Exercise #1 – Chapter 1, 2, &3 Physical geography 101 Due: Monday, January 9

Total = 42 points

1) List and describe the 4 spheres (or realms) used by geographers. (4 points)

2) How long does it take the earth to complete one revolution around the sun? What is leap year? Why does it occur? (3 points)

3) Using Figure 3.9 from the textbook, define the geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude) of the following locations: (5 points)

Latitude Longitude

New Orleans, LA 30N 90W

Portland, OR

Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

Cape town, South Africa

Cairo, Egypt

Newark, DE

1 4) Using the map of time zones given in Figure 3.13 from your book, what time and day is it in Fairbanks, Alaska if it is 5:00pm on Tuesday in Berlin, Germany? What time and day is it in Tokyo, Japan? In Baghdad, Iraq? (6 points)

Fairbanks, Alaska

Tokyo, Japan

Baghdad, Iraq

5) Greenwich Mean Time refers to the time at the prime meridian relative to any other standard time on the globe. A) If it is 9:00 PM Saturday night in Newark, Delaware on January 3 (standard time) what time is relative to the Greenwich Mean Time (UTC)? B) If it is 1400 UTC (2PM UTC) on Tuesday, what time and day is it in Newark during the summer? (4 points)

A.

B.

6) What are some advantages of using the Mercator projection (Figure 3.9) compared to the Goode projection (Figure 3.10)? What are the disadvantages of using Mercator projection compared to the Goode projection? (4 points)

7) Provide the location (latitude, longitude) for the following and define its importance or significance: (7 points)

Location Importance or Significance

Tropic of Cancer

Equator

Antarctic Circle

Prime Meridian

International date line

2 Location Importance or Significance

Tropic of Capricorn

North Pole

8) Why are Northern Hemisphere air temperatures cold on January 4th if the earth is closest to the sun? (3 points)

9) In Newark, when is the sun higher in the sky at solar noon – during an Equinox, the Northern Hemisphere Winter Solstice, or the Northern Hemisphere Summer Solstice? How does this help to explain why summer is warmer in Newark than winter? (4 points)

10) Why isn’t Barrow, Alaska, which has 24 hours of daylight on June 21, warmer than the equator, which only has 12 hours of daylight on June 21? (2 points)

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