City College of San Francisco___________________________
Earth Sciences

Geography 4 - Spring 2002 - Study Guide for the Second Midterm

Week SIX - Latin America and the Environment

Key Terms:

NAFTA, maquiladora, environmental justice, lead poisoning, demographics, census data, rainforests, deforestation, biodiversity.

Study Questions:

Where do coffee, tea, cocoa, and bananas come from? If Rainforests cover a small part of earth's surface, why is their continued existence considered to be so important? How has the relative location of the U.S./Mexican border changed with the emergence of NAFTA? Why is the border region often so polluted? What are the main sources of lead contamination in American cities? How can lead poisoning be prevented? How can GIS be used to pinpoint potential lead exposure? What can be done to prevent lead exposure?

Week SEVEN - Nations and States of Europe

Key Terms:

nation, state, empire, euro, EU, Regional Economic Community, Cold War, multinationalism, border, homeland, sovereignty, ethnicity, minority, language group, origins of the industrial revolution.

Study Questions:

What is the relationship between political boundaries and the following: ethnicity, economics, and language? Is a 'nation' a contiguous entity? Can culture be 'mapped'? Describe the potential problems encountered by a nation without a state. What were the root causes of the wars recently fought in the former Yugoslavia? How has nationalism changed in Europe since the end of the Cold War? Describe the problems encountered by the break-up of Czechoslovakia into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. What was the reason behind the establishment of the European Union.

friction of space, modernization, infrastructure, continentality, maritime climate, fund and flow resources, vital resource.

Study Questions:

Why is Dagestan such a culturally diverse region? How does this diversity relate to the political geography of Russia? How does Russia overcome the friction of space of its vast territory? How is Russia's access to world trade limited by its geography? What are the obstacles to trans-oceanic shipping? Why has electricity traditionally been regulated as a vital resource? How does economic infrastructure prevent Russia's further political disintegration?

Week NINE - East Asian Population growth as seen through statistics

Key Terms:

demography, birth rate, death rate, natural increase, total fertility rate, replacement rate, infant mortality rate, doubling time, population pyramid, income growth, urbanization, land use, anthropogenic.

Study Questions:

Why are there two countries with the name China? Where is population in China concentrated and why? What are the three fundamental factors behind trends of land use change in China? Will increased income result in higher food production in China? Why is it so difficult to make long-term projections for China's population growth? What kind of population structure is most likely to lead to continued population growth? (momentum).

Key Terms:

monsoon, alluvial soil, household economy, housework, chores, social security, world language.

Study Questions:

Explain what causes the monsoon rains in South Asia. Why is populaton growing faster in India than China? How does lack of education and paid employment for women effect population growth? How does poverty effect it? Where are decisions regarding procreation made, and what influences that decision? How are children an asset to parents in the developing world? What role does English play in the countries of South Asia?