GeoQuestions

Each day, students are expected to complete GeoQuestions as a social studies class opener. At the end of the week, they are given an open note quiz over the questions for the week. Both the quiz and notes are graded assignments.

Here is how a typical week works:

1) Monday through Thursday students work in a group to answer two questions per day. They use the same piece of paper to answer all 8 questions for the week.

2) We will go over some of the questions in class daily. Students should correct errors as we go and consult other classmates as needed.

3) Student answers should restate the question as part of the answer.

Example Question: What is the name of the imaginary line that separates the Northern and Southern Hemispheres?

Good answer: The imaginary line that separates the hemispheres is called the Equator.

Not so good answer: It is the Equator.

Unacceptable answer: equater

4) On Thursday or Friday of each week (depending on school schedule, Early release days, etc.) students get the quiz.

5) Students may use only their own notes during the quiz.

6) Quiz questions ask for answers for specific days of the week. There are usually just two questions, worth 10 points each.

Sample question: Give the answer to Monday's question #2.

Full points are given for complete sentences with the correct answer. Partial points are given for the correct answer which may not be in sentence form.

7) Spelling and capitalization count!

8) Students turn in their notes along with the quiz.

Common GeoQuiz Mistakes

1) Lost notes: The most common error students make is forgetting or losing their notes for the week. 

2) Incorrect information: We go over the notes each day so everyone can get the answers but some students don't fix incorrect answers on their notes page. 

3) Wrong day's answer: Mislabeled notes cause havoc. 

4) Sloppy grammar & spelling: R.I.F.O.Y. means "right in front of you." If you get your answer from a map, you need to make sure you copy the spelling down correctly. You need to capitalize the beginning of sentences and proper nouns, and end your sentences with a period.

GeoQuestions were formerly called GROW questions, for "Geography 'Round Our World."  

Week 2

1.What are the six continents of the Earth?

2.What is the definition of a peninsula? Find an example of a peninsula on a map.

3.Locate the Gulf of Mexico on a map. Now write a definition of a gulf.

4.Which of the following is not a city: Seattle, Miami, Idaho, Chicago?

5.Find an example of an area of land that is smaller than a continent and is completely surrounded by water. What term is used to describe this type of land?

6.What is the northernmost point in the world called?

7.Is the Arctic Circle north or south of the Equator?

8.What are the two continents in the world with the largest areas?

Week 3

1.In which hemisphere(s) is Russia located?

2.What does a star on a map usually mean?

3.Name the five Great Lakes.

4.What is the capital of North Dakota, a state admitted to the United States in 1889?

5.Draw the four cardinal directions on a compass rose.

6.Which sea is largest: North, Mediterranean, Caspian, South China?

7.Is Mississippi east or west of Alabama?

8.A strait is a narrow body of water connecting two larger bodies of water. Find an example of a strait on your map.

Week 4

1.If you were traveling from Denver, Colorado, to Bismarck, North Dakota, what direction would you be going?

2.Many maps have a grid system, scale and a ___________.

3.Which state is farther north, North Dakota or Maine?

4.What two countries border Mongolia?

5.What were the names of the original thirteen states?

6.Helsinki, the capital of Finland, is located on what sea?

7.Which of these cities is in the Southern Hemisphere: Paris, France; Tokyo, Japan; Lima, Peru; Washington, D.C.?

8.To which continent does Central America belong?

Week 5

1.What two continents does the Arctic Circle pass through?

2.The island of Bermuda is a colony of what nation?

3.If a state is outside of the contiguous United States, what does this mean?

4.What is the capital of Alaska?

5.Write your address with the following information: name, street number, city, county state, country, continent, hemisphere, and planet.

6.Which four continents touch the Indian Ocean?

7.What part of a map tells the relationship of the distance shown on the map to real distance on the Earth?

8.How many countries does Mexico border?

Week 6

1.What is the Caribbean island with the second largest land area?

2.What river flows just south of Cincinnati, Ohio?

3.What is the capital of the state that is bordered by Colorado, Nebraska, Missouri, and Oklahoma?

4.The Prime Meridian passes through which three continents?

5.How many states are west of the Mississippi River?

6.Bolivia is one of two landlocked countries in South America. What is the name of the other country?

7.If you are in downtown Chicago and facing north, what direction would you go to reach Lake Michigan?

8.Mexico City is the capital of Mexico. Is Mexico City north or south of the Tropic of Capricorn?

Week 7

1.Lisbon is to Portugal as ______ is to Cameroon.

2.What is the difference between a natural and a political boundary? Give an example of each.

3.Which polar region contains more land?

4.How many countries are there in Central America?

5.What color probably is found on a world map more than any other?

6.Which ocean does most of the International Date line pass through?

7.What is the difference between a physical and a political map?

8.What is the capital of the only country that borders both the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea?

Week 8

1.Name the Gulf located east of Texas, west of Florida, and north of southern Mexico.

2.What is the capital of the island nation off the coast of east Eurasia through which the Tropic of Cancer passes?

3.What is the name of the country whose neighbors are Brazil, Bolivia, and Argentina?

4.Does the Northern or Southern Hemisphere have more land?

5.What ocean borders Australia's western coastline?

6.What are the capitals of the two states that border both the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers?

7.Which distance is greater, Fort Worth to Los Angeles or Fort Worth to New York?

8. Name one of the two oceans through which the Equator does not pass.

Week 9

1.On which continent is the South Pole located?

2.What state has Providence as its capital city?

3.Name four countries that possess islands in the Caribbean Sea.

4.Look at a physical map of Africa. Name two capes located at Africa's southern tip.

5.What two countries have land borders with the United States?

6.Which African countries does the Tropic of Capricorn pass through?

7.What direction would you steer your boat to travel from Ecuador to the Galapagos Island?

8.Is Saudi Arabia in Eurasia or Africa?

Top

Week 10

1.What is the country with the second largest land area in South America?

2.What ocean contains the North Pole?

3.Which country is farther north, Democratic Republic of Congo or Paraguay?

4.How are the Amazon, Nile, and the Mississippi rivers alike?

5.In what state are the Aleutian Islands located?

6.If you were in Madison, Wisconsin, would it be closer to go to the North Pole or the Equator?

7.You reside in what two hemispheres?

8.What gulf is located between Saudi Arabia and Iran?

Week 11

1.How many of the United States are above the Tropic of Capricorn?

2.Which is more mountainous, eastern or western North America?

3.What's the longest country in South America?

4.Which country is farther south, Portugal or Spain?

5.Name the six continents.

6.How are Paraguay and Zambia similar?

7.Which city is farthest north: Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco?

8.Which of the following football teams play home games in cities located in Ohio: Cleveland Browns, Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Cincinnati Bengals?

Week 12

1.Which hemisphere is larger, the Eastern or Western?

2.What country would you have to travel through when driving from Seattle, Washington, to Anchorage, Alaska?

3.Which is farther north, North Carolina or South Dakota?

4.Name the gulf located between the countries of Sweden and Finland.

5.Whose border is closer to the Pacific Ocean, Nevada or Idaho?

6.What four large islands make up the Greater Antilles in the West Indies?

7.Which of the forty-eight contiguous states has the largest land area?

8.What is the name of the large mountain range in South America?

Week 13

1.What direction would you probably be flying if you were traveling from San Francisco, California, to Miami, Florida?

2.Libya is to Africa as Venezuela is to ____________.

3.Which of the fifty states is farthest west?

4.What country has a land border with Denmark?

5.Which continents does the Tropic of Cancer pass through?

6.What large island nation is located off the southeast coast of Africa?

7.Who owns Baja(or Lower) California?

8.What is the state with the smallest land area?

Week 14

1.What mountain range is located between the Black and Caspian Seas?

2.Paraguay is to Bolivia as ______ is to Honduras.

3.What large river in Brazil has its mouth at the Atlantic Ocean?

4.Which are closer to the Equator, the nomads of the Sahara or coffee growers of Colombia?

5.What river in part forms the southern border of the United States?

6.Which continent is closer to the South Pole, Africa or Australia?

7.What five continents touch the Pacific Ocean?

8.Which state is due south of New Hampshire and Vermont?

Week 15

1.Which lake does the Equator pass through: Lake Victoria, Lake Malawi, Lake Chad?

2.What is the city, located on the Conagree River, that is the capital of South Carolina?

3.Which hemisphere has more land, the Eastern or Western?

4.You leave the Miami port in your new yacht to travel to San Juan, Puerto Rico. What direction should your compass be indicating?

5.What is the only Central American country that doesn't touch the Pacific Ocean?

6.Which country would generally have higher temperatures year round, Laos or Croatia? Why?

7.What is the capital of New Jersey, the state where the first recorded baseball game took place in 1846?

8.What countries border Iraq?

Week 16

1.Arrange the seven countries of Central America in alphabetical order.

2.Find the name of the large desert that runs along Africa's southwestern coast.

3.Madrid is to Spain as _______ is to France.

4.Name the river that forms a border between the states of Washington and Oregon.

5.What Middle Eastern country that lies between Iraq and Afghanistan used to be called Persia?

6.The Tropic of Cancer is to the Tropic of Capricorn as the Arctic Circle is to the ______ ________.

7.The city of Shanghai in China is near the mouth of what river?

8.Does the Prime Meridian pass through the North or South Pole?

Week 17

1. A map key should tell what the symbols on a map mean.  What does a small blackened dot usually represent?

2. Which state contains the name of the country bordering the United States?

3. What is the name given to the half of the Earth that includes Eurasia, Australia, most of Africa, Antarctica, and their waters?

4. Which distance is shorter, Africa to South America or Africa to Australia?

5. Which circle passes through more continents, Antarctic or Arctic?

6. Which state has no border on the Atlantic Ocean:  New Hampshire, Connecticut, Vermont?

7. Which Great Lake is the only one that does not also belong to Canada?

8. How many continents are totally within the Western Hemisphere?

Week 18

1. What is the name of the large gulf on the northern coast of Australia?

2. What is another name for a line of latitude?

3. If you were to fly from Atlanta, Georgia, to St. Louis, Missouri, what direction would you most likely be traveling?

4. What country has the largest land area in the Western Hemisphere?

5. In what state, whose borders are North and South Dakota to the east, do the Rocky Mountains cover about 40% of the Land surface?

6. What country has the largest land area in the Eastern Hemisphere?

7. Place all eight cardinal and intermediate directions on a compass rose.

8. Which of the following cities is the capital of Jordan:  Beirut, Damascus, Ankara, Amman?

Week 19

1. How are the Arctic and Antarctic Circles alike?

2. How many countries are on the continent of South America?

3. Through which continents does the Arctic Circle pass?

4. What is the farthest point south on the Earth's surface?

5. In general, where would you need lighter clothing, northern Europe or central Africa?  Why?

6. What is the second largest ocean in the world?

7. Is Bermuda north or south of North Carolina?

8. What is the name of the state that is divided in two parts by water and also has the largest freshwater border of all the states?

Week 20

1. What country has the largest land area in the Northern Hemisphere?

2. Which is more mountainous, northern or southern Eurasia?

3. Which continents does the Tropic of Capricorn pass through?

4. What two countries and one body of water border Uruguay?

5. What is the city, first started as a Spanish settlement in 1609, that is the capital of New Mexico?

6. Which South American countries does the Tropic of Capricorn pass through?

7. An isthmus is a narrow strip of land located between two water bodies that connects two larger land areas. Find a Central American country that is an isthmus.

8. What countries surround Switzerland?

Week 21

1. What country in South America has the most land area?

2. What countries border Guatemala?

3. Is the distance greater from Memphis to Chicago or Albuquerque to Billings?

4. What are the four countries with the largest land areas in the Western Hemisphere?

5. Which city is farthest north: Atlanta, Phoenix, or San Diego?

6. Is the Continental Divide in the eastern or western part of the United States?

7. The Equator runs very close to what river in South America?

8. What two states are not part of the contiguous United States?

Week 22

1. What is the state whose neighbors are Idaho, North and South Dakota, and Canada?

2. What ocean lies to the north of both Eurasia and North America?

3. Which African countries does the Equator pass through?

4. Which state has a longer border with Mexico, Texas or New Mexico?

5. Is most of Turkey located in Europe or Asia?

6. Baghdad is the capital of what Middle Eastern country?

7. A point of land extending into a body of water is called a(an) ____.

8. What is the capital of the nation that is located at the southern tip of Africa?

Week 23

1. Three-fourths of an inch on a map equals 750 miles. What would an inch equal?

2. Land area that includes soil carried down-stream by a river and deposited at the river's mouth is called a ____.

3. Is the Equator a parallel or a meridian?

4. The following are names of the five largest lakes in the world: (1) Caspian Sea (2) Superior (3) Victoria (4) Aral Sea (5) Huron. On what continents are they located?

5. Who controls the Falkland Islands, located in the Atlantic Ocean?

6. What five continents touch the Atlantic Ocean?

7. Which is larger, the Gulf of California or the Gulf of Mexico?

8. Which continent is closest to the South Pole?

Week 24

1. In which direction does a parallel or line of latitude run?

2. One inch on a map represents 800 miles. It is 3 1/2 inches on the map from Cape Town, South Africa, to Nairobi, Kenya. How many miles is this?

3. What is the fourth largest island in the world, located off the southeastern coast of Africa?

4. Some map keys show land elevation using two measurements. What are these two measurements?

5. What continent is southeast of Eurasia?

6. In which direction would you travel by airplane to go from Sri Lanka to Myanmar?

7. Which countries (not including French Guiana, which is a colony) does Brazil border?

8. A mountain range is a group of high elevations. Find three major mountains ranges and state what continents they belong.

Week 25

1. Find the name of the gulf located just north of Libya's coast.

2. Does Uruguay border the Atlantic or the Pacific Ocean?

3. What continent is southeast of the United States and across the Atlantic Ocean?

4. Which baseball team plays it's home games in a foreign country: Pittsburgh Pirates, Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees?

5. On what continent is China located?

6. What is the name of the long mountain range located on the Italian Peninsula?

7. One inch on a map equals 300 miles. It is 3 1/4 inches from El Paso, Texas, to Bismarck, North Dakota. How many miles would this be?

8. Which country has a longer coastline, Cuba or Jamaica?

Week 26

1. The following five rivers are the longest in the world: (1) Nile (2) Amazon (3) Chang Jiang (Yangtze) (4) Ob-Irtysh (5) Huang He. To which continent does each belong?

2. What parallel divides the Earth into two equal parts?

3. What does it mean when a map is drawn to scale?

4. Which South American country has the longest coastline along the Atlantic Ocean?

5. In what ocean is Japan located?

6. How many South American countries are located on or below the Equator?

7. Who owns the Azores Islands?

8. Which part of the United States has higher elevations, the southeast or the northwest?

Week 27

1. One inch on a map represents 200 miles. It is 1/2 inch from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Chicago, Illinois. How far would this be?

2. What is the northernmost state along the Atlantic Ocean coastline?

3. In what ocean do you find the Polynesian Islands?

4. What is another name for a line of longitude?

5. What sea touches the shores of England, Scotland, Netherlands, Denmark, and Norway?

6. What is the capital of Peru, a country where the Andes Mountains cover over 25% of the land?

7. Look at a map of the eastern coastline of the United States. In what state is Cape Hatteras located?

8. The northern part of Russia borders what ocean?

Week 28

1. What sea has a coastline on Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Finland, and Sweden?

2. What is the capital of Guyana?

3. Which country would you call a peninsula: Canada, Italy, or Germany?

4. Brazzaville is the capital of what African nation?

5. Which Central American country does not touch the Caribbean Sea?

6. What country is just south of Spain?

7. What two bodies of water does the Panama Canal connect?

8. Name a peninsula located in the state of Alaska.

Week 29

1. The West Indies are located in what sea?

2. Which Hawaiian Islands is the farthest south, Hawaii, Maui, or Oahu?

3. Which of the following professional teams play home games in cities located on an ocean: New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, Cleveland Guardians?

4. Is the capital of Venezuela Cayenne or Caracas?

5. What sea lies between Australia and New Zealand?

6. Which ocean is the smallest?

7. Which line is farther north, the Tropic of Capricorn or the Tropic of Cancer?

8. The Nile River is 4,132 miles long. On what continent is it located?

Week 30

1. What two continents share the same land mass?

2. What is the name of the only colony on the South American continent?

3. Does the Prime Meridian pass through Spain? France? Portugal?

4. What direction is New Orleans, Louisiana, from San Antonio, Texas.

5. What large island is located between Florida and Jamaica?

6. Who are closer to the South Pole, people living in Southern Africa or people living in southern South America?

7. Find two lakes in Canada that have "Great" in their names.

8. Could you drive from Wisconsin to Michigan without crossing another state?

Week 31

1. The largest lake in South America is located in northern Venezuela. What is its name?

2. What two countries border the Gulf of Mexico?

3. What is the name of the peninsula in southeastern Mexico and what two bodies of water does it touch?

4. Which state extends farther north, Georgia or Texas?

5. In what country of Africa is the Nile River Delta located?

6. Which is farther south, the tip of Florida or the tip of Baja California?

7. Imagine you are in Chicago, Illinois, and want to travel to Point Barrow, Alaska. What direction will you need to travel to get there?

8. Can Australia be both east and west of South America? Explain your answer.

Week 32

1. Would you be more likely to find reindeer near the Arctic or the Antarctic Circle?

2. Which is farther east, Newfoundland or Puerto Rico?

3. If you were traveling from Mexico to Colombia, in what direction would you be going?

4. What large lake is located high in the Andes Mountains between Peru and Bolivia?

5. What direction is India from Japan?

6. Which is farther, Los Angeles, California, to Las Vegas, Nevada, or Los Angeles, California, to San Francisco, California?

7. In what state is the Mississippi River Delta located?

8. What country is both west and south of Canada?

Week 33

1. What ocean touches the coasts of Africa, Eurasia, Australia, and Antarctica?

2. Find a large bay in Canada that is north of the Great Lakes. What is its name?

3. Is Iceland closer to the North Pole than New Zealand is to the South Pole? Explain your answer.

4. What sea is at the mouth of the Nile River in Africa?

5. Which is farther east, the east coast of the United States or the east coast of South America?

6. What sea is located at the mouth of the Dnieper River in Ukraine?

7. What mountain range runs through western Canada, but not along the coast?

8. What ocean is at the mouth of the Amazon River?

Week 34

1. What strait, controlled by the United Kingdom, is close to the place where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean?

2. Look at a physical map of the United States. Which state contains more low land, Texas or Colorado?

3. What country is west of Alaska?

4. What is the name given to small rivers that flow into larger rivers?

5. What large bay separates Greenland from Baffin Island?

6. Traveling from San Diego, California, to Mexico City, Mexico, you would probably drive through mountains. Name them.

7. What is the latitude and longitude of New York City?

8. What is the name of the large river in southeast Africa that drains into the Mozambique Channel?

Week 35

1. Which is closer to the Equator, Ascension Island or Sulawesi?

2. What country is west of Syria and north of Israel?

3. Name three tributaries of the Amazon River.

4. Which two seas touch Sakhalin Island?

5. The Lena River drains into what ocean?

6. On what continent is Queen Maud Land located?

7. Name the American city just north of the U.S.-Mexican border near Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico.

8. Which is further north, Great Slave Lake or Great Salt Lake?