Unit 3
Objectives and Exam
Study Guide
Once again this exam is somewhat comprehensive in form. The
reason is that the geography of plants and animals depends on the
distribution of climates. Likewise, the distribution of soils
depends on the geography of plants and animals and climate. When
studying you should be making these kinds of connections. Questions from any videos viewed during this unit
are included on the exam.
Study tips:
- Check out the Unit 3 links
on the Study Aids page
- Review the "Can you ...?" questions at the end of each
lecture outline after I finish a lecture.
- Use the review questions and chapter quizzes in the web text
to assess your learning
- Create flash cards of important terms and concepts.
Check out the
flash card maker for a cheap and easy way of creating them.
- Review the lab answer keys linked to the course
outline as soon as they are posted.
- Some find my "Biome
Information Matrix" helpful in organizing the material. I've filled out
a few of the cells to illustrate the kind of information you
want to include.
- There are several questions related to the locations of soil
orders and biomes. See the
North
America Climate/Soils map .
- Check out the
Geography
101 blog for entries related to the topics covered in Unit
3.
You should be able to:
Hydrosphere
- Describe the controls over transpiration.
- Compare and contrast the zones of water beneath the
surface.
- Describe the components of the hydrologic cycle.
- Types of water help in the soil (hygroscopic, capillary,
etc)
- Evaluate a soil water budget table.
Biogeography
- Identify the location of the various vegetation
formation (for example, steppes, deserts, tundra, forests,
etc.) on a map of North America
- Describe the climate and soils associated with the
various vegetation formations.
- Explain the components of a water budget (surplus,
deficit, utilization, etc.)
- Plant adaptations to environmental conditions
Soils
- Identify the location of the various soil orders on a
map of North America.
- Know the various soil forming factors and their affect
on soil properties.
- Describe the process of soil horizon formation
(additions, removals, etc.)
- Describe the characteristics (physical properties,
geographic distribution, associated vegetation, etc.) of the
soil orders.
- Use the soil texture triangle to determine soil texture
class.
- Describe the relationship between soil texture and soil
permeability, soil infiltration, field capacity, wilting
point, available water.
For the lab portion you should be able to:
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