NIE... Geography Awareness

GEOGRAPHY ACTION! RIVERS 2001

Geography Awareness Week, November 11-17, 2001

This fall, join us to celebrate Geography Awareness Week by focusing on Geography Action! Rivers 2001, a new and expanded educational outreach program.

Geography Action! Rivers 2001 is a conservation and awareness program designed to excite and educate people about the importance of geography and of rivers, a vital resource. The Web site at www.nationalgeographic.com/geographyaction has activities designed to help educators and students, their families, and community members learn about and appreciate rivers.

As its name implies, Geography Action! emphasizes taking action, and features a variety of hands-on river conservation activities, as well as a survey to track the cumulative actions taken to protect and preserve rivers. The program will culminate during Geography Awareness Week - November 11-17, 2001 - with celebrations in classrooms and communities, and survey results posted online.

TEST YOUR GEOGRAPHY " I.Q."

1. Which river forms most of the border betweem the states of Washington and Oregon - Suwannee River or the Columbia River?

2. Which country in North America contains nearly one-quarter of the world's wetlands?

3. What is the term for the artificial lake that is created when a river is dammed?

4. The Susquehanna River flows into which large estuary - Tampa Bay or Chesapeake Bay?

5. Name the river that forms the boundary between Texas and Mexico.

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Here are the answers to the Geography "I.Q" questions that appeared in the Wednesday November 7, 2001 Charleston Gazette and Charleston Daily Mail.

1. A narrow strip of land bordered by water and connecting two large land masses is known as what?
A. isthmus

2. Ninety percent of Suriname's population lives along a strip of fertile coastal land on which ocean?
A. Atlantic

3. Which state besides New York has ports on the Hudson River- New Jersey or Delaware?
A. New Jersey

4. The deepest canyon in the United States, carved by the Snake River, lies along the border between which two states - Arizona and New Mexico, or Oregon and Idaho?
A. Oregon and Idaho

5. The Vistula River and Bialowieza National Park - northern Europe's largest area of virgin forest and home to the European bison - are in which country?
A. Poland

Additional geography activities, quizzes

Activities are grouped into four themes: Population, Biodiversity, Fresh Water, and Oceans. These activities can be found on the National Geographic Society's Web site, at www.nationalgeographic.com/gaw. Families can also find hands-on activities that will allow them to explore the world through "Family Xpeditions," at www.nationalgeographic.com/familyxpeditions.

1. The threat of global warming and rising sea levels concerns the residents of the island country about 400 miles southwest of India because many of the islands are only a few feet above sea level. Name this country.

2. According to a United Nations estimate, the world's population reached what number on October 12, 1999?

3. Which body of water has major oil reserves--the Caspian Sea or Hudson Bay?

4. What kind of precipitation is caused by the mixing of some kinds of air pollutants and rainfall?

5. The Indian mongoose was imported to a leading sugarcane producing state to help control rats that were eating the crop, but the mongoose has also killed many ground-nesting birds. This event is occurring in which state--Hawaii or Arizona?

6. Seventy percent of the world's fresh water is located on which continent?

7. The Olympic National Forest contains a large region of lush temperate rain forest on the Olympic Peninsula. Give the name of the state in which this forest is located.

8. Fossil fuels and which other source of energy are used to generate the largest amount of the world's electricity--solar power or hydroelectric power?

9. To see cheetahs, rhinos, and giraffes just outside Nairobi, you would travel to which country in East Africa?

10. Hydrilla, introduced to Florida as an aquarium plant, now clogs many waterways in the United States. This plant, which is spread easily by boats, has been found near Washington, D.C., in which river--the Potomac River or the Ohio River?

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Questions provided by "The National Geography Bee," a program of the National Geographic Society

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Students and teachers: The Newspaper in Education program thanks, "The National Geography Bee," a program of the National Geographic Society for providing 15 additional questions for your enjoyment. They are as follows:

1. What is Nicaragua's most populous city?

2. Most water in which river is diverted for irrigation and other activities before reaching Mexico--the Colorado River or the Tennessee River?

3. The gypsy moth, which strips trees of their leaves, was introduced by a man who wanted to use the insects to produce silk. The moths escaped in which city near Massachusetts Bay--Boston or Miami?

4. Several species of lemurs are indigenous to two island countries off the coast of Africa. Name one of these countries.

5. Kudzu, a vine that was promoted in the 1930s to control soil erosion, has spread throughout a region of the United States with a warm, wet climate. This vine has covered large parts of which region--the Southwest or the Southeast.

6. What islands off the west coast of South America are home to several species found nowhere else, including the marine iguana and giant tortoise?

7. What sea northeast of Australia was named for the fact that it contains many reefs?

8. According to legend, Britain will not lose control of what dependency as long as the Barbary ape, the only monkey that inhabits Europe, lives there?

9. European starlings were brought to the United States in the 1800s by a man who wanted to release every bird mentioned in Shakespeare's plays. He released more than 60 starlings into which city's famous Central Park--Kansas City or New York City?

10. What term is used for an unusually long period of time with little or no rainfall?

11. Drainage projects in the large swamp that covers much of southern Florida have caused environmental concerns. Name this swamp.

12. Asian insects called woolly adelgid have killed many trees in the Appalachian Mountains of Shenandoah National Park. This park is in which state--Michigan or Virginia?

13. Which North American country has a population density of only eight people per square mile?

14. What term is used for energy that is obtained from the sun and used to heat houses?

15. The removal of a 160-year-old dam on the Kennebec River has allowed Atlantic salmon and other fish species to return to former waters upstream. This dam was in which New England state?

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