Vocabulary Terms: Using your textbook, glossary or a dictionary, write the correct definition for each vocabulary term below. Once defined, write a sentence using the vocabulary term in context. [Example for the term geography: “Texas geography deals with the present by helping to explain why people live the way they do; it deals with the past by helping to explain why certain events occurred in Texas.”]
geographyenvironmentlocation
absolute locationrelative locationplace
regionhuman-environment interactionmovement
cultural diffusiondiameterplain
barrier islandescarpmentfault
plateauaquifersavanna
grasslandmiddle latitudesnorther
Study Questions: Answer the questions below in complete sentences. These questions will guide your understanding through each section of this chapter and used as part of a review for the end-of-chapter exam.
Section 1.
1.How is a knowledge of geography useful to people?
2.What 6 questions do geographers ask when studying the places, people, and events in Texas?
3.How does the relative location of Texas affect the state’s economy?
4.How do you describe a place’s relative location?
5.Describe the size of Texas, north to south and east to west.
6.Why is it about Texas’s location in the U.S. that attracts many different kinds of businesses?
7.How does Texas’s nearness to Mexico affect the state’s economic development?
8.How do long distances pose problems for some Texans?
9.Explain whether you think there is more movement of people, ideas, and goods today than in the past. Provide examples to support your answer.
Section 2.
1.What are the major physical landforms in Texas? (Hint: there are 12)
2.How was the Balcones escarpment formed?
3.Identify where the mountains are located in Texas; What is the highest point in the state?
4.What noticeable difference in land level occurs as you travel westward in Texas?
5.Explain why so many Texas rivers flow in a generally southeastern direction.
6.What river forms a northern border between Texas and Oklahoma?
7.What are the two major rivers in the Texas panhandle?
8.How is an aquifer different from a dammed lake?
9.How were most Texas lakes formed?
10.What river forms most of the southern boundary of Texas?
11.What 3 natural vegetation regions are found in Texas?
12.List the main minerals found in Texas; of those listed, which are the most important?
Section 3.
1.Name 2 ways Texas’s absolute location affects its climate.
2.How does elevation affect climate?
3.On average, how many tornadoes does Texas experience each year?
4.How does the mild climate of South Texas favorably affect the economy of that part of the state?
5.What type of weather conditions occur in the middle latitudes?
6.Describe the effects of a norther.