Study questions for the first midterm scheduled for September 25:

• In addition to these questions, study the vocabulary definitions and main points listed at the end of each chapter.

Weeks 1-2

• What is the difference between a formal and functional region? How would each look on a map?
• What is the difference between hierarchical and contagious diffusion? How would each look on a map?
• Define "social relations" and explain how they are shaped by the geographic context.
• Define and give examples of the term "globalization."

Week 3

• In order to fully understand the geography of San Francisco, why is it necessary to zoom from one scale to another?
• Explain how limitations in technology can lead to distance decay effects in mapping. What else accounts for distance decay effects?
• Define 'topology' and explain how it is related to relative distance and space.
• Define Geographic Information Systems and describe how it can be used in marketing.

Week 4

• People first concentrated and urbanized in the floodplains of major river valleys. Explain why the first civilizations developed there. How does this differ from the various factors that affect population distribution of today?
• How did the Tiahuanaco civilization grow enough food in the harsh conditions of the high Andes?
• Describe the five waves of industrialization in terms of the locational requirements of each. Where do cores develop?
• The Manufacturing Belt in the United States is an example of a core within a core. Why did it develop where it did? Why have many of the traditional industries now declined?

Weeks 5-6

• When it comes to population distribution, why is "nutritional density" a less meaningful statistic in a more globalized world?
• As populations grow, what changes occur in their social organization?
• How did the cores of the Tiahuanaco and Inca empires become so wealthy?
• How can the information from an age-sex (population) pyramids be useful for 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?
• Decisions about procreation are made within a particular geographic and cultural context. Explain.