Europe/ Russia/ Former Soviet Republic Maps

 Map of Europe

Physical Map of Europe

Map of Soviet Union

Map of Asia

What you need to know:

1) The countries of Europe that border Russia.

2) The countries of Asia that border Russia.

3) The natural boundaries used to separate Europe from Asia.

4) Countries of Europe that border the Mediterranean Sea.

5) Countries that border the Black Sea.

Southwest Asia Political Geography

 Use the map at the link titled "Southwest Asia" to answer the questions.  Complete this on a sheet of your own paper and submit at the end of class.  Be sure to write your name on this assignment.

1)  List all countries that border Saudi Arabia.

2) List all countries that border Iran.

3) List all countries that border Israel.

4) List all the countries that border the Persian Gulf.

5) Name all the countries that border the Red Sea.

     5a) Of those countries that border the Red Sea, which are located in Africa?

6) Name all the countries that border the Arabian Sea.

7) Identify the waterway separating Yemen from Djibouti.

8) Identify the waterway separating Iran from Oman.

9) Identify the capitals of the following: Turkey; Saudi Arabia; Iran; Israel; Jordan; Iraq; Syria; Yemen; Kuwait; Afghanistan; Lebanon; Qatar; Oman; United Arab Emirates;

Southwest Asia

Maps of the Americas

 

Map of North America (United States, Canada, Greenland, Mexico) (Mexico is part of Latin America but the United States and Canada are part of Anglo America)

When you click on any part of the map, you access a link of the enlarged area. For the test on Friday you will need to know states (the U.S.) and provinces (Canada).

Map of Central America (part of Latin America)

Map of the Caribbean Islands (part of Latin America)

You will need to know the islands of the Greater Antilles

Map of South America (part of Latin America)

Physical Map of South America

Things you need to know:

1) Where the countries of Latin America are located in relation to one another.

     - Examples: where Costa Rica is in relation to Mexico; where Brazil is in relation to Uruguay

2) The countries in which major physical features are located:

        - Andes Mountains, Mount Aconcagua, Patagonia, Sierra Madre Oriental, Sierra Madre Occidental, Amazon River Basin, Amazon River, Orinoco River, Tierra Del Fuego, Llanos, Pampas

3) Know the islands of the Greater Antilles (by knowing this you will be able to identify if an island is not in that region).

4) Know all the countries of Central America.

Three Climate Zones of the Earth

Please remember the following: Tropic of Cancer - 23.5N; Tropic of Capricorn - 23.5S; Arctic Circle - 66.5N; Antarctic Circle - 66.5S; Equator - 0 (latitude)

Use the above maps to memorize the locations of major bodies of water which include Hudson Bay, Caribbean Sea, Labrador Sea, Bering Sea, and Baffin Bay

The difference between Anglo-America and Latin America: Anglo-America most often refers to a region in the Americas in which English is the main language and British culture and the British Empire have had significant historical, ethnic, linguistic, and cultural impact. Anglo-America is distinct from Latin America, a region of the Americas where Romance languages (e.g., Spanish, Portuguese and French) are prevalent.

Koppen Classification Letters
 
First letter: climate type
 
A - Tropical: Hot temperatures all year. This type of climate has every month of the year with an average temperature of (64.4 °F) or higher, with significant precipitation.
 
B - Dry: This type of climate has little precipitation.
 
C - Temperate: temperate climates are those without extremes of temperature and precipitation (rain and snow). There are four distinct seasons. This type of climate has the coldest month averaging between 0 °C (32 °F) and 18 °C (64.4 °F) and at least one month averaging above 10 °C (50 °F).
 
D - Continental: similar to temperate climates (four distinct seasons); located in latitudes higher than temperate climates. Summers are shorter and milder than those of temperate climates. Winters are longer and colder than those of temperate climates.
 
E – Polar: temperature does not rise above 50 °F; controlled by the polar and arctic air masses of high latitudes (60° N and S and higher).

Factors That Influence Climate

Read the text on the factors that influence climate and answer the questions below. Be certain to answer all questions in complete sentences. Follow all the rules of the English language.

Four major factors influence the climate of a region: wind and ocean currents, latitude, elevation, and topography.

Wind and Ocean Currents

Wind and ocean currents help distribute the sun’s heat from one part of the world to another through convection, the transfer of heat in the atmosphere by upward motion of the air.   As sunlight heats the atmosphere, the air expands, creating a zone of low air pressure.  Cooler dense air in a nearby high pressure zone rushes into the low-pressure area, causing wind.

Global wind patterns are caused by the same kind of circulation on a larger scale.  The hot air flows toward the poles, and the cold air moves toward the equator.  The winds would blow in straight lines, but since the earth rotates they are turned at an angle.  In the Northern Hemisphere, they turn to the right.  In the Southern Hemisphere, they turn to the left.  This bending of the wind is called the Coriolis effect.

Ocean currents are like rivers flowing in the ocean.  Moving is large circular systems, warm waters flow away from the equator toward the poles, and cold water flows back toward the equator.  Wind blowing over the ocean currents affect the climate of the lands that these winds cross.  For example, the warmth of the Gulf Stream and the North Atlantic Drift help to keep the temperature of Europe moderate.  Even though much of Europe is as far north as Canada, it enjoys a much milder climate than Canada.

Ocean currents affect not only the temperature of an area, but also the amount of precipitation received.  Cold ocean currents flowing along a coastal region chill the air and sometimes prevent warm air and the moisture it holds from falling to earth.  The Atacama Desert in South America and the Namib Desert in Africa, for example, were formed partly because of cold ocean currents nearby.

Latitude

Geographers divide Earth into three general zones of latitude: low or tropical, middle or temperate, and high or polar.  Tropical zones are found on either side of the equator.  They extend to the tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere.  Lands in tropical zones are hot all year long.  In some areas, a shift in wind patterns causes variations in the seasons.  For example, Tanzania experiences both a rainy season and a dry season as Indian Ocean winds blow in or away from the land.

The high latitude polar zones, which encircle the North Pole and South Pole, are cold all year.  Summer temperatures in the polar regions may reach only as high as 50 degrees Fahrenheit. 

The Earth’s two temperate zones like at the middle latitudes, between the tropics and the polar regions.  Within the temperate zones, climates can vary greatly, ranging from relatively hot to relatively cold.  These variations occur because solar heating is greater in the summer than in the winter.  So summers are much warmer.

Elevation

Another factor in determining the climate of a region is elevation, or distance above sea level.  You would think that the closer you get to the sun, the hotter it would become.  But as altitude increases, the air temperature  drops (about 3.5 degrees Fahrenheit for every 1,000 feet).  Therefore, the climate gets colder as you climb a mountain or other elevated location.  Climates above 12,000 feet become like those Arctic regions – with snow and ice.  For example, Mount Kilimanjaro in East Africa is capped by snow all year long.

Landforms/ Topography

Landforms also affect climate.  This is especially true of mountain areas.  Remember that moisture-laden winds cool as they move up the side of a mountain, eventually releasing rain or snow.  By the time the winds reach the other side of the mountain, they are dry and become warmer as they flow down the mountain.

1) How do wind and ocean currents affect temperature?

2) What is the cause of the Coriolis effect?

3) In addition to affecting temperature, what other feature of climate is affected by ocean currents?

4) List the three main climate zones on Earth and their MAIN characteristic in the following way:

 

Name of climate zone: main characteristic

5) How is it possible for a mountainous region in the tropical climate zone to have temperatures similar to a high or polar zone?

6) Use your electronic device or laptop to define the term "rain shadow".

7) Of the four factors (categories) that affect climate, which category does a "rain shadow" fall into?

North America Political Map Link and Exam Review

North America Political Map

1) Know all the Canadian provinces and where they are located in relation to one another (e.g. Ontario is east of Manitoba).

2) Know where the states of the United States are located in relation to each other and in relation to the Canadian provinces.

North America Physical Map

3) Know where major physical features are located in relation to Canada, Greenland, Canada's provinces, and the United States.

     - Rocky Mountains, Alaska Range, Great Plains, Great Lakes (know each lake), Hudson Bay, Gulf of Mexico, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, Appalachian Mountains

Factors that Influence Climate

4) Know the climate zones, how ocean currents and wind affects climate, the definition of climate, how latitude affects climate, how elevation affects climate.

Grid Maps, Longitude and Latitude

1) What is a grid?

     grid - a network of lines that cross each other to form a series of squares or rectangles.

2) What are the names given to the lines that form the imaginary grid used to identify exact and approximate locations on earth?

3) What is another term used for lines of latitude?

4) In which direction do lines of latitude go?

5) What are the number of degrees for the Equator?

     5a) What subdivisions of Earth are created by the Equator?

6) What are the number of degrees for the Tropic of Cancer?

     6a) Why is the Tropic of Cancer (23.5N) labeled with the letter N?

7) What are the number of degrees for the Tropic of Capricorn?

     7a) Why is the Tropic of Capricorn (23.5S) labeled with the letter S?

8) What is the name of the climate region that lies in between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn?

9) What are the number of degrees for the Arctic Circle?

     9a) Why is the Arctic Circle (66.5N) labeled with the letter N?

10) What are the number of degrees for the Antarctic Circle?

     10a) Why is the Antarctic Circle (66.5S) labeled with the letter S?

11) Describe the type of climate that lies in between the Tropics and the Antarctic/ Arctic circles.

12) What is the term given to the type of climate that lies north of the Arctic Circle and south of the Antarctic Circle?

     - A polar climate consisting of cool summers and very cold winters, which results in treeless tundra, glaciers, or a permanent or semi-permanent layer of ice.

13) What is another name for lines of longitude?

14) How is the spacing between lines of longitude different from lines of latitude?

     14a) Where do lines of longitude meet?

15) What subdivisions of Earth are created by the Prime Meridian (0⁰ Longitude)?