Geography splits into two halves that constantly meet. Physical geography is the natural world — tectonics, weather and climate, rivers, coasts and the water cycle. Human geography is about people — where we live, how countries develop, and how we use the planet's resources.
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The Earth's crust is cracked into huge slabs called tectonic plates. They float on the hot, slowly-flowing mantle below and drift a few centimetres a year. Most earthquakes and volcanoes happen where plates meet — a plate boundary.
There are three main types of boundary:
The three rock groups are igneous (cooled magma, e.g. granite), sedimentary (layers pressed together, e.g. limestone) and metamorphic (changed by heat and pressure, e.g. marble).
Rocks are slowly broken down in place by weathering. The main types are:
Weathered rock plus dead plant and animal material (organic matter) slowly builds up into soil, which supports farming and ecosystems.
Watch out — weathering vs erosion: weathering breaks rock down where it sits (no movement). Erosion is when the pieces are then worn away and carried off by a river, waves, ice or wind. Weathering first, erosion after.
Weather is what the atmosphere is doing right now, in one place — sunny, rainy, windy, hot or cold. It changes hour to hour.
Climate is the average weather of a place measured over a long time — usually 30 years or more. The UK has a mild, wet temperate maritime climate; a desert has a hot, dry climate.
Watch out — weather vs climate: "It's freezing today, so global warming isn't real" mixes them up. One cold day is weather; a warming trend across decades is climate. You can't judge climate from a single day.
Earth's climate has shifted naturally for millions of years. During the last Ice Age, huge ice sheets covered much of Britain and northern Europe; it ended around 11,700 years ago. Natural causes include changes in the Earth's orbit, the Sun's output and big volcanic eruptions.
Since the Industrial Revolution, humans have added extra greenhouse gases — mainly carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels and methane from farming. These trap more heat, so global temperatures are rising faster than natural change alone. This is the enhanced greenhouse effect.
The same water is recycled around the planet forever, powered by the Sun. Learn these key words:
Humans change the cycle: cutting down forests reduces transpiration, and covering land in concrete stops water soaking in, so more water runs off quickly — raising flood risk.
Tap whether each process or feature is a physical (natural) or human (people) part of geography.
A river flows from its source (start, often in hills) to its mouth (where it meets the sea). Along the way it erodes (wears away), transports (carries) and deposits (drops) material — creating landforms.
Waves attack the coast, eroding it in some places and depositing sand in others. Two key landforms:
A glacier is a huge, slow-moving river of ice. In the Ice Age, glaciers ground across Britain and reshaped the land — you can still see the results today in places like the Lake District and Snowdonia.
Glaciers erode by two processes:
This carves steep-sided U-shaped valleys and bowl-shaped hollows called corries. When the ice melts, it deposits the rock it carried, leaving ridges of debris called moraine.
Rivers cut V-shaped valleys; glaciers cut wide U-shaped valleys. The shape of a valley is a clue to what carved it.
The world's population has grown past 8 billion and is still rising. People are not spread evenly: some places are densely populated (crowded, like cities), others are sparsely populated (few people, like deserts or mountains).
Urbanisation means a growing share of people living in towns and cities rather than the countryside. People move to cities (rural-to-urban migration) for jobs, education and services — these are pull factors. Things that push them away from the countryside, like few jobs, are push factors.
Fast urbanisation can create problems: overcrowding, traffic, pollution and shortages of housing — sometimes leading to informal settlements (shanty towns).
Development means how wealthy, healthy and educated a country is — its quality of life. Countries are often grouped as higher income (HICs, e.g. the UK) or lower income (LICs), with many in between (NEEs — newly emerging economies, e.g. India).
Geographers measure development with indicators, such as:
Reasons for the development gap include history (e.g. colonialism), trade, debt, conflict and access to resources. Aid and fair trade can help narrow it.
A natural resource is anything useful we take from the environment. The four you should know are energy, water, food and minerals. They are spread unevenly across the world, which affects trade and wealth.
Energy resources split into two groups:
Watch out — renewable vs non-renewable: Renewable resources refill naturally and won't run out on a human timescale (sun, wind, water). Non-renewable resources are finite — once used, they're gone for millions of years (coal, oil, gas). Fossil fuels are reliable but release CO₂; renewables are cleaner but some (solar, wind) are less reliable.
Tap an energy resource, then tap the box it belongs in.
The two halves of geography constantly change each other. Human actions alter physical systems, and physical processes shape human life.
Sustainability means meeting today's needs without wrecking the planet for future generations — using resources carefully, cutting waste and reducing emissions.
Tap a term on the left, then its matching definition on the right.
Plate tectonics: constructive (apart), destructive (together), conservative (past).
Weathering vs erosion: break down in place vs wear away & carry off.
Weather vs climate: now & local vs 30-year average.
Water cycle: evaporation → condensation → precipitation → run-off.
Rivers & coasts & glaciers: erode, transport and deposit to build landforms.
Human: population, urbanisation (push/pull), development indicators, resources.
Interactions: people and physical processes constantly change each other.
You've covered the whole KS3 "Human and physical geography" topic. Press Finish to see your score.
You've worked through Human & Physical Geography for KS3. 🎉
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