What makes a region: formal, functional and perceptual regions
Grade 9 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me
Circle the best answer.
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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.
Using the tourism office’s more-than-half rule on both surveys, how did the Heartland change, Ari asks?
- Nothing changes: the same three provinces lead in both surveys
- Quill and Sedge join, since both rose by more than 5 points
- Quill joins (46 to 51 percent), and Marrow stays in, but only just (52)
- Marrow drops out and Quill joins, since Marrow’s share fell by 19 points
The tourism office and the farm group draw different Heartlands. Why, Esme asks?
- One of them made an error and should redraw its map to match the other one
- Both are perceptual regions, since both use the shared name “Heartland” for the place
- The farm group should drop Sedge, since under half of the adults marked it in 2004
- Different definitions: survey shares draw a perceptual region, crop type a formal one
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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?
- Marl’s rail region replaces the Strip, since rail ties are stronger than a shared climate
- It must be placed in just one of those regions, the one it is most strongly linked to
- It lies in the formal Strip, Quay’s ferry region and Marl’s rail region at once
- Quay’s ferry region alone, since 21 trips a week is a strong link to the hub
A planner wants one ferry region. Pell has 4 trips a week and Tarr 2. What follows, Kira asks?
- All five towns form one ferry region, since the towns all share a mild, wet climate
- Tarr is in and Pell is out, since Tarr lies closer to the hub at Quay than Pell does
- It depends on the cutoff: at 10 trips a week it holds Rhos and Sand, at 2 trips all five
- Pell and Tarr have no ferry link, since 4 and 2 trips a week are too few to count
Sand has 30 ferry trips to Quay and 25 trains to Marl. Which statement is best supported, Luz asks?
- Sand is linked to Marl more than to Quay, since a train is faster than a ferry boat
- 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 belongs to Quay’s region alone, since its 30 ferry trips are more than 25 trains
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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?
- The readings from 80 to 200 km, since the Belt is one unbroken stretch
- 80, 160, 200 and 240 km
- 160 and 200 km, the two driest readings
- 80, 160 and 200 km
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
- The 120 km reading is an error and should be dropped to keep the edge clean
- 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 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 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 in, because 250 mm is the number named in the rule, so it counts
- 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?
- 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
- Change it: Rhos and Sand link to Quay and to Marl, so regions can overlap
- Change it: functional regions have no borders, just a center and its links
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 perceptual when more than half of surveyed adults named it a region
- Change it: it is functional, since rain moves from the east toward the west
- Change it: it is formal, set by a rainfall rule; the rough edge is in the readings
- Leave it: a hard-to-draw edge shows that people disagree about it, as perceptual regions do