Geographical skills
Edexcel GCSE Geography revision on Geographical skills. Aligned to the Pearson Edexcel GCSE Geography B 1GB0 specification. This bank has 10 practice questions on this topic.
Sample questions (3 of 10)
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Question 1
On an OS map at 1:25,000 scale, a distance of 4 cm on the map represents how many metres in real life?
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Answer: 1000
1:25,000 means 1 cm on the map = 25,000 cm (250 m) in real life. So 4 × 250 = 1,000 m, or 1 km. The other common scale is 1:50,000 where 1 cm = 500 m. Read the bar scale at the bottom of the map to double-check.
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Question 2
A 6-figure grid reference identifies a square on an OS map of size...
- A) 1 km × 1 km
- B) 500 m × 500 m
- C) 100 m × 100 m
- D) 10 m × 10 m
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Answer: 100 m × 100 m
4-figure grid reference identifies a 1 km × 1 km square. 6-figure narrows it to a 100 m × 100 m square within that (each axis split into 10). Read EASTINGS first (along the bottom), then NORTHINGS (up the side) — remember 'along the corridor, up the stairs'.
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Question 3
Contour lines that are CLOSE together on a map mean...
- A) Flat ground
- B) Gentle slope
- C) Steep slope
- D) Water body
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Answer: Steep slope
Contours show elevation; the standard interval on UK OS maps is 5m or 10m. Close together = a lot of height change in a short distance = steep. Far apart = gentle. Lines that close in a circle = hill (or sometimes a depression — look for hachures or labels). Reading relief is a core skill.
Want to test yourself on the remaining cards for this topic?
7 more questions on Geographical skills — plus mistakes tracking and spaced repetition across the whole Geography spec.