Immigration / Emigration
Explain the difference between immigration and emigration, and identify whose point of view each term represents.
Immigration refers to people moving into a country, while emigration refers to people leaving a country.
The terms depend on perspective: the receiving country experiences immigration, while the country being left experiences emigration.
Describe the climate characteristics of the Sahara Desert and explain why it receives very little rainfall.
➡️ The Sahara has extremely high temperatures and very low rainfall due to high-pressure systems that prevent cloud formation.
Explain the difference between weathering and erosion.
Weathering breaks rock down into smaller pieces, while erosion moves those pieces to new locations.
Describe the three main layers of the Earth and their basic characteristics.
➡️ The crust is thin and solid, the mantle is hot and semi-solid, and the core (inner/outer) is extremely hot and dense.
Explain how the theme of location can be described using both absolute and relative location.
Absolute location uses coordinates such as latitude and longitude to give an exact position, while relative location describes where a place is in relation to other places.
Geographers use both to understand precise positioning and spatial relationships.
Describe how push and pull factors work together to influence migration decisions. Provide at least one example of each.
Push factors such as war, famine, or unemployment force people to leave, while pull factors such as job opportunities, safety, or education attract people. Migration usually happens when strong push factors combine with appealing pull factors.
Explain why the Sahel is considered a transition zone and describe how its climate differs from the Sahara.
The Sahel lies between the Sahara and wetter regions, receiving more rainfall than the desert but less than tropical areas, making it vulnerable to drought.
Describe how mechanical and chemical weathering differ and provide an example of each.
Mechanical weathering physically breaks rock apart, while chemical weathering changes the rock’s composition.
Explain the difference between the inner core and outer core.
The inner core is solid iron and nickel, while the outer core is liquid.
Analyze how the theme of place includes both physical and human characteristics, and explain how these characteristics shape identity.
Physical features like climate and landforms combine with human features like culture, language, and architecture to define how a place looks, functions, and is perceived by people.
Explain how economic migration can affect both the country migrants leave and the country they move to.
The origin country may lose skilled workers but gain money sent home, while the destination country may gain labor and cultural diversity but face housing or employment challenges.
Explain how human activities contribute to desertification in the Sahel.
Overgrazing, deforestation, and overfarming remove vegetation, exposing soil to erosion and reducing the land’s ability to support life.
Explain how water acts as an agent of both erosion and deposition.
Flowing water erodes land by carrying sediment and deposits it when the water slows.
Explain how movement within the mantle affects Earth’s surface.
Convection currents in the mantle move tectonic plates, causing earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountain building.
Describe the characteristics of a formal region and explain how it is defined using measurable data. Give an example.
A formal region is defined by uniform characteristics such as climate, language, or political boundaries. These regions are identified using measurable data like temperature, rainfall, or census information.
Ex: Europe, Burkina Faso, etc.
Describe two challenges immigrants may face after moving to a new country and explain why these challenges occur.
Immigrants may experience language barriers, discrimination, or difficulty finding work because of cultural differences, legal restrictions, or lack of recognition of education.
Describe how desertification affects the lives of people living in the Sahel region.
It reduces crop yields, causes food shortages, forces people to migrate, and increases poverty and conflict over limited resources.
Explain how glaciers shape landforms through weathering, erosion, and deposition, including the formation of moraines.
Glaciers erode land by scraping rock and soil as they move. When glaciers melt, they deposit unsorted sediment called moraines, which form ridges that mark where the glacier once advanced or stopped.
Explain the theory of plate tectonics and identify the scientist who originally proposed the idea.
Plate tectonics explains how Earth’s lithospheric plates move over the mantle. The idea began with Alfred Wegener, who proposed continental drift, later supported by additional evidence.
Explain what a perceptual (vernacular) region is and analyze why these regions often have unclear or changing boundaries. Examples please.
Perceptual regions are based on people’s beliefs, feelings, or cultural identity rather than physical data. Boundaries vary because perceptions differ among individuals and can change over time.
Examples: West Africa, The Sahel, The Southwest (USA)
Analyze how forced migration caused by war or climate change impacts global population patterns and international relations.
Forced migration increases refugee populations, places strain on neighboring countries, creates humanitarian crises, and can cause political tension as nations debate borders, aid, and responsibility.
Evaluate the long-term environmental and economic consequences if desertification in the Sahel continues unchecked.
The Sahara would expand, farmland would be lost, economies would weaken, migration would increase, and regional instability would grow.
Analyze how long-term erosion and deposition can dramatically change Earth’s surface over millions of years.
They create canyons, valleys, deltas, plains, and mountain features, permanently reshaping Earth’s surface.
Analyze how interactions between Earth’s layers contribute to major natural disasters.
Mantle convection causes plate movement, leading to earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, and mountain formation.
DAILY DOUBLE!
Explain the theme of Movement by describing how the movement of people, goods, and ideas creates both cultural diffusion and economic interdependence, and include at least two possible negative consequences of increased movement.
(this is hard. Speak for 2 minutes)
Movement spreads culture through language, food, religion, music, and technology (cultural diffusion). It also links economies through trade, supply chains, and labor migration (interdependence). Negative consequences can include disease spread, invasive species, human trafficking, resource exploitation, cultural conflict, job displacement, and environmental impacts from transportation.