Author Topic: Geography  (Read 6340 times)

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Offline Jáchym

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Geography
« on: January 13, 2017, 08:17:53 AM »
Yesterday I was again working with data about the U.S. states and it made me wonder - to what extent are you Americans familiar with the states? I mean, if I showed you a blank map, would you be able to find them all? Or at least more or less say where in the country they are?
Right now I would say I sort of have an idea, though I have to admit that especially the ones in the central US I probably wouldnt be able to tell. But before I started doing Meteotemplate I would probably only find Alaska, Texas, California, Florida and maybe New York, because those are relatively easy to find and well-known. It is funny, I also always thought Washington is on the East coast (guess why... :D)
I think it is like this for most Europeans, we would probably be able to tell if you said the name, that is is a state in the U.S., but only be able to find the easy to find ones.

I am also interested in how familiar you (not just Americans, but all non-Europeans) are with the European countries, is it the same as I described above? (i.e. you would find the easy to find ones)? I sort of assume locating my country would be a problem :D
And even today, I wouldnt be able to find most of the countries in Africa, only the easy ones (SA and the ones in the North)

Offline gwwilk

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Re: Geography
« Reply #1 on: January 13, 2017, 09:03:32 AM »
One of the first 'jigsaw' puzzles U.S. children often encounter sometimes even as toddlers consists of the 48 contiguous states.  The puzzles vary in their construction, but all of them help us learn the states and their geographic relationships.  You can find lots of them for all age ranges on Amazon.

One problem I have with European geography is that it has been protean in some areas.  I can identify most of the Western European states, but the Eastern European geography is much less clear to me without referencing a map.
« Last Edit: January 13, 2017, 09:07:06 AM by gwwilk »
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Offline corwyyn

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Re: Geography
« Reply #2 on: January 13, 2017, 09:05:54 AM »
I could probably get 45-46 of the contiguous 48, my main problem is differentiating the smaller New England (northeastern) states (does Vermont point down and New Hampshire up or vice-versa?).  For continental Europe I can get in the general area for most, some I know right where they are.  The Asian countries give me the most grief, especially all of the smaller island nations. 
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Offline WeatherHost

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Re: Geography
« Reply #3 on: January 13, 2017, 09:10:33 AM »
I think it is like this for most Europeans, we would probably be able to tell if you said the name, that is is a state in the U.S.,

Well, there is Georgia and ....  ummm  ...  Georgia.


Offline Jáchym

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Re: Geography
« Reply #4 on: January 13, 2017, 09:17:04 AM »
That would not be an issue because in my language they are different :-)

Offline Jáchym

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Re: Geography
« Reply #5 on: January 13, 2017, 09:22:10 AM »
I spent some time looking at the state stats and compared to for example EU countries I see some general patterns. It is interesting that most state capitals are not the largest cities of that state, here it is usually the largest city. Also the population density is much lower (in most cases).
My country is less than 30k mi2 and we have a population of over 10 million

Offline cospringswx

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Re: Geography
« Reply #6 on: January 13, 2017, 09:47:15 AM »
Little quiz for you. What is the only state in the US that is 1 syllable?




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Offline Bushman

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Re: Geography
« Reply #7 on: January 13, 2017, 09:58:38 AM »
Great question!  Tales me back to grad school and Cognitive Spatial Geography class!  LOL  http://www.boredpanda.com/americans-place-european-countries-on-map/ 
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Offline BigOkie

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Re: Geography
« Reply #8 on: January 13, 2017, 10:03:10 AM »
Little quiz for you. What is the only state in the US that is 1 syllable?

Maine.
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Offline BigOkie

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Re: Geography
« Reply #9 on: January 13, 2017, 10:04:10 AM »
But yes..I know where every state in the union is, I could tell you what they are by shape and know all the state capitals as well.  Yes, I'm tooting my own horn a little.   8-)
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Offline chief-david

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Re: Geography
« Reply #10 on: January 13, 2017, 10:06:04 AM »
One of the first 'jigsaw' puzzles U.S. children often encounter sometimes even as toddlers consists of the 48 contiguous states.  The puzzles vary in their construction, but all of them help us learn the states and their geographic relationships.  You can find lots of them for all age ranges on Amazon.

One problem I have with European geography is that it has been protean in some areas.  I can identify most of the Western European states, but the Eastern European geography is much less clear to me without referencing a map.

Agree. Especially the places that end with -Istan.

Quote
Little quiz for you. What is the only state in the US that is 1 syllable?
Mississippi.    I do not teach language.


With the understanding of Geography has disappeared. The state of Minnesota now has two years of World Geography. 8th and 9th grade.  Cultures, people, climates.



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Offline Jáchym

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Re: Geography
« Reply #11 on: January 13, 2017, 10:13:16 AM »
One of the first 'jigsaw' puzzles U.S. children often encounter sometimes even as toddlers consists of the 48 contiguous states.  The puzzles vary in their construction, but all of them help us learn the states and their geographic relationships.  You can find lots of them for all age ranges on Amazon.

One problem I have with European geography is that it has been protean in some areas.  I can identify most of the Western European states, but the Eastern European geography is much less clear to me without referencing a map.

Agree. Especially the places that end with -Istan.

Quote
Little quiz for you. What is the only state in the US that is 1 syllable?
Mississippi.    I do not teach language.


With the understanding of Geography has disappeared. The state of Minnesota now has two years of World Geography. 8th and 9th grade.  Cultures, people, climates.

Ehm... what? :D

https://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/countries_en

Can you find me one that ends with "istan"? :D

Offline Cutty Sark Sailor

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Re: Geography
« Reply #12 on: January 13, 2017, 10:29:58 AM »


Agree. Especially the places that end with -Istan. Ehm... what? :D

https://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/countries_en

Can you find me one that ends with "istan"? :D

 :-"  Heh, Heh... about Possibly Confused Geography
 :-$ ASIAN
e.g. 
•Afghanistan.
•Kazakhstan.
•Kyrgyzstan.
•Pakistan.
•Tajikistan.
•Turkmenistan.
•Uzbekistan.
.etc.....

And my maine response to Greg's query re: State of US, one syllable... might be, currently - DAFT.
 :twisted:
 


Offline chief-david

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Re: Geography
« Reply #13 on: January 13, 2017, 10:31:33 AM »
Technically Asia but still....



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Offline Jáchym

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Re: Geography
« Reply #14 on: January 13, 2017, 10:36:08 AM »
LOL, ok, little like saying Africa or USA, pretty much the same thing :D

Btw. this is great (dont take this personally, Im sure it wont be any better if you asked anywhere else)

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/embed/_mWtWz_aGyk[/youtube]
« Last Edit: January 13, 2017, 10:41:45 AM by Jáchym »

Offline WeatherHost

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Re: Geography
« Reply #15 on: January 13, 2017, 10:45:03 AM »
Little quiz for you. What is the only state in the US that is 1 syllable?

That one took me all of a second or so.

This one should take longer and although I know of several examples, I don't know the total.

How many states (not counting any coastal states) have portions that are completely separated (by water, totally surrounded by other states or a combination of both) from the main body?  For this, I'll also exclude islands in the Great Lakes.


This question probably still isn't worded right, so if no one comes up with any other than the most obvious, I'll provide examples.


« Last Edit: January 13, 2017, 10:49:27 AM by WeatherHost »

Offline Bushman

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Re: Geography
« Reply #16 on: January 13, 2017, 10:53:46 AM »
Oh heck, let's have some fun at the expense of our American friends:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFgPX0hnNfA  ;)
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Offline cospringswx

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Re: Geography
« Reply #17 on: January 13, 2017, 11:01:49 AM »
Little quiz for you. What is the only state in the US that is 1 syllable?

Maine.

Correct.




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Offline cospringswx

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Re: Geography
« Reply #18 on: January 13, 2017, 11:04:39 AM »
What is the only state without a National Park until 2013?




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Offline cospringswx

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Re: Geography
« Reply #19 on: January 13, 2017, 11:07:19 AM »
Little quiz for you. What is the only state in the US that is 1 syllable?

That one took me all of a second or so.

This one should take longer and although I know of several examples, I don't know the total.

How many states (not counting any coastal states) have portions that are completely separated (by water, totally surrounded by other states or a combination of both) from the main body?  For this, I'll also exclude islands in the Great Lakes.


This question probably still isn't worded right, so if no one comes up with any other than the most obvious, I'll provide examples.

The only state that is completely surround by water is Hawaii. The state with the longest coastline is Alaska.




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Offline Jáchym

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Re: Geography
« Reply #20 on: January 13, 2017, 11:07:25 AM »
What is the only state without a National Park until 2013?

 :-k

Hong Kong?

Offline Jáchym

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Re: Geography
« Reply #21 on: January 13, 2017, 11:08:41 AM »
In case you didnt know :D



Right in the middle :)

Offline cospringswx

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Re: Geography
« Reply #22 on: January 13, 2017, 11:09:47 AM »
What is the only state without a National Park until 2013?

 :-k

Hong Kong?

LOL in the US.




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Offline Jáchym

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Re: Geography
« Reply #23 on: January 13, 2017, 11:18:21 AM »
Coca Cola?

Offline chief-david

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Re: Geography
« Reply #24 on: January 13, 2017, 11:59:52 AM »
Question is: Which large company started in the state of Georgia (us)?



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