Secondary 5 Geography Practice Paper: Climate And Humidity, Rainfall And Pressure Gradient, River Discharge And Sediment Load, Urban Land Use, Industrial Location And Productivity, Agriculture And Food Supply, Population And Migration

Secondary 5 Geography Practice Paper: Climate and Humidity, Rainfall and Pressure Gradient, River Discharge and Sediment Load, Urban Land Use, Industrial Location and Productivity, Agriculture and Food Supply, Population and Migration

2026-11-14

Geography – Secondary 5 – Practice Paper

S5 Geography paper, 24 parts on lapse rate, humidity, discharge, sediments, land use, urban growth, industry, yields, self-sufficiency, migration and carbon emissions.

Paper details　Secondary 5 Geography practice paper with 24 parts and worked answers on lapse rate, relative humidity, rainfall totals, pressure gradient, river discharge, bed gradient, drainage density, suspended sediment load, population density, residential land share, urban growth, commuting split, industrial material index, transport cost, plot ratio, labour productivity, crop yield, food self-sufficiency, irrigation demand, natural increase, dependency ratio, net migration and per capita carbon emissions.

Section A: Temperature, Humidity and Rainfall

Show the working and give the rounding asked.

#	Question	Answer and marking notes
1	The temperature at the foot of a hill is 28.0 degrees and the summit is 1500 m high. The lapse rate is 0.6 degrees per 100 m of ascent. Find the summit temperature.	Answer: 1500 / 100 = 15, so the drop is 15 x 0.6 = 9.0 degrees; the summit temperature is 28.0 – 9.0 = 19.0 degrees.
2	The monthly rainfall of a station for six months is 320, 285, 210, 145, 60 and 35 mm. Find the half-year total and the mean monthly rainfall to 1 decimal place.	Answer: the total is 320 + 285 + 210 + 145 + 60 + 35 = 1055 mm, and the mean is 1055 / 6 = 175.8 mm.
3	On a day the actual vapour pressure is 18.6 hPa and the saturated vapour pressure at the same temperature is 31.0 hPa. Find the relative humidity to 1 decimal place and state how it changes if the air cools further.	Answer: 18.6 / 31.0 x 100 per cent = 60.0 per cent; when the air cools the saturated vapour pressure falls, so relative humidity rises until condensation begins.
4	Two weather stations 300 km apart differ in pressure by 12 hPa. Find the pressure gradient in hPa per km to 2 decimal places, then the gradient if the same difference occurs over 200 km, and state which case gives stronger winds.	Answer: 12 / 300 = 0.04 hPa per km and 12 / 200 = 0.06 hPa per km; the steeper gradient, the 200 km case, gives the stronger wind blowing from high to low pressure.

Section B: River Processes and Discharge

Show the working and state the units clearly.

#	Question	Answer and marking notes
5	A river channel is 8 m wide with a mean depth of 1.5 m and a mean velocity of 0.75 m per second. Find the discharge in cubic metres per second.	Answer: the cross-section area is 8 x 1.5 = 12 square metres, so the discharge is 12 x 0.75 = 9.0 cubic metres per second.
6	A river reach falls 120 m over a horizontal distance of 8 km. Find the channel gradient as a percentage to 1 decimal place and as a ratio of 1 to a value to 1 decimal place.	Answer: 8 km is 8000 m, so the gradient is 120 / 8000 = 0.015 or 1.5 per cent, which is a ratio of 1 to 66.7.
7	The tributaries of a basin are 240 km long in total and the basin covers 96 square kilometres. Find the drainage density in km per square kilometre and state its effect on the flood peak after heavy rain.	Answer: 240 / 96 = 2.5 km per square kilometre; a high density means rapid drainage, so storm water reaches the channel quickly and the flood peak is higher and earlier.
8	A river carries 320 mg of suspended sediment per litre at a discharge of 9.0 cubic metres per second. Find the mass moved each second in kg to 2 decimal places and the daily load in tonnes to 1 decimal place.	Answer: 320 mg per litre is 0.32 kg per cubic metre, so 0.32 x 9.0 = 2.88 kg per second and 2.88 x 86400 / 1000 = 248.8 tonnes per day.

Section C: Urban Land Use

Show the working and give percentages to 1 decimal place.

#	Question	Answer and marking notes
9	A new town has 45 000 people living in 1.8 square kilometres. Find the population density in persons per square kilometre.	Answer: 45 000 / 1.8 = 25 000 persons per square kilometre.
10	An urban district covers 240 hectares, of which 78 hectares are residential. Find the residential share of the district area as a percentage.	Answer: 78 / 240 x 100 per cent = 32.5 per cent.
11	The population of a city rose from 320 000 in 1990 to 512 000 in 2020. Find the total growth over the thirty years and the simple average annual growth rate in per cent to 1 decimal place.	Answer: the increase is 512 000 – 320 000 = 192 000, that is 192 000 / 320 000 x 100 per cent = 60.0 per cent, and 60.0 per cent / 30 = 2.0 per cent a year.
12	A city has 40 000 commuters: 60 per cent by rail, 30 per cent by bus and 10 per cent by car. Find the number using each mode and the one-way journey time in minutes if the mean trip is 12 km at a mean speed of 24 km per hour.	Answer: rail 40 000 x 0.6 = 24 000, bus 12 000 and car 4 000 commuters; the trip takes 12 / 24 x 60 = 30 minutes.

Section D: Industrial Location and Productivity

Show the working and give money answers as whole numbers or 2 decimal places.

#	Question	Answer and marking notes
13	A factory uses 3.2 tonnes of raw material to make 0.8 tonnes of finished product. Find the material index and state whether the plant is material-oriented or market-oriented.	Answer: 3.2 / 0.8 = 4.0; an index above 1 means the plant is material-oriented and should be sited near the raw material.
14	Raw material costs 45 dollars a tonne to move and the product 60 dollars a tonne; 3.2 tonnes of material become 0.8 tonnes of product. Find the transport cost of siting at the material source and at the market, and state the cheaper site and the saving.	Answer: at the material source the product costs 0.8 x 60 = 48 dollars to move, while at the market the material costs 3.2 x 45 = 144 dollars, so the market site saves 144 – 48 = 96 dollars.
15	An old line of 12 workers made 240 units an hour; after automation 5 workers make 300 units an hour. Find the output per worker-hour in each case and the percentage rise in labour productivity.	Answer: the old line gives 240 / 12 = 20 units per worker-hour and the new line 300 / 5 = 60, a rise of (60 – 20) / 20 x 100 per cent = 200 per cent.
16	An industrial site covers 2000 square metres with 9600 square metres of floor space. Find the plot ratio to 1 decimal place, then the extra floor space allowed and its percentage increase if the zoning limit is 6.0.	Answer: the plot ratio is 9600 / 2000 = 4.8, the limit allows 6.0 x 2000 = 12 000 square metres, so 12 000 – 9600 = 2400 square metres may be added, a rise of 25 per cent.

Section E: Agriculture and Food Supply

Show the working and state the units clearly.

#	Question	Answer and marking notes
17	A farm of 12 hectares produces 84 tonnes of rice. Find the yield per hectare in tonnes and in kilograms.	Answer: 84 / 12 = 7.0 tonnes per hectare, that is 7000 kg per hectare.
18	Local food output is 4200 tonnes against a total demand of 35 000 tonnes. Find the food self-sufficiency rate to 1 decimal place and suggest one way to raise it.	Answer: 4200 / 35 000 x 100 per cent = 12.0 per cent; better irrigation, higher-yield varieties or less post-harvest loss would raise it.
19	A crop needs 9500 cubic metres of irrigation water per hectare a year and the farm covers 12 hectares. Find the annual demand, then the area a reservoir supplying 380 000 cubic metres a year can irrigate.	Answer: 9500 x 12 = 114 000 cubic metres, and 380 000 / 9500 = 40 hectares.
20	The same crop yields 7.0 tonnes per hectare under conventional farming and 5.6 tonnes under organic farming. Find the percentage shortfall and suggest one way to offset it.	Answer: (7.0 – 5.6) / 7.0 x 100 per cent = 20.0 per cent; rotation, cover crops or compost can maintain soil fertility, and premium prices offset the shortfall.

Section F: Population and Sustainable Development

Show the working and give rates to 1 decimal place.

#	Question	Answer and marking notes
21	A place has a birth rate of 8.5 per thousand and a death rate of 6.2 per thousand. Find the natural increase rate per thousand and as a percentage.	Answer: 8.5 – 6.2 = 2.3 per thousand, that is 0.23 per cent.
22	A place has 6300 children, 4200 elderly people and 31 500 people of working age. Find the dependency ratio to 1 decimal place.	Answer: (6300 + 4200) / 31 500 x 100 per cent = 33.3 per cent.
23	In a year 12 400 people move in and 5900 move out of a place with 480 000 residents. Find the net migration and the net migration rate per thousand to 1 decimal place.	Answer: net migration is 12 400 – 5900 = +6500 persons, and 6500 / 480 000 x 1000 = 13.5 per thousand.
24	A place emits 5.4 tonnes of carbon per person with a population of 480 000. Find the total emission, then the cut required and the new total if a 15 per cent reduction is promised.	Answer: 5.4 x 480 000 = 2 592 000 tonnes; a 15 per cent cut is 2 592 000 x 0.15 = 388 800 tonnes, leaving 2 592 000 – 388 800 = 2 203 200 tonnes.

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