Download Study Questions - UNIT 7: Industrialization and Economic

Study Questions
1.
Where were various plants and animals domesticated?
2.
What role did fire and metallurgy play in hunting and gathering societies and in early agricultural communities?
3.
What were the Second Agricultural Revolution, the Industrial Revolution and the Third Agricultural Revolution
(Green Revolution)?
4. Choose two of the three agricultural revolutions and describe in detail the following:
A) Where was the hearth(s) and why?
B) What type(s) of diffusion spread the practices associated with the agricultural revolutions you chose?
C) Discuss in detail two benefits and one drawback to the agricultural revolutions you chose.
4.
A. What are the world’s major agricultural production regions?
B. Where are extensive activities (fishing, forestry, nomadic herding, ranching, shifting cultivation) and
intensive activities (plantation agriculture, mixed crop/livestock systems, market gardening, horticulture,
factory farms) found?
A. How do these activities influence settlement patterns and landscapes?
6. Why are fishing and lumbering included in the study of agricultural geography?
7. Explain the location of the various Mediterranean agricultural systems. What are their main crops? What are the
similarities and differences between the various regions?
8. What is subsistence agriculture? In what regions of today’s world does it still prevail?
9. How have various environmental issues impacted different regions of the world?
10. Sketch von Thunen’s model of agricultural land use around a market city. What assumptions did von Thunen
make? What are the main factors that influence where crops (or livestock) are produced as the most costeffective product for market?
11. The von Thunen model of rural land use is often used to analyze the distribution of different types of agriculture
across the landscape.
A) Describe the basic geographic principles of the model.
B) How would the categories listed below alter the distribution agricultural practices, according to the von
Thunen model.
i. topographic features
ii. modern forms of transportation
iii. climatic and soil variations
C) Apply von Thunen’s model to either the United States or the continent of Europe, and describe in detail
where the single market would be located, and the geographic distribution of the five major rings of the
model.
12. Explain the impact of physical conditions on the von Thunen model of agriculture—soil quality, climate
changes, mountains, rivers, etc.
13. Relate von Thunen’s model to the contemporary distribution of agriculture in North America. Use a sketch map
to help in your discussion.
14. Distinguish between dispersed and nucleated settlements.
15. Explain how the forms, functions, materials, and spacing of rural dwellings reveal a great deal about a region
and its culture.
16. What is commercial agriculture? In what regions of today’s world does it prevail?
17. The main division within agriculture exists between subsistence and commercial methods of production.
A) Define subsistence and commercial agriculture.
B) Describe the geographic distribution for subsistence and commercial agriculture today.
C) Discuss in detail the striking differences between subsistence and commercial agriculture for the following
categories:
i. farm size.
iv. percentage of farmers in the labor force.
ii. use of machinery.
v. relationship of farming to other businesses.
iii. purpose of farming.
18. Assess the impact of changing agricultural practices in North America, Latin America, and Africa.
19. Describe some of the risks implicit in single crop economies.
20. Explain how the global network of farm production is more responsive to the needs of the urbanized societies of
the industrialized democracies in the developed world than to more marginal societies in the developing world.
21. How is globalization changing the geography of agricultural production areas? For any four of the categories
listed below describe how globalization is altering the geography of production and consumption. Give specific
examples for each.
A) changing geography of production.
B) improvements in transportation.
C) impact of trade agreements.
D) growth of transnational corporations.
E) production of cash crops.
F) production of luxury crops.
22. Many developing countries are faced with rapidly expanding populations, which puts a strain on their
agricultural production systems. Choose any three strategies listed below and discuss the viability of the method
in increasing food for a country’s expanding population. Give specific examples from the last twenty years.
A) increase the amount of land in agricultural production.
B) increase productivity of the land.
C) increase new food sources.
D) increase food imports.
23. Agriculture practices in Less Developed Countries (LDCs) include shifting cultivation, pastoral nomadism,
intensive subsistence, and/or plantation agriculture. For each of these agricultural practices answer the questions
below.
A) What is the definition of each agricultural practice?
B) What is the geographical distribution of each agricultural practice?
C) Why is this type of agricultural practiced where it is?
D) What are three characteristics for each agricultural practice?
E) What are two future challenges for each agricultural practice?
24. In United States, the number of family owned farms is decreasing while the average size of farms is increasing.
These recent trends make it more difficult for individually-owned farming operations to compete against
corporate owned farms. Choose three examples below and discuss the impact each niche market has made in the
United States. Give specific examples.
A) organic agriculture.
B) eat locally and in-season movement.
C) sustainable agriculture.
D) fair trade movement.