Dear Future Gopher, Your Geography teachers have compiled this work which will help to prepare you for the coming academic year. When discussing what we thought would benefit you the most, we decided that working with maps and learning vocabulary would be a great benefit to you. In years past, our students have struggled with knowing where countries are located and being able to describe the physical and political geography of a certain region; both are extremely important to your success on the STAAR.

We have found that mapmaking is much easier on large pieces of paper, and there is research that actually drawing a map is more effective than coloring one in. So while you’re drawing your maps, try to come up with ways to remember where countries are and what they’re physical geography is like. (For example, China looks like a rooster.)

While vocabulary is not the only thing that matters, it is essential for your understanding of World Geography. Once you have completed the vocabulary work, study the words. You can have your friends or family quiz you over the words. We are excited to meet you in August and hope that this work is a stepping stone to help you achieve success in the ninth grade. Have a great summer!

The Geography Department

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY VOCABULARY

For the following words, define the term, draw a picture, and use the word in a sentence.

WORD DEFINE IT DRAW IT USE IT

Tectonic Plates

Weathering

Sediment

Glacier

Orographic Effect/Rain Shadow

Typhoon

Tsunami

Ring of Fire

Tundra

Savanna

HUMAN/CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY VOCABULARY

For the following words, define the term, draw a picture, and use the word in a sentence.

WORD DEFINE IT DRAW IT USE IT

Region

Culture

Ethnic Group

Nationalism

Religion

Cultural Diffusion

Colonialism

Genocide

Ethnic group

Recreation

North America Map Activity

1. Draw an outline of North America and label all of the countries that are found in that region.

1. United States

2. Canada

2. Label the following physical features on your map.

a. Appalachian Mtns. f. Mississippi River

b. Great Plains g. Atlantic Ocean

c. Canadian Shield h. Pacific Ocean

d. Rocky Mtns. i. Gulf of Mexico

e. Great Lakes j. Rio Grande

North America Vocabulary

For the following words, define the term, draw a picture, and use the word in a sentence.

Word… Define It… Draw It… Use It…

Colombian Exchange

Suburb

Free Enterprise/Market Economy

Megalopolis

Urban Sprawl

Infrastructure

Globalization

Cultural Diffusion

Urbanization

Formal/Functional/Perceptual Region

Latin America Map Activity

1. Draw an outline of Latin America and label all of the countries that are found in that region.

a. Mexico m. Cuba

b. Guatemala n. Jamaica

c. Belize o. Haiti

d. El Salvador p. Dominican Republic

e. Honduras q. Puerto Rico

f. Nicaragua r. Colombia

g. Costa Rica Panama s. Venezuela

h. Ecuador t. Paraguay

i. Peru u. Bolivia

j. Chile v. Brazil

k. Argentina w. Venezuela

l. Uruguay x. Guyana

2. Label the following physical features on your map.

a. Amazon River f. Pampas

b. Amazon Rainforest g. Llanos

c. Andes Mtns. h. West Indies

d. Yucatan Peninsula i. Orinoco River

e. Atacama Desert j. Sierra Madre Mtns.

Latin America Vocabulary

For the following words, define the term, draw a picture, and use the word in a sentence.

Word… Define It… Draw It… Use It…

Slash and Burn

Terrace Farming

Push/Pull Factors

NAFTA

Maquiladoras

Panama Canal

Cultural Hearth

Deforestation

Favelas/Slums

Haiti: Natural Disaster/cultural

characteristics

European Map Activity

3. Draw an outline of Europe and label all of the countries that are found in that region.

a. Albania q. Italy

b. Andorra r. Liechtenstein

c. Austria s. Luxembourg

d. Belgium t. Macedonia

e. Bosnia & Herzegovina u. Malta

f. Bulgaria w. Netherlands

g. Croatia x. Norway

h. Czech Republic y. Poland

i. Denmark z. Portugal

j. Finland aa. Romania

k. France bb. Spain

l. Germany cc. Sweden

m. Greece dd. Switzerland

n. Hungary ee. United Kingdom

o. Iceland ff. Vatican City

p. Ireland gg. Yugoslavia

4. Label the following physical features on your map.

a. Pyrenees f. Mediterranean Sea

b. Alps g. North Sea

c. Apennines h. Baltic Sea

d. English Channel

e. Atlantic Ocean

European Vocabulary

For the following words, define the term, draw a picture, and use the word in a sentence.

Word… Define It… Draw It… Use It…

Fjord

North American Drift

Polder

Crusades

Renaissance

Feudalism

Holocaust

Berlin Wall

Parliament

euro

Russia and the Republics Map Activity

3. Draw an outline of Russia and the Republics and label all of the countries that are found in that

region.

a. Armenia h. Latvia

b. Azerbaijan i. Lithuania

c. Belarus j. Moldova

d. Estonia k. Russia

e. Georgia l. Tajikistan

f. Kazakhstan m. Ukraine

g. Kyrgyszstan n. Uzbekistan

4. Label the following physical features on your map.

a. Arctic Ocean c. Siberia e. Caspian Sea

b. Black Sea d. Black Sea f. Ural Mountains

Russia and the Republics Vocabulary

For the following words, define the term, draw a picture, and use the word in a sentence.

Word… Define It… Draw It… Use It…

continentality

Taiga

Czar

USSR

Cold War

Command economy

Red Army

Nomad

Yurt

Collective farm

SOUTHWEST ASIA

Part I – Draw the map of the Southwest Asia Region include both political features (countries, capitals, boundaries) and physical features (mountains, rivers, valleys, plains) Afghanistan: Kabul Mediterranean Sea Bahrain: Manama Red Sea Cyprus: Nicosia Suez Canal Iran: Tehran Gulf of Aden Iraq: Baghdad Arabian Sea Israel: Jerusalem Indian Ocean Jordan: Amman Persian Gulf Kuwait: Kuwait City Strait of Hormuz Lebanon: Beirut Tigris River Oman: Muscat Euphrates River Qatar: Doha Nile River Saudi Arabia: Riyadh Dead Sea Syria: Damascus Turkey: Ankara United Arab Emirates: Abu Dhabi Yemen: Sanaa

SOUTHWEST ASIA VOCABULARY

For the following words, define the term, draw a picture, and use the word in a sentence.

WORD DEFINE IT DRAW IT USE IT

Tigris River

Euphrates River

Oasis

Desalination

Refinery

Mecca

Islam

Sunni

Shiite

Judaism

Christianity

OPEC

SUB SAHARAN MAP ACTIVITY

1. Draw an outline of Africa and label all of the following countries.

a. Senegal b. Guinea c. Sierra Leone d. Nigeria

e. Cameroon f. Dem. Rep. of Congo g. Rep. of Congo h. Uganda

i. Rwanda j. Kenya k. Tanzania l. Angola

m. Zambia n. Mozambique o. Namibia p. Madagascar

q. Botswana r. South Africa s. Zimbabwe

2. Label the following physical features on your map.

a. Lake Victoria b. Great Rift Valley c. Horn of Africa

d. Kalahari Desert e. Namib Desert f. Congo River

g. Mt. Kilimanjaro h. Ethiopian Plateau i. Serengeti Plain

SUB SAHARAN VOCABULARY

For the following words, define the term, draw a picture, and use the word in a sentence.

WORD DEFINE IT DRAW IT USE IT

Plateau

Rift valleys

Escarpment

Canopy

Cash crops

Pandemic

Stateless society

Apartheid

Commodity

Diversity

SOUTH ASIA

Part I – Draw a map of the South Asia Region and include both political features (capitals, countries, borders) and physical features (mountains, rivers, valleys, plains) Bangladesh Bhutan India Pakistan Sri Lanka Maldives Nepal Mountains Hindu Kush Karakoram Range Western Ghats Eastern Ghats Himalayas Mount Everest Satpura Range Rivers Ganges River Indus River Narmada River Mahanadi River Godavari River Krishna River Brahmaputra River Bodies of Water Arabian Sea India Ocean Bay of Bengal Other Features Andaman Islands Nicobar Islands Deccan Plateau Thar Desert Kathmandu Valley Sundarbans Maldives

SOUTH ASIA VOCABULARY

For the following words, define the term, draw a picture, and use the word in a sentence.

WORD DEFINE IT DRAW IT USE IT

Subcontinent

Monsoon

Cyclone

Hinduism

Storm surge

Caste System

Partition

Nonviolent resistance

microcredit

East Asian Map Activity

1. Draw an outline of East Asia and label all of the countries that are found in that region.

a. China d. South Korea

b. Mongolia e. North Korea

c. Taiwan f. Japan

2. Label the following physical features on your map.

a. Plateau of Tibet f. Huang He (Yellow) River

b. Gobi Desert g. East China Sea

c. Himalaya Mountains h. Sea of Japan

d. Mt. Fuji i. Yellow Sea

e. North China Plain j. South China Sea

East Asian Vocabulary

For the following words, define the term, draw a picture, and use the word in a sentence.

Word… Define It… Draw It… Use It…

Tsunami

Great Wall of China

Typhoon

Three Gorges Dam

Free Trade Zones (FTZ)

Confucianism

Buddhism

Free Market Economy

Overcrowding

Command Economy

SOUTHEAST ASIA MAP ACTIVITY

1. Draw an outline of Southeast Asia and label all of the following countries in that region.

a. Myanmar b. Laos c. Vietnam d. Thailand

e. Cambodia f. Malaysia g. Indonesia h. Philippines

2. Label the following physical features on your map.

a. Mekong River b. Malay Peninsula c. Java

SOUTHEAST ASIA VOCABULARY

For the following words, define the term, draw a picture, and use the word in a sentence.

WORD DEFINE IT DRAW IT USE IT

ASEAN

Indochina

Industrialization

Push-pull factors

High island

Low island

Terraced farming

Mandala

Krakatoa

Subsistence activities

Oceania Map Activity

1. Draw an outline of East Asia and label all of the countries that are found in that region.

a. Australia d. Antarctica

b. New Zealand e. Papua New Guinea

2. Label the following physical features on your map.

a. Ayers Rock (Uluru) f. Pacific Ocean

b. Great Dividing Range g. Indian Ocean

c. Polynesia h. Coral Sea

d. Micronesia i. Tasman Sea

e. Melanesia j. Arafura Sea

Oceania Vocabulary

For the following words, define the term, draw a picture, and use the word in a sentence.

Word… Define It… Draw It… Use It…

Archipelago

Great Barrier Reef

Outback

Atoll

Penal Colony

Aborigine

Ring of Fire

Ayers Rock (Uluru)

Volcanoes

Lagoon

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