Geography Quiz

• Study notes on maps, biomes, and human impact on the environment

Types of Maps

• Physical maps show natural features such as rivers.
• Topographic maps show natural and built environments, including rivers and roads.
• Political maps show political units like countries, states, and borders.
• Synoptic maps show weather conditions, pressure, and other weather-related information.
• Choropleth maps use shades or colors to represent values or amounts, with darker shades indicating higher values.
• Thematic maps focus on a specific theme, such as tourist sites or train stops.
• Flowline maps show movement with arrows indicating direction and quantity, like trades between countries.

Map Elements

• Border: A line around the map, made with a ruler, to make it stand out.
• Orientation: An arrow that shows north.
• Legend: Explains the meanings of colors and symbols, with red/black for human features, brown for land, blue for water, and green for vegetation.
• Title: The place name and description of the map.
• Scale: Converts map distances to real-world distances.
• Source: Where the information on the map comes from.

Map Scales

• Linear scale: A line showing distance, measurable with a ruler.
• Numeric scale (Ratio): A representative fraction, such as 1cm:1km.
• Sentence scale: A statement like "1 centimeter represents 1 meter."

Direction

• Includes 4 cardinal points (N, S, E, W)
• Includes 8 points
• Includes 16 points
• Uses main letters and degrees (e.g., N = 0°, S = 180°).

Location and Height

• Area Reference (AR): Uses 4 figures.
• Grid Reference (GR): Uses 6 figures, estimating the dot's position from the line (middle is 5).
• Northings: Numbers on the y-axis.
• Eastings: Numbers on the x-axis.
• Quadrants: NW, NE, SW, SE.
• Relief: The height and shape of the land.
• Contour lines: Horizontal lines showing land height with contour intervals (usually 10m).
• Spot heights: Individual height measurements.

Gradient

• Calculated as the steepness of a slope.
• Ratio: 1/the number.
• Calculation: swap rise over run (run/rise) using:
• Difference between two points = D
• Take two zeros off the scale if in cm and want m
• Times the distance by the right number = I
• I/D = A
• 1:A

Biomes

• Major terrestrial vegetation communities defined by similar flora, fauna, and climates.
• There is no definite list.
• Defined as sustainable if they meet the needs of the present without disrupting future generations.
• Biodiversity: Areas with multiple types of flora and fauna
• Diurnal temperature range: The maximum and minimum temperatures over a given time.
• Climate is the average weather conditions over 30 years, while weather is the day-to-day atmospheric conditions.

Types of Biomes

• Tundra: High altitudes, cold, dry, vulnerable to climate change, with grasses, dwarf shrubs, and frozen soil.
• Grassland: Tropical and temperate regions, with wet and dry seasons, grasses, spaced trees, grazing animals, and birds.
• Desert: Between equator and tropics, with low rainfall, extreme temperatures, cacti, shrubs, and nocturnal animals.
• Tropical rainforests: Hot and wet, with moss, ferns, snakes, and apes.
• Aquatic: Freshwater (on land) and saltwater (in the sea), with varying water temperatures, seaweed, algae, fish, and coral.

Climate in Biomes

• Strong interconnection between climate and biomes due to:
  • Latitude: Ranges from 0 degrees at equator to 90 at poles.
  • Sun's rays: More direct at the equator and spread out at the poles.
  • Global heat budget: Areas above 40 degrees latitude receive less heat than they lose; ice reflects heat back to space.
  • Air circulation: Distributes heat to prevent extreme temperatures.
  • Air pressure: Rising air leads to low pressure and rain, sinking air leads to high pressure and dry conditions.
  • Altitude: Temperature decreases by 1 degree Celsius every 100m increase in elevation, affecting biomes like deserts.
  • Landforms: Mountains force air to rise (windward), cool, and condense into precipitation; descending air on the leeward side evaporates water vapor, creating a rainshadow.

Ocean Currents

• Water transports hot/cold currents to regulate temperature.
• Cold ocean currents result in dry air, while hot ocean currents result in moist air.

Changing Biomes

• Food and resource acquisition includes hunting, eating existing plants/animals, and altering the environment.
• Vegetation removal: Cutting down or burning land for farms or grazing.
• Agriculture: Building areas specifically to grow crops.
• Land terracing: Cutting steps into hills where there is water but no flat land.
• Irrigation: Using automatic water systems to provide constant water to crops.
• Mining: Digging shafts and using explosives to access underground industrial materials.

Effects of Human Activity

• Vegetation removal
  • Can be beneficial for weeding native plants.
  • Causes soil erosion as trees bind soil.
  • Leads to habitat loss.
  • Results in a loss of biodiversity (by 70%).
  • Increases greenhouse gases.
  • Can cause floods.
• Agriculture and irrigation
  • Can cause salinity, where over-watering brings salt to the surface.
  • Causes soil fertility issues.
  • Pesticides kill natural biodiversity.
• Land terracing
  • Changes the natural face of slopes.
  • Can cause salinity.
• Mining
  • Reduces biodiversity.
  • Causes contamination and chemical exposure.
  • Results in high water use from groundwater.

Test your knowledge of cartography, map reading, biomes, weather, and geographical relationships. Questions cover map types, sustainability, altitude, and climate. Evaluate your understanding of essential geography concepts.