climate?
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A tree adds one ring a year, and the ring is wide in a warm wet year and narrow in a cold or dry one. -
Natural causes of climate change, and the enhanced greenhouse effect
How does a large volcanic eruption cool the climate?
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Ash and sulfur dioxide blasted into the upper atmosphere reflect incoming sunlight back to space, so temperatures fall for a year or two. -
The consequences of climate change
Why does the loss of ice speed up warming still further?
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Bright ice reflects sunlight away, but the dark ocean and ground beneath it absorb that energy, so the surface warms faster. -
The world’s climatic regions and global atmospheric circulation
Which climate type covers the mid-latitudes, and what are its seasons like?
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The temperate climate, roughly 40° to 60° north and south, with warm summers, cool winters and rainfall spread through the whole year.
Component 03
Fieldwork Skills
41 questions in the guide, across 3 subtopics. More from this topic
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Framing an enquiry question and choosing your methods
What should be checked about a location before an investigation is planned there?
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That it is safe and accessible, that permission is held where it is needed, and that it shows enough variation for the question to have an answer. -
Framing an enquiry question and choosing your methods
How is the discharge of a river worked out in the field?
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Multiply the cross-sectional area of the channel, found from mean width and mean depth, by the mean velocity, giving a figure in cubic metres per second. -
Presenting, analysing and explaining fieldwork data
What is a choropleth map, and what is it good for?
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A map with each area shaded according to its value, darker for higher, so regional differences such as deprivation or population density can be seen at a glance. -
Presenting, analysing and explaining fieldwork data
What is the difference between describing a result and explaining it?
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Describing states what the data shows with figures; explaining gives the geographical process or theory that causes it. -
Concluding, and evaluating the enquiry
Why must a conclusion not claim more than the data can carry?
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Because the readings came from one place on one day, so a statement about everywhere or always is not supported by them.
Component 03
Geographical Skills
172 questions in the guide, across 14 subtopics. More from this topic
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Constructing maps, and reading cross-sections and transects
What is a sketch map?
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A simplified map showing only the main features of an area, usually not to an exact scale. -
Coordinates, scale, distance and reading information from a map
How is a compass bearing from one place to another given?
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As an angle in degrees measured clockwise from north, so due east is 090°. -
Choosing, constructing and presenting graphs and charts
Which graph is used to look for a relationship between two sets of figures?
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A scatter graph, with one of the two variables on each axis. -
Reading and interpreting the main graph and chart types
Why is a cross-section useful alongside a contour map?
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The map gives the plan view while the cross-section shows the true shape of the slopes, which contour spacing alone makes harder to picture. -
Proportion and ratio, and measures of central tendency and spread
What is meant by proportion?
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The share that one part makes of the whole, written as a fraction, a decimal or a percentage.
Component 01
Landscapes of the UK
66 questions in the guide, across 5 subtopics. More from this topic
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The UK’s upland, lowland and glaciated landscapes
Which parts of the UK show the clearest evidence of past glaciation?
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The uplands of Scotland, the Lake District, north Wales and the northern Pennines, where ice sheets and valley glaciers once reached. -
The UK’s upland, lowland and glaciated landscapes
How does temperature change as you climb into an upland landscape?
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It falls as altitude increases, so uplands are colder and have a shorter growing season than the lowlands around them. -
Geomorphic processes: weathering, mass movement, erosion, transport and deposition
What is mass movement?
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The downhill movement of rock, soil and mud under gravity, often triggered when heavy rain makes the material heavier and more slippery. -
Geomorphic processes: weathering, mass movement, erosion, transport and deposition
What is attrition?
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Pieces of rock being carried along knock into each other and are gradually worn smaller, smoother and rounder. -
River landforms and how they form
How does a gorge form below a waterfall?
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The overhang of hard rock collapses again and again and the waterfall retreats upstream, leaving a narrow, steep-sided gorge along the stretch it has moved back through.
Component 02
People of the Planet
122 questions in the guide, across 9 subtopics. More from this topic
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Defining and measuring development
What is meant by sustainable development?
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Growth that meets the needs of people today without preventing future generations from meeting their own needs. -
The global pattern of development: ACs, EDCs and LIDCs
How do development indicators show what uneven development means for ordinary people?
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They put numbers on differences in how long people live, how long they stay in school and how much they earn. -
Why development is uneven, and the role of aid
What is meant by the exploitation of a poorer country’s natural resources?
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Outside companies extract its minerals, timber, oil or fish and take most of the profit out of the country. -
A developing or emerging country: its context and economy
What does it mean if a country’s principal exports are primary products?
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Most of its earnings come from raw materials such as crops, minerals or fuels rather than from manufactured goods. -
Rostow’s model and the country’s path of development
What marks the take-off stage of Rostow’s model?
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Manufacturing grows rapidly in a few industries, cities expand fast, and investment takes a much larger share of national income.
Component 01
People of the UK
93 questions in the guide, across 7 subtopics. More from this topic
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The UK’s trade, media and cultural links with the world
Which single country is the UK's largest trading partner?
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The United States of America, which buys more UK exports than any other individual nation. -
The UK’s trade, media and cultural links with the world
Why does the UK import so much of its food?
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Its climate cannot grow tropical or out-of-season produce, and shoppers expect a full choice all year round. -
The UK’s geographical diversity and its inequalities
What is life expectancy?
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The average number of years that a person can expect to live, measured from birth. -
The UK’s geographical diversity and its inequalities
How is the UK's ethnic diversity distributed?
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Minority ethnic populations are concentrated in the large cities, above all London, while many rural and coastal areas remain far less diverse. -
Uneven development within the UK, and the effects of economic growth
How does good infrastructure attract investment into a region?
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Fast road and rail links, airports, reliable power and quick broadband let firms move goods, staff and information cheaply.
Component 01
UK Environmental Challenges
85 questions in the guide, across 7 subtopics. More from this topic
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Air masses, the North Atlantic Drift and the UK’s extreme weather
What is the North Atlantic Drift?
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A warm ocean current that carries surface water from the Gulf of Mexico north-eastwards across the Atlantic towards north-west Europe. -
Air masses, the North Atlantic Drift and the UK’s extreme weather
How do air masses produce damaging winds over Britain?
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Where warm tropical air meets cold polar air along the polar front, deep depressions form and the steep pressure gradient inside them drives violent gusts. -
A UK flood event: causes, effects and responses
What counts as an environmental impact of flooding?
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Harm to soils, habitats and water quality, such as eroded farmland, drowned wildlife and sewage or chemicals washed into watercourses. -
A UK flood event: causes, effects and responses
What weather caused the Somerset Levels floods of 2014?
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A long run of Atlantic depressions brought southern England its wettest January on record, falling on land that was already saturated, while high tides stopped the rivers draining to the sea. -
How people use, modify and change UK ecosystems
What is overfishing, and how is it limited in British waters?
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Taking fish faster than stocks can breed and replace themselves; quotas, minimum net mesh sizes and closed areas are used to hold catches down.
OCR GCSE Geography A Active Recall Guide
The other 709 questions, with the answers printed after each section.