Human Geography                                                                        Fall 2006

 

Instructions for Final Exam

 

Final Exam

Wednesday December 13

1:45 –3:45 PM

 

The final exam covers Units 13-15.  It is worth 150 points.    The exam has two components:

 

Take-Home Exam Question: 50 points

Proctored Test: 100 points

 

Take-Home Question

Deadline 1:30 P.M. on December 13

No late papers for any reason

 

Describe and discuss major obstacles to economic development encountered by less developed countries (LDC’s).  Make use of the assigned reading in Rubenstein’s textbook The Cultural Landscape; the lectures;  relevant material in The Skeptical Environmentalist; other relevant course materials (links); and chapter three, “Overcoming Structural Barriers to Growth,” from HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2003 Millennium Development Goals: A compact among nations to end human poverty (United Nations Development Program, 2003).  See in particular the links for Unit 13 on the professor’s website.

 

Your paper should identify major factors that impede development and briefly describe them.  In your discussion, indicate which factors are most important, and say why you think so.

 

The chapter from the Human Development Report is helpful in that it includes a treatment of geographic factors and notes that they are not the whole story.  Your paper should consider this material, but should also discuss other factors mentioned in the textbook, the lectures, and in the Human Development Report.

 

Your paper should be in the range of two to four pages, double-spaced, 12-point font.  If you use any sources other than the textbook and the chapter “Overcoming Structural Barriers to Growth,” pleas included a Sources Consulted page with full bibliographic information on each one.  Do not copy or merely paraphrase directly from any source. 

 

When I evaluate your paper I will as myself:

            Does this paper address all aspects of the topic?

            Does it show a command of the relevant course materials?

            Does it make effective use of information and argument?

            Is the paper professionally presented?

 

When your work is complete, please submit it as a Word or text document (.doc, .rtf or .txt) to the professor via e-mail.  Your e-mail subject line must say Human Geography Final Essay and must include your full name, e.g, Human Geography Final Essay: Roy D. Mercer.

 

 

Proctored Test

 

This test will be given in class on Wednesday December 13 from 1:45 to 3:45.  It will not be available any other time! Be there.  You may bring one 8.5x11 sheet of paper with all the notes you want, front and back.  No other notes, books, information sources, communication devices or memory-assist devices/technologies of any kind.

 

The proctored test will consist of multiple-choice and/or identification questions.  Multiple-choice questions ask you to select the best available answer from four or more options.  Identifications ask you to define a term and indicate why it is important.  Good identifications often include specific examples. 


You will be well prepared for the online exam if you are familiar with the assigned reading in Units 13-15, including links, and with the lectures.  Lists of key terms, and unit objectives can be particularly helpful as you prepare for the exam.  As with the previous exams, perfection is not expected.  If you know the material reasonably well, you will be able to score well without answering every question correctly.

 

In addition to the lists of key terms in Rubenstein’s textbook, the following key terms for Units 13 and 14 may be helpful to you.

 

Unit 13

 

Dependency theory

Development

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

Gross National Product (GNP)

Human Development Index (HDI)

Less developed country (LDC)

Modernization theory

More developed country (MDC)

Primary sector

Productivity

Secondary sector

Tertiary sector

Value added

 

 

 

 

Unit 14

 

Animate Power

Biomass fuel

Breeder reactor

Desertification

Fission

Fossil fuel

Fusion

Geothermal energy

Green revolution

Greenhouse effect

Hydroelectric power

Inanimate power

Nonrenewable energy

Ozone

Photochemical smog

Pollution

Air pollution

Renewable energy

Reserve

Proven

Potential

Solar energy systems

Active

Passive

Sustainable agriculture

Sustainable development