Name: ___________________________ Quiz Date: _____________
NEED TO KNOW FACTS – Ch. 3 Our Physical Geography
*Lines of latitude run across Earth in an east-west direction. They measure distances
north and south of the Equator.
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*Lines of longitude run up and down earth in a north-south direction. They measure
distances east and west of the Prime Meridian.
*Earth’s largest land areas are called continents.
*Earth’s largest bodies of water are called oceans.
*A globe is round and a map is flat. A globe is different from a map because it shows
the true shapes of the continents and oceans.
*An aerial photograph is a picture taken by camera from above the earth.
*A map is like an aerial photograph because it shows what a place looks like from
above.
*A map is different from an aerial photograph because it uses colors and symbols
to show places, not real photographs.
*A landform map shows a place’s main physical features such as mountains,
plateaus, hills, and plains.
*People use a landform map to learn about the geography of a place.
*A border is a line that shows where a state or country ends.
*Pennsylavania is located in the Northeast region of the United States.
*Earth can be divided into halves called hemispheres. Hemi means “half,” so “half
of earth!”
*The southern half of Earth below the equator is called the Southern Hemisphere.
*Places near the equator usually have a hot, wet climate.
*Places near the poles are cold and dry.
*A natural resource is something from nature that people can use like trees, water,
and soil.
*A renewable resource is a natural resource that can be made again by nature or
people. Examples: trees, animals, fish, water
*A non-renewable resource is a natural resource that cannot be made again.
Examples: minerals, oil, coal
*Coal and oil are examples of natural resources that can be used as fuel.
*Erosion is the wearing away of Earth’s surface. Erosion is a slow physical process.
*Water, wind, and sand can cause erosion. Running water erodes riverbanks. Wind
carries sand which wears away rocks.
*An ecosystem is made up of the plants, animals, land, water, and climate of an area.
*Plants and animals in an ecosystem need each other to survive.
*Another word for plant life is vegetation.
*Climate is a place’s usual weather pattern over the course of a year.
*Climate includes how hot and cold the temperatures are, and how much rain and snow
falls.
*In Pittsburgh, our climate is cold and snowy in the winter with temperatures often
around 32°F (freezing).