Name: ______________________________________
Date: _____________________
Period: ____
First Semester Exam Study Guide
1.
How do geographers look at the world?
2.
What are some of a geographer’s tools?
3.
What are the 6 essential elements of geography?
4.
What are the two main branches of geography?
5.
What is a type of location is your street address an example of?
6.
What are the five themes of geography?
7.
What is meteorology?
8.
What theory suggests that the continents were once one supercontinent?
9.
What theme would a geographer who studies roads and routes deal with?
10.
What are the main processes of the water cycle?
11.
What does the Earth complete every 24 hours?
12.
What regions have seasons marked by rainfall rather than temperature?
13.
What can Earth’s glaciers cause?
14.
What does the collision of two continental plates cause?
15.
What type of landform would not attract a large settlement?
16.
What causes Earth’s change in seasons?
17.
What type of water is about 3% of Earth’s water supply?
18.
Why do we have a leap year every 4 years?
19.
If the poles are tilted neither toward nor away from the sun, which two seasons
might it be?
20.
What are some renewable resources?
21.
What type of climate can occur at many different latitudes?
22.
What is desertification?
23.
What can cause deforestation?
24.
What is cultural diversity?
25.
What level of industry does farming belong in?
26.
How do soils lose their fertility?
27.
What determines prices in a market economy?
28.
What type of climate receives less than 10 inches of rain per year?
29.
What is an example of an extinct animal?
30.
What is a disadvantage of nuclear power?
31.
What are some examples of sources of renewable energy?
32.
What economic system is based on free trade and competition?
33.
What level of industry uses raw materials to produce something new?
34.
What type of government owns all property and dominates all aspects of life in a
country?
35.
What is a dictatorship?
36.
What is cultural diffusion?
37.
Which two states are not bordering the main part of the United States?
38.
What were the two major seaports in the British colonies?
Name: ______________________________________
Date: _____________________
Period: ____
39.
Why did pioneers travel the Oregon Trail?
40.
What are some examples of popular culture?
41.
What western state is home to 10 % of the U.S. population?
42.
If you wanted to ship goods from the U.S. to Canada, what body of water would you
be most likely to use?
43.
What does the Declaration of Independence state?
44.
What caused Britain to recognize America’s independence?
45.
What did the discovery of gold in California lead to?
46.
What does the United States base their limited democratic government on?
47.
What does the Department of Homeland Security do?
48.
What allows for pineapples to be grown in Hawaii?
49.
What is the main reason for Canada’s cold climate?
50.
What part of Canada contains most of its mineral deposits?
51.
What country is Canada’s main trading partner?
52.
Why do schools of large fish gather at the Grand Banks?
53.
What physical feature lies between Ontario and New York State?
54.
In which province is French the main language?
55.
What were Mexico’s most valuable resources before oil was discovered?
56.
Where did the Olmec live?
57.
When did the Maya civilization collapse?
58.
What problem in Mexico City is made worse by the surrounding mountains?
59.
What early culture came first in Mexico?
60.
What are missions?
61.
Why do most Mexicans speak Spanish?
62.
Who conquered the Aztecs?
63.
What did the Aztecs build their capital on?
64.
What was a result of the Mexican-American War?
65.
What made trade easier for Canada and Mexico?
66.
Why is slash and burn agriculture a problem?
67.
Why did European diseases kill so many Aztecs?
68.
What Central American country has a history of peace and stability?
69.
What is the official language of most Central American countries?
70.
When did the United States finish building the Panama Canal?
71.
What sparked ideas of independence in the Americas?
72.
When Christopher Columbus discovered America, where did he actually land?
73.
What was the name of the group that ruled Nicaragua for many years?
74.
Cuba has had a communist government ever since what happened?
75.
Who controls the newspapers, television, and radio in Cuba?
76.
What countries in Caribbean South America export oil?
77.
What legend did the Chibcha people inspire?
78.
What crop does the government of Colombia want to export less of?
79.
What year did Venezuela officially become independent from Spain?
Name: ______________________________________
Date: _____________________
Period: ____
80.
Why is Simon Bolivar a hero to many South American countries?
81.
What does OPEC try to do?
82.
Why are guerillas unwilling to stop producing cocaine?
83.
What is the world’s largest river system?
84.
What is the largest country in South America?
85.
What is a megacity?
86.
What country has the largest population of Roman Catholics in the world?
87.
Why is the official language of Brazil Portuguese?
88.
Why did Brazil choose to build Brasilia where it is?
89.
What is the large island south of the Strait of Magellan?
90.
What are the effects of El Nino?
91.
Even though the Incas were very advanced, what did they not have?
92.
What religion do most people in Pacific South America practice?
93.
What are the Nazca lines?
94.
Where does the head of the Roman Catholic Church live?
95.
What are two important crops in Portugal?
96.
What form of government returned to Greece in 1974?
97.
What religion are most of the people in Spain and Portugal?
98.
What are the peninsulas of Southern Europe?
99.
Which people Iberia speak a language unrelated to Spanish or Portuguese?
100. Which Italian leader joined forces with Hitler during World War II?
101. _________________ and other tools help geographers study the planet.
102. The information gathered by ____________ helps geographers make accurate maps.
103. The ________ is a list of 18 basic ideas that everybody should understand about
geography.
104. The study of soils and plants is a part of _________________ geography.
105. Earth’s _____________________ is an imaginary line around which it turns.
106. When water droplets become heavy, _______ occurs, and they fall to the Earth as
rain, snow, sleet, or hail.
107. The Northern and Southern Hemispheres experience ______________ seasons.
108. ________________ is the nickname of the volcanically active region around the
Pacific plate.
109. The ____________________ are vast evergreen forests of the subarctic climate.
110. Some groups of people are engaged in ________ or planting trees to replace lost
forestland.
111. ________________________ industries process and distribute information.
112. All activities that people and businesses do to earn a living are part of the ________.
113. In the _________________ economy, trade may take place through barter.
114. About __________________ of the world’s people live in developing countries.
115. In 1992 the United States, Mexico, and __________________ signed the North
American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA.
116. Other than English, ______ is the most widely spoken language in the United States.
Name: ______________________________________
Date: _____________________
Period: ____
117. Mount ______________________ is the highest mountain in North America.
118. A ______________________ is a string of large cities that have grown together.
119. ____________________ is the capital of the United States.
120. Other than, the St. Lawrence River and the _______________________, there is no
actual physical boundary between the United States and Canada.
121. _________ was the first European country to successfully settle parts of what would
become Canada.
122. ________ is Canada’s second largest city and one of the largest French speaking
cities in the world.
123. The first Canadians were Indians and the ___________________ people.
124. The Canadian ________________________ is the leader of the central government,
just as the President is head of the United States government.
125. Mexico’s two peninsulas include the Yucatan Peninsula and ___________________.
126. In 1521 Hernan Cortes claimed the land in Mexico for _____________.
127. Sugar cane and coffee are examples of __________________ that grow well in
southern Mexico’s warm humid climate.
128. Mexico’s mines produce more _____________ than any other country in the world.
129. The _______________ celebration combines elements of Spanish and Indian culture.
130. _______________________ rock underlies much of the area of the Yucatan.
131. Tourists flock to coastal cities and resorts such as _______________.
132. The Caribbean islands make up a large group of islands called an ________________.
133. The _________________ fruit crop was very important to the economies of many
Central American countries.
134. Tourists who travel to see an area’s natural environment are participating in ______.
135. The most populous country in Central America is _____________________.
136. _______________________ occupies the mountainous western third of Hispaniola.
137. The Andes form a ________, a mountain system made up of roughly parallel ranges.
138. ______________________, or cowboys, herd cattle on the ranches of Venezuela.
139. Meat-eating fish called _________________ live in the Orinoco River.
140. Argentina’s culture has been mostly influenced by _______________________.
141. Paraguay’s capital and largest city is __________________.
142. The _______________ run the length of Pacific South America.
143. Coastal _______________ is one of the cloudiest and driest places on Earth.
144. A __________________ is a narrow passageway connecting two bodies of water.
145. Ecuador’s main export is _______________.
146. The main leaders of the revolts against Spanish rule were ____________________.
147. _______________ is the largest and most populous country in Pacific South America.
148. In the 1920’s, Italy became a dictatorship under ____________________________.
149. The Spanish are known for a style of song and dance called ____________________.
150. Both Spain and _________________ once controlled large territories in the Americas
and smaller ones in Africa and Asia.