Names _______________________________________________
Geography Themes 1 and 2: Location and Place
Points, Direction, Distance
Using Goode’s World Atlas and an outline map of the United States.
25 points
Let’s begin with absolute location: 40° 40’ North Latitude, 73° 58’ West Longitude,
which, to the nearest degree we can express as 41° N, 74° W.
What major city is found here? _____________________________________
What is its population (p. 259) ______ million (city limits), _______ million (greater urban area—this figure appears in parentheses on p. 259)
Plot this location on your map with a dot, and label it with
the number 1 (· 1)
You’ll map a total of 25 points. Connect them with lines
as you go, or after you have plotted all the points.
Either way, you may want to start in pencil, then trace boldly with ink.
Catch a direct flight to location 2, about 340 miles to the northwest.
Like · 1, this is the largest city in its country. The name of this city is _______________________________
Label it · 2 on your map.
Continue northwest, about 150 miles, to the tip of a
peninsula that separates a sizeable bay from the rest of a
The
Label it · 3 on your map.
Take
a ferry back to the
This is the city of ______________ in _____________________ (state).
Label the city · 4 on your map.
Traverse the state, westward, to
Take
a ferry west, across the lake, to the closest port on the other side, named for
a type of large, caviar-producing fish,
on the eastern shore of a peninsula.
This is the town of _____________________ on the
Label the town · 6 on your map.
According
to the map on page 71 of your atlas, the above state was completely glaciated, except
for the encircled region (see red line) known as the ________________
Area. For more details about this region, consult a larger scale map,
such as the one on p. 113. From · 6,
drive to the biggest city in the above un-glaciated region. Named for an
Indian game popular in
Fly southwest, across four new states, about 450 miles, to a
town near the confluence of two rivers. Given its name, the upper river
apparently drains salty (saline) deposits, and the town at the rivers’ junction
is similarly named. This would be the town of ______________ in the
state of _____________ (“There’s no place like home!”--Dorothy). Label it · 8 on your map. (Note: whether you’re on p.
106 or 121, you’re in the gutter of the book!)
You
have earned a vacation. Take a helicopter far to the northwest, just past
45° latitude, to a mountain in the
northern US Rockies that reaches 12,799 feet above sea level. This would be
_________________________ (mountain peak)
in the state of ___________________. Label it · 9 on your map.
From · 8 you have flown ________________ miles.
Ski
down just a few miles to the southwest to a famous National Park
that forms a large rectangle, mostly contained within the state of ____________________.
About how many square miles does this park cover? ________________ square miles.
This is
Label it · 10 on your map.
Hike westward, along the ridge of the
which form the border between the states of _____________and _______________.
Hope you brought your global positioning system (GPS)
because a helicopter will pick you up at 112°
W. longitude. Label this position as · 11 on
your map.
From
there the copter will fly you southwest, about 600 miles, to another great
National Park in which the highest peak reaches 13, 114 feet. This was was
Ansel Adams country and you are in the middle
of the
This
Label it · 12 on your map.
Hike
southeast, along this range, until you reach the highest peak in the lower 48
states, which lies
between a National Park and Monument (known for giant trees) to the west, and
yet another huge
National Park, to the east, which contains the lowest elevation in the United
States (_______ feet below sea level).
Climb to the top of the highest mountain in question, which
is called
Label this summit · 13 on your map.
The helicopter will now fly you South Southwest (SSW), about
90 miles, to the southern end of the vast central valley that runs for hundreds
of miles down the middle of the state. It will deposit you at the largest town
at the southern end of the valley, about 119° W.
This is the city of _________________.
Label it · 14 on your
map.
Continue
SSW till you reach the coast and a beautiful and saintly city that shares its
name with an oceanic channel that separates it from a group of islands.
The coastal city is ______________________.
Label it · 15 on your map.
Take a sailing yacht to the westernmost isle of the group, the island of ____________________. Label it · 16 on your map.
Sail southeast, into the waters of another country,
which is ______________________.
Put in at the first border town,
which is __________________________.
Label it · 17 on your map.
Rent a car, and drive eastward, along the international boundary, until you reach another border town whose American counterpart, just across the border in the state of _____________________, bears the same name.
This is the town of ___________________. Label it · 18 on your map.
Head
East Southeast (ESE), crossing the border, which now runs along a “large
river,” the ____________________________.
At a pronounced bend in the river’s course, on the American side,
you will enter a national park named for its site on the
river’s bend.
This is
Label it · 19 on your map.
Drive
eastward, across the largest of the Lower 48 states, which is ______________, until
you reach a port on the Gulf. This city shares its name with a sizeable bay. The
port is connected by highway to the state’s largest city, which is
___________________________.
The port itself is the town of
__________________.
Label it · 20 on your map.
Proceed
directly ENE to the capital of the next state, which lies on the “Father of the
Waters,”
or the mighty
Bearing a French name, the state’s capital is __________________.
This is home to the University where your professor earned
his doctorate.
Label it · 21 on your map.
Continue 40 miles to the east, to a small town on a rail
line (see key on p. 66) and major highway. This is the town of
_________________________.
Label it · 22 on your map.
If you’re not in a hurry and unconcerned about safety, go ahead and take Amtrak northward about 225 miles. Otherwise you can take Interstate 55 North. Get out at a crossroads town that lies at 33° 29’ N. This town is called _____________ in the state of______________________.
Label it · 23 on your map.
From the crossroads, take the
highway heading east about 85 miles until you reach the state line.
Welcome to the state of _____________________.
Continue
on this highway, veering ESE, until you reach the city of
______________________.
Here lies another highway interchange, railway depot, and a navigable
river.
The channel depth of the river (p. 84) is only about _____ to _____ feet,
but that is enough to sustain barge traffic. From p. 79 we can see that
_______________ and ________________ are likely cargoes.
The city is called ______________________________.
Label it · 24 on your map.
Now
fly 400 miles southeast until you approach the Atlantic coast. Land at
the city and whose nearby beach community shares its name. You are now about 35
miles north of the oldest city in the
where a Spanish fortress, or castillo, remains a National Monument.
You are in the state of ________________________.
The fortress is the ___________________________________________.
The old Spanish city is ______________________.
The city where you landed is __________________________.
Label it · 25 on your map.
When you are finished enjoying the local attractions, you should finally fly
directly back to · 1.
Be sure to connect all the points, sequentially, from · 1 to · 25,
and back to · 1.
Now turn your map to “portrait” position, so that east is at
the top of the page.
If you have been successful, you have outlined one of the
What state have you drawn? _________________________________.
On this new, state map, Points 1 through 8 would represent
the
Point 8 would approximate the state capital, which is ________________________.
Points 9 through 16 would skirt the north shore of
with Point 16 representing
Point 19 would be the gambling mecca known as ______________________________.
Point 22 would be ____________Hook.
Points 23, 24, and 25 would be a conglomeration of cities
clustered around _____________________,
which is where you started in the first place!
Turn in one copy of your group's
exercise, with all your names at the top!