Unit 1 Study Guide
WEMS Social Studies 7
Burnette/Davis
Sept 2015
1. Give two ways we show absolute
location
• Coordinates of latitude and longitude
(Bowling Green is at 37 N, 86 W)
• An address (WEMS is at 7031 Louisville Road)
2. List things a human geographer
would be interested in studying
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Population density
Economics
Politics
Governments
Religion
Art
3. What are physical characteristics?
Give 3 examples
• Landforms – the natural way the land is
shaped
• Mountains
• Plains
• Valleys
4. Define relative location and give an
example
• Describing where something is compared to
another location.
• Examples: “WEMS is next to WEHS.”
• “Japan is east of China.”
• “My house is down the road from the
Corvette Museum.”
5. List things a physical geographer
would be interested in studying
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Climate patterns
Mountain ranges
Oceanic trends
River valleys
6. How do physical environments
affect people’s lives?
• It impacts shelters people build
• It impacts the clothing people wear
• It impacts the crops they produce
7. Why do geographers like Robinson
Projection?
• It’s most commonly used because it balances
the distortions of size and shape to give a
fairly accurate projection of the world.
8. Give examples of maps that show
elements of human geography
• Political maps
• Population density maps
• Economic activity maps
9. Describe the population density of
an urban area
• A large number of people living in a very
condensed area. The higher the number of
people in a given space, the higher the
density.
10. What are “push” factors? Give 3
examples
• PUSH factors are economic factors that keep
people from settling in a region OR cause
them to move away (being PUSHED)
• War
• Disease
• Drugs
11. MAP SKILLS!
• That pesky South America map from your
geography quiz will re-appear. MAKE SURE
YOU CAN FIND LOCATION WITH LATITUDE
AND LONGITUDE AND USING RELATIVE
TERMS!
12. What are some ways landforms
can affect people’s lives?
• Keeps them isolated so they don’t speak the
same language
• Influences where people settle
• Influences what jobs are available
13. What types of physical features
would attract settlement?
• A rich mineral deposit
• A river valley
• Fertile farmland
14. What can you find on a physical
map?
• Landforms
• Mountain ranges
• Bodies of water
15. List 3 examples of HumanEnvironment Interaction
• Mining for coal
• Building neighborhoods
• Irrigating a field of crops
16. Describe a political map
• It’s a kind of map that shows boundaries of
how humans divided the earth into states
and/or countries
17. What would a historian be most
interested in studying?
• The knowledge, beliefs, and customs of a
group of people.
18. What would an archaeologist be
interested in studying?
• Sites of ancient battles where they could find
remains or artifacts
19. Define culture
• The beliefs, customs, and art of a group
20. What do cave paintings show?
• What animals roamed the earth
• How people hunted
• Hints about early people’s beliefs
21. What are primary and secondary
sources?
• PRIMARY = something written by somebody
who experienced or took part in an event (like
a journal)
• SECONDARY = information gathered by
somebody about a subject (like a textbook or
an interpretation)
22. How does studying history
improve your thinking skills?
• Leads you to ask important questions
• Leads you to create hypotheses
• Helping you identify main facts/clues
23. What is prehistory?
• The term given to the time before written
history
24. What is a hominid?
• An early ancestor of humans
25. What is the scientific name for
modern humans?
• Homo sapiens
26. What effect did the invention of
tools have on early humans?
• They INCREASED the chances for survival
27. What is the earliest skill hominids
developed?
• The ability to create tools
28. What is a society?
• A community of people who share a common
culture
29. Why did people make clothes and
shelter as they migrated out of Africa?
• They needed more protection to survive in
colder climates
30. What marked the shift to the
Neolithic Age?
• Using seeds to grow crops
31. What was the most important
result of the Neolithic Revolution?
• The change from hunting-gathering to farming
32. What effect did farming have on
people in the Stone Age?
• It allowed them to build permanent
settlements
33. How are farming and the growth
of towns related?
• The development of farming helped establish
permanent settlements.