UC Berkeley - Fall Freshman Program - Geography
4 - 2001 - Forsberg
Study questions for the first midterm:
- In addition to these questions, study the
vocabulary definitions and main points listed at the end of each
chapter.
Chapter 1
- What distinguishes geography from other disciplines
in the social and natural sciences?
- In what ways can a flat map projection of
the globe be distorted?
- Explain how limitations in technology can
lead to distance decay effects in mapping. What else accounts
for distance decay effects?
- Why did Columbus believe that he had sailed
to Asia? What effect did this strong belief, and Columbus' culture,
have on early European maps of the Americas?
- Define 'topology' and explain how it is related
to relative distance and space.
- Define and give examples of the term "globalization."
Chapter 2
- What role did water play in the location
of early culture hearths? in the location of contemporary culture
hearths?
- List five core-region countries and five
countries in the periphery -- then describe their typical characteristics.
- Describe the three waves of industrialization
in terms of the locational requirements of each.
- How did changes in manufacturing allow corporations
to become more more footloose, flexible, and global in scope?
- What was the Berlin conference and what were
its accomplishments?
- Discuss and compare the different periods
of colonialism outlined in lecture.
- When most colonies became politically independent,
they remained economically dependent. Why?
Chapter 3
- Discuss the various factors that affect population
distribution using specific examples.
- Why is the study of the structure of a population
so important to predicting its future growth or decline?
- What kind of population structure (pyramid
shape) has the greatest potential for future growth?
- What kind of population structure (pyramid
shape) has the most stable dependency ratio?
- What are all the various reasons behind why
people choose to have children?
- Decisions about procreation are made within
a particular geographic and cultural context. Explain.
- Improving the status and role of women is
considered the most successful strategy in controlling population
growth. Why?
Chapter 4
- According to the textbook, what accounts
for the academic split between the social and natural sciences?
- Using specific examples, discuss how disease
led to the depopulation of Spain's new colonies in the New World.
- Briefly describe the ways in which the exchange
of plants and animals between the Old World and the New World
was beneficial.
- How does the image of Earth as a living organism
and nurturing mother affect the way people treat her?
- How did the Western image and treatment of
the earth change during the industrial revolution?
- Why do miners in Bolivia propitiate the "Tio"
before entering the mine to go to work?
- First, define the terms nature, society,
and technology. Then discuss the significance of the equation
I=PAT, with special attention to the analysis of the three variables.
- Explain globalization in environmental terms
using specific examples.
Chapter 5 (end)
- What is the difference between cultural ecology
and political ecology?
- What effect does globalization have on the
cultures at the core of the world system?
- What effect does it have on those at the
periphery?