Maps
Continents
Questions from readings
Geography Trivia
History Trivia
100
What's the word that means "a representation of the globe/Earth on a flat surface"?
Map
100
This continent is directly south of Europe.
Africa
100
What's the name of the system that uses satellite info to tell you where you are, but that also has caused people to make silly navigating mistakes?
GPS
100
What's the longest river in the world, according to most people?
(Bonus question: what's unusual about how this river moves?)
The Nile
(It flows south-to-north)
100
In what state did the first battles of the Revolution happen?
Massachusetts
200
What is the word that describes how mapmakers stretch, squish, and otherwise change the image of the world so we can see it in one, smooth map?
Distortion
or
Projection
200
This continent is located in the southern hemisphere and is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean
Oceania (Australia)
200
What did explorer Magellan become famous for?
Sailing all the way around the world, which is also called circumnavigating
200
The Black Forest is located in what European country?
Germany
200
Why do we have 13 stripes on our flag?
To represent the 13 North American colonies that became the first states of the USA
300
Why was the Gall-Peters map such a big deal when it was released?
It showed the correct size of places like Africa and Greenland, putting more focus on places that typically get ignored
300
Russia is on both of these continents
Europe and Asia
300
What's the (last) name of the man who is considered to be the world's first geographer?
Ptolemy
300
Which US state has the longest coastline?
Alaska
300
What are two different US presidents who were related to each other?
The Bushes
The Roosevelts
The Adamses
The Harrisons
Madison and Taylor
400
This is the map that was used for hundreds of years, and is still often used today. It's named after the man who created it. What was his (last) name?
Mercator
400
This continent has the world's largest tropical rainforest.
South America
400
Who were the TWO American explorers who worked as a team to map a large part of western America?
Lewis and Clark
400
What is the most populous city in the world? (in other words, what is the city that has the most people living in it?)
Shanghai, China (over 24 million people. By contrast, the entire state of Massachusetts has a little less than 7 million people.)
400
A long time ago, there was a very famous city called Constantinople. It was one of the greatest cities in the world. What is that city called today?
Istanbul
500
What's the name of this type of map? (Two words; lots of you thought it was funny/weird sounding!)
Winkel Tripel
500
This continent has no permanent residents (people who always live there), and is almost never shown with its correct size or shape on maps.
Antarctica
500
In 1585, a mapmaker published a book that showed a Greek titan (your reading calls him a god) carrying the world. What was the name of that titan?
Atlas!
That's why many map books are called Atlases :)
500
How many states share a border with Massachusetts?
5!
(Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, New York)
500
What condiment that often goes on top of a burger patty or hot dog, was first used as a type of medicine?
Ketchup