What makes a region: formal, functional and perceptual regions
Grade 9 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
Use this
Card A. The Heartland, in Norvia (made up for practice). In 2004, 1,000 adults were asked which provinces they count as “the Heartland”. Share who marked each: Tarn 94 percent, Elby 88, Marrow 71, Quill 46, Sedge 23, Vorn 9. In 2024 another 1,000 adults were asked. Tarn 92 percent, Elby 85, Marrow 52, Quill 51, Sedge 40, Vorn 11. The 2004 sample came from telephone lists in every province; the 2024 sample came from internet users. Card B. Three Heartland maps (made up). The tourism office’s rule: a province is in if more than half of the adults surveyed marked it. A farm group draws the Heartland by crop type and gets Tarn, Elby, Marrow, Quill and Sedge.
The 2024 sample came from internet users, and Quill is 1 point over half. Which claim do the cards support, Bo asks?
- Marrow’s drop to 52 percent shows that the 2024 sample is biased against Marrow
- Quill’s rise to 51 percent shows the Heartland has grown since 2004 as a place
- The surveys cannot be compared, so the 2004 results say nothing about 2024
- The samples differ and Quill is barely past half, so the shift is a hint, not settled
The tourism office and the farm group draw different Heartlands. Why, Esme asks?
- The farm group should drop Sedge, since under half of the adults marked it in 2004
- One of them made an error and should redraw its map to match the other one
- Different definitions: survey shares draw a perceptual region, crop type a formal one
- Both are perceptual regions, since both use the shared name “Heartland” for the place
Use this
Card C. The Coastal Strip (made up). Five towns from west to east: Pell, Quay, Rhos, Sand and Tarr, all with a mild, wet climate. Quay is the ferry hub. Ferry trips a week to Quay: Pell 4, Rhos 21, Sand 30, Tarr 2. A rail line also joins Rhos and Sand to the inland city of Marl, with 25 trains a week from each.
Which description of Rhos do the cards support, Jun asks?
- It must be placed in just one of those regions, the one it is most strongly linked to
- Marl’s rail region replaces the Strip, since rail ties are stronger than a shared climate
- Quay’s ferry region alone, since 21 trips a week is a strong link to the hub
- It lies in the formal Strip, Quay’s ferry region and Marl’s rail region at once
A planner wants one ferry region. Pell has 4 trips a week and Tarr 2. What follows, Kira asks?
- Tarr is in and Pell is out, since Tarr lies closer to the hub at Quay than Pell does
- Pell and Tarr have no ferry link, since 4 and 2 trips a week are too few to count
- All five towns form one ferry region, since the towns all share a mild, wet climate
- It depends on the cutoff: at 10 trips a week it holds Rhos and Sand, at 2 trips all five
Sand has 30 ferry trips to Quay and 25 trains to Marl. Which statement is best supported, Luz asks?
- Sand belongs to Quay’s region alone, since its 30 ferry trips are more than 25 trains
- Sand ties to two centers, so a Quay map and a Marl map would overlap at Sand
- Sand is a node, since it has the most trips to the hub of any of the towns
- Sand is linked to Marl more than to Quay, since a train is faster than a ferry boat
Use this
Card D. The Dry Belt (made up). A formal region: a place is in if it gets under 250 mm of rain a year. Readings by distance east, in km: 0 km, 270 mm; 40 km, 255 mm; 80 km, 249 mm; 120 km, 262 mm; 160 km, 241 mm; 200 km, 238 mm; 240 km, 250 mm; 280 km, 260 mm.
Under the Dry Belt’s rule, which readings fall inside the Belt, Milo asks?
- 80, 160 and 200 km
- 160 and 200 km, the two driest readings
- 80, 160, 200 and 240 km
- The readings from 80 to 200 km, since the Belt is one unbroken stretch
The 120 km reading is 262 mm, between two Belt stations. What does it say about the Belt’s western edge, Noah asks?
- The Belt is two separate regions, one at 80 km and one from 160 to 200 km
- A rainfall rule cannot define a formal region, since this edge is uneven
- No single clean line fits there: an outside reading sits between two inside ones
- The 120 km reading is an error and should be dropped to keep the edge clean
The 240 km reading is exactly 250 mm. An agency says it is “about 250, so basically in.” Which response is fair, Pia asks?
- It is in, because 250 mm is the number named in the rule, so it counts
- It is in, because rounding 250 to the nearest ten still gives 250, which the rule allows
- Out under the written rule; the agency may change it to “up to 250”, but then the edge moves
- It is out, and a rule cannot be changed once the readings exist, whatever the agency says
Use this
Card C. The Coastal Strip (made up). Five towns from west to east: Pell, Quay, Rhos, Sand and Tarr, all with a mild, wet climate. Quay is the ferry hub. Ferry trips a week to Quay: Pell 4, Rhos 21, Sand 30, Tarr 2. A rail line also joins Rhos and Sand to the inland city of Marl, with 25 trains a week from each.
Ren’s note says: “A functional region has one center and one border.” Which fix fits the Coastal Strip?
- Change it: functional regions have no borders, just a center and its links
- Change it: Rhos and Sand link to Quay and to Marl, so regions can overlap
- Leave it: the five towns share one climate, which gives the region a single border
- Change it: a functional region has two centers, here Quay and Marl
Use this
Card D. The Dry Belt (made up). A formal region: a place is in if it gets under 250 mm of rain a year. Readings by distance east, in km: 0 km, 270 mm; 40 km, 255 mm; 80 km, 249 mm; 120 km, 262 mm; 160 km, 241 mm; 200 km, 238 mm; 240 km, 250 mm; 280 km, 260 mm.
Zee’s note says: “The Dry Belt is a perceptual region because its edge is hard to draw.” Which fix is right?
- Change it: it is functional, since rain moves from the east toward the west
- Leave it: a hard-to-draw edge shows that people disagree about it, as perceptual regions do
- Change it: it is perceptual when more than half of surveyed adults named it a region
- Change it: it is formal, set by a rainfall rule; the rough edge is in the readings