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World Geography
Lesson Activities
Student Answer Sheet
The European Subcontinent
The Lesson Activities will help you meet these educational goals:
Inquiry Skills—You will develop questions and plan investigations; use content knowledge
to develop compelling questions or supporting questions; analyze societal issues, trends
and events; apply reasoning that requires spatial and environmental perspectives;
evaluate change and continuity over time; develop credible explanations of historical
events and developments based on reasoned interpretation of evidence; develop
explanations and make persuasive arguments in support of your conclusions; identify and
analyze real-world public problems; and deliberate and reason quantitatively about issues.
Directions
Please save this document before you begin working on the assignment. Type your
answers directly in the document.
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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. Climate Change in Europe
Scientists have been gathering data about climate change around the world and coming
to a strong consensus that human activity is contributing to changing climate conditions
worldwide. Scientists use sophisticated computer models to investigate the changes in
atmospheric conditions observed over the past 200 years. They then use those results to
predict where climate conditions may be going in the years ahead.
The computer models use data about greenhouse gas emissions like carbon dioxide and
methane, combined with weather patterns, average temperatures, sea levels, and other
data points. This combined data produces different predictions, depending on how
scientists model the climate. As a result, there is some debate about how climate change
will affect different regions of Earth and in what time frame. For example, scientists are
unsure how climate change in Europe could affect the North Atlantic Current.
Read about climate change and the North Atlantic Current. Next, review what was
discussed in the lesson about the climate in Europe and combine it with new information
from the resource for this activity, as well as your own understanding of climate change.
Then answer the following questions:
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a. How would Europe’s climate change if the North Atlantic Current disappeared?
Sample answer:
The biggest effect would be dropping temperatures in the region. While Earth overall
may be warming, the disruption or end of the North Atlantic Current would mean the
tempering effects of the current would no longer moderate temperature and weather in
much of Europe and the eastern United States.
b. Which areas would be most affected?
Sample answer:
This change might most affect the northern countries of Europe, including the United
Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and other
countries in the region.
c. How would this change impact economic activities in the region?
Sample answer:
Two economic areas to experience immediate effects would be agriculture and
shipping. If temperatures were lower and snow heavier, the growing season would be
shorter in many countries in Europe. France is one of the world’s largest agricultural
exporters, so a loss of the temperate climate produced by the North Atlantic Current
might reduce France’s farming output. This reduction would affect not only France
itself but also the countries that buy its goods. Shipping could also be disrupted if
waters in the North or Baltic Seas become harder to navigate in winter due to icy
conditions.
d. Imagine you are a policy maker in a European country. What questions would you
want scientists to be able to answer to help you propose policy changes for the
region?
Sample answer:
Answers will vary but should address policy concerns around climate change in
Europe.
 How fast is the Arctic ice melting?
 What greenhouse gas emission reductions would help reverse the pattern of
melting?
 What changes can we already see in the North Atlantic Current?
2. Population Pyramid
Population pyramids are data analysis tools used for tracking and understanding
population patterns for different countries or regions. These pyramids can be used to see
patterns over time and make guesses about how the demographics of a region may
change over time. As an example, review the population pyramids for Germany in 1965
and Germany in 2015.
a. List your observations about population patterns in Germany based on the 1965
population pyramid. Then list observations about the 2015 population pyramid to show
what has changed and what is consistent with the 1965 pyramid.
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Sample answer:
1965 Population
The birth rate was high in 1965.
2015 Population
The birth rate is low and seems to be
decreasing
Very few people lived past the
Noticeable percentages of people are
age of 80.
living into their 80s and even some into
their 90s.
There was a big drop in men and The 45-54 age-group is the largest in
women aged 45-49.
the country.
There was a large bump up in the The 25-29 age-group is just about
25-29 age-group, born in the late average, neither larger nor smaller than
1930s.
other groups.
The percentage of men to
The percentage of men to women is
women is relatively equal across relatively equal across all age-groups.
the younger age-groups.
b. Choose two of the changes you noticed between the 1965 and 2015 population
pyramids for Germany. Use your knowledge of history and the country to explain why
the changes likely occurred.
Sample answer:
The drop in people aged 45-49 in 1965 was likely due to deaths of people in their 20s
during World War II. The 45-49 group is large in 2015 because they were born during
the peak of Germany’s birthrate growth in the 1960s. The large number of births in the
1930s was likely due to Germany’s strong economy at the beginning of World War II.
In contrast, the 25-29 age-group in 2015 is average size because Germany was fairly
stable in the 1980s and 1990s.
c. What can you say about differences between men and women in the two population
pyramids?
Sample answer:
In 1965, there seemed to be slightly more women than men in Germany, especially
above the age of 35. By 2015, this trend had evened out somewhat, and there were
slightly more men than women in a few age-groups. By and large, when you look at
either 1965 or 2015 alone, there appears to be little difference between genders.
d. If the trends in the population pyramids continue, what will the population of Germany
look like in 20 or 50 years?
Sample answer:
The population might decrease and will get older overall. This change is due to the low
birthrate, which might continue to decrease. There also will be higher percentages of
Germans above the ages of 80 and 90 over the next 20-50 years. The pyramid will
probably flatten a bit, with little variation between age-groups, turning into more of a
tower than a pyramid.
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3. Berlin Airlift
The Berlin Airlift was an early example of the Cold War conflict that developed in Europe.
After the Germans were defeated in World War II, the uneasy alliance between the Soviet
Union and Western powers such as Great Britain and the United States fell apart. Instead,
the alliance was replaced by a dangerous rivalry, of which Berlin, Germany, became the
first flashpoint. Read the Knowledge Article about the Berlin Airlift that occurred between
June 1948 and May 1949. Then answer the following questions:
a. How were the Soviets able to block access to Berlin?
Sample answer:
The Soviets were able to block access to Berlin due to the city’s location inside the
Soviet-controlled section of Germany. As a result, the roads and railways typically
used to transport people and products in and out of Berlin were totally under the
control of the Soviets.
b. The Soviets ended the blockade after nearly a year, appearing to acknowledge that
they believed the United States and Britain would keep up the Berlin Airlift indefinitely.
What evidence can you find in the article to support the Soviets’ conclusion? Do you
think the U.S. and Britain would have maintained the airlift longer? Cite evidence from
the article to support your conclusion.
Sample answer:
The article describes how the United States and Britain were increasing the number of
tons delivered each month. This increase showed that the airlift was going well and
was even gaining in momentum as time went on. Also, the article describes how
airports were improved, and more capable aircraft were being built, which also implied
that the U.S. and Britain had committed to the airlift for the long-term.
The U.S. and Britain put a lot of resources into the airlift and likely would have kept it
up for a while longer had the Soviets not ended their blockade. There is no evidence in
the article to suggest that the airlift was slowing down. However, the article does note
that 707 flights or more per day were necessary to keep up with the needs of the
people of West Berlin. At some point, the expense and challenge of such an operation
would no longer be sustainable.
c. How important do you think it was for the U.S. and Britain to succeed in keeping
supplies flowing to West Berlin? What might have happened had they let West Berlin
fall completely under Soviet control? Be sure to support your conclusions with
information from the article.
Sample answer:
It was crucial for the U.S. and Britain to succeed with the Berlin Airlift for two reasons:
First, the people living in West Berlin relied on this aid; due to the Soviet blockade,
they were receiving no food or other supplies, so people’s lives were at risk. Second,
the rest of the world was watching to see how strong each side was in this East-West
conflict. If the airlift had failed, countries around the world would not have trusted the
aid or support of the U.S. and Britain.
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If West Berlin had been allowed to fall under Soviet control, the Soviets would have
had an easier time pushing back against the influence of Britain, France, the U.S.,
and, eventually, the new West Germany. The article mentions that Berlin remained a
place where ideas, people, and even threats were exchanged all the way until the
early 1990s. If its fate had been decided in 1948, there is no telling the effects on the
rest of Europe in the East-West conflict.
d. Now that you understand the basics about the Berlin Airlift, formulate three questions
about this event that you want to know more about. Then try to answer your own
questions using one of these three resources—or others you find yourself:
 Truman Library Resources
 PBS American Experience
 BBC Archive Footage
Sample answer:
Answers will vary depending on the questions you choose to ask and how well you
find answers in the resources provided.
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