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World Geography Lesson Activities Student Answer Sheet Physical Geography The Lesson Activities will help you meet these educational goals: Inquiry Skills—You will analyze societal issues, trends, and events; apply reasoning that requires spatial and environmental perspectives; develop explanations and make persuasive arguments in support of your conclusions; and identify and analyze real-world public problems. Directions Please save this document before you begin working on the assignment. Type your answers directly in the document. _________________________________________________________________________ Self-Checked Activities Read the instructions for the following activities and type in your responses. At the end of the lesson, click the link to open the Student Answer Sheet. Use the answers or sample responses to evaluate your work. 1. Pangaea Alfred Wegener’s 1912 theory states that a single consolidated continent (which Wegener termed Pangaea) existed before tectonic activity split it into our modern continents. a. Study the following two images carefully, comparing Pangaea to the map of the modern continents. Then use the table to catalog at least three clues and observations that support Wegener’s theory. 1 © 2013 EDMENTUM, INC. Pangaea (more than 2 million years ago) map of continents (present day) 2 Sample answer: Continent / Landmass South America Clue Explanation The east coast mirrors that of the west coast of Africa. North America The east coast mirrors roughly the scale and shape of the northwest coast of Africa Europe The west coast has shapes that cluster well with parts of North America. Intermediate landmasses appear to come from larger continents. Of all the continents, South America and Africa most clearly appear to fit together and, therefore, were likely one landmass in the past. Thinking of the continents as puzzle pieces, the eastern coast of the United States appears to have once curled up against the coasts of Morocco and Western Sahara. The landmasses of Greenland and northern Canada appear to fit with Scandinavia, the United Kingdom, and other parts of northern Europe. Some islands cluster close to larger continents and seem like pieces that have broken off from the continents. In addition, larger, more spread out islands sometimes form chains between continents that appear to be intermediate parts of the former Pangaea. Islands b. Now, drawing on your prior knowledge, make a list of other types of evidence not visible on a map that might support Wegener’s Pangaea theory. What other methods could you use to investigate this theory? Sample answer: 1. You could look for fossils of ancient plants or animals that appear on matching coasts of paired continents. 2. You could look for landforms like mountain ranges that would fit together if two continents were matched up side by side. 3. You could look for mineral deposits that two continents have in common, despite having different modern geographic conditions. 4. You could look for fossils that indicate that a continent used to be in a different climate zone than it is now (for example, if Antarctica had ancient fossils of tropical species). 5. You could track movements of modern continents using GPS to project backward in time and estimate where and when they might have been one larger landmass. 3 2. Dust Bowl In the 1930s, a severe drought in the southwestern Great Plains of the United States produced soil conditions known as the Dust Bowl. This event lives in the memories of farmers who experienced it and continues to influence policy makers in the United States when issues of irrigation, farming, and land use come up for discussion. Investigate how the underlying physical geography interacted with human geography during the Dust Bowl to bring about geographic change and human hardship. Skim this resource and work through this activity. Use them to track some of the problems Americans faced in the Dust Bowl region. Make note of each problem’s cause and whether it was natural or human-made, and briefly describe the resulting condition. Sample answer: Soil problem grassland destroyed grassland destroyed farmland expanded Natural Cause erosion strong winds erosion dry soil Human Cause dryland farming Resulting condition environmental damage overgrazing of animals wheat prices increased during World War I bare land new, faster plowing methods 1930 drought rapid expansion of farming clouds of dust and dust storms field furrows no longer holding soil in place farmer migrations to the West 3. Land Formations Tectonic processes, erosion, and sedimentary processes create, alter, and destroy land formations all over our planet. Land formations that share common traits are identified and named based on the processes that have affected them. Use this review of land formations to create definitions in your own words of five types of land formations: plain, plateau, cave, mountain, canyon. Be sure to include the basic features of each land formation and how it is created. The first one has been done for you. Sample answer: Plain Definition – wide-open stretches of land with minimal changes in elevation Basic features –broad and flat; often have rich soil How it is created – Glaciers erode elevated terrain, magma pushes up through Earth’s crust, or repeated floods carry muddy sediment to build up plains in river valleys. 4 Plateau Definition – an elevated, flat, open area of mostly rock Basic features – high elevations and uplifted crust, but no crumples or wrinkles, which often show signs of erosion that formed buttes, mesas, and canyons How it is created – As two tectonic plates collide, magma pushes the crust upward but does not break the surface, instead raising a large, impenetrable rock formation; sometimes lava flows spill out repeatedly from cracks in Earth’s crust and spread out broadly to form plateaus. Cave Definition – underground passages that expand to form open spaces within rock Basic features – typically dark, often wet, with spikes of rock drooping from the roof (stalactites) or growing from the ground (stalagmites), usually formed from a type of limestone called karst How it is created – Acidic rain seeps into rock, slowly dissolving some of it and creating passages that later expand to larger spaces as more water washes through them. Mountain Definition – an area of rock that rises 1,000 feet (305 meters) or more above its surrounding area Basic features – steeply sloping sides with both rounded and sharp ridges How it is created – Tectonic plates collide, forming buckles, cracks and faults in Earth’s crust from the force of the collision; magma sometimes pushes large rocks up from below, forming cracks and steep mountain slopes; magma also flows from volcanoes as lava, slowly building up the sides of volcanic mountains. Canyon Definition – narrow valleys with steep sides Basic features – deep, usually rocky valley with high cliffs, often cut into dry plateaus How it is created – Flowing water, such as a river, cuts deeply into layers of rock, eroding each successive layer over long periods of time; ocean canyons are cut by torrents of water flowing in ocean currents. 4. Wetland Facts Review these facts about wetlands, and familiarize yourself with the types of wetlands. a. Identify a wetland in or bordering your community. Perhaps there is a pond near your house or behind your school. Maybe a marshy creek connects your town to a neighboring town. Maybe you live near a bay or port with surrounding wetlands. Or perhaps some bogs or swamps are on the outskirts of your town. Take some notes about your local wetland below. If you do not have a wetland in your community, use the Florida Everglades as your example. Sample answer: Wetland name – Florida Everglades Type of wetland – The Everglades are a mix of freshwater marshes (slough) and brackish or saline tidal marshes (estuarine). 5 Description – It is a large ecosystem with multiple habitats, some of which are wetlands. Animals such as manatees, alligators, and panthers, as well as wading birds like the ibis, are unique residents of the Everglades. The soil beneath its swamps and estuaries are often limestone, deposited as silt and sand 6 million years ago, when the area was a shallow sea. The freshwater flowing out of the Everglades mixes with salt water along the coast to produce a nutrient-rich mangrove estuary filled with shrimp, snapper, and other sea life. Other notes – Levees and canals were built through the Everglades to support agriculture. Coastal development for homes and tourism has damaged shoreline ecosystems. These human changes to the Everglades have made the system more fragile than it was 200 years ago. b. Now, imagine that the wetland you described is destroyed. Perhaps an oil spill damages it, or a major storm disrupts it. Or maybe the construction of new housing resulted in the wetland being filled. In a short paragraph, describe how your neighborhood would change after the wetland’s destruction. Sample answer: If the Everglades suffered serious destruction, the habitats for so many animals—such as manatees, panthers, and alligators—would be destroyed. As a result, these animal populations would be stressed and would likely die off. Perhaps new species would take over in numbers that could impact life in communities like Naples or Miami. There would also be less open land to purify water, so runoff from farms in the area would more quickly make its way to the ocean, damaging ecosystems along popular beaches. This damage could impact tourism in the area. When hurricanes or other heavy rains occur, communities in the area would have more flooding because the wetlands would not be there to absorb excess runoff and standing water. Soil erosion could become a problem too, with a great impact on farms and orchards around the Everglades. Soil erosion could lead to diminishing agricultural production. 6