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Geography/World Studies Mid-term Exam Study Guide
December 2016 & January 2017
Your mid-term World Studies examination is scheduled during the week of January 1318, 2017. The date of the Geography Exam has not been announced. Please take time to
use this guide as a tool to help you do your best. Our exam will be comprehensive; that
is it will include material from the all of our units of study. There will be three major
types of questions for which you will be expected to prepare. There may also be a few
true or false or other types of questions on the exam as well odd item out questions. You
will need your textbook, work folder, and this study guide in order to prepare properly.
1. Selected response questions. These questions will include a “stem”
and 4 answer choices. You will be asked to select the best choice for each of
these questions. These are sometime called multiple-choice questions. There are
some strategies that will help you answer these types of questions. We have used
these questions throughout the year so you have had practice in answering these
types of questions. Answer the sample questions that follow.
Questions 1-10 are selected response (multiple choice) questions. Read each item
carefully and completely. Place the letter (A, B, C, or D) representing the best choice in
the space next to each question number. You should expect to use about 10 minutes for
this section. Try these practice questions.
_____1. Which type of location is used in “every day” situations?
A. absolute location
B. latitude and longitude
C. relative location
D. abstract location
_____2. The use of the GPS (Global Position System) to navigate is based on
A. relative locations.
B. abstract locations.
C. time zones.
D. latitude and longitude.
_____3. These places share common characteristics. They are alike in some way, so
geographers call this theme
A. location.
B. place.
C. movement.
D. regions
_____4. Humans are able to travel great distances on the Earth. They often take with
them their ideas, language, religion, or other aspects of their culture. We transport
resources to produce the things that we need. This theme is called
A. movement.
B. place.
C. location.
D. human-environment interaction.
_____5. West Nile Virus is a disease carried by mosquitoes. Since it was first found in
the Northeastern U.S. in 1999, the virus has worked its way westward, so that in 2002
there were confirmed human cases in Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, and
California. By 2003, the government reported that the West Nile virus had been found in
46 states around the US. The only states without any reported cases in 2003 included
Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, and Alaska. Which theme could be used to explain the
spread of West Nile Virus?
A. location
B. place
C. movement
D. human-environment interaction
_____6. Which of these map elements is used to indicate an absolute location?
A. grid system
B. border
C. scale
D. latitude lines
_____7. If you wanted to use a map to find the direction from one place to another, you
would most likely use
A. the map key.
B. the scale.
C. the grid system.
D. orientation (compass rose).
______8. How many degrees does the Earth rotate each hour?
A. 15 degrees
B. 25 degrees
C. 50 degrees
D. 45 degrees
_____9. The motion that the Earth makes around the sun is called
A. polar movement.
B. revolution.
C. a solar year.
D. rotation.
_____10. The differences in time around the world are related to
A. Earth revolution.
B. Earth rotation.
C. the changing seasons.
D. the winter and summer solstices.
2. Vocabulary Matching Questions. These problems will give you a
list of vocabulary terms and a set of definitions. You will be expected to correctly
match as many vocabulary terms and definitions as possible. These questions will
include lists of no more than 7 words at a time, although there may be more
definitions than terms. There are some excellent strategies that can be helpful in
answering these sorts of questions. What are some of these strategies?
World Geography Mid-term Exam vocabulary list
The notations in the section will help you use your textbook efficiently. A letter “p.”
before a number indicates the page in your book on which you can get additional
information. A letter “p” following a number indicates a page on which you can find a
picture, which may help explain a term or concept. A capital “M” before a number is
used to indicate a Map Master page in the front of your text and a small “m” following a
page number indicates a page on which a map is found.
Chapter 1 Section 1 The World of Geography
1. human-environment interaction- is the theme used to explain how people affect their
surroundings and how the environment affects people. p. M1, 5, 13
2. location- this explains where places are on the Earth. p. M, 2, 11
3. movement- is used to explain how people, goods and ideas travel from one place to
another. p. M1, 7, 13
4. place- is used to explain the human and physical features at a specific location. p. M1,
3, 13
5. regions- are places that share common natural or human characteristics. p. M1, 6, 12
Chapter 1 Section 1 The World of Geography &
Chapter 2 Section 1 Our Planet, Earth
1. axis- an imaginary line passing through the Earth that connects the poles. p. 29
2. latitude lines- the angular distance north or south from the earth's equator measured
through 90 degrees. These lines form circles, which get smaller as they get nearer the
poles. p. 11-12
3. longitude lines- the angular distance measured in degrees east or west from the prime
meridian to the 180 degree meridian. These lines connect the poles. p. 11-12
4. orbit- the path a body makes as it circles another. The Earth orbits the Sun. p. 28
5. time zones- geographic regions within which the same standard time is used. There are
24 standard time zones. p. 29
6. revolution- a circular or nearly circular motion. The Earth revolves around the Sun. p.
28
7. rotation- a complete turn. The Earth rotates on its axis. p. 29
Chapter 2 Section 2 Forces Shaping Earth
1. core- the sphere of intensely hot metal at the center of the Earth. p. 34
2. crust- the thin, rocky layer on the Earth’s surface. p. 34
3. erosion- the removal of small pieces of rock by water, ice, or wind. p. 39
4. landforms- the many features of the surface of the land. Rivers, mountains and deserts
are examples of landforms. p. 35
5. magma- soft, nearly molten rock. p. 36-37
6. mantle- the thick layer of rock around the Earth’s core. p. 34
7. plate(s) - very large blocks of the Earth’s crust. p. 36
8. Ring of Fire- a series of volcanoes and earthquake zones located around the rim of the
Pacific Ocean. p’s. 33, 37, 571m, 622 and 846
Chapter 2 Section 3 Climate and Weather
1. climate- the average weather conditions over an extended period of time. p. 40
2. desert- a climate type with small amounts of precipitation, limited plant life and large
diurnal (daily) temperature ranges (i.e., it is hot during the day a much colder at night).
p’s 52, 53p, 369 and 601
3. precipitation- water that falls from sky to ground as rain, sleet, hail, snow, mist, dew,
fog, etc. p. 40, 41, 43m
4. savanna- an area of tall grasses and scattered trees forming a park like landscape. p’s
52, 368, 501m
5. tundra- an area of cold climate and low-lying vegetation. p. 50, 51, 51p, 52, 54, 158p,
161
6. weather- the condition of the atmosphere from day to day including the moisture
content, temperature, and winds. p’s. 40, 46
Chapter 3 Section 1 Population
1. birthrate- the number of live births per year per 1000 women of child-bearing age.
2. death rate- the number of deaths each year per 1000 people.
3. population- the total number people who live in a given area.
4. population density- the average number of people who live. p. 62, 63, 579
5. population distribution- the way in which population is spread out over an area.
Chapter 3 Section 2 Migration
1. immigrants- people who move into one nation from another
2. involuntary migration- a forced migration of people
3. migration- the movement of people from one place or region to another
4. rural- an area or region located in the countryside.
5. suburban- an outlying part of a city or town. A smaller community adjacent to or
within commuting distance of a city. Towson is a suburb of Baltimore.
6. urbanization- the mass movement of people to cities and the growth of cities. p. 70-71
7. voluntary migration- a movement of people by their own choice. p. 68
Chapter 4 Cultures of the World
1. Caste (system) - in the Hindu faith a social class group into which born and from
which they cannot change. (Chapter 22 Section 1) p. 662
2. culture- the way of life of a group of people, including their beliefs and practices. p.
92
3. cultural diffusion- the spread of culture from one place to another. The movement of
customs and ideas. p.106.
4. cultural landscape- the parts of a group of people’s that they have shaped and the
technology that they used to shape it. p. 93
5. extended family- a family that includes several generations. p. 97
6. institutions- a custom or organization with social, educational, or religious purposes.
p. 95
7. nuclear family- parents and their children. p. 97
Chapter 5 Interacting With Our Environment
1. biodiversity- a richness of different kinds of living things in a region. p. 129
2. deforestation- a loss of forest cover in a region. p. 121, 129, p. 129p, 851
3. fossil fuels- a fuel formed over millions of years from animal and plant
remains, including coal, petroleum, and natural gas. p. 117
4. hybrid car- a car, which uses multiple energy, sources to achieve greater
efficiency. p. 130
5. nonrenewable- a resource that cannot be replaced. p. 116
6. pollution- waste, usually man-made, that makes the air, water, or soil less
clean. p. 132, 170, 318, 779, 857
7. renewable- a resource that can be replaced or that is almost inexhaustible, such
as solar energy, wind energy, water power (wave energy, etc.) and geothermal
energy. p. 114, 115-116, 118, 132, 857
3. Paragraph or essay writing. Boys with experience in public
schools may know these as ECR (extended constructive response) questions. You
will be given a prompt or question that will ask you to give a detailed written
response. You will always use sentence and paragraph form to answer these
questions. Learning to answer these types of questions is very important. We have
practiced writing these types of answers before, but you should be careful to
follow some basic rules to get the best possible result. First, be prepared. I have
provided the questions for you in advance. Writing well requires that you
follow a process. You may wish to make a pre-writing organizer. Read pages
RW2-RW5 in your text. This should help you prepare for the writing. You
may come to the exam with a pre-written organizer of no more that one side
of a standard sheet of notebook paper. You may use this organizer to help
you with the writing on the exam. You will find the choices of questions below.
You will only have to answer one of these questions.
Sample Paragraph Writing Prompts

Explain why it is important for humans to develop and use renewable
energy resources.

Explain the process called the water cycle and give reasons why it can
have an important effect on humans.

Explain where and how earthquakes and volcanoes occur.

Does culture divide or unite people? Choose one side of this debatable
question. Explain your choice by giving reasons and providing an
example.