Chapter 14 Homework

Chapter 14, Section 1

1. How large is the land area of Russia?

Answer:
Russia covers 6.6 million square miles of land.

2. What are Russia’s natural resources?

Answer:
Russia's main natural resources are petroleum, nickel, and natural gases.  Russia also ranks in the top three producers of aluminum, gemstones, and platinum.  The fertile soil on the plains also provides a lot of grains and vegetables.  The forests supply the country with timber from pine, fir, spruce, and ceder trees.  Fish such as salm, herring, cod, and halibut are also major resources.

Creative Writing: Many people are not aware that so much of the world’s forest land lies on Russian soil. Write a paragraph designed to persuade people of the importance of preserving Russian forests.

Answer:
The forests of Russia hold a fifth of the whole world's forest lands.  That is billions of trees.  Every single tree processes tons and tons of carbon dioxide that are produced by humans daily.  These trees make it possible for humans to continue breathing oxygen.  If you take out multiple trees, less carbon dioxide is produced, polluting the air, trapping the sun's heat, and making it dangerous for humans.  In order to save the environment and save ourselves, we must preserve the trees in the forest.

Chapter 14, Section 2

1. What are Russia’s major climates?

Answer:
Russia's major climates are tundra, subarctic, humid continental, and steppe.

2. What kinds of natural vegetation are found in each of Russia’s climate regions?

Answer:
The tundra, due to the acidic soil, only grown mosses, lichens, algae, and drawrf shrubs.
Subarctic region grow coniferous forest.
The Humid Continental region holds fertile soil, resulting in grass lands.
The steppe region is a highly fertile region, resulting in many types of plants and grasses.

Creative Writing: Imagine you are a member of Napoleon’s army invading Russia in 1812. In the form of a journal entry, write a day in your life on the march through Russia’s cold winter.
Answer:
Here is me again, writing while I'm not marching.  I only right when we are resting, sitting, and trying not to freeze to death in the snow.  Russia is colder than Napoleon has expected, and the cold is taking it's toll our machines and our men.  All of the cars and tanks have failed us, frozen in stiff positions.  So make them work, we must melt the snow and snap the gears so that they move.  But this takes too long, and the tanks and cars just freeze up again anyway. 
The men are cold and hungry.  We have long run out of supplies, but Napoleon made us march ahead anyway, thinking that we would find supplies in the towns that we would raid.  When we arrived, we found that the Russians had burned their towns and fields, exterminating all food and shelter.  I must admit, the Russians are smart to deprive us of resources.  Based on the rumors going around camp, Napoleon is thinking of retreating if we cannot find anymore food, or else the men will starve.
Hopefully I will be able to write back, preferaby back in Poland where it is much warmer.
Sincerely,
Julianna

Chapter 13 Homework

Chapter 13, Section 1

1. What are three of the reasons major economic changes are taking place in Europe?

Answer:

Three main reasons that major economic changes are taking place in Europe are the ability to trade freely with other European countries, sharing the same currency, and changing agreements to make each country's economy more productive.

2. Identify changes in the economies, farming techniques, and communications in eastern Europe since the fall of communism in 1989.

Answer:

Economies, for the most part, have grown more productive.  Farming equipment was updated and most of the labor was now done by machines instead of people.  Eastern European countries have also tried to communicate more with the rest of the world, setting up investments and seeking aid.

Creative Writing: Write a paragraph agreeing or disagreeing with the statement: As Europe develops a more unified, service-oriented economy, it is more important for nations to develop more efficient communications systems than to develop more efficient transportation systems.

Answer:

I do agree with this statement.  The more that Europe develops into a service country, the more communicating and talking workers will have to do.  The more communicating that must be done, the more a country needs an efficient communications system so the workers can do their job.  If Europe moves away from a trading and agriculture based economy, the less the countries trade.  And the less trade that happens, the less transportation systems that Europe needs.

Chapter 13, Section 2

1. What are three of the ways industry and farming practices have affected Europe’s environment?

Answer:

Bad farming practices such as over faming, removing too much vegetation, and overgrazing livestock have  resulted in the soil eroding and killing the remaining trees.

Industry has also made a huge impact on the environment.  To make new land, companies have hacked down whole forests.  The smoke and gas produced by smokestacks can cause acid rain.  Acid rain can damage forests, poison lakes and rivers and seas, kill of species of mammals, birds, and fish.  Acid rain can also cause health damage to humans.

2. What steps have been taken by the European Union to protect Europe’s environment?

Answer:

The EU requires all of the countries under it to clean up after their pollution.  The EU also has set emission regulations for industries and vehicles so that the pollution is limited.  It also supports the Kyoto Protocol, which makes countries try to prevent generating and trapping green house gases.  The EU also encourages the use of natural gas and demands that all countries must lower their emissions to 15% lower than 1990's level of green house gases.

Creative Writing: Write a paragraph to agree or disagree with the statement: The pollution laws and controls put in place by members of the European Union are all that is necessary to protect the environment in Europe today and in the future

Answer:  I disagree with this statement.  While these rules and regulations are great for the present, more needs to be done to save the environment.  Countries must completely stop using coal and fossil fuels, using hydrogen powered machines which work just as fine and cause less pollution.  Countries also need to stop being so reckless when cutting down the forests.  There is not an infinite amount of trees, and countries must learn that the trees will run out and that pollution will increase without the trees there.

Chapter 12 Homework

Chapter 12, Section 1

1. Over the past 100 years, how has immigration influenced the populations of countries in Northern Europe?

Answer:

Immigrants from other countries have made the populations more diverse.  People within the country usually immigrated to the cities of the country, making the cities have a higher population and the country have a lower population.

2. How has physical geography helped shape the population patterns of northern Europe?

Answer:

The UK, Ireland, and Denmark have mild climates and fertile soil that supported a big population at any place in the countries.  Scandinavia had harsh terrain and a brutal climate, resulting in infertile soil.  this made Scandinavians move and settle along the coasts.

Creative Writing: Although they do not all provide the same benefits to their citizens, all the Countries in northern Europe are welfare states. Education, health-care, unemployment benefits, disability payments, retirement benefits, child care, parental leave, and housing subsidies may be guaranteed by the government. Write a paragraph comparing some of the advantages and disadvantages of living in a country that is a

welfare state.

Answer:

Some benefits of living in a country with welfare are knowing that even if you cannot pay or are poor, your child can still go to school, you can still recieve healthcare, someone will pay for your disability and retirement, and other things.  If you lose your house, then the government garuntees a house for you.  If a child loses his or her parents, the government garuntees that he or she will be taken care of.  If you are laid off of your job, the government will support you until you can find a new one.

Some disadvantages are having to pay extra money to supply the government with the money to have these welfare functions.  To support the welfare, the country may have to borrow from other coutnries, making the country go into debt.

Chapter 12, Section 2

1. What are three ways that religion has helped shaped the history and governments in western Europe?

Answer:

The Crusades (wars between European countries and the Middle East over Palestine) have resulted in new and extended trade routes in the eastern Mediterranean.
Religious wars and Enlightenment ideas have moved the governments away from monarchy and toward democracy and republics

2. How did World War II help shape the population patterns of western Europe?

Answer:

After World War II, Germany and other countries needed more workers because of the people that they lost.  Immigrants from all around the world came for work and settled in the countries.

Creative Writing: The people of western Europe have a high standard of living, and governments provide citizens with medical care, maternity and retirement benefits, and other services. The population in Western Europe is aging, with declining birthrates and death rates. Write a paragraph about some of the social problems Western Europe may face in the next twenty-five years.

Answer:

Because all of the adults are getting older and retiring and there are no more children to work, people will be forced to work longer to provide money for the retired, but still living, old people.  When those people are too old to work and retire, there will be no more people to work for the country, or maybe just less people, and the country's economy might start to decline because people cannot pay for themselves AND other people who are retired.x

Chapter 12, Section 3

1. What are some of the effects on the population patterns and cultures of southern European countries, now that immigration is outpacing emigration?

Answer:

The cultures are becoming richer, blending multiple ideas and customs together. The countries are becoming melting pots for all types of people.  The populations in those countries are becoming more concentrated in the city areas where work is available.

2. What are three of the cultural elements that are shared by most of the people in southern Europe?

Answer:

Three of the cultural elements that are shared by most people in Southern Europe are language (all originating from Latin), religions (most people are Roman Catholic), and soccer.

Creative Writing: Write a paragraph describing some of the ways that the culture of ancient Rome still influences southern Europe.

Answer:

Ancient Rome came up with Latin, which all other languages in Southern Europe are based off of.  Every root of every word can be traced back to a Latin word, which came from Romans.  The Romans also started the Roman Catholic Church, which is the church that most South Eurpopeans belong to.  Roman artchitecture carried on into other country's buildings so that the buildings would be stronger and look better.