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Social Studies

Cluster 1: World Geography


1. What are lines of latitude and lines of longitude on a map? Lines of latitude are
imaginary lines running east and west around the globe parallel to the equator. They are
also called parallels. Lines of longitude are imaginary lines running north and south
around the globe from the North Pole to the South Pole. They are also called meridians.
2. What is the purpose of lines of latitude and lines of longitude? Parallels and
meridians are important because they help us describe the position of any point on the
earth. They also help us to locate any place on the earth.
3. What are map projections? A map is a flat drawing of all or part of the earth. The
different ways of drawing maps are called projections.
4. Are map projections accurate? When the round earth is drawn on a flat surface it has
to be distorted in some ways. Some land areas are changed in size and shape. Distances
between land areas may be represented inaccurately. Some projections show the correct
shape of land or water areas but make the areas look larger or smaller than they really are.
Other projections show correct size but incorrect shape.

On a Goode Homolosine Projection the shapes


are distorted, but the sizes are correct.
progonos.com

On a Mercator projection, the shapes are


correct according to the parallels and
meridians. However, this projection distorts
sizes, especially close to the poles.

colorado.edu

A Winkel-Tripel projection is a compromise


between the other types of maps. Although it is
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Social Studies
Cluster 1: World Geography
still distorted it is not as distorted as the other maps. It considers area, direction and
distance all combined together.

nevron.com

A polar projection shows how the earth would appear if


you were looking straight down at one of the poles. It is
accurate near the center but inaccurate toward the edges.

www.mgaqua.net

5. What is the difference between weather and climate? Weather is the day-to-day state
of the air or atmosphere, including temperature and moisture. Climate is the pattern of the
weather in a particular place over many years.
6. What factors affect climate? Many factors influence climate such as the sun, winds,
ocean currents, nearness to land or water, and elevation.
7. How does the sun affect climate? The main factor that affects climate is the sun.
Different parts of the earth receive more direct or less direct sunlight at different times of
the year and this has a great impact on temperatures in those areas. Areas of the world
that receive a lot of direct sunlight, such as those areas around the equator tend to be
much warmer. Those areas of the earth that receive less direct
sunlight, such as those areas around the poles are much colder.
Areas around the equator get about the same amount of sun all
year round, so their temperatures remain more constant. Areas
that are further from the equator experience a much greater range
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in temperatures from season to season.
8. What is wind and how does it affect climate? Wind is air in motion.
Winds continually mix cold air from the poles and hot air from the
equator. Without this mixture, the polar areas would be too cold and
areas near the equator would be too hot. The winds move moisture as
well as heat. Some winds blow in special patterns that change with the
seasons. These are called prevailing winds. Our area gets prevailing
westerlies. This means that our winds tend to
blow more from the west. Other www.pixagogo.com
environmental factors will cause winds to
blow from other directions at times, but usually they come from
the west. California has wet winters and dry summers. This is

www.aerospaceweb.org

Social Studies
Cluster 1: World Geography
because winds carrying very little moisture blow in from the north in the summer, but in
the winter, winds from the south bring rain clouds with them.
9. What are ocean currents and how do they affect climate? Just as air in motion is called wind,
water in motion is called a current. Ocean currents that come from the North or South poles are
cold. Other currents that originate near the equator are warm. As they flow by areas of land they
bring warmth to those areas.
10. Is the climate of an area affected by how close it is to water? A large body of water, such as
an ocean, has a very moderating effect on the climate. This means that it helps to keep the climate
of the area more constant. Water heats up more slowly than land and it also cools off more slowly
than land. When the land is cooler, the water stays warmer and helps to warm the land. When the
land gets hotter, the breezes from the water help to cool it. As a result,
the climate of land near large bodies of water changes less than climate
farther inland. Places that are far from any ocean have climates that are
much more extreme. This means that the range between the hot days
and the cold days is much greater.
farm2.static.flickr.com

11. What is elevation and how does it affect climate? Elevation is the
height above sea level. Temperatures are very different at different altitudes. As you go higher,
the temperature gets colder.
Mountains affect the climate of areas in another way. In places like B.C. the Rocky Mountains
block the prevailing west winds. When the winds blow across the ocean they pick up moisture.
When they reach the coast they are forced to rise as they blow over the mountains. As they rise,
the air is cooled. Cool air cant hold as much moisture as warm air, so
it rains on the windward slopes of the mountains. The windward slopes
are the slopes that face the prevailing winds. By the time the air hits
the top of the mountain it has dropped most of its moisture. As a result
the leeward side of the mountain, or the mountain slopes facing the
other way, receives very little moisture. It rains a lot in Vancouver, but
Lethbridge, on the leeward side of the Rockies, is very dry.
www.californiapictures.com
12. What are climate groups? All of the worlds different climates can be placed into one of six
major groups. These are polar, temperate, arid, tropical, Mediterranean and mountain.
13. What is demography? The study of how people are distributed around the world is called
demography.
14. Are people distributed evenly around the world? People are not
distributed evenly around the world. Some areas are densely populated.
This means that many people live close together in a small area. Other
areas of the world are sparsely
populated. This means that people are
not as crowded but are spread out
more. Parts of the world with extreme
conditions, such as Antarctica, are
uninhabited. This means that basically

www.worldbiomes.com

pikasaweb.google.com

Social Studies
Cluster 1: World Geography
nobody lives there. The major population clusters of the world are in places that have a
welcoming natural environment.

15. What is immigration and emigration? Immigration is the movement of people into a
country. Emigration is the movement of people out of a country. Sometimes people move
from place to place within a country. This is called internal immigration.
16. What other reasons, besides the natural environment cause people to move from
place to place around the world? Many factors cause people to move from place to place
in the world. Many areas of the world are overcrowded. When an area becomes so
crowded that it cant support itself, it forces people to move to avoid things such as
starvation. Many Irish people immigrated to Canada around 1850 because of the potato
famine in Ireland. Sometimes natural disasters such as tsunamis, hurricanes or
earthquakes cause people to evacuate areas and move to other places. Sometimes people
move for economic reasons, such as to find a better job.
Sometimes people move because of political unrest in an area.
When war broke out between Israel and Lebanon in 2006, many
people left Lebanon to areas where they felt safer.
Sometimes people move for social reasons. They like to be near
people like themselves. As a result some
areas of cities will have many people of the same nationality who
speak the same language. Several cities such as Vancouver, San
Francisco and New York have areas called Chinatown where many
oriental people live. Other French-speaking people around the world
live in countries or areas where French is spoken. Francophone
countries include France, Belgium, Canada, Switzerland, Haiti and
the French West Indies and several countries in Africa that are former
upload.wikimedia.org
French colonies or Belgian colonies. Other places such as New Orleans
have a concentration of French people.
www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca

upload.wikimedia.org

Dark blue: native language


Blue: administrative language
Light blue: secondary or non-official language
Green squares: francophone minorities

Social Studies
Cluster 1: World Geography

Social Studies
Cluster 1: World Geography
17. What are time zones?

squ1.org

What is the purpose of time zones? There are 24 standard time zones, one for every 15
degrees longitude, though some of the borders for time zones have been adjusted slightly
for the sake of convenience. At one time people would determine the time by instruments
such as a sun dial. They could tell, for example when noon was, because it was the time
when the sun was directly overhead. However noon in one spot would be different from
noon a short distance away. This caused some confusion, however. As communication
and travel improved, there was a greater need to have a standard time, so eventually
standard time zones were incorporated. Time zones make it so the time is basically the
same all around the world in relation to the sun. The sun rises in the morning, is overhead
at noon and sets in the evening. However, the actual time of day differs tremendously at
any time around the world.
18. What is the International Date Line? The International Date Line is the imaginary
line on the Earth that separates two consecutive calendar days. The date in the Eastern
hemisphere, to the left of the line, is always one day ahead of the date in the Western
hemisphere. It has been recognized as a matter of convenience.
Without the International Date Line travelers going westward would
discover that when they returned home, one day more than they thought
had passed, even though they had kept careful tally of the days. This first
happened to Magellan's crew after the first circumnavigation of the globe.
Likewise, a person traveling eastward would find that one fewer days had
elapsed than he had recorded, as happened to Phileas Fogg in "Around the
World in Eighty Days" by Jules Verne.

thismatter.com

Social Studies
Cluster 1: World Geography
The International Date Line can be anywhere on the globe. But it is most convenient to
be 180 away from the defining meridian that goes through Greenwich, England. It also
is fortunate that this area is covered, mainly, by empty ocean. However, there have
19. What is Universal Time? The times of various events, particularly
astronomical and weather phenomena are often given in Universal Time (UT).
This is sometimes referred to as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). This refers to
the time on the Greenwich meridian which is the line of longitude at 0. Times

earthquake.usgs.gov

given in UT are almost always given in terms of a 24-hour clock. For


example 2:42 p.m. would be written 14:42. Sometimes a Z is added to a
time to indicate Universal time as in 0935Z.

20. Why are some countries in the world more developed than others? Many countries
in the world are better off or more developed because they have more resources such as
forests, oil or farmland. If they can properly use these resources or sell them, they are a
much richer country. Some countries do not have many resources or do not have the
proper techniques to use their resources properly. These countries are much poorer. Some
countries have so many people that when the resources or the revenue from the resources
is distributed, there is not enough for everyone. These countries are very poor. Some
countries cannot grow enough to feed all their people, but still do well. Japan, for
example is one of the most densely populated countries in the world, and there is little
farmland available, but the Japanese have many factories. They make products such as
televisions, motorcycles, and cameras. With the money they make from manufacturing,
they can buy food from other countries. As a result, the Japanese enjoy a high standard of
living.

commons.wikimedia.com

commons.wikimedia.com

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