Name: Advisory: Period: High School World History Cycle 2 Week 2 Lifework This packet is due Monday, November 7 Complete and turn in on Friday for 10 points of EXTRA CREDIT! Lifework Assignment Complete on evening of None Regions Reading & Questions Regions: Cities & States Countries, and Continents Regions Scenarios Monday, October 31st Tuesday, November 1st Wednesday, November 2nd Thursday, November 3rd Friday, November 4th Please complete assignments with excellence using complete sentences, correct punctuation and capitalization. Ms. Bush: 314-348-7588 Ms. Wiedemann: 636-692-1800 http://bushwiedemannworld.weebly.com/
Regions Reading A region is an area of land that has common features. A region can be defined by natural or artificial (human made) features. Language, government, or religion can define a region, as can forests, wildlife, or climate. Regions, large or small, are the basic units of geography. The Middle East is considered a political, environmental, and religious region that includes parts of Africa, Asia, and Europe. The region is in a hot, dry climate. Although the styles of government are varied (democracy in Israel and Syria, monarchy in Saudi Arabia), almost all of them have strong ties to religion. The region is where three of the world's major religions were founded: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The Amazon River region in South America is the area surrounding the Amazon River, which runs through the northern part of the continent, including Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru. This region is characterized by warm temperatures, heavy rainfall, a large diversity of plant and animal species, and little human impact on the environment. Geographers also use regions to study prehistoric environments that no longer exist. Due to plate tectonics, or the movement of the Earth's crust, geographic regions are constantly being created and destroyed over time. Paleogeography is the study of these ancient environments. One paleogeographic region is Pangaea, the supercontinent that existed millions of years ago, during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras. The continents we know today split apart from the supercontinent of Pangaea.
Regions of the United States There are many different ways to divide the United States into regions. The Library of Congress lists 16, here are just a few below: East: All states east of the Mississippi River Middle West or Midwest: from the Rocky Mountains to the Allegheny Mountains; Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin Northeast: east of the Mississippi River, north of the Ohio and Potomac rivers: Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin. Northwest: states between Lake Superior and the Pacific Ocean: Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, Wyoming. South: States south of the Mason-Dixon Line: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia. Southwest: Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Utah. West: All states west of the Mississippi River. Regions Reading Questions Directions: After reading about regions, answer the following questions with complete sentences. 1. What is a region? How can regions be characterized? 2. Regions are of geography. Examples of regions include: neighborhoods, cities, states, countries, and continents
3. What makes the Middle East such a unique region? Use examples from the text to support your answer. 4. What characteristics make the Amazon River region a region? Are they environmental/natural or human characteristics? Explain your answer. 5. How do geographers use plate tectonics to identify regions? What region is used as an example? 6. Which region is Missouri in?
Regions: Cities & States A city is a legally defined government and populated area. It has political power from the state and county. Local laws, regulations and policies are created and approved by the voters of the city and its representatives/ leaders. Cities can be both big and small but vary in size due to population and the amount of land the city owns/has. States are political areas of land of the United States of America, with different names and similar governments. Countries can also be called states, but for this example we are looking at countries like the United States, Canada, and Brazil that divide their countries into pieces of land, or territories called states. In the U.S. there are 50 states, which are bound together. Each state has some power over the decisions it makes for the people who live in its state, or defined geographic territory. So, states are made up of cities, towns and counties (counties have both cities and towns inside of it) and the U.S. is made up of 50 states. For example: City, State City, State City, State St. Louis, MO Chicago, IL New York, NY Population 318,416 people 2,700,000 people 8, 550, 405 people Size in square miles 65.98 miles 234 miles 304.6 miles 1. Circle the city of St. Louis on the map to the left. 2. What is a city? 3. How is a city different from a state? Explain the relationship between them. 4. Making connections: Is St. Louis a region? Why or why not?
Countries and Continents: The seven continents are the seven main land areas on Earth, which include: North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and Antarctica. Some are joined to each other, like Europe to Asia, Asia to Africa, and North America to South America. Other continents like Australia and Antarctica are completely surrounded by water. Some continents have a lot of countries, but others have a few. A continent is home to many different countries. Antarctica is so cold no one truly lives there, with the exception for scientific research. Australia is the only continent to also be a country (the surrounding countries of the South Pacific Ocean region are lumped in with Australia). All other continents have at least 10 or more as you can see on the chart below. For example, the United States, Mexico, and Canada are in North America with 20 other smaller countries. Countries create political borders/ territories (separation) of the land of its continent. A border is an invisible line marking territory between places. In some areas borders are physical, actual dividers such as walls or fences. Continent Africa Antarctica Asia Number of Countries & Info 54 countries. It is the hottest continent and home of the world's largest desert, the Sahara, occupying the 25% of the total area of Africa. Few claims by other countries, NOT A COUNTRY just a continent 50 countries, and it is the most populated continent, the 60% of the total population of the Earth live here Australia 14 countries. It is the least populated continent after Antarctica, only 0.3% of the total Earth population live here. Europe North America South America 51 countries. It is the most developed economically continent with the European Union as the biggest economic and political union in the world. 23 countries led by the USA as the largest economy in the world 12 countries. Here is located the largest forest, the Amazon rainforest, which covers 30% of the South America total area.
1. What is a continent? 2. What is the difference between a continent and a country? 3. Which continent has the fewest countries? Why do they have the fewest? 4. Which continent has the most countries? PREDICT why does this continent have the most? 5. Select five countries from the map on the previous page and identify what continent they are on. a. Country: Continent: b. Country: Continent: c. Country: Continent: d. Country: Continent: e. Country: Continent:
Regions Scenarios Directions: Read each scenario and then identify the regions. Use the maps on the previous pages for help. 1. Jessica traveled to St. Louis, MO for a summer to work at a summer camp. She was from Cape Town, South Africa. Region Traveled from Traveled to City (may not have one) Country Continent 2. Rohaan is from Sri Lanka, an island country off of India, where he owns a coconut farm. He left his family farm to study biology at a university in Berlin, Germany. Region Traveled from Traveled to City (may not have one) Country Continent 3. Lisette is from Nouakchott, Mauritania and she traveling to Ulaanbaatar (capital city), Mongolia. Region Traveled from Traveled to City (may not have one) Country Continent