What makes a region: formal, functional and perceptual regions

Grade 9 Social Studies Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Card A. The Karun Plain, a belt in the made-up country of Sarn (made up for practice). Eight weather stations from north to south. Dar: 90 mm of rain a year, plants cover 8 percent of the ground. Eda: 140 mm, 22 percent. Fenn: 210 mm, 38 percent. Gorm: 290 mm, 41 percent. Hale: 380 mm, 55 percent. Iver: 470 mm, 49 percent. Jask: 560 mm, 71 percent. Kell: 690 mm, 83 percent. Card B. Two rules for drawing the plain. Rule 1: a station is in the plain if its rain is from 150 to 600 mm a year. Rule 2: a station is in the plain if plants cover from 30 to 60 percent of the ground.

2. 1.

   Which stations are in the plain under both rules at once, Ari asks?

   • Gorm, Hale and Iver, the three nearest the middle of the belt
   • Eda, Fenn, Gorm and Hale, the first four stations south of the desert
   • Fenn, Gorm, Hale, Iver and Jask
   • Fenn, Gorm, Hale and Iver
3. 2.

   Iver has more rain than Hale (470 against 380 mm) but less plant cover (49 against 55 percent). What does that show, Esme asks?

   • Iver fails Rule 2, since its plant cover fell from Hale’s and so is outside the plain
   • The Iver reading must be wrong, since more rain means more plant cover on the ground
   • Plant cover does not rise steadily with rain here, so two rules can place an edge differently
   • Plant cover is useless for drawing a region, since it can fall even as rain rises

4. Use this

   Card C. Valley Hospital, in Sarn (made up). For each town: minutes by road to the hospital, and the share of its residents who use it. Ash: 15 minutes, 88 percent. Birch: 30 minutes, 71 percent. Cedar: 45 minutes, 52 percent. Dale: 60 minutes, 34 percent. Elm: 75 minutes, 12 percent. Fir: 50 minutes, 61 percent. The six towns lie along one road running out from the hospital, in the order of their minutes by road. Rule: a town is in the hospital’s catchment, a functional region, if more than half of its residents use it.

5. 3.

   Under Card C’s rule, which towns are in Valley Hospital’s catchment, Jun asks?

   • Ash, Birch, Cedar and Fir
   • Ash, Birch and Cedar, the three within 45 minutes
   • Ash and Birch, the towns where more than 70 percent use it
   • Ash, Birch, Cedar, Dale and Fir, the towns where at least a third use it
6. 4.

   Fir is farther than Cedar (50 against 45 minutes) but has a higher share of users. What does that show about the catchment, Kira asks?

   • Distance does not matter, since a farther town can use a hospital more than a nearer one
   • A ring drawn by minutes would misplace Fir; the share of users defines the region
   • Fir’s figure must be an error, since farther towns use a hospital less
   • Fir is a perceptual region, since its residents chose Valley by their own preference

7. Use this

   Card C. Valley Hospital, in Sarn (made up). For each town: minutes by road to the hospital, and the share of its residents who use it. Ash: 15 minutes, 88 percent. Birch: 30 minutes, 71 percent. Cedar: 45 minutes, 52 percent. Dale: 60 minutes, 34 percent. Elm: 75 minutes, 12 percent. Fir: 50 minutes, 61 percent. The six towns lie along one road running out from the hospital, in the order of their minutes by road. Rule: a town is in the hospital’s catchment, a functional region, if more than half of its residents use it. Card D. A second hospital (made up). Fir is also 25 minutes from Rivers Hospital, which 30 percent of Fir’s residents use. The other 9 percent of Fir’s residents use neither hospital.

8. 5.

   A reporter says Fir sits in two hospital catchments. Under Card C’s rule, what is right, Luz asks?

   • Both: a 30 percent link is real, so Fir is in two regions
   • Neither: Fir is more than 45 minutes from Valley, so it is outside
   • Rivers only, because it is only 25 minutes away
   • Valley only: 61 percent is over half, while Rivers’ 30 percent is not
9. 6.

   The rule changes to “at least 30 percent use the hospital.” What happens to the catchments, Milo asks?

   • Dale joins Valley’s and Fir joins Rivers’, so two catchments overlap at Fir
   • Just Dale joins Valley’s catchment; Fir stays in a single catchment
   • Nothing changes, because the minutes by road in the table stay the same
   • Dale and Elm join Valley’s catchment, and nothing else about the map changes

10. Use this

    Card C. Valley Hospital, in Sarn (made up). For each town: minutes by road to the hospital, and the share of its residents who use it. Ash: 15 minutes, 88 percent. Birch: 30 minutes, 71 percent. Cedar: 45 minutes, 52 percent. Dale: 60 minutes, 34 percent. Elm: 75 minutes, 12 percent. Fir: 50 minutes, 61 percent. The six towns lie along one road running out from the hospital, in the order of their minutes by road. Rule: a town is in the hospital’s catchment, a functional region, if more than half of its residents use it.

11. 7.

    A planner wants to mark, along the road, where “more than half use Valley” stops. What does Card C support, Noah asks?

    • On the road between Fir (50 minutes) and Dale (60); no town between lets us place it
    • A line at 50 minutes, since Fir is the last town inside the catchment
    • A line at 60 minutes, since Dale is the town where use falls under half
    • A line at 45 minutes, matching Cedar’s 52 percent, the figure nearest to half

12. Use this

    Card E. Three questions asked in Sarn (made up). A farm agency asks where the plain’s grazing land lies, to be mapped from weather stations. A health office asks which towns should get Valley Hospital’s ambulance. A newspaper asks what people in Sarn mean by “the Green Belt”.

13. 8.

    Which kind of region should each of the three askers map, Ren asks?

    • Each is formal, since each can be drawn on a map
    • Grazing land: formal; ambulance towns: functional; “the Green Belt”: perceptual
    • Grazing land: formal; ambulance towns: perceptual; “the Green Belt”: functional
    • Grazing land: functional; ambulance towns: formal; “the Green Belt”: perceptual

14. Use this

    Card A. The Karun Plain, a belt in the made-up country of Sarn (made up for practice). Eight weather stations from north to south. Dar: 90 mm of rain a year, plants cover 8 percent of the ground. Eda: 140 mm, 22 percent. Fenn: 210 mm, 38 percent. Gorm: 290 mm, 41 percent. Hale: 380 mm, 55 percent. Iver: 470 mm, 49 percent. Jask: 560 mm, 71 percent. Kell: 690 mm, 83 percent. Card B. Two rules for drawing the plain. Rule 1: a station is in the plain if its rain is from 150 to 600 mm a year. Rule 2: a station is in the plain if plants cover from 30 to 60 percent of the ground. Card C. Valley Hospital, in Sarn (made up). For each town: minutes by road to the hospital, and the share of its residents who use it. Ash: 15 minutes, 88 percent. Birch: 30 minutes, 71 percent. Cedar: 45 minutes, 52 percent. Dale: 60 minutes, 34 percent. Elm: 75 minutes, 12 percent. Fir: 50 minutes, 61 percent. The six towns lie along one road running out from the hospital, in the order of their minutes by road. Rule: a town is in the hospital’s catchment, a functional region, if more than half of its residents use it.

15. 9.

    The plain’s edge changes with the rule; so does the catchment’s. What do both cases show about drawing a region, Tala asks?

    • Formal regions depend on a rule; functional ones are fixed by the roads
    • Regions cannot be mapped, since each rule gives a different answer for the edge
    • An edge depends on the rule chosen, so a map should state which rule drew it
    • Regions have exact natural edges, and rules merely approximate them closely

16. Use this

    Card A. The Karun Plain, a belt in the made-up country of Sarn (made up for practice). Eight weather stations from north to south. Dar: 90 mm of rain a year, plants cover 8 percent of the ground. Eda: 140 mm, 22 percent. Fenn: 210 mm, 38 percent. Gorm: 290 mm, 41 percent. Hale: 380 mm, 55 percent. Iver: 470 mm, 49 percent. Jask: 560 mm, 71 percent. Kell: 690 mm, 83 percent. Card B. Two rules for drawing the plain. Rule 1: a station is in the plain if its rain is from 150 to 600 mm a year. Rule 2: a station is in the plain if plants cover from 30 to 60 percent of the ground.

17. 10.

    Zee’s note says: “The Karun Plain is where it rains 150 to 600 mm, so Jask and Kell are in.” Which fix is right?

    • Leave it: 690 mm is close enough to 600 to count
    • Change it: Kell is in because it has the most rain, and Jask is out
    • Change it: Jask is in at 560 mm, but Kell, at 690 mm, is out
    • Change it: Jask is out too, since plants cover more than 60 percent there