Where in the Middle East?
This country makes up most of the Arabian Peninsula.
Saudi Arabia
Question: What resource is scarce in many parts of Southwest Asia and is needed for both drinking and farming?
Water/Fresh Water
Much of Southwest Asia has this type of climate: hot and _____.
Dry / arid
A group of people who share cultural traits such as language, ancestry, traditions, or history is called this.
Ethnic group
Which is the odd one out: Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Kurdish?
Kurdish — it refers to an ethnic identity; the others are religions.
These two major rivers flow through Iraq and helped support some of the world's earliest civilizations.
Tigris and Euphrates
Water used to supply crops is called this. (People dug ditches and used pipes to bring water from the river out into their fields.)
Irrigation
Why do many people in Southwest Asia live near rivers?
Access to fresh water / farming / irrigation
What is the main difference between an ethnic group and a religious group?
Ethnic groups share cultural/ancestral traits; religious groups share beliefs or a religion.
I'm a body of water between Saudi Arabia and Africa. Ships heading toward the Suez Canal travel through me. What am I?
Red Sea
This narrow waterway connects the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea and is important for transporting oil.
Strait of Hormuz
Give one way water pollution can make life more difficult for people in Southwest Asia.
Examples: unsafe drinking water, damaged crops, disease, less usable water, etc.
Would you generally expect a desert or a river valley to have a higher population density? Explain why.
River valley, because water supports drinking, farming, and settlements.
Arabs, Persians, and Kurds are examples of what type of group?
Ethnic groups
A farmer has plenty of land but very little rainfall. What resource will probably be most important for successfully growing crops?
Access to water / irrigation
This man-made waterway connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea, allowing ships to avoid sailing around Africa.
Suez Canal
Two countries share a river, but one country builds a dam upstream. Explain one way this could affect the country downstream.
It could receive less water for drinking, farming, irrigation, etc.
Give one way deserts can make trade more difficult.
Extreme heat, lack of water, difficult terrain, long distances between settlements, etc.
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all share a connection to this important historical figure.
Abraham
Turkey builds a large dam on the Euphrates River. Name one country downstream that could be affected.
Syria or Iraq
Name the two Palestinian territories students located on their maps.
Gaza Strip and West Bank
Explain why water pollution can make the problem of unequal access to water even worse.
Pollution reduces the amount of usable fresh water, making an already scarce resource even harder to access.
Explain how the physical geography of Southwest Asia can cause populations to be clustered in certain areas rather than spread evenly across the region.
People concentrate near rivers/water sources and other livable areas because large desert regions have limited water and are difficult for farming and settlement.
A student says, “All Arabs are Muslim.” Explain why this statement is incorrect.
Arab is an ethnic identity, not a religion. Arabs can belong to Islam, Christianity, Judaism, or other religions/no religion.
Ultimate: Explain one way geography and one way culture have influenced where or how people live in Southwest Asia.
Accept reasonable answers using geography (water, rivers, deserts, trade, etc.) and culture (religion, ethnicity, traditions, etc.).