Lesson Y7-U03-L02

Drainage Basins: A River's Catchment Quiz: KS3 Geography, Unit 3

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson Y7-U03-L02, Drainage Basins: A River's Catchment: 20 multiple choice questions for the KS3 Geography (National Curriculum), Unit 3: Year 7: Rivers and the Water Cycle, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. What term describes the entire area of land drained by a river system?

    • Floodplain
    • Estuary
    • Watershed
    • Drainage basin

  2. What do we call the place where a river begins?

    • The confluence
    • The watershed
    • The mouth
    • The source

  3. What is a smaller stream or river that flows into a larger main river called?

    • Confluence
    • Distributary
    • Tributary
    • Source

  4. What do we call the point where two rivers meet?

    • A mouth
    • A source
    • A tributary
    • A confluence

  5. What do we call the place where a river ends?

    • The mouth
    • A tributary
    • The watershed
    • The source

  6. What is the high edge that separates one drainage basin from the next called?

    • The watershed
    • The mouth
    • The confluence
    • The tributary

  7. On an Ordnance Survey map, how is the main river typically represented compared to its tributaries?

    • Black dashed line
    • Thinnest blue line
    • Widest blue line
    • Brown contour line

  8. Where is a river's source typically located on a map?

    • In flat plains
    • High in hills
    • At sea level
    • At the coast

  9. Is a river's source usually found on high ground or low ground?

    • Low ground
    • High ground
    • River mouth
    • Valley floor

  10. Which natural force pulls water downhill into streams and rivers?

    • Friction
    • Magnetism
    • Air pressure
    • Gravity

  11. Why does rain falling on high hills eventually end up in a river?

    • Evaporation
    • Gravity
    • Transpiration
    • Condensation

  12. What term describes rainwater flowing across the land surface towards a river?

    • Run-off
    • Throughflow
    • Infiltration
    • Percolation

  13. What boundary separates two neighbouring drainage basins?

    • Estuary
    • Tributary
    • Watershed
    • Confluence

  14. How does rain falling far away in the hills reach a town near a river mouth?

    • Carried downstream
    • Blown by wind
    • Pumped upstream
    • Absorbed underground

  15. Why might a very large drainage basin increase a town's flood risk?

    • Narrower river channel
    • More land drains
    • Less rainfall occurs
    • Steeper river mouth

  16. Why is a watershed described as a high edge of land?

    • Water collects in pools
    • Rivers always start there
    • Land slopes away
    • Rain never falls there

  17. Which geographical feature is found at the extreme upstream end of a river?

    • Estuary
    • Delta
    • Source
    • Mouth

  18. What happens to a river's water volume as more tributaries join it?

    • Volume decreases
    • Volume increases
    • Volume stays flat
    • Water turns salty

  19. Where does the vast volume of water in a large river mainly come from?

    • Melting sea ice
    • Only local rainfall
    • Underground geysers
    • Whole drainage basin

  20. What is the area of land that is drained by a single river and its tributaries called?

    • Water table
    • Drainage basin
    • Floodplain
    • Estuary

All KS3 Geography quizzes